Group: Ipernity Members Association Project

Thanks to Eric for setting this group up.

We really need to know more from the owners about why they want to close down.
FInancial problems or loss of interest - are they just tired of the work involved in running the service ?
If its finance only then it may be easier to solve.

1) If we make sure more people understand what is happening it may attract a buyer although as users of the service we will be unsure what a new owner will do to iPernity

2) A Crowdfunding solution to help the current owners seems attractive to many users but is of no use if the current owners do not want to continue rumning the service.

Just my first thoughts to start. Colin

I believe Ipernity can still be saved if there is the will to do it and Christophe cooperates. Both financial and/or lack of interest aren't unfixable impediments. But for Ipernity to be saved, we need real profit-loss information as well as confirmation if Christophe lost interest.

I believe the software and databases from IP's servers should be uploaded to Amazon Cloud where Amazon's staff would maintain everything. We need traffic and storage use info so that Amazon could let us know the monthly cost, which can be covered by club memberships and advertising.

Similar to a condo board, key members could drive this process. An Ipernity Pay Pal account can be established so that club memberships and ad fees are directly deposited and Amazon Cloud fees are deducted. Ipernity's Membership board could closely monitor the finances to ensure viability. I know I wouldn't charge anything for doing my part to help out since site viability and the human relationships that go with it are most important to me. I know there are other members out there who would do the same.

The Membership board could also be transparent and issue a monthly report in the IP blog so that everyone knows where the site stands so if for some reason shortfalls emerge people can respond quickly and efficiently.

And of course when the site is stable and financially secure, the Membership board could explore options for innovations and upgrades that I'm sure Amazon Cloud staff could explore, develop and implement for a fee.

However for this to happen, Christophe has to agree to transfer server software and databases. If he doesn't, perhaps some of our French members could submit a court filing to prevent software and database destruction as long as a viable option for maintaining the site does exist. Non-French members like myself would have to know the cost of legal fees so that we could do our part and contribute.

For now these are my thoughts.

p.s. Human relationships should not be destroyed as long as viable options exist for saving this site.

As Juleann says you seem to be well versed in this matter.

While my French is rudimentary, I am able to get the gist of the most recent posting and note that Ipernity is listed on one of the French markets "cotėe en bourse". That being the case there is usually a regulatory requirement to publish financial reports on (at least) an annual basis. Assuming the listing is public this information should be available as should the capital structure.

Here are some links regarding Ip financial reports:
(en) https://www.euronext.com/en/products/equities/FR0010777680-XMLI/company-information
(en) http://www.finanzen.net/bilanz_guv/IPERNITY_ORG
(fr) http://www.societe.com/societe/ipernity-org-435069216.html

You make excellent points

You mention Amazon as a parking lot for Ipernity with Technical help from their staff which is a sound suggestion.
Likewise to do the same using Yahoo who could combine, but keep the social section seperated from Flickr as both sites have photo storage, the Ipenity photo displaying and folder -album idea being better than that on Flickr.. I say this as I know many users on Ipernity also have accounts on Flickr which would be an easy to digest solution without the need of special transfering tools There is however a risk as Yahoo are working toward selling their Web interests to a Chinese company, may be good as
a) improvements may happen in new hands, or
b) Flickr users will then migrate to Ipernity bringing in more much needed revenue.

Increasin the Club fee by 100 % is an idea too as Ipernity as is has been developed into what can only be described as a Unique Social Website without thinking about how many free users there are contra Club members, Let the Active ones remain for the normal Three month free trial then either Pay or close their accounts. Many of thos named 97 K free users do not exist in reallity, I know of several that died during the past three years, many others came over fromMultiply in 2011 onlyto leave again without shutting the door.. There is one drawback,too high a membership fee can price out valuabl memships

Thank you, Eric, for setting this group up.
I agree that first of all we need to know whether Christophe accepts any help, and if so secondly we need business / financial and technical information.

Thank you all.

I created a new thread for individual skills listing in order to concentrate them.
When needed this will be useful for directly contacting the persons.
If you've any other suggestions please advise me directly or other moderators.

Thanks for the group and threads ... action needed

Suggest Inviting Ip staff inc Christophe, Audrey etc to this group.

Also suggest inviting anyone who has made a concrete suggestion, even just suggestion being willing to make donations, from the Ip blog announcement thread.
(Not able to do so, I'm not a moderator)

One thing that a large UK discussion forum does, is to run a "server fund" to which users can make donations - either one-off or regularly - the team there periodically remind the membership when extra funds are needed.
There are enough donations to fund the servers, software updates and keep this specific site advert-free.

I have been a member and moderator of the Google Earth Community Forum since 2007. Last year, Google dropped its sponsorship, so some of the mods (with one as "leader") opened a new forum. All mods and members contribute when needed, starting with enough to set up the forum and get technical help. It runs very well. I know nothing of the coding that was required to make the BBS software conform to what we needed, but one mod was an expert at this. Ipernity would, I assume, require a higher financial contribution because of its high-quality layout, large quantity of photo uploads, etc.

