DG has been sold

http://davesgarden.com/namemedia.php

Sounds like this will be handled much better than a certain other gardening website. I am happy for Dave and the others.

Scott

I'm glad to have just paid my dues. LOL Dave has earned every advantage of this sale. Congrad Dave and Terry.

Kevin, I am skeptical as you are. I just posted on the thread a few minutes ago. Wonder if a hike in subscription price to cover all the things enumerated (a decent living for those involved, retainer for a lawyer to handle legal issues, etc.) was considered instead.

It's just common sense that the parent corp will want to make money. They are backed by venture capitalists, who maintain board seats--those kind of folks aren't the soft hearted "we love gardening" types.

Congrats to Dave and Terry! It's a smart business move and hopefully the mesh of company cultures will work out well.

Well my biggest concern is that they ultimately call the shots. They can promise everything and change their mind tomorrow. In almost every merger / acquisition, etc., what is said initially never turns out to be what actually happens. What if they are not satisfied with the revenue DG generates from the Dave's 'old model'?

Victor

It would have been nice if all of the paying members could have voted on it. Oh' well, what's done is done.

Or if Dave would have said he needs x amount more per subscription to cover all necessary expenses. Maybe we could have pulled it off and left it the way it used to be, with no uncertainty.

My thoughts stem more from curiosity than judgement, but I can't help but wonder what direction we are headed. Garden Web is now part of a very specific media chain, Garden Web-ivillage-msnbc-nbc. How do our written words play a part in this chain of communication? It seems Dave has a very specific idea in terms of the role some of the smarty pants amongst us can play at Garden.com. This opportunity may offer some very talented folks a pre step -up prior to publishing and good for them, but what of the rest of us? kt

Did anyone find out what the rates will be.???????????????//

$25 per year........

My membership was/is due Mar. 2, so I paid to have it taken care of.

Have any of you grown or seen in person Cercis canadensis 'Covey'. In Wayside it is $79.00 bareroot. In FF it is $59.00 for size 5, which means shipped in a 5 gal. which means $24.00 additional. A smaller one is not avaiable. Maybe I can persuade my daughter to come out for a visit in early May and we can make the trip to southern Oregon again. Doesn't take too many 5 gal. shipping costs to pay the gas for the trip. i would also like to get another Tilia.

This forum will run about the same as Herronswood closing. Not that DG will close but the comments on change and how it is bad for those who don't want it to occur. Dave and Associates have built a great product with LOTS of creative work and effort. Now as anyone who gets a pay check or owns a business it is time to cash in and reap the rewards of long hours. I see this as a success story that all of us have benefited from and will continue to benefit. We all knew that Dave was no businessman by charging 15 bucks per year. LOL

I agree with Soferdig. $15 a year was an utter steal, and $25 is still so much less than what it is worth to me personally. I bet it's still less than the going rate for something this wonderful!!!!! Besides, they are all young and security is a good thing. This is a business after all, and although we all have gotten used to the great feeling of "family" here, it is their creation and they have a right to do what is best for their lives and their future. More power to them, I wish I had been as industrious and talented when I was their age!
If I was their Mom, my buttons would be busting around the room like bullets. :~)

K

Soferdig & Kachinagirl, Thanks for steering the discussion in the right direction. Change is what the world and gardening is about. Congratulations to a young, creative entrepreneur. His biggest problem will be learning how to work in a formal, hierarchical organization. His wife said on another thread that he had been self-employed most of their marriage. I expect he will experience greater change than we will. I wish him, his wife and Terry well. Peace.

I know I can't stand going on GardenWeb because of all the ads. Sure hope DG doesn't change!

I feel very uneasy with the thought that this is our site and we should have a say about it. Yes, we use it, and cotribute to it. But . . . . how would you feel about all the people that visit your private gardens, and maybe bring you a plant you lust over: should they have a say, and tell you how to plant, design and maintain your garden creation?

Sure, I hope DG stays the same too. But I wish only happiness and success for the DG team, where ever that takes them.

Rick

That's only partly true. Yes, they created it and did the grunt work and deserve to have security for their families. However, remember the '...by Gardeners' part of the motto. No community, no DG. One of the expressions of the internet age is 'content is king'. Where does the DG content come from?? People are right to be concerned that their contributions be treated as they always have been. And though we hope that what Dave says will actually happen, it's naiive to think that a for-profit company, whose ultimate accountability is to the bottom line, would not change course and do something entirely different from what they originally promised if it would improve that bottom line. I hate to sound like a cynic and I'm certainly sticking around to see what happens and keeping my fingers crossed, but even an occasional glance at the business section will educate one about the cold realities.

