Seems Dave has now left a thread about the situation on the old site.

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/s ... hp?t=31253

I wish them all the best, but I really don't think I jumped the gun. I was quite open about talking about what I was doing and at any point they could have responded to my many pm's and emails and said - hold that thought, we are working on something.... etc... The way the announcements were made and the speed in which they happened left many of us believing that there was going to be a much shorter time line then we had been given.

Ah well water under the bridge - I personally don't care if folks visit both sites, and I don't think there is any reason to take sides. Lets all get back to playing with Photoshop and having fun!

You know it's over, what's done is done!

It could have gone the other way and we would all be homeless. I remember reading Matt's message. The forum will end. I am very thankful for what you and Christian did. My gosh, if I treated my clients that way.. I would have NO clients.

I'm staying put. I hope the site grows up nicely.

I responded to Dave's message merely to thank him for responding and also to tell him this could have been avoided if they had communicated better to Jane without actually saying Jane's name.

Look at the bright side. We have two sites now where we have great friends and resources.

Hi folks,
I just read Dave Cross' post telling us what Big Heroes they all are at KW or whatever they call themselves now. I couldn't help but think that we're supposed to feel sorry for the KWs because "we" didn't respond well to being told that we were history. I never saw such load of self-serving c**p in my life.

Poor KW, in a no-win situation. Dave's post leaves me with the impression that we should be thanking them for closing down. They claim to have expended a"huge amount of effort" on our behalf. They feel our pain (they love saying that ) and they want us to feel theirs.

Dave just can't understand why our local heroes started this site. Why didn't they wait to see what developed? Well, as I understand it, KW didn't answer questions about migrating the old forum to a site that was being developed at no expense or effort to them, but instead dropped their "village" on an unsuspecting membership, and declare themselves heroes. (I'm really amused by the guy who bragged, in another thread over there, about doing some of the migration work "from the command prompt". I guess we should be impressed that a self-proclaimed "web programmer" can use a computer. Wow!

Dave's post is just a lot of "We're poor, misunderstood babies and we feel your pain, but you should be thanking us for all the effort and creativity we've put into screwing things up". Rather than actually contribute anything useful, Dave's post shows KW to be just another whiny CYA factory. The more they post, the worse they sound.

To the creators, Jane and Christian, my thanks. I have an inkling of what you're up to your necks in and you have my gratitude and my offer to help if I can. (I've always wanted to be an Immoderator. Could I? Could I?)

Have fun,
Steve

Why didn't they wait to see what developed?

I liked that part also. Their story was changing minute by minute. Matt said, no forum. What were we supposed to wait for?

It will all work itself out.. some will come here, some will stay there and some will visit both.

I still think they handled it wrong. I know it is all about running a business but Dave can't put the blame on any of the members that decided to come to this site. Like others have said, were we just supposed to sit and wait, I think not. I don't think Jane or any one else made a bad decision. I wish all the members luck because the PET forum was one in a million when it came to sharing techniques and helping each other. It feels like a divorce. After readng Dave's post in the Village I don't have much respect for him. In fact, I had more more respect for him before I read his post.

That FW handled things wrong is an understatement! They're like a ship with no rudder or a rowing team with all the oars on one side of the boat.
A big fat THANK YOU to Jane and Christian for the effort put forth. I'm moving forward and NOT looking back....'nuff said.
Chas

Hey friends... I guess I see it slightly different. I just hope we can all put this in the past and try to move forward. I think Dave is hurt... rightfully so... and doesn't seem to fully understand all the emotions we are feeling... which is somewhat surprising. It could be that they are so involved in the massive changes happening there that they can't fully understand it from our side. I keep trying to remove myself from the emotions I've been feeling over the past few days and trying to get into the minds of what it must be like if you are a KW employee. I'm sure it's not easy for them either. I'm not saying there weren't opportunities for them to handle it a little better. But hindsight is always clearer, isn't it?!?! Once they realized what a mistake it would be to pull the plug on the forum, they immediately took steps to find a solution. Okay, they didn't tell us that's what they were trying to do (probably because they didn't know if they could do it for sure) and they didn't respond to Jane (probably for the same reason - but not a good reason). In any case, the point is this: they did change their direction because they realized they hadn't really considered the impact of removing the forum and how (relatively) easy it would be to maintain it. Once they did figure it out, they did the right thing (even if they didn't communicate it). Gotta give them credit for that.

Anyway, I'm not trying to stir things up. I think most of you know me well enough to know that I try to be the peacemaker. I am hoping that we will all stop casting stones and think about our own motives and go back to having the trust and belief system that made our forum so good and strong -- that we always believed the best in each other -- even the KW group. If they say that they are trying to make things as best as they can for us in the midst of doing what they have to do as a business... then I'm going to believe that. I've had to make those kinds of tough decisions in business. I don't think that any of them are malicious. We've never thought that in the past... why would we think it now. The events and timeline just didn't happen very good... and that's sad... but now we need to look at our own motives and remember that we should not be casting stones. At least... I won't. Love to all! Your friend, Norm (WingAnimal)

By the way... I do thank Jane and Christian for their hard work. I will remain a member of BOTH forums.

Norm, I think all of us here have gotten over it and moved on a few days ago. We are back to life as normal