All I know is that StoneRoad is right, it is possible for members to at least support forums. The GEC has hundreds of members in less than a year. Ip, I believe, would be able to keep way more than that and attract new ones.

With the adverts currently appearing when not "logged in" - how about a few "clicks and open a new tab" from everybody ... that might improve that income stream, very slightly.

I've suggested trying to persuade people to renew for one year - at £20 each for UK based members - to see how much response there is.
Also, try encouraging the free members to trial the three-month membership.

As I already said in the other thread: As long as Financials (and many other business and IT fundamentals) of IP are not transparent people will not donate or sponsor or (cowd)fund in a substantial way. Yes these are all possibilities but only if it is clear that the business and financial model is sustainable. And as Dominique rightly said above this highly questionable. Nobody wants to invest a cent or penny into a possibly structurally money-losing business.

In other words: Would Christophe and the other owners be willing to take any advice from a team / body of IT, Finance, Legal, Marketing and other business specialists?

This is why I believe it is important that you publish your skills in the other thread. www.ipernity.com/group/2260604/discuss/185216

Its an interesting test of Google translate to English !

Well that does explain a little more. Who knew it was public company with Shareholders ?

Je pense que si Ipernity est le meilleur site internet pour poster et échanger ses photos , ce dont je pense , il n'y a pas de raison que cela ne marche pas.

Par contre il faut effectivement modifier la politique du site pour que de l'argent puisse entrer.
Peut être faut il accepter même pour les membres club que de la pub apparaisse sur le site.
Celle si peut être discréte. Par exemple apparaître à l'ouverture du site comme sur beaucoup d'autres.
Elle peut également apparaître dans Explorer à la place d'une image.Sur une page une pub que l'on serait libre de regarder ou pas.

On peut également limité le dépôt de photographie pour éviter d'investir de façon démesuré dans des serveurs d'hebergement.On limiterait un nombre de Giga par exemple et quand ce nombre serait atteint la photo serait réexpédier à son expediteur qui serait libre d'en faire ce qu'il en veut.

Il faut également revoir le tarif .
Ce que j'aimerai savoir c'est combien avec le nombre actuel de membre club il faudrait verser par an pour que le site soit viable.

Voila quelques idées et je suis un peu déçu que les administrateurs d'ipernity n'est pas lancer un grand brain storming il y a un an pour que tout le monde donne ses idées.
En un mois on aura du mal à trouver la solution et je ne suis pas sûr en fait qu'ils aient envie de continuer leur site.

www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4642882 seems to say that unless there is a buyer it will be closed. They do not want to continue running iPernity

Bonsoir Patrice,
d'accord avec les idées que tu émets, comme apparemment beaucoup de membres dont ceux présents dans ce groupe. Ce sont des suggestions déjà anciennes et approuvées par les membres mais jamais écoutée par la direction d'Ip. Essayons donc ici et maintenant d'émettre des propositions plus concrètes et qui ne dépendent plus de la volonté des propriétaires d'IP, ne crois-tu pas ?
Merci à toi.

So the problem isn't really "just about money", although if they needed more staff then the subscriptions would need to be (probably) doubled.
.
That leaves a "buyout" or possible conversion into a "member's association" ?

Has any one tried to sell Ip to 23HQ ??

sorry I've just said something like that on the other thread (deleted it now) - Yes agreed.

They don't seem to think that adds up (doubling the subscription) but more important that the current team and owners have had enough and want to sell. So its not just a matter of better funding the service it has to be new owners and support team (as I understand it )

Or to Skyrock a sponored site in France which is a social network and the adverts do not get in the way.

I don't think 23HQ would be much use, the staff there never reply to reported Bugs of which there are many, nor do they reply to users asking for assistance I tried using it for a while but gave up and tried Flickr instead just in case Ipernity really closes..
John.

Bulk Downloading of your original Ipernity images.

I am an Ipernity user, not an admin. I had the same question many Ipernity users do: How do I bulk download all my Ipernity photos? I want Ipernity to make it, but being a realist, I think it's past time to share intelligence, compare notes and help each other with this single aspect of the situation.

The simple answer is use Down Them All!, which is a browser add-on available for MAC or PC. Ipernity mentioned it some time back:
www.ipernity.com/help/faq/album#360

It's available several places, including here:
addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/downthemall

You install it as a browser add-on in Firefox (and possibly other browsers, although I'm not sure), and then, when you go to your albums pages, it offers you a download option that doesn't exist otherwise. You'll see the change right under the small TOOLS button in the upper right hand corner of the album window. (It downloads albums only.)

The glaring fault with Down The All!, for many Ipernians, is that photo titles are not kept. Everything has a long numeral as an ID after download. But you DO get your largest original uploaded image file back.

Here's a more complicated answer, from Ipernity Support from December 6:

My Q: "Is there a TOOL to let users to download their photos WITH THE TITLE intact?
Down The All! is stripping away names of pictures. Help, suggestions, advice, tips, please."

