21 February 2008

I could really use....

a break...
a scrappy happy moment...
anything to take my mind off of what is going on...
Just warning you now...this will probably turn into a book! Read on if you like...I need to get it out!!
So I have been a member of a certain site for a long long long time. I had over 10,000 posts there. I have made what I feel are "lifelong" online friends...these girls I would do anything for and they would do ANYTHING FOR ME! i was on the DT there and loved every minute of inspiring my friends and being inspired by them. Well just a couple of days ago we get a MASS EMAIL from the owner, sheis firing us and starting over...we are "required' to complete our duties thru February. Now with that said, being off the dt is no biggie for me. I understand the ways and means of an online site and the dt switches every 6-12 months everywhere on every site. That is the way you get fresh new perspectives, new people, new ideas. I am all for that. WHAT I DO NOT LIKE is the way this all went down. A mass emai lto say we are terminated??? NO discussion in the dt forum on the site?? NO nothing...just basically a slap in the face saying we are not good enough for "the owner" and that we dont do enough for her. She wants girls who are active on other sites, that linger at other online galleries, and that can teach new techniques. DOES SHE REALLY KNOW WHO I AM AND WHAT I DO??? I am active all over the place, and I can multitask on boards like no other. Guess that is not really the root of my anger. I am not angry at the fact that we were fired. I am angry at the way she approached it.
I could mud sling right now and throw her name out here for all to see...I could throw links to the site and show you all just how much drama she has caused on her own board...which has now been EMPTIED of its' members because they were made aware of the situation and they left the board for another board. She also stated that the people on her message board just don't buy from her and she is NOT HERE to pay for us to havea place to hang out. Well well well...aren't we all high and mighty?? Guess our years of dedication to that site is all for nothing. That is the way I feel. Her lack of respect for her members and her now defunkt design team really makes me question her motives and her true feelings for us. After her email went out, the other emails from other dt members started flowing in and 'the owner" decided to do some mud slinging of her own and things got UGLY!!! I actually waited more tan 24 hours to respond to her emails....wanted to sit with it for a bit before I said anything I would regreet...well I got ready to send my email retort, tried to log onto the site and saw that I WAS BANNED from the site...yeah you heard me right.....BANNED!!!! She banned all of for what she said we were doing thru pm's???? she was reading our pm's. Very shady indeed. Only pm I ever wrote was to the members I absolutely adore and I wanted their emails...that was it...no more....no less....cuz I KNEW that she was reading our pm's. I am loyal to my girls and I wanted them to know what was going on. Just like you would let any best friend know of your life happenings. Agreed??

This is truly really all soo messed up. Nt only were we not able to say goodbye on the boards to some of our most dedicated online buddies, we were not able to tell our side of the story. This is ultimately what I HATE to see in the scrappy world. This is not why I scrap and I will not tolerate drama of any kind. I am totally washing my hands of that site and of her. Maybe one day soon I will come on and let you know just where this all went down...but for now I have integrity that "the owner" has none of. I care about what happens to ppl's feelings...she does not...she has to simmer and sit on the fact that her mb has now gone down the tubes and she will get plenty of "site jumpers" to fill her new dt call that are just there for the free product and that will still not buy from her store just as she said her current mb is not buying from her. I sooo wish this did not happen, but it did and it is over and I am thru with her.

23 comments:

Unknown said...

Well said sunshine! ((((BIG HUG))))

love you!
J

Jenn said...

Hope this helped you feel better about things Michelle...

Jenn

Anonymous said...

So sorry, darling. As you know, I jumped ship from the site when she came on board - busy life as the main reason, whhcih was totally true, but the leaving was fueled bu a gut feeling about her that I got from my first communications. Something just didn't sit well. Wish I could have shared that gut instinct with you so you could have avoided the stress of it all. But she is definitely wishing she had handled things differently now, as the sound of chirping crickets on her board will be something she will have to listen to for awhile. Many ((hugs)). The most important part is you kept you friends.

Jenny said...

Jennifer/sillypea: I had a wierd feeling at the beginning too! I think it was the fact that she never tried to get to REALLY know us and was only on the board to "promote" her overpriced store!

Michelle, we love you, we love your work and what it inspires in us!!!!! I would follow you ANYWHERE!

Michele said...

Her loss is our gain! We are so excited to have new members at our message board to chat with! Sorry you all had to go through all of this drama!

Nancy K. said...

