Well stated, Denise
Linda

Very well stated Denise and why I did not wish to participate in this activity.  3900 artists isn't enough for a company that is not even 5-years-old?  GCU...the eloquent words of Denise are very true.
 
How often have we asked for the categories to be cleaned up so that cards which DO NOT follow the current guidelines for a given category are corrected?  By next year will we be waiting a month for our cards to be reviewed?  Do you think that will keep newly attracted artists?  Adding half a dozen artists a week isn't enough?
 
GCU is growing faster than you can keep up in many areas...and I applaud this, support it and I'm delighted to participate...HOWEVER, take care of what you have before you lose some of those really good selling artists because you extended too far.  We all work very hard for our .56 cents a card, and yes many of us sell them other places, however...the day we stop selling at GCU is the day you begin to lose some very good selling artists...don't become Cafepress!
 

Points well taken.  I personally know all too well just how long our to do & wish lists are.    *sigh*    It's an ongoing battle, I mean assessment, to prioritize (it's NOT a first in, first out process) matched against available resources.
 
It is frustrating and disheartening when valuable resources (ie: programming, reviewers, etc.) have to be used for policing purposes vs site/service improvements.  But a necessary evil unfortunately when programs/processes are abused like the sellers links for example or reviewers burning time researching 3rd party image license terms for artists who have not taken the time to do so themselves and are using images illegally.
 
This call for artist testimonial videos by no means reflects a lack of appreciation of our artist community.  We realize each and every day that our artist community is our most valued and treasured asset.    We strive to make life easier and more fruitful for our artist community tempered by prudent business sense of course.  GCU has two customers to keep happy - artists and shoppers.
 
The overall goal here was to identify ways to leverage videos (testimonials, tutorials, etc.) without having to put forth too much effort on our staff's very limited resources.  Again, to get our feet wet we wanted to start on the Artist side which could effortlessly be embedded on our existing Artist page here:
http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/community/art_welcome.asp
 
This is by no means a concentrated campaign to drive masses of artists to the site.  Just an additional feature to the existing page.
 
Realistically more artists do and will continue to join GCU which is the beauty of community content providing a vast range of styles, voices, perspectives that constantly broadens & enriches the product offerings.  
 
As we approach 400,000 cards and 4,000 artists the door to new artists certainly will not be closed.  It is open, welcoming new artists just as when all of you joined.  What GCU will begin to look at more critically in the near future is a measurement of marketability - discerning which cards GCU will invest in marketing and which are more appropriate in private galleries for artists to market on their own.  
 
We have many exciting efforts underway to improve GCU which we are confident will delight both artists and shoppers alike!

Mindy,
 
Thank you so very much for taking the time to respond and give our concerns value.  I, for one, do understand that there comes a point when 'marketability' comes into play having acted as curator many years for a large outdoor art fair.  All art is wonderful, creative and a good match for SOME markets; however NOT ALL art is marketable for ALL markets.  I design art for greeting cards.  I also create art for 'art sake' that is not and never will be on GCU.  Not because it isn't good enough, but because it isn't marketable as a greeting card...it's market is better suited to fine art prints, blank card sets or perhaps its better suited for apparel and gifts.
 
I look forward to all the exciting changes GCU will continue to experience in your growth.  It's been fun so far and I have learned so much along the way that I am excited to be part of your future.  I also know that with growth and change not everyone will be happy with those changes, but as long as you continue to listen to us and help us understand, I imagine the majority of us will keep doing what we do best...making GCU a success!!

We are in the process of defining what GCU's marketability criteria will be.  At this point it would impact a very small % of cards currently on GCU, perhaps less than 10%.
 
As for Private gallery, cards GCU determines to not market directly meaning in the public GCU gallery will be approved in the Private Gallery of artists' storefronts so these cards can still be purchased and artists can still earn commissions.  
 
...for the reasons very well state by Doreen.

Thank you