Their A: "One of our dear contributor developed a tool to send back your album to Flickr.

"Please consult this link : github.com/benmesander/flop

"If you do not know how to use it, please be patient, we will post instructions asap."

This holds promise, but it is a very tech intensive solution. I HOPE Ipernity shares a little more info about how to use this.

Good luck.

As you say The DownThemAll plugin on Firefox does the job for a bulk download of the photos from an iPernity Album. I have started to do this today as even if iPernity survives I feel stupid for not having a local copy of ALL my photos. My first step was to make sure all my photos were in an Album - I couldn't find a clever way of checking that so I ended up creating new albums using the filter of Upload year to capture all photos, BUT it is just an emergency backup - A solution which keeps the details is required. Back to Flickr I could live with if necessary but iPernity surving is a much better idea.

I've been using the site for nearly 4 years now and throughout that time the management team seem to have stumbled from one crisis to another, often of their own making, without any sense of direction or the merest hint of a plan.

Bad decisions or no decisions have been the modus operandi for far too long and despite repeatedly claiming to want what is best for the site and the community it gives a home to they've failed to respond to repeated attempts by that same community to work with them to turn things around.

Even now with the site under real threat of closure they are still reluctant it seems to be fully open about what is happening and what is going to happen. That said I think the vast majority of us have drawn our own conclusions, but doesn't that just yet again emphasise how bad the team are at communicating.

There are people on the site that have had information put to them that would be better in the public domain and yet they have been asked not to divulge what has been said to them. We also here talk of potential buyers, one supposedly very serious only a few weeks ago, and yet there have been no public updates since then to say how these discussions are progressing. Then there are rumours of talks with individuals over how the site might be 'saved' if a buyer cannot be found, but once again there have been no official announcements.

Then there’s this very group which has attracted much support with many people working hard to pool their ideas and come together to discuss ways in which the site might be saved. All for what though? Is anyone from Team Ipernity actually taking any notice of what this group is doing and are they actively talking to the people that have set it up or is it yet another example of what we Brits would call lip service whereby they hear what is being said, but it doesn't make any difference?

Surely, with just over 4 weeks to go until the possible closure date it is time for someone to step out of the shadows to make some sort of announcement about what is happening behind the scenes and what can be expected over the coming weeks. If closure is likely or even inevitable surely by now they should have a 'route map' with key dates for when certain things will happen and an indication of what assistance there will be to help users cope with what closure of the site will mean to them.

Surely it is time for them to make us aware of their plans ... or is it yet another case of them simply not having a plan at all?

I still like to believe the people behind this site are genuine and that they do have the best interests of the community at heart, but the countdown clock is ticking and each day that goes by without any kind of a public statement makes it harder and harder to cling onto that belief.

It also sees more and more people drawing their own conclusions and leaving, not because they want to, not because there's an equivalent never mind a better product out there, just because they've had enough of all the uncertainty.

And what of the fact that no mass mailing has taken place yet to communicate with the community as a whole that the site is under threat ... why has this not taken place and is it really acceptable that, as it currently stands, it would appear the first many might know of the site's closure may well be when they try to visit it one day and discover it no longer exists?

So many questions, but all quite straightforward and yet it seems almost impossible to get any of them answered! :(

I've just looked at the Club subscription page - It tells me I can "extend" my sub for three months at cost of £7.99 and takes me as paid up until mid-December 2017.

That seems a bargain to me.

If that sum from enough club members will keep the Ipernity servers / cloud up and running for a bit longer, then I'll be happy.

I paid up until October 1st 2018 and at the same time gave my son a two year Club membership as he was a free rider.
John.

Allen Fotofreunden bei Ipernity ein frohes und gesundes neues Jahr 2017. Glück für das Leben und für Ipernity

Here's to 2017 - let us hope that we get the right answer to our wishes for Ipernity to continue.

With less than a month to go to the point at which Team Ipernity said this site may close I find little comfort in anything I've read over the last few weeks.

It all sounds as vague and uninspiring as so many of their statements over the last couple of years: we're still here; we're listening; we appreciate your support; we hope to have more news soon ... sorry, but I'm starting to find it all rather wearisome ... I think 've lost all hope of a happy ending to this story! :(

I'm going to give them a little longer, as Audrey seemed to think *some* progress was being made in "discussions" behind the scenes. Also opening up the three months for £7.99 extensions to Club Subscriptions, from "nothing" seems an interesting move to make ...

I really hope that Ipernity doesn't close down. My subscription has to be renewed in 10 days, so I will do so if there is an Ipernity to pay.

Jenny, There appears to be an option to renew "club" for 3 months at a cost of £7.99.

That should give you some help ...

I really, really hope I'm proved wrong and that a 'White Knight' is found to save this site, but like I say I'm finding it increasingly difficult to retain any sense of optimism! :(

I even suggested to Christophe that he might want to talk to Peter Jones CBE, the highly successful British entrepreneur and businessman who has investments in a variety of areas including mobile phones, television, media, leisure and property.