The free market system is still "free-er" than a socialistic one. Sure, we contribute, but we reap the benefits of that too. In our free market system, those who don't enjoy changes which are made to any business are free to take their business elsewhere. If so many changes occur that Dave's begins to lose business instead of gaining, it will alert the "powers that be" to the fact that there is a problem needing attention. Dave's heart is in Dave's Garden. One of the reasons they made him an offer he couldn't refuse was probably because of his success with this site. They most likely want him to do more of that very same magic. I still hold strong to the fact that Dave's belongs to Dave. We are like guests at a party...sure I brought chips and dip....but that doesn't give me the right to tell the host how to run his party. What kind of guests would we be if we started grousing about with each other about things like, "What if the food runs out? What if the soda goes flat?" Can't we enjoy the party instead of spending time worrying about something that we have no control over and hasn't even happened yet? If it does, we can each decide how we want to react to it then. For now, how about we all be proud of Dave for his success and accomplishments in life! We can even be proud of the fact that we were a part of the success of Dave's Garden because of our contributions!

K

I'm with you Kachinagirl! Dave told us he's not going to change the things we love about the site, and I take him at his word, he's always acted in the best interest of the site and there's nothing that would make me believe that's going to change. And for the concerns about the new company wanting to change things to make more money...I really believe a lot of the value they got out of this deal was Dave himself, so I think they'll look for value he can create for them in other areas rather than trying to squeeze as much profit as possible out of DG. And of course if all this is wrong and things do change, then we can all walk away and not participate anymore. But for now I think we need to assume the best!

Voicing a legitimate concern is hardly the same as "worrying about something that we have no control over". And more importantly, I thought the whole idea of DG was to share thoughts freely. Suddenly, we are not permitted to do so? 90 % of gardening discussion is "worrying about something that we have no control over" - weather, weeds, planting success, etc. We are all proud of and happy for Dave and crew and proud of our contribution to the success of DG - no one is disputing that. But that has zero to do with the concerns people have raised. People should not be dissuaded from discussing things that concern them. If someone has no concerns, good for him or her.

I know it is hard to see change and to have the feeling someone else will be controlling DG. Many of us have a sense of ownership when it comes to this site. We've contributed photos and information, made friends, had friends pass away, have seen relationships grow to be deep loving friendships and also have seen a few crash. More than all of that, we have watched this site grow and grow.

When Dave started this site, I doubt he planned for things to get so big. You can't run something this massive and work a regular job and you also can't call the subscriptions a regular income that you can plan your financial future on or around. Dave and Trish and Terry also have families to support. As much I am nervous about the sale, I'd have to say I'd have done the same thing. They do a lot of work and they do deserve compensation for it.

They have stated that things will stay the same and with the past history being what it is, I think they deserve a fair chance to prove it. I think it's great that someone can make a living doing what they love and in a field where they excel! I for one, am sitting here waiting to see what Dave, with more time on his hands, has up his sleeve. :)

I'll go crawl back into my hole now.

Ahem. (clearing my throat ;o) Dave knew that members would have concerns when he made the announcement. We have around 200 forums where members hang out with their DG friends, but if every forum creates a thread like this, he can't address specific questions or concerns in 200 threads.

Please use the thread Dave created just for your questions and concerns so he can respond to each of you personally: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/687588/ (Or take him up on his offer and call him up to speak with him one-on-one.)

Excellent sentiments, Badseed, and very well said.

Scott

badseed, I don't know of any posts that take issue with that. You're right on all counts. Everyone understands why Dave did it. Did anyone say he did not have the right to do it? People are not concerned at all that Dave will not keep his word. They are concerned it's no longer his word that matters.

I just get the feeling many people feel violated or like they should have had a say. For as much as "WE" make up DG, it still was/is not ours. All any of us can do is wait and see. No harm, no foul. Dave, Trish and Terry are responding to posts on the DG forum.

I don't feel violated, nor do I think I should have had a say, or that Dave selling this place is any of my business at all. It's capitalism at its finest. I just think it's naive to think that things stay the same. It's just the way things work. If this site was a cash flow machine, perhaps it would be left alone as Warren Buffett does when he acquires companies. Since it's not a cash flow machine, why would a new owner NOT try and maximize their return? I've seen it a thousand times, and the song remains the same.

I agree with Kevin, as we remain optimistic about the future and hope for no changes - we must remember that it is not our company and no one is forcing us to be here if we are unhappy.

I too have been rewarded in education, entertainment, and friendship in my year long association with DG far in excess of the original subscription price. I would opt for the status quo, if only that I see some possible correlations to the recent adverse developement at Herronswood. What the new owner there did was to try to"capture the magic" of the previous owner without success. There is magic here at DG, much of it our interaction; however, Dave provided the impetus and the direction for that to florish. I would hope that he continues in the position to continue to drive the engine in the direction we enjoy.