What’s Going On at BlogCatalog?

Hi, Danny,

Nicely put, Selina, nice comment reply too. ;)

Blogcatalog sucks, I did like that place once, was active there, but not anymore, I don't think they think of bloggers at all, only themselves.

Blogcatalog sucks.

I was just referred to this article by John Sullivan and had no clue that any of this was going on. To be honest I created a BlogCatalog account almost two years ago and use the groups as a means to meat and join other bloggers. I have networked with a few bloggers who genuinely share information in the group discussions, but most friends just drop by, leave lame messages and you never hear from again.

I don't have an opinion about IMHO vs BlogCatalog because I haven't read into the case, I just know that whenever something like this happens and is public it harms reputations and integrity of one or both sides.

Hi Danny, it looks like you have raised a few eyebrows here with this post. Good for you for sticking up for your friend and bringing this to light.

I don't really know that much about BlogCatalog and that's sad because I DO have an account with them. But I can't speak to the history which my BloggerLuv friend John has so eloquently done already.

IMHO sounds like a dream that will never come to fruition. Brands don't want "honest" OR "humble" reviews of their products online. I think this is why Seth Godin's idea of Brands in Public died before it was born.

There will always be legal action waiting around the corner for these types of sites and there's really not much that we as consumers can do. This type of information is never free. We can't even find out that are kids toys have been recalled for lead paint until after they have had them in their mouths for about 6 months. :)

Thanks for the info and I doubt if I'll be visiting the BC site much since I never go there anyway.

Nice to see that Selina is on the free side of Wordpress, that's where I have my blogging home. Well there and BloggerLuv....

You know the truth, I know the truth and so do a handful of others.

I know what's going on here, and I am not going to play into this silly game.

I am not interested in that. I have resigned my position and given up on my IP and everything associated with IMHO. Clearly not interested in a fight.

What I will do is counter some of these claims (and I have the documents to prove my statements, if anyone would like to see them):

1.) There was no legal operating agreement or partnership agreement in place (BC was supposed to deliver on that and did not).

2.) There was no LLC set up. Again, BC did not deliver on that.

3.) We did have an MOU which CLEARLY outlines the percentage stakes, roles and responsibilities. Not sure where me getting 66% came from? Just look at the MOU... It outlines it.

4.) BC's role from the get go was capital contribution, operating cash flow, and resources... While I created, developed and managed the brand. Outside of the first iteration website, the domain purchase, and our "soft launch" I did not receive any operating cash flow (until the biz was sustainable) as promised, and received no support when it was really needed.

5.) IMHO is 100% my intellectual property and I have documents to prove it.

6.) I did not "break into" BC servers... I simply had a copy of the site and moved it to my own server.

7.) Because of missed deadlines and lack of IT / Development support I offered to take on all of the work with my own expense and cost, if they just provided me with majority ownership so that I didn't have to "wait on them" for things to get done. They said no. I walked with my intellectual property.

8.) When I chose to walk, I outlined that because of the time I invested developing this program from the ground up, and the money they had put in (SXSW / early site etc) that the partnership was a wash in terms of who spent more.

9.) Wireframe for the back end is an IT function and something I required the help of a developer on. But was never given access to a developer. Not even for a phone conversation, which I requested SEVERAL times.

10.) My personal fiction & poetry blog was declined from BlogCatalog in the wake of all of this IMHO stuff. A blog that previously had an excellent rating on there.

There's more... Of course, as with any story. And I would be happy to share the details with anybody who is interested. Danny has seen the documents I am referring to.

However, I am not interested in a mud-slinging match. I gave you what you wanted BlogCatalog. I walked away from my IP and gave BlogCatalog the reins, so enjoy!

I will keep smiling and continue on with other things.

If anyone would like further clarification or would like to see any of these documents I am referring to, please contact me personally at selina.eckersallATgmailDOTcom and I would be happy to share.

Peace & Peaches!
Selina

I am most sorry to read about this and If I could take out my magic wand to get everyone to reconcile and forgive, then things could proceed and everything could work out for all concerned.

Sometimes we fight with our friends or siblings, but then we work things out. Could this not be the best way to go?

Hugs and prayers to all concerned.

Theresa H Hall

Danny, I appreciate your bringing this to light. Our focus at BlogCatalog is on being a blogger driven community. Given that bloggers are the site, their interests have always been our number one priority.

For years it has been clear that we could start a pay per post model, or a blogvertize, or some other ad platform.

I chose not to as my goal, has been, for years now, to put blogger creativity and quality first. I did not want bloggers told what to write by large corporations.