Many in the UK will know him best through the BBC Two television show "Dragons' Den" which provides entrepreneurs with the opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of five wealthy investors and pitch for financial investment while offering a stake of the company in return.

Now whilst I wasn't suggesting Christophe go on "Dragon's Den" I did suggest he gave some serious thought to contacting him direct to see if he might be interested in ipernity and not simply because he's a successful entrepreneur, but because only a few years ago he rescued the UK photographic retailer Jessops, which was due for closure and has since completely revitalised the brand. The business now has over 50 stores in the UK with sales exceeding £80m and is profitable for the first time in many years.

With a focus on all things imaging, I know Peter Jones firmly believes that Jessops can extend its offering, and to me at least having a bolt-on photo sharing platform would surely be of some interest. After all, they don't just sell camera and photographic equipment but also run photographic courses etc. Yes, Jessops is primarily a UK business, but I see no reason why that would not make bringing ipernity into the mix any less attractive.

Sadly, like so many of the suggestions made by people over the last few years I'm not aware that this has been acted upon! :(

It would make sense if Peter Jones did own Ipernity since it would complement his photographic retail business.

So many interesting ideas here. I thought about Peter Jones at the beginning of December when the news came through. He is an astute businessman, but I fear that our little site will not interest him in the least, unless subscription fees are increased substantially and more people join Ipernity. The former proposal would find favour with most club members I guess, but who now is joining Ipernity? No-one else probably

Has anyone even approached Peter Jones?

I suggested to Christophe a while ago Amelia that he might want to give it a go, but like so many suggestions put to Team Ipernity I heard nothing back. And when on the odd occasion you do get a reply it rarely results in anything concrete being done.

Sadly, I fear that the simple facts here are that the people with the drive and enthusiasm to keep fighting to save this site don't really have the power to change anything. Meanwhile, the people who have the power have lost the will to fight and are therefore never going to persuade anyone else to buy into a product that they themselves have evidently given up on.

I mean what kind of a sales pitch is it to say .... look here I have this great product. The site is terrific as is the user interface and the customers are so loyal. It's the best photo sharing platform there is, but a lack of forward planning and appropriate investment, combined with poor management and a disastrous inability to grow the customer base means that it is only used by a few hundred people, is losing money consistently and has a skeleton management team that really simply want out.

Yeah, right ... that's really going to convince potential investors to take it on - lol! ;)

And yes, maybe I am being a bit harsh, but I think now is indeed the time for such harsh realities to be faced. In truth there is much more I could say Amelia as over the last 14 months I've exchanged several emails with Christophe. However, more often than not what he has said has come with a caveat that I don't make his comments to me known or I've felt on a professional level that it would be inappropriate for me to do so.

So, you see I think I'm in a really good position to judge where they are at and how committed they really are to saving this site and much as I hate to say it I find them ill-equipped and highly unlikely to turn things around.

The simple truth here is that this site is a good product. The problem is that it has been poorly managed and poorly marketed ... it has been taken to the brink and unless someone with deep pockets and a genuine feeling for what this site is all about steps forward at the last minute then it is undoubtedly going to continue to fail, no only fail, but close.

It might be January, it might be February or even March. If they're really lucky they might stretch it out to their June anniversary, but it will close. I so hope I'm wrong, but I fear ipernity will despite all our best efforts fail. It will join a host of great products that have failed because people simply were unable to get the basics right! :(

I agree Larry, and sadly this uncertainty is leading more people to quit every day. :(

True at least many seem to have ceased posting new materiel and or replying, perhaps we do do some Knocking on doors while they are still connected.

Ipernity est un très bon site qu'il faudrait garder..... mais, il faut peut-être
chercher de notre coté AUSSI, un preneur..., les membres encore actifs professionnellement et
plus en contact avec des entreprises seraient plus à même à faire cette démarche..
Je suis un ancien membre de Panoramio.. absorbé par Google, je pense que ce grand meneur est aussi derrière Ipernity...la puissance directement ou indirectement de Google est énorme..! à voir peut-être aussi de ce coté... là..!
Le silence du staff d'Ipernity n'est pas trop bon signe.. soit ils sont tenus au silence sous risque
ne n'être repris ailleurs, soit ils ne savent pas non plus...!
Quant aux autres solutions déjà tellement dictées (augmentation des cotisations, adjonction de pub, limitation des téléchargements etc, etc) à mon avis ce ne sont que des compléments au problème principal..
Il est effectivement aussi à déplorer..le départ définitif de certains membres.. ou alors, la totale absence de téléchargement de photos par certains qui se targuent de rester jusqu'au bout..tout en ne faisant rien....... cela est un affaiblissement potentiel, pour le repreneur...!
Rester actif tous ensembles.. chacun à son niveau serait une bonne chose..ce n'est plus moi retraité de 70ans passés qui va pouvoir encore remuer beaucoup.. je lance le cri aux jeunes du site qui en veulent+++ et qui sont encore en contact avec les grands ou moins grands de ce monde..! battez vous, cherchez, et l'on vous suivra....! mais l'URGENCE est là
voilà ma pensée du jour....

