GW has been sold!

Garden Web has been sold to i village.
There is some talk about it in some of the forums.
Just thought anyone that hangs out there might be interested.

Hmmm!, I wonder if i village will continue to send people to Disneyland?

Gemila

I wonder if those that have been sent to disney will be brought back?

Is THAT what happened! I went over there to visit the tomato forum and was surprised to see a fancy new home page. I don't visit any of the other forums so I didn't realize it was bought out. I wonder if this means Spike is gone?

Thanks for the heads up! : )

He is now an employee.

IVillage bought GW some time ago...they're just getting around to changing the homepage I guess, but we discussed it here about this time last year.

I think the difference is that the homepage has dramatically changed to reflect the new ownership; there's also been a public acknowledgement of the change and Spike's new role. Up till now, it was basically just a footnote in iVillage's financial statements, but no official announcement of any kind.

Yeah! Now when there's a problem over there, the members can complaint to someone over Spike's head and maybe get some action. YIPPY!!!!

He must not have got much for it if he still has to work for a living!

I have learned lots over on Garden Web. I go to the tomato forum the most. I tend to be more of a lurker. Most posters are nice. (not all)
You do have to be very careful what you say. I am not much of a PC kind of gal so that is probably why I am more of a lurker! : )
Spike has always responded to my emails and I have not had any problems. I do realize that others have.
I hope that GW continues to be a place where you can get some good gardening info. I just do not like change. Must be set in my ways. : )

P.S.
I do love Dave's Garden!

I'm so very glad to know that there is a management now that can be contacted or that at least will deal with the members in a civil way!

Well, I am not so sure that they have changed. When you try to contact them it still says they do not have "staff" blah blah. I guess time will tell.

This message was edited Mar 17, 2005 9:18 AM

FlowerFan,
We have a tomato forum here... is it not interesting enough? are you actively participating in it? just curious.

My guess would be the rules will eventually change "over there" - and that may not be for the best. Spike might have been arbitrary in his enforcement of them, but at least there WERE rules in place. Unless they keep him on, or put a strong personality in charge, it will be just another commercial site run by a nameless, faceless corporation, which could mean that anything goes - anarchy can create a pretty nasty environment.

Meanwhile, Dave's Garden will still run by the same guy who put his own name on the site and actively participates in his own forums and features. We'll still be applying the same rules - hopefully in a fair and consistent manner. And trying our best to provide an informative, fun and friendly place for gardeners from around the world to call "home."

FlowerFan86,
I also learned a lot on GW.. Been there around 6 yrs. with no problems..I love both places..DG & GW..I figure I stil have enough to learn to sort of get info from all over and put it to good use.., lol..

Larkie

I changed ISP's and went to hotmail and opened a new account. The next day my account was deleted! Since then I've ran a bunch of spyware stuff, but not sure that's even how they were tracking me. I would like to join again just to talk to the old friends I have over there. I'm in no way thinking of leaving here or ever paying over there! I love Dave's, the people, and the fact that Dave is involved!

I have never had a problem with Spike directly. I never gave him a reason either. I was a good girl..lol!

I can say one thing... I am glad to see him leave. I agree with the rules. No problem. I do have a problem when there is a person (con) ripping off numerous honest traders, and if you complained to Spike, you were off to "Disney". What is wrong with this picture? I believe this should have been handled by booting the person doing the ripping off. In my opinion, he was giving that person permission to do it again and again. We all know this had happened to numerous traders on GW. He should have weeded them out. This is the only thing that turned me off to GW. I am not here to bash Spike. That is not my intention at all. I just had the need to speak my opinion.

In closing, I can honestly say Dave and the other admin's are doing a wonderful job. If you have a problem, you can go to them privately. They don't take sides, but will check into the situation. They take action when needed. I am not kissing up, its is just the truth. I highly recommend this site to others. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to join this wonderful place called Dave's Garden. Ok, I said my piece on this subject and feel no need to discuss it any further.
Thanks,
Patti


This message was edited Mar 17, 2005 8:57 PM

Well not sure what I did this time to upset dear old Spike, but I have been removed from GW.
His email to me had some mention of 'staff abuse' by me.........
I would say there are GW spies among us here :-(

RikerBear, now you believe me?

All I believe is what I already knew, that being Spike has controll issues. GW is still a good site with lots to offer, inspite of Spike.

I am in direct contact with ivillage and they are looking into his abuse of power.

I tried to get on GW tonight, to see what would happen, and I still can't post there, and it's been 3 years since I was disneyed.

Not very forgiving of minor infractions I guess.

GW was the first gardener's website that I joined. I would post topics and reply to others, but no one was ever very friendly over there, at least not those that belonged to the same forums as I. I had a whole trade and grow list set up and tried repeatedly to trade with other members. One member finally responded 6 months later, but I had the seeds already! I just didn't like the feel of the place. It's definately not Davesgarden or even close.
I'm very glad that we have Davesgarden. I've never felt more at home with friends than I do here!

Thanks,
Randy

Gemila got Disney'd because she said something nice about me....and I got Disney'd because...oh, I forget, I think it was because I was friendly with someone else. It was like living a double life...or...Junior High School.

As in any open discussion, there are all levels... Personally, I will try again and see if I get a trip to DL... My first love is DG...REAL people here...

Aloha

They have a new banner up that says, "Go to neverland any time you like" ROFL!

RikerBear, GOOD LUCK! The abuse of the "ban" button over there is just ridiculous. I'd like to hear what happens.