When Selina and I met, our values seemed to match and we formed the partnership. She is bright and creative. Her skills are fantastic when it comes to communication.

Your post details, however, are not fully accurate. I would be pleased to go into more details with you and anyone else who has questions. However, this is not the forum to release communications between Selina and I.

There are facts. BlogCatalog invested a substantial amount of money and time in IMHO, including design of the wireframe. The wireframe was Selina's responsibility and she never did it. Three weeks ago, I spoke to her and said I would do it. I took a weekend and wrote out and drew out how the site would work.

Her response was, "this is perfect." This was 3 weeks ago.

Somehow, at some point, Selina elina, decided she wanted to move ahead without us. Despite having a partnership agreement she sent an email saying she was going to do it herself. There were a number of emails before that and phone calls, however only one included an option that I'd be more than willing to figure out a way for her to acquire my interest and move forward on her own. The only thing I added was that I would be doing something similar as it is a service that is highly valuable to bloggers, brands and consumers.

Selina, decided that she was going to move forward without us. I assume, you understand the nature and obligation of partners to each other. They have a fiduciary duty. This is the highest duty there is in the law; at least in the USA.

Selina, without any permission, obtained login to one of blogcatalog's servers and moved the code to here own server. I have no idea who gave her the login, yet it is the equivalent of you and I having a partnership, you one day say it's over, and remove, without consent of the partners, everything to another location.

Regarding intellectual property. It belonged to the partnership. We all contributed and created the property. Designers at BlogCatalog designed the site. The initial site was programmed by BlogCatalog.

I personally paid for the domain. I had no reason to believe she would do this, so I gave her my credit card to buy it. The result is she had physical control over the the domain, the code which she took and all the bloggers who had signed up as a result of the newsletter we send out to the over 300,000 blogcatalog members.
Inste

I do not know your relationship with Selina yet I can say for that her actions were done in an unprofessional way.

BlogCatalog is a site that caters to bloggers. Selina's attempt to take the entire site and make it her own, was real disappointment, as like Selina, I, and my team, have worked on IMHO for almost a year now including every dime that has been invested in the site.

You are not correct when you say that the intellectual property was Selinas. It was created by me and well as Selina and the designers and programmers who work at BlogCatalog.

The logo was designed by us. It was contributed to the partnership. Selina did the copy, it too was contributed to the partnership. This property is the partnerships.

Your post clearly takes Selina's facts and presents them, based on what she has told you, however it leaves out important events.

The most important of which, is that Selina, decided to take 66% of a partnership, and make it her own. I do not understand or know her motives. I do know that it is now how you treat partners, or how business works.

You cannot just decide to take what is not yours. When she did this Angie, my partner, sent her a letter asking her to return the domain and all assets to the partnership. We cc'd our attorney. The result was that Selina, wrote her resignation letter.

I consider Selina a friend, more than a partner, so it saddens me that this happened, and that she made the decisions she did.

Sounds to me like they were in breach of contract FIRST for not fulfilling their end of the deal.

Don't ya just love how big companies can screw up then threaten one hard-working individual with legal action just because they have the resources to hire a lawyer? That's one of the many reasons I gave up my career in the legal field...it's more about money than morals.

What a bunch of bullies.

A whole new debacle has occurred in the last couple of weeks at Tony Berkman's Broowaha website with 14 writers, many of whom have been there since the site started, walking out, banned from the site and blacklisted on the site, whatever blacklisted means to Berkman. I am about to write an article on the situation and have been trying to get in touch with Selina for some information. I and a few other writers have been threatened with legal action from Berkman. If Selina can get in touch that would be appreciated.

Hi, Danny,

Nicely put, Selina, nice comment reply too. ;)

Blogcatalog sucks, I did like that place once, was active there, but not anymore, I don't think they think of bloggers at all, only themselves.

Blogcatalog sucks.

I was just referred to this article by John Sullivan and had no clue that any of this was going on. To be honest I created a BlogCatalog account almost two years ago and use the groups as a means to meat and join other bloggers. I have networked with a few bloggers who genuinely share information in the group discussions, but most friends just drop by, leave lame messages and you never hear from again.

I don't have an opinion about IMHO vs BlogCatalog because I haven't read into the case, I just know that whenever something like this happens and is public it harms reputations and integrity of one or both sides.

Hi Danny, it looks like you have raised a few eyebrows here with this post. Good for you for sticking up for your friend and bringing this to light.

I don't really know that much about BlogCatalog and that's sad because I DO have an account with them. But I can't speak to the history which my BloggerLuv friend John has so eloquently done already.