Bonjour à tous.
depuis 1 an je suis sur Ipernity et très satisfait de ce site qui donne l'occasion d'un excellent partage de photos. Avant j'étais sur Z photo qui a rencontré d'énorme problèmes techniques et beaucoup comme moi se sont rejoint sur Iper. Je serais très déçu si il devait fermer et être obligé de rejoindre un autre site encore une fois.
Je me sens très bien ici et souhaite qu'Ipernity reste encore bien longtemps.
Je n'ai pas pour le moment de propositions à faire pour sa sauvegarde mais je trouve très intéressant aux personnes qui se donnent pour faire avancer les choses.
Je regrette qu'une seule chose, c'est le manque évident de communication des administrateurs qui laissent un flou total sur son avenir.

Qu'Ipernity demeure encore longtemps.
Amicalement Yannick

!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i feel like Roland..............

Lack of news from Ipernity is unpleasant, the well known phrase 'No News is Good news no longer applies.

I was hoping for at least an acknowledgement from the Ipernity Team, if not from Christophe, that our concerns were being actively addressed or some information as to whether the negotiations that have been mentioned were still progressing.

Its normal for any shareholders meetings in many companies not to happen til sometime in January. This wait..and if there is an interested party.. is very normal...

I am using a website that has been going through this for 4 years.. and we have fought every day of the way to keep it alive !

Nothing of this sort runs to timetable ... It is we who need to adjust our expectations.. not them

I have to agree with all those who wrote before me...The silence speaks for itself. They just want out :-(

You are right John, that saying can no longer apply.....

je marche volontiers à vos cotés ce site dois rester vivant

Je me joins à vous merci pour l'invitation bizz

Je crois que les principaux intéressé n'ont rien à faire de nos états d’Âme puisque nous somme en Janvier et rien de leur part c'est inadmissible , aucunes nouvelles depuis l'annonce de la fermeture c'est pas sérieux .
Bonne journée à tous @++

Christine,

I share your view about the Ipernity team. Only Audrey seems to care and makes an attempt to communicate. I have the highest respect for her.

Thoughts on getting Peter Jones interested seem to miss an important fact there are 55 Jessop stores through out the UK the majority of ipernity members live in mainland Europe which means very little return from the advertising potential

Well, maybe no news is good news... Meaning those discussions just are so busy and intense, and therefore no time to even post something like "We are still in discussions" =D

Hello, hello !
Here's more news :)
www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4646844

I have tried telling folk exactly what Stone Road has said above many times...... people want instant TV sitcom type happening.. but this doesnt happen in the real world.

I have personal experience of this happening (and is still going on ) on a different site for the past FIVE years.

This news Its a faint glimmer which is better than darkness...

We shall see....

Thankyou Audrey !

ich werde noch immer abwarten und Tee trinken ...

En ce qui me concerne, mes compétences seront uniquement financières car je n'ai pas de compétences informatiques. Juste une utilisatrice d'internet et de mon micro ordinateur.
Et je partage tout-à-fait ce que dit ©hristine Jurion-Meu… Une vente de fonds de commerce quelle qu'elle soit c'est un deal entre vendeur et acheteur avec des bénéfices à la clé surtout pour le ou les vendeurs.
Et trop souvent, des salariés "à la rue" et des clients récupérés par d'autres.
Ce qui m'interroge c'est qu'Ipernity a été lancé en avril 2007 et 10 ans après ce serait out ?
J'espère tout de même.

bonsoir @ tous,
je me suis permise de rejoindre ce groupe parce que le maintien d'ipernity me tient à coeur, comme tous ceux qui sont là... ou même d'autres peut-être pas encore inscrits.

depuis que la team a évoqué la clôture d'ipernity, beaucoup ont fait des offres très généreuses, mais en fait, le problème n'est-il pas pris à l'envers ?
il ne me semble pas que nous ayons eu connaissance d'un budget prévisionnel ni des bilans concernant la comptabilité depuis les 10 ans d'existence d'iipernity.

ne serait-il pas intéressant de savoir comment et surtout pourquoi cette entreprise florissante a chuté d'un coup ?
savoir ça non pas pour juger mais pour comprendre : est-ce dû à une mauvaise gestion ? est-ce qu'il y aurait eu plus d'embauches que nécessaire ? est-ce que les avantages proposés en plus des salaires ne seraient pas excessifs (prise en charge du logement, de la mutuelle, ou autres ?) est-ce que la team s'est plantée dans ses immobilisations ?
qu'est-ce qui a provoqué la chute brutale d'ipernity ?
ça, il n'y a qu'en consultant les bilans des années antérieures que nous pourrions le comprendre... et y remédier.

