DJ,

This is a new thread since the other one is locked and I never got a chance to reply in the Blu thread before it was locked.

If you consider what I wrote in the Blu thread a character attack, well, you're entitled to that opinion. I'm confused, however, about what "private" attacks you're referring to. The last time I emailed you was Sept. 2007. It was about PartnerCon and you never replied. The only other comments I've made have been on my blog and yours–neither of which are private.

I've already admitted–and I'll do it again–that comments I've left on your blog probably should have been sent privately as they were somewhat personal/spiritual in nature. I may call things as I see them–and often less delicately than I should–but I don't throw ad hominems around and I don't simply bad-mouth people publicly or privately.

I also emailed one of your close friends after the Blu thread started–in an attempt to mediate our differences. No reply there either.

I'm not one to hold grudges or maintain bad blood with others. If you want to discuss things publicly or privately, I'm pretty easy to get in touch with. Just know that I have no personal vendetta against you and have no plans to comment on you publicly or privately. I'm not above apologizing for anything I may have said that offended you (I just need to know what I did).

If you want to block my company's name from OSP, it doesn't really bother me. I'm confused, but not bothered.

I'll be in Santa Barbara at the end of May (to shoot a wedding). If you are in town, perhaps we can grab some coffee.

That's all I got ...

Erik Dungan
BI-G-Pholio

thanks for sharing your side of the story in a clear and unambiguous, yet professional way.

agreed!

Ya, thanks Erik. For the record and based on first hand personal experience I think you and your company are a class act.

I was going to suggest that you might be willing to host an OSP-Bend get together... seems unlikely now, maybe we can call it something else? ;-)

BTW, that other thread exploded and then was locked all while I was out doing an engagement shoot... crazy.

Thanks Erik.

~Bill

I have no idea what this is about and have no desire to be involved in any internet drama, but I would like to say that I agree with Bill...Erik is a class-act all the way. Whatever your issues are, I hope you can all resolve them like gentlemen.

Warm Regards,

Matt

all i can say is no matter what happens on this site, i will always think of folio as a website possibilty. nothing that has een said or done here will change that, in fact, its made me think more about folio now.

i find the thread locking and word disabling sad and childish. and to be honest, i'm not all that enthused about this place anymore....

Thanks for the post Erik - I appreciate it and being that we don't know each other I'm sure you understand why throwing scripture at me and calling my character into question wasn't received well.

All the best,
DJ

Add me to the confused list. I remember when Karen/Claire/Kia threw a vicious and personal attack at you through email. It was a level this current situ hasn't even approached. She was never 'nixed' (she left but came back later to participate).

DJ, I hope you can understand how this looks to those of us now that this has happened to one of your competitors. You say BF isn't a competitor but I would be surprised to hear that from someone other than yourself. Banning Erik from OSP is up to you. But disallowing the rest of us from talking abut BF is going too far.

I respect you, otherwise I never would have written this. I don't know Erik and have no relationship with BF.

Cheers,

Nate

I don't know what has transpired privately (and I highly respect you DJ) but I am very confused as well.

A bit overreaching, I think. I hope you reconsider- think about how this looks to all of us who admire you and respect you.

No worries all...it'll work itself out. We've been in similar spots before over the years. (oops...I think I just dated myself) lol

If you want a reallllll crazy episode, think back to Luke and Gary Fong.

Hey Eric,

Just wanted to let you know that hosting photog websites at $25.00 per month is not excessive.

Marathon Press, a long-time and well respected leader in the photographer print and web marketing has that as their price.

Actually, they're five cents cheaper at $24.95. You'd better lower your price to $24.90 ASAP to stay competitive.

ya, but this thread will get buried (*cough* locked...) and anyone who hasn't seen it will never know that bigfolio exists if they use OSP as their resource.
Ever heard of fotomagico? wonder why?

This place is not a reliable resource anymore and that is sad. I know it's DJ's 'house' and he can do what he wants but his house is (was?) an asset to photographers. This place will have no real value left.

The other thread is locked? ha what a laugh.

in case you get banned, i'll say bye now

bye

I always wondered if that was staged... for better or worse that was the turning point on this forum from 'the few' to 'the many' (it's when I found it).


So Laura, where are the cool kids chatting now? perhaps it's time to think about looking for a new forum to call my water cooler.

Edit: I'm serious about that, if someone has a recommendation they want to share but not post, please email me at 'info at billcawley dot com' ~thanks

~Bill

Did you say Water Cooler?

I guess I was wrong earlier -- the other thread wasn't the drama thread -- this is the drama thread!

Lighten up people -- you are making a mountain out of a mole hill.


So will I go to H E double hockey sticks if I shoot a gay commitment ceremony?

Erik apologized for his posts and comments so I lifted the filter.

I agree with Jim that a few of you are making mountains out of mole hills and it seems like some of you are just looking for drama.

I know some of you use BF and like Erik but if he attacked your character on your forum I'm sure you'd take action against it too so instead of heating things up try putting yourself in the other persons shoes and you'll see that what I did wasn't that uncalled for.

Cheers,
DJ

EDIT TO ADD: DJ, thanks for lifting the bigfolio word replacement.