IMHO sounds like a dream that will never come to fruition. Brands don't want "honest" OR "humble" reviews of their products online. I think this is why Seth Godin's idea of Brands in Public died before it was born.

There will always be legal action waiting around the corner for these types of sites and there's really not much that we as consumers can do. This type of information is never free. We can't even find out that are kids toys have been recalled for lead paint until after they have had them in their mouths for about 6 months. :)

Thanks for the info and I doubt if I'll be visiting the BC site much since I never go there anyway.

Nice to see that Selina is on the free side of Wordpress, that's where I have my blogging home. Well there and BloggerLuv....

Hi Danny
This comes as NO surprise to me and one of the reasons I had to create bloggerluv. I live 3 miles from Blogcatalog and have watched this company and STAFF for over 2 yrs now I will just say they look at bloggers as meal tickets and to me the site is for losers.
Comes as no surprise as the company USES copies recodes whatever is necessary to manipulate the blogosphere.When I first joined blogcatalog the domain was registered in Jerusalem I asked about that and it was Quickly switched.
Selina I don't know you but I know that he mentioned it as YOUR project etc.The site eats the meat and tries to throw bloggers a bone, Karma is about to come back full swing on swine ass Blogcatalog.
The site was built by two mexican brothers who were kicked to the curb for their GOOF Dream team. Any bloggers that stick up for Blogcatalog just cause they are members and fans of this Goof deserve what they get :)
PS I really don't care if anyone else joins bloggerluv but I will tell you it's the TOTAL opposite of Blogcatalog he says he's about Bloggers he ain't about shit :P Fake as a 3 dollar bill talking that Tony Robbins nonsense. Bloggers are not stupid ask Tony why 1000's of Bloggers left that DUMP ? Because they aren't DUMB only a fool needs that site. True dat LOL
Selina sorry you got ripped but you had it coming dealing with Swine

I do not see this a a proper way to address business grievances for any of the parties involved. It is unseemly. This is an airing of salacious laundry which should be a private matter. If you find it necessary to air such grievances publicly, then it seems an act of desperation. It most definitely points to a lack of character on the author.

You know the truth, I know the truth and so do a handful of others.

I know what's going on here, and I am not going to play into this silly game.

I am not interested in that. I have resigned my position and given up on my IP and everything associated with IMHO. Clearly not interested in a fight.

What I will do is counter some of these claims (and I have the documents to prove my statements, if anyone would like to see them):

1.) There was no legal operating agreement or partnership agreement in place (BC was supposed to deliver on that and did not).

2.) There was no LLC set up. Again, BC did not deliver on that.

3.) We did have an MOU which CLEARLY outlines the percentage stakes, roles and responsibilities. Not sure where me getting 66% came from? Just look at the MOU... It outlines it.

4.) BC's role from the get go was capital contribution, operating cash flow, and resources... While I created, developed and managed the brand. Outside of the first iteration website, the domain purchase, and our "soft launch" I did not receive any operating cash flow (until the biz was sustainable) as promised, and received no support when it was really needed.

5.) IMHO is 100% my intellectual property and I have documents to prove it.

6.) I did not "break into" BC servers... I simply had a copy of the site and moved it to my own server.

7.) Because of missed deadlines and lack of IT / Development support I offered to take on all of the work with my own expense and cost, if they just provided me with majority ownership so that I didn't have to "wait on them" for things to get done. They said no. I walked with my intellectual property.

8.) When I chose to walk, I outlined that because of the time I invested developing this program from the ground up, and the money they had put in (SXSW / early site etc) that the partnership was a wash in terms of who spent more.

9.) Wireframe for the back end is an IT function and something I required the help of a developer on. But was never given access to a developer. Not even for a phone conversation, which I requested SEVERAL times.

10.) My personal fiction & poetry blog was declined from BlogCatalog in the wake of all of this IMHO stuff. A blog that previously had an excellent rating on there.

There's more... Of course, as with any story. And I would be happy to share the details with anybody who is interested. Danny has seen the documents I am referring to.

However, I am not interested in a mud-slinging match. I gave you what you wanted BlogCatalog. I walked away from my IP and gave BlogCatalog the reins, so enjoy!

I will keep smiling and continue on with other things.

If anyone would like further clarification or would like to see any of these documents I am referring to, please contact me personally at selina.eckersallATgmailDOTcom and I would be happy to share.

Peace & Peaches!
Selina

I am most sorry to read about this and If I could take out my magic wand to get everyone to reconcile and forgive, then things could proceed and everything could work out for all concerned.

Sometimes we fight with our friends or siblings, but then we work things out. Could this not be the best way to go?