lorsque j'évoque un budget prévisionnel, j'entends le reflet du niveau économique anticipé, prévisible, même si on ne peut tout prévoir...
je crois qu'il n'est pas obligatoire de l'établir, mais il me semble judicieux de le faire, ça permet de savoir où l'on va. y sont chiffrés les charges d'exploitation et financières, les impôts, les amortissements. ça permet d'avoir un chiffre d'affaires prévisionnel. puis la différence entre ce budget prévisionnel et le bilan effectif permet de connaître le solde sur une période arrêtée. cet exercice comptable définit s'il y a pertes ou bénéfices.

une fois ces éléments comptables en main, on pourrait savoir combien il faut d'argent pour continuer à faire tourner ipernity.

par ailleurs, puisque chez léa d'ipernity nous avons tous les inscrits, ce serait peut-être bien que nous nous chargions, nous les membres actifs -club ou non- de faire le tour des galeries afin d'établir la liste des inactifs depuis admettons 2 ans. ce sera long, mais facile à faire, surtout si nous prenons chacun une page des contacts de léa.
une fois la liste en main, léa enverrait un message privé aux inactifs pour qu'ils viennent vider leur galerie. ça ferait gagner de la place qui est immobilisée pour rien.
!!! je ne dis pas de fermer le compte des ipernautes disparus !!!

là on aurait la somme indispensable au bon fonctionnement d'iper,
le nombre de membres actifs.
autofantasia nous a réunis pour un sondage : savoir combien on s'engage à donner par an.
on calcule et on voit si on est loin du compte ou si on est bon.
s'il en manque trop, on envisage la publicité
et si la pub ne suffit pas, pourquoi ne pas demander à chacun de nous d'offrir une de nos photos tirée format carte postale et les proposer à la vente dans chaque ville. il est bien entendu que l'auteur de la photo offerte ne recevrait aucun dédommagement : ce serait pour la communauté d'ipernity. n'oublions pas que nous avons tous des univers différents. donc les gens trouveront toujours une image qui leur plaira et hésitera peu à l'acheter si on en fixe le prix à 3 ou 5 euros maximum.
puis tous les mois, nous avons des fêtes : janvier les rois, février st valentin, etc... www.2017calendrier.fr/fetes-2017.html donc des ventes potentielles et des idées de thèmes.

voilà, j'ai donc exposé mes propositions... plus ou moins valables, mais je n'ai pu les exposer à personne avant ce soir. prenez s'il y a quelque chose à prendre ;) et jetez le reste... mais avec respect.

merci

Increasing the numbers would be great. However if they are not paying members then there is no financial benefit to ipernity and therefore increasing the numbers in reality would not be a good idea.
And may be You and the many more non paying members start paying a fee this would be a great boost to IP Finances.

THE REASON FOR NO EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS

I sent is a Support ticket.... this is the answer

This is the answer

Hi Pam,

We sent a big emailing to a large amount of inactive users.

It created a temporary ban by many email servers (yahoo, gmail, etc..) of our no_reply email that send the digest and other notifications.

We hope the issue to be solved within 2 or 3 days.

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Best regards,

Audrey

Translation (sorry if it is a bad translation)

J'ai envoyé est un billet de Support(d'Assistance) .... ceci est la réponse

Ceci est la réponse

Salut(Hé) Pam,

Nous avons envoyé un grand envoi par courrier él à une grande quantité(montant) d'utilisateurs inactifs.

Il a créé une interdiction provisoire par beaucoup de serveurs de courrier électronique (yahoo, gmail, etc ..) de notre courrier électronique de no_reply qui envoie les notifications se digérant et autres.

Nous espérons la question(publication) à être résolu dans 2 ou 3 jours.

Nous sommes désolés de l'inconvénient.

Meilleures salutations,

Audrey

Ich sandte ist eine Unterstützungskarte .... das ist die Antwort

Das ist die Antwort

Hallo Pam,

Wir sandten ein großes per Email Schicken an einen großen Betrag(Menge) von untätigen Benutzern.

Es schuf ein provisorisches(vorläufiges) Verbot durch viele Email-Server (Yahoo, gmail, etc. ..) unseres no_Reply-Emails, die die Auswahl und andere Anzeigen senden.

Wir hoffen die innerhalb von 2 oder 3 Tagen zu lösende Ausgabe(Problem).

Wir bedauern die Unannehmlichkeit.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Audrey

Delighted your got an update to explain why there were no email notifications happening

=== Would more awareness help to save ipernity? ===

I learned about the closing down just today because of a closed down group. Thanks to the admins of www.ipernity.com/group/themuseum ! That triggered the sending of an email to me which made me aware of the trouble.

I haven't been active for a long time but have lots of images+text on ipernity which I like to maintain. My club membership is until June 2023. I am sorry for not following the blog of the ipernity team.

Perhaps there are other members like me who didn't notice ipernity's anouncements and would like to keep their accounts nevertheless. Try to reach all these hibernating members.

