I don't have a project today, I promise I'll get back to scrapbook weekend projects tomorrow. I didn't post on Friday, some of you may have noticed. My posts up until Thursday were scheduled prior to the announcement Stampin' Up! made last week, and after the announcement well I didn't do much. There wasn't a big part of me that even wanted to do anything. I'm not going to sugar coat anything, but when I got the news about MDS I was stunned, shocked, in disbelief. Any and all of those plus some more. I read the email a few times to make sure I was reading it correctly. Instantly tears started to fill my eyes, I just didn't see it coming it hit me like a truck.
MDS is more than just a computer program. I have 4 albums sitting in my living room made from MDS. They're beautiful and I love them. They're filled with memories and pictures of my children. They're the first thing I'll grab if I ever need to evacuate my home (after the kids and pets of course). MDS made me a scrapbooker, I never thought I was or could be a scrapbooker, but on my laptop I am! I've created my familys' Christmas cards in MDS. I make cards for the artists in the gallery I run. I could go on and on. Sure, I know I'll still be able to do these things through other venues, but will the quality be the same? Will the colors be the same?
Aside from my emotional attachment to MDS, this decision will effect by business negatively. I'm not a top selling demonstrator, but I sell enough and do enough in my business that I can help with our monthly car payment, take my family out to the movies, dinner, etc., I can have lunch with friends, and so many other things that wouldn't be possible if I didn't have this, albeit modest, income from my Stampin' Up! business. I haven't had the time to go through my sales and every order from the last year, but I would be willing to bet that the total yearly MDS related purchases (downloads, printing, etc.) will be at least 10% of my sales. That may not sound like much, but I'll notice the difference.
For me, this announcement came out of the blue. Perhaps there were signs, I didn't see them. Stampin' Up! themselves even mentioned at Convention, less than a year ago, that MDS wasn't going anywhere. I've never been brought to tears or been so emotional about any change Stampin' Up! has undergone, and I've been through A LOT of their changes. I'm hurt and I feel betrayed. I'm upset that I only have 2 months to figure it all out. I've spent a lot of the last week questioning my place with Stampin' Up!, should I continue? The honest answer to that is I don't know. I just don't know. I don't want to make a decision out of anger, I don't want to blindside my customers and my friends the way I was blindsided. I care too much to just call it quits but I'd be lying if I said that thought hadn't entered my mind more than once over the past week, and I think I'd be lying to say that that thought won't enter my mind again. The truth is, time will tell. I promise I won't go anywhere without notice. I won't leave people without someone to take care of their needs. Until I know what will happen and when, I will continue to run my business as I have in the past. Right now I'm not going anywhere, I will continue classes and events and blogging. I wanted to write this post because even though I'm hurt about this decision by Stampin' Up! I'm ready to stop being angry about it. I've written it down and put it out there. I'm still hurt but I'm going to move on as gracefully as I can.
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!
PS For those of you who might be looking for a replacement for MDS I found this site (Thanks to the person who posted the comment on my blog last week for the tip!)
http://www.mymemories.com/
This program is similar to MDS, and from what I understand you can download all you MDS downloads into their program and continue to use them there. Do it before May 31, you won't have access to them after that. I believe they're giving a discount 50% off their newset version for MDS people. If you want more info on this let me know I'll try to find out more info. I'm looking into it as well.
3 comments:
I can understand your frustration and the hurt you feel. Know that you are not alone. While I am not a SU demonstrator, I have good friends who are, so I've been involved in discussions over SU decisions. As with you, this is not "just a job" but a passion and a lifestyle. Let's hope that in the bigger corporate picture that we are unaware of, these decisions will make life better. Thank you for sharing with us.
WOW, while I understand you may be frustrated, I think this venue is an inappropriate place to vent your anger at a company you work for. Tell the company how you feel, not your customers/prospective customers. That aside, it's business.....if they are not making money at it, they won't and shouldn't sell it, that is IF you want the company to still be around in years to come.
Thanks for your candid response Nancy. This is a personal blog, I'm free to post whatever I choose, sometimes that means venting in response to something I feel very passionate about. If you don't like don't read it.
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