Dave's Garden: Rumors about changes at Dave's Garden, # 2

It sure was strange, wasn't it?? I was wondering too.
Something isn't right.....

I visited their TrekEarth site (places photography). For me, it will be worth a second look when everything works out here. I'd be real interested in their TrekNature site too. I couldn't find a link to that site though it was referenced at the bottom of TrekEarth.
I used to visit Steve's Digicams too but that must have been before Internet Brands purchased it. It was a very good resource for comparing digital cameras, maybe still is but I haven't shopped for a camera lately.

I would certainly hope the new owner is interested enough to read this thread.

I am really here to support our vibrant gardening community. Obviously, political and religious neutrality on the site should allow us to focus on gardening and broaden the community we share through our love of gardening. Politics and religion are both categories that arouse fierce passions, often quickly shredding civil discourse. I am definitely interested in the new owner's view on this.

The other thing I want to know is whether the new owner wishes to change the monetization model being used on this site, and if so, how.

$20 a year seems like a bargain for a no-add site. In American business when a company gets sold, they usually raise the rates. Hope the hardware keeps up with the band width demand.

Apparently, only a few of us have perused IB's sites. I visited several and found them to be very commercial, not at all interactive and less informative than wikipedia. I did find this on one forum that made me laugh, however. Since I figure some of you could use a laugh, here goes: http://www.familycorner.com/parenting/dads/dogs_diary.shtml

Btw, familycorner.com was the only site with much in the way of aesthetics or actual content. And its "message board" is deader than a doornail.

Question for Dave and Michael: Do either of you envision DG on Internet Brands in its current, very interactive, incredibly visual (photos, etc.) format, complete with it's dozens of specific interest forums? I ask because I don't see anything like this on IB and wonder how it fits into their corporate interest.

Maybe they are upgrading.

No doubt about it. I'll bet all their sites added together don't get 1/10 the amount of traffic DG does. There's no "there" there. No reason to go back after the first click. It's stuff you can find anywhere on the net without commercial ads pasted all over it. I'm telling you folks, unless Internet Brands leaves DG as is, it's not good.

I must admit, while Bruce Cameron"s dogtale was amusing, it must have been posted quite a while back...his book, 8 Simple rules for dating my teenage daughter, has been out for a number of years...it has already been made into a TV show, had the star die, and been canceled in the following season.

That style of forum format is a bit awkward to me also....guess I am just spoiled by the extreme user friendliness of DG.

Very cute/amusing dog story but I hate all the clutter on the page and that's what I'm concerned about possibly happening with DG forums.

I don't see how it would be in IB's best interests to completely re-design the website...they are buying the site because they looked at the revenues that come in and felt it had potential to make money for them through advertising and subscriptions. Taking the time and $$ to completely redesign the site when it already works perfectly well doesn't seem like a smart business decision.

I want someone with dirt under their fingernails to tell me how to garden. Not a Suit.....

if they are stupid enough to change it, it would be to make money in the short term by selling add space.it takes work and investment to make a website as good as this one work. i doubt if it is a huge money maker you can tell it was built out of love ..not for money . most likely if they are going to make changes it will be gradual if they did anything drastic they would loose like 30-50 % of regular users. it was a business deal and when money is in it for the big dogs you can bet it isnt good for the little guy anyywayyy.. im just curious if we are already sold how much longer until we see changes if any,

I just got home from a long road trip to Louisiana to pick up a new animal for our farm. I did have to clean up and delete about 20 posts out of this thread, and I'll repeat what I said earlier: I don't want the subject of religion to be debated in this thread.

In fact, at this point I'll go beyond that and say that this is not the time to be looking to try to effect some big change on DG. My principle concern right now is making sure that things do NOT drastically change.

I see a few new questions in this thread and I'll answer them after I've had the chance to relax a bit. It was a long drive, I have hogs to feed and a glass of wine to pour.

Dave, I think you deserve more than just one glass of wine. ^_^

Dave, I think if I were you, I might have two glasses of wine!

Roadrunner: Gardenweb.com, iVillage.com and NBC.com ALL belong to General Electric Company.

If anyone ever gets curious, you can find the owner of almost any site (domain name) here: http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp.

Bruce Cameron's "new" book was published in 2001, nine YEARS ago!

I never said I would stop at one glass. :-)

Actually, tonight I'm going to get to try my new apfelwein. I started making it about 6 weeks ago and today I racked it into its final serving container. It should be bubbly and refreshing.

I also started a 5 gallon batch of it a couple days ago. We need a winemaking forum here. ^_^

Apologies Dave, sometimes the fingers work faster than the brain. Sorry.

New Hogs for the farm?

New thread:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1071481/

Strike my last. The new thread is here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1071571/