Good luck!
Goetz

www.snrk.de (with a link to ipernity)

------

Edit after I read this thread:

Now I understand better what happened and why there were no alert mails earlier.

Tess Mc Kenna
Last chance to save Ipernity in my humble opinion.

My suggestion is if Ipernity do not extend the time frame for action on possible they are more than likely to fail. I have written to IP with a suggestion as written below
Ticket Number 437894
Hi Team
Survey
www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4648550?lc=1#comments

This survey in my opinion will not achieve intended result unless the below issues are addressed.
1
Ipernity need to send an email to all it's members to alert them on this new proposal and give them a chance to be informed. ( Not every members reads blogs)

The time frame allowed ( 5 days) is far to short for this important survey. I know there is merit in what I am saying and I would ask you to consider my views

It's a vital chance to save Ipernity Please don't miss it.

Above Ticket Reply

Hello Tess,

Thank you, we plan to send an email. But we must act step by step or we will be flagged again by email providers for spam.

We put an alert on the homepage for people to see the survey.

Best regards,

Audrey

If IP have failed to contact the majority of members by email even in small batches to prevent being flaged as Spam. ( as I have already said most people appear not to have read these blogs concerning the present situation and therefore are totally unaware of what's going on.) Emails are so much more important because most everyone reads their Emails
So in the end it is Vital to extend the time frame to allow the maximum input to achieve the Intended Goal.

The above Ticket number 437894 According to IP has no Ticket. Yet I got an answer from Audery as you can see.
Can anyone tell me how this whole content of what I wrote has been removed.,
www.ipernity.com/help/support
www.ipernity.com/help/support/tickets/open

Very strange Tess, but I'm afraid I can't provide and answers! :(

On a separate tack, is this just a glitch or a sign that behind the scenes Team Ipernity are reducing the service in some way?

Whats Going On ...

Ticket #37952

Hope you get an answer soon Paul and I know you will let us know if or when you get a response to you Ticket above.

Got a reply today to say that they are massively deleting old unused accounts (for cost reduction), which they say might generate some bugs.

Also, it seems that they've not been able to reproduce the bug, but have seen that it is a problem for many.

Furthermore, Team Ipernity have just posted an article regarding the non-display of images and icons. Not being all that technically minded it doesn't make an awful lot of sense to me, but I'm sure some of you will understand what they're saying and at least it shows they are making efforts to sort matters out.

Here's the link to their article in case you've not yet seen it:

www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4650162

Got a reply today to say that they are massively deleting old unused accounts (for cost reduction), which they say might generate some bugs.

Also, it seems that they've not been able to reproduce the bug, but have seen that it is a problem for many.

Furthermore, Team Ipernity have just posted an article regarding the non-display of images and icons. Not being all that technically minded it doesn't make an awful lot of sense to me, but I'm sure some of you will understand what they're saying and at least it shows they are making efforts to sort matters out.

Here's the link to their article in case you've not yet seen it:

www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4650162

Hi Paul
Delighted you got a reply. Great they are deleting old unused accounts Not only will the reduce costs but the correct statistics of how many actual active member can be collated by IP. That would be interesting to know.

Yay, pleased to report that everything now seems to be displaying as it should! :)

No reply yet to what's happening with regards the problems people are experiencing with the site today, but Team Ipernity have just published an article entitled The First Results for the Survey, which I'm guessing many of you will want to read! :)

Bad news for users of Fotoblur as it has been announced this week that the site will close on March 1st, 2017.

However, this does mean that there will be a lot of people looking for a new home for their photos so perhaps an opportunity for those trying to save ipernity to exploit?

Here's the full announcement as posted on Facebook:



Thanks to Roger Dodger for initially drawing this to my attention! :)

Doesn't Fotoblur have a magazine too? Is the loss only caused by the cost of running the server? I wouldn't be surprised if the printed magazine was loosing money too.

Interesting point Ann, I do believe there was a magazine, but don't know if that has any bearing on the closure announcement.

Finally, a new post from Team Ipernity:

www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4652240

Eric Desjours
04/03/2017 news: Ipernity SA said to get in touch with us this weekend (4-5/03/2017) to give their point of view regarding our offer.
At this hour we are still waiting for their communication. As soon as it is known, we will consult each other then indicate you the terms and implications.

Ipernity SA has always been positive regarding our project and always wished to make our points of view coincide. That's all we can say right now.

Thanks for the update Eric and Team. Much appreciated. Nice to know current situations. Regards Tess

I'm sure this will be clarified to all of us when CrowdFunding starts next week, but I ask anyway.

Are we expected to pay now the amount we were ask to pay to save the service? Or do we already pay for the annual fee?

Both are fine for me. I just wish to know whether we are supposed to pay 50e exactly or can people now even donate and pay more?

Crowdfunding has begun - see my next comment - As much as you can afford to donate is very much appreciated and will help with all the people who can't afford it, as well as those who may miss the announcement. I am posting the start as many places as I can find.

Also, if we raise more than we have many more options to help other people and help have more than just barely running expenses.