I wonder what would happen if all that got banned would write to i village & tell them what happened to get them banned that perhaps they'd see how many have actually been banned & see that their user names are still counted as members.

Gemila

I tried. "Spike, Webmaster" turned me down. The subject line was ABUSE.

I replied that I though 3 years was long enough in Disneyland and that doesn't "time heal all wounds"?

We shall see.

Carol

I still want my refund of the membership "donation" I had paid ahead of time and told him I was leaving because of the way the other members were acting. He politely explained donations were non refundable. That is because my sending the money ahead of time should not have been applied until the day I actually was due.

Minor infractions is sure correct! I got "reminders" because HE didn't like my subject line, although everyone else seemed to understand it. Go figure?? Then I mentioned...GASP...Yahoo!! How DARE anyone think we could possibly talk about gardening ANY other place! GW is a great place but they do not own our right to discuss gardening off of there. Unforgiving will come back to bite them, and I didn't make that rule.

HOW does one get in contact with someone at ivillage? When I clicked on "contact us" it still brought me to the same screen that contacts "him".

feedback@mail.ivillage.com


This message was edited Mar 18, 2005 5:30 PM

This message was edited Mar 18, 2005 8:14 PM

You would have to go to Ivillage website and contact them from there. You could then mention without it being in the subject line what problems you have had there.

ivillage contact page
http://www.ivillage.com/support/0,,qk3v,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=2

RikerBear...thanks. I told iVillage my humble opinion.
Carol

And we paid MONEY for that?

tsk tsk

I have seen changes going on there for awhile now and have heard of members being Diz ne'd off and known a few. I now seem to know a few more!LOL ...I personally have thought it over and removed photos from my posts. I have no idea what's going to happen there. I also had an incident happen to me today and it made me think really hard about how public that place is for everyone.

Without getting into much detail I had a young High School student remark about who I was. I live next to a large school and was working in the yard. He recognised my home from a post I did and my Angel trumpets that his Mom liked. I then remember that I had mentioned numberous times the hours I work. Oh well you can guess I set myself up for who knows what.. I tend to forget how many have access to all of this.

Oh well I have excellent Neighbors and we all look out for each other.

That was pretty irresponsible of the person to mention your personal information.
I would have Spike remove that thread as things are there for quite a while before they fade away. Also save that email back and forth to him as proof, in case he doesn't remove it and you have something happen. He needs to start taking responsibility for his website now that a bigger company is liable. I would hate to see a class action lawsuit go on to Ivillage for something he did or didn't do. LOL

I did hear back from iVillage that they are going to look into the matter. It was a "form" letter, so who knows.

Carol

Mine was form letter first too....but than I did get a non automated responce also. Time will tell.................

Nothing has changed over there. I did two queries. The first was "spike sold" and the second was "spike has sold". If you do it yourself also use the quotes in your search. Most of the comments have been deleted.

http://search.gardenweb.com/search/nph-ind.cgi?term=%22spike+has+sold%22

An awful lot of "Whoops" I'd say. This just reinforces why I'll never go back there.

-Ron-

This message was edited Mar 19, 2005 3:16 PM

I can't believe this was part of the thread.
"Posted by: xxxxxxx (My Page) on Thu, Mar 17, 05 at 7:53

davesgarden still owned by Dave? If anything changes too drastically here, I'm afraid it will be Dave who gets my money. As a contributing member, I DO have a choice on where to pay my dues, I would always rather "the little guy" get my paltry $15 then some huge corporation who 1) doesn't need it, and 2) won't use it for my best interest.
iVIllage, please listen to us. The reason so many of us are passionate about Gardenweb is because Spike took the time AND love to make Gardenweb what it is today.

A response from your representative(s) would be greatly appreciated."


If I ever mentioned anything in a post like Davesgarden it wouldn't even send the post. Spike must be sleeping or gone. LOL



This message was edited Mar 21, 2005 1:22 PM

I was once being helped by a young man in CA....13 years old and a computer geek and a Palm "fan".... So, he contacted me and asked if I wanted help getting back on to GW...that he had been kicked off because of his spelling!!! A bright kid, who knew his palms, but OH DEAR, his spelling offended someone. Well, I was on all of his connections (still don't know how he did it) until someone recognized his MO and he got kicked off...and so did I.

Same happened with my computer, DH's computer, cookies or not.

Hey, guys....I know this is a mighty interesting spectator sport for many of you. But I'm kinda leary of having too many referring threads from here to there. (Putting myself in Spike's shoes, I'd probably be a little touchy right now, and having competing sites hitting mine with links in threads I can't read would probably not do much for my naturally sunny disposition ;o)

So can we return to the regularly scheduled programming? In case y'all didn't look at your calendars, spring has officially SPRUNG! I know it's old news for some of you, and a still-distant dream for others. But today it's sunny and mild here in middle Tennessee, and I'm very happy that spring has decided to return this way. We have bluebirds setting up housekeeping, and the daffodils are in full force everywhere I look - definitely things to make anyone smile.

Edited to say I've also done a bit of cleanup and the thread is now locked. My other option was to remove it altogether, and it's not our typical style to completely sweep these things under the rug - the sale of GardenWeb is newsworthy and of interest to the gardening community at large.

But reading this thread through the eyes of a newcomer - and perhaps someone who meanders over here from there....well, the thread just didn't give a flattering or accurate portrayal of the typical tone of our discussions here. And my guess is that most of the hyperlinks (which I removed) won't work for much longer anyway.

Thanks for your patience, Terry...that felt so good!!!

Nuf said...outta here to kill some slugs ...

Aloha