Michelle you know how I feel on this. I am sorry we all had to go thru it. I too never got to say goodby before the big ban and only PM'd one member as a reply to her thanks for the game prize I sent her. I guess being kind gets you banned in the end. I never got any sort of response from her when I told her my feelings in a constructive way and well that speaks volumes for me now. I never mattered to her at all and wish now I had left when I felt I needed to. I was too brainwashed to think I was actually needed and liked and I did not want to leave and hurt her. Wow was I ever so blingsided. :(

In short not trying to turn this into me but just know I feel your pain and hope that time will make everyone feel better. :)

Love Ya girlie!

Anonymous said...

so glad you shared what happened - Karma - when you treat people bad it comes back to you in the end...feel sorry for her really....think she probably sees now that what she did was wrong but won't admit it. Glad to be moving on and love that all our friends have come over to Scraplove - also love getting to know the members from this board - great group of ladies - I am lucky to be here!!!

(((hugs)))

Donna said...

Hi, I used to visit this site frequently and I stopped for a while, and when I came back I noticed everyone was missing! It is ashame and I don't know the owners reasons why she did what she did but if the reason for releasing everyone was because you guys would not buy from her? Outrageous! As if being part of the team isn't enough? Didn't you girls put in enough time keeping the forums going, organizing challenges and contests and making layouts for the site? Ok a kit is valued at 25-30 dollars and how much time did you put in a month, certainly below minimum wages if you figure it out. As a DT for another site, I know and you know we don't do it for the free products, a perk yes, but we do it because we love scrapping, and we love the people I know from the boards! I know how dedicated you girls were! It is just ashame! I wish all of you best of luck Please feel free to share this with other members from the DT!

Kristy said...

i am really glad that you got to have your side of the story. It is truly truly sad that this all went down. "That place" was a home for soooo long. it was where i went for advice from "my family" when i was planning my wedding and picking different things for advice and opinions. it was the first place i went when i found out that my mother had cancer. it was where i turned when scott and i had another great loss in our lives. it is such a slap in a face that we are not welcome because we wouldn't buy from her crappy store. it horrible what she did to the DT and i hope she is enjoying her crickets while we have our group hugs and pillow fights. sorry this so long!

Kate said...

Michelle I am so saddened that this happened to all of you. It's just really sad to think people are actually that cold-hearted. Like what Michelle said - she'll get her Karma - even though I'm sure she's already seeing it! Keep your head up! And we are more than happy to have more Lovelies!

Jenn Breault said...

I got your back babe!
xoxo
Jenn

luvstoscrapbook said...

((((BIG HUG))))
You know you are the best.
Lub you girl!

Siany said...

I have no idea what board you are talking about, but I cant believe anyone could be so horrible! Youre obviously the bigger person by not throwing her name out there and I applaud you.

Rachael said...

Well said girl! I've been MIA for a while and hop on to see what's been going on with my best cyber buddies and you are all gone! I'm going to have to head on over to scraplove so I can still "hang" with you all!! For someone who is running a business she definitely didn't have very good business sense and like Michelle said about bad karma is sooo true! Love ya girlie!!

Linda365 said...

Love you michelle--relax a little and do some scrapping!

MichelleStrachan said...

Michelle, what a terrible way for her to handle that!!! She doesn't seem to know who you are!!! You DO hang out all over the boards, you are active, you are inspirational... how shocking! I have to admit, though, curiousity's got the best of me... off to find out if I know where this is! Terrible! HUGS to you!!!

Michelle said...

Michelle really sorry to hear this!really sad that it happened this way!you have awesome TALENT!She is losing a great DT person! like Michelle said Karma what comes around goes around!hopefully she will learn to handle things more tactfully!
I just wish I was one of your "friends" that you let now what was going on!

Lisa J. said...

Michelle I have been out of action for awhile. I feel certain that I know which board you speak of and I have never bought since she took ownership because she charges outrageous prices including shipping and her kits didn't do a thing for me. You all bent over backwards for her and I am sorry that she did this. I hope justice is served. Now I need to go empty my gallery there.

Tracey Taylor said...

This kind of thing is the only thing I dislike about scrapping. Sorry this had to happen. :(

Gigi said...

ugh! oh michelle....that is horrendous...i'm so so sorry

hugs my friend :)

Kelly said...

What a raggedy sad woman (like my new insult?) to pull something like that to the people who help make her site work! She's not even worth you being down about it girlie- chin UP! I am hear if ya need ventin'!

*Rachel* said...

Love you, Michelle! Well said!
Such a crappy situtation, but so glad it has made us all even tighter than we were before!
HUGS!

*Rachel* said...
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