So YES - you can donate more!! (I don't know if paying more would put it towards your annual fee. Maybe if you asked William he would know. Right now we need to save the sight by successfully funding.)

CROWDFUNDING HAS BEGUN!!! CROWDFUNDING A COMMENCÉ
See the post here:

www.ipernity.com/group/2260604/discuss/186760

**** GO DONATE HERE: www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/ipernity-members-association-a-non-profit-entity/x/16237256

SPREAD THE NEWS AROUND ANY WAY YOU CAN - POST AS PHOTO, SHARE IN COMMUNITIES, SHARE ON FLICKR AND 23HQ, DECLARE FROM THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN!! COPY THIS AND PUT WHERE EVER YOU WANT.

Explore seems to be stuck. No new images since a few days ago, and only 14 pages showing instead of 18. So, my question is: Supposing that IMA becomes a reality, who will take care of the bugs when they creep up?

Your right Explore has not been upload for sometime. This is not because of a bug it's because IP are just not adding images to Explore. This is done Manually. (But not on Saturdays or Sundays as a rule.)

As my club membership has expired, so now I am back at the basic level (which is not usable for photo sharing to external forums) ... any update already on when we can renew our memberships while being sure the money goes to the IMA? Thanks! :-)

The expectation is that renewing memberships will begin at the start of May. Confirmation of that should happen within the next few days.

Thanks for your patience!!

This is a cross post from the Ipernity Discussions page. I thought it might be useful to some people here:

PEOPLE: HAVE YOU TAKEN THE TIME TO READ THROUGH THE PROPOSAL THAT WAS ACCEPTED BY CHRISTOPHE RUELLE? This document probably has the answers to a number of your questions. Two things of note can be found in the document:

1) Who are the founding members of IMA - "Eric Desjours (France), Lutz Petersen (Germany), Sami Serola (Finland), Sara Shrives (United Kingdom), Don Sutherland (USA), William Sutherland (USA), and Bernhard Westrup (Austria) – Unpaid, Volunteer Founders" I don't know who has what role, but these are the people who have given us the opportunity to continue.

2) Christophe Ruelle, whom many choose to criticize at this juncture, is noted in the document as having offered to help in this way: " To minimize and/or prevent downtime, Christophe Ruelle has offered to assist with problem resolution at no cost to IMA. While this obligation runs through Year One, he may voluntarily extend it if he so chooses."

I encourage discussions about ways we can help people who can't afford the new membership fee (and I agree that it would have been nice to have had a tier built into the transfer agreement, BUT I happen to trust that the founders had all our interests in mind and did what they had to in the incredibly short time available to keep us from having any significant down time).

And to help keep us moving in a good direction I discourage critisizing decisions that have already been made (which implies a criticism of the people who did the lion's share of the work), and instead suggest that we consider what options we have now and into the future. This can be done once we have the details of the transfer - something we have to wait for. We can be patient, I know we can. After all, we are photographers (most of us - I know there are other types of artists here) and we are patient with our creations. Let's let the site creation also bring us patience.

I, for one, and THRILLED that we have the opportunity to move ahead with Ipernity, and I am celebrating!
---------------------------------------------------------
[If anyone is multi-lingual and can translate my comment into any other language, I would appreciate it. I only have rudimentary French ability and online translators at my disposal.]

Fully agree with this, I will add that as it is so easy to criticize when you don't do anything, criticizers would better shut their trap...

Yes I too see I better future ahead for iPernity thanks to all concerned including Christophe

Supplementary to 1): Within IMA no roles are existing besides one: To ensure consistent negotiations only Eric Desjours and William Sutherland (in alphabetical order) are directly in contact with Mr. Ruelle.

Did read this 'news' from LutzP in a Fl...r thread:
"Sorry to tell you, but CR has changed his mind again, back to the cliffhanger"

Can anybody please tell what's going on ??

Hi Jaap
Well until IMA actually inform us on CR change of mind this blogg we have no way of knowing. LutzP must have got the Information but until it is stated here we have no idea what's going on.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?
I have been removed from 4 groups today because of lack of administrators for 3 of them, the fourth does no more exist...

Hi Xata

Me also. These groups are closed. That the only reason you have been removed.

This I am aware of, Tess. My question was not about the reason I've been removed but the reason why so much groups closed all of a sudden...all the same morning...

*Reinhard* has been doing a further cleanup of his groups, that's all. He's still at Ipernity though.

ok, anyhow...we´ll see what happens next days...
Obrigada Gudrun

Mr. Ruelle changes his opinion more rapidly, than weather in April does! He has new ideas again, but abstruse ones. Obviously he won't realize in no case, that there is a finite time-out, given by the crowdfunding conditions.
In my opinion his permanent cardinal error is to think, that pushing problems aside would lead to a solution. It's nearly unknowable, but we have to accept even this strange behaviour. As the actual owner of IPERNITY S.A. he has the juridical right to shipwreck and become bankrupt. That's only his problem.