Hugs and prayers to all concerned.

Theresa H Hall

Danny, I appreciate your bringing this to light. Our focus at BlogCatalog is on being a blogger driven community. Given that bloggers are the site, their interests have always been our number one priority.

For years it has been clear that we could start a pay per post model, or a blogvertize, or some other ad platform.

I chose not to as my goal, has been, for years now, to put blogger creativity and quality first. I did not want bloggers told what to write by large corporations.

When Selina and I met, our values seemed to match and we formed the partnership. She is bright and creative. Her skills are fantastic when it comes to communication.

Your post details, however, are not fully accurate. I would be pleased to go into more details with you and anyone else who has questions. However, this is not the forum to release communications between Selina and I.

There are facts. BlogCatalog invested a substantial amount of money and time in IMHO, including design of the wireframe. The wireframe was Selina's responsibility and she never did it. Three weeks ago, I spoke to her and said I would do it. I took a weekend and wrote out and drew out how the site would work.

Her response was, "this is perfect." This was 3 weeks ago.

Somehow, at some point, Selina elina, decided she wanted to move ahead without us. Despite having a partnership agreement she sent an email saying she was going to do it herself. There were a number of emails before that and phone calls, however only one included an option that I'd be more than willing to figure out a way for her to acquire my interest and move forward on her own. The only thing I added was that I would be doing something similar as it is a service that is highly valuable to bloggers, brands and consumers.

Selina, decided that she was going to move forward without us. I assume, you understand the nature and obligation of partners to each other. They have a fiduciary duty. This is the highest duty there is in the law; at least in the USA.

Selina, without any permission, obtained login to one of blogcatalog's servers and moved the code to here own server. I have no idea who gave her the login, yet it is the equivalent of you and I having a partnership, you one day say it's over, and remove, without consent of the partners, everything to another location.

Regarding intellectual property. It belonged to the partnership. We all contributed and created the property. Designers at BlogCatalog designed the site. The initial site was programmed by BlogCatalog.

I personally paid for the domain. I had no reason to believe she would do this, so I gave her my credit card to buy it. The result is she had physical control over the the domain, the code which she took and all the bloggers who had signed up as a result of the newsletter we send out to the over 300,000 blogcatalog members.
Inste

I do not know your relationship with Selina yet I can say for that her actions were done in an unprofessional way.

BlogCatalog is a site that caters to bloggers. Selina's attempt to take the entire site and make it her own, was real disappointment, as like Selina, I, and my team, have worked on IMHO for almost a year now including every dime that has been invested in the site.

You are not correct when you say that the intellectual property was Selinas. It was created by me and well as Selina and the designers and programmers who work at BlogCatalog.

The logo was designed by us. It was contributed to the partnership. Selina did the copy, it too was contributed to the partnership. This property is the partnerships.

Your post clearly takes Selina's facts and presents them, based on what she has told you, however it leaves out important events.

The most important of which, is that Selina, decided to take 66% of a partnership, and make it her own. I do not understand or know her motives. I do know that it is now how you treat partners, or how business works.

You cannot just decide to take what is not yours. When she did this Angie, my partner, sent her a letter asking her to return the domain and all assets to the partnership. We cc'd our attorney. The result was that Selina, wrote her resignation letter.

I consider Selina a friend, more than a partner, so it saddens me that this happened, and that she made the decisions she did.

Sounds to me like they were in breach of contract FIRST for not fulfilling their end of the deal.

Don't ya just love how big companies can screw up then threaten one hard-working individual with legal action just because they have the resources to hire a lawyer? That's one of the many reasons I gave up my career in the legal field...it's more about money than morals.

What a bunch of bullies.

Thanks for bringing this to light Danny. As you suggested, you haven't heard back from Tony Berkman to put his side across which is actually quite surprising in this day and age.

You'd think BlogCatalog would be right on to this bad publicity and jumping at the chance to put their story across. Unless their story isn't any better than what has been relayed to you by Selina Eckersall. In which case IMHO may become a tarnished site.

Wow, thanks for the support Danny. I appreciate your post here. Also - Gini. Thanks to you as well for your support. Crappy situation for sure! This has been a learning experience, but I feel good about all of the other amazing projects I have on the go right now anyway.

Thanks again for the vote of confidence and for your belief in doing what's right.

Thanks for the thorough reporting. Very interesting (and disappointing) story!

As you know, I am saddened and angry by this. I've also blogged about it (which will post tomorrow morning), but it seems to me that no matter how you slice it, BlogCatalog threatened legal action against someone they call a friend. That's a crappy way to treat your friends, IMHO.