Dear Silly Forum Leader,

I sincerely appreciate the time and investment you have put into this forum. Nearly every member here has at one point or another said "I've learned so much from OSP" or "What would I do without OSP?" It's been a wonderful place to grow and learn.

You built a forum based on the principles of Tim Sanders and other great thinkers and leaders. You encouraged an "open source" "love cat" community where no secrets were kept and everyone benefitted from the full flow of information. You have over the years encouraged people to be "nice" and work out their differences in a respectful manner.

I have learned from this forum that there is no one answer for all businesses; each must take into account all the information and options and decide on the correct individual solution. Each one must think for itself. I have learned that attacking your competition reflects poorly on you, and that the best businesses compete on merit, integrity, and customer loyalty. This forum has declared that reputation and personality rank just as high as your technical skill in determining the success of your business.

We, your forum members, have cheered and admired your adherence to these ideals. You taught us well, and we sincerely appreciate it.

Please understand, then, that when your actions are misaligned with those ideals we must ask "why?" We stand in disbelief. We are an entire army trained to recognize and uncover such tactics. Perhaps we've been taught too well.

It is, of course, your forum. I trust that you will lead it in the right direction.

Best,
Jillian

Hey DJ,

For what it's worth, I am sorry that you were attacked personally.

I don't know you at all. I only know your brand. What happened here, in my mind, was in conflict with your brand/image. I don't question when accounts are terminated, but the bigfolio thing seemed overreaching.

Anyway, not to cause drama as you say- I'm very glad it's resolved.

Thank you for providing such a wonderful learning place.

DJ... you rock.

The end.

LOVE!

~bobbi

I hope I'm not adding fuel to the fire, but I personally saw enough to where I think DJ is being quite reasonable. What many of you guys probably don't know is that DJ was ridiculously attacked on his blog back in December. I couldn't believe what Ed wrote about him. It was incredibly bitter and passive-aggressive. Bricks covered in velvet, as I see them. Just enough sugar placed on poison to where he could feel okay about what he posted. That's my opinion, at least.

My biggest problem was actually the misuse of scripture. That is something that should never be tolerated by Christians - using the Word of God to make a point that God never intended. That's a scary thing.

Bottom line, if someone wants to say things about me that I believe are false, he can do so on the street. But if he wants to do it in my house? That's a different story. That's really all that happened here.

Bobby

p.s. we also can't have it both ways. Many of us here enjoy DJ opinion because we feel it's genuine. Placing these ridiculous rules on DJ that he can't voice an opinion because of competition or whatever is very strange to me. If we want DJ to remain open (which is a good thing for photographers), we shouldn't mind him expressing a negative opinion that literally hundreds of others have stated (in a far worse manner) on POTN, DFW, and many other forums.

Um, no that wasn't staged.. Trust me.

Yeah, but it was fun! Where are Luke and Gary these days? Those were the days!

Still love OSP and Big Folio!

I don't have a clue what you guys are talking about. Shhhh don't tell me. Ignorance is bliss!

Both not single.

Why the hell is it that whenever God/bible/religion are mentioned on OSP you just KNOW there's an argument about to brew? I'm sorry, and this isn't aimed at anyone in particular, but many of you that are religious are supposed to be the godly, passive, peace-loving ones amongst us and yet the most aggressive threads in here have been about religion in one form or another. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Hypocrisy is very much why I stopped being religious... And please, before you attack my opinion, think & react with an open-mind...

Edit: I've been a BF customer for over a year and am totally happy with my site & their amazing support. I do agree that their hosting is pricy but I accept that I'm buying into a professional and supportive company so it's worth the $s (plus when it converts to £s it's not so steep for me)!! And in the same breath, although I don't know DJ personally, I will always be grateful to him for OSP and I'm really sorry to hear that he got slammed on here. For all of the few minutes I spoke to DJ at WPPI he was totally genuine & down to earth.

I agree Sofie - it's very sad when people try and use scripture or "religion" to play god and what upsets you is the same thing that upsets me and Bobby and so many others.

Erik apologized so it's all good.



I've certainly done worse things in my life so now that it's cleared up let's all get back to the regular programming.

Cheers,
DJ

Amen.

I'm "religious" and definitely don't feel like Christianity is being represented well a lot of the time. BUT, we are definitely not called to be passive...my faith is the basis of my life...of who I am. I will stand up for it no matter what...under any circumstances.
That's probably why there's such an argument when religion is mentioned...it's something very dear and close to the hearts of those who believe.
In addition, I do think that we as Christians need to watch our reactions sometimes (not talking about anyone or anything in particular right now...I actually don't even know what this argument is really about!) But we need to remember we are representing Christ at all times....in all circumstances.

Are there overly argumentative Christians out there? Of course. Are there overly argumentative atheists? Absolutely. Are there overly argumentative vegans? You bet.

Implying that hypocrisy is a problem unique to the religious just isn't realistic. Hypocrisy plagues both the religious and non-religious

Bobby

This thread died on April 26th, why bump it back to the top?

i dont think its the first time either.....

Good question! My guess?