Important announcement: Jan 29th

[VReel-Eoin]

You can join our live chat by clicking here: http://beta.vreel.net/index.php?q=chat
A moderator or staff member will be happy to answer any queries you may have.

Update: Please note, due to the amount of PM's I'm receiving on our Forums, I may not be able to respond to every query individually - please contact me on Eoin[at]vreel.net if your query is urgent.

Update 2: We are currently moving across and optimising our dedicated server farm - we are currently redirecting VReel to our forums while we get everything set up. We expect this should not take any longer than 24-48 hours.

I come to you today with some difficult news to deliver. Firstly, some of you may have noticed our intermittent downtime over the past day - this will likely continue tomorrow, as we are switching to a new host in order to cut some costs off of our budget. (Backbone server host - we still maintain our global delivery network)

The last few months have been extremely difficult for myself in managing VReel, and having to make some decisions which can be viewed as harsh from our free members in feature restriction. These restrictions were placed down in order to curb our growth as much as possible - being at previous popularity levels (450,000~ visitors per day) would have amounted to both a horrendously large running cost, and our advertisers literally not having enough ads to serve to all of our users.

Regardless, although we have slowed our growth to an acceptable level, advertisers are crashing all around us. While some might say that a Business Plan formulated six months ago is literally useless today, I would go further than that - I would state that one formed a month ago is meaningless now. Following the financial crash of 2008, advertisers were paying roughly around 40% less than their usual amounts - we're now probably closer to the 5-6% range. I would not expect advertisers to begin recovering from this until Q3 2009, and spend the following two years licking their wounds.

Currently, I would expect VReel to start turning a profit around May/June 2009. While we do have some funding left in our bank accounts, I am currently seeking a buyer for VReel. I believe that the community members of VReel have worked incredibly hard with myself, the staff, and eachother to create VReel "In their own vision" - as claimed as the only true "Stage6 Successor", with most websites falling apart at the seams after mere days on the scene, the community here has banded through thick and thin and waded out some extremely difficult times to eventually come out on top.

I am of the firm belief that all of you deserve to stick with eachother, and continue creating what I believe is one of the best community and video websites on the planet - and I can't tell you how proud I am to have been a part of it all. It's without a doubt brought me some of the happiest times of my life, and introduced me to so many people that I'll never forget. I do not believe that my bowing out should result in all of you being disbanded - and will ensure that VReel.net survives for all of you to stick by eachother.

VReel has become so important to me over the past year that it's literally become a real attachment to myself - selling it on is not a decision that I or any of our staff want to make, but may be neccessary for the continued survival of VReel through the roughest economic climate we've ever experienced. Please bare in mind that we will do everything we can to keep VReel running under its current administration - my looking for a buyer at the moment is only to protect the community in a financial "end of times" in the case of worst coming to worst.

To reiterate - none of you should be worried about this. What I'm currently doing is simply to ensure that in a case where the financial climate continues to worsen, the only result will be myself stepping down as VReel's Owner/Architect.

Thanks for reading, and as usual - I'm more than happy to answer any queries you might have

[dsinghdahiya257]

[Uncle Spellbinder]

Originally Posted by dsinghdahiya257

To be honest, I'm not very surprised. I don't mean this as a slam at Vreel, just the writing was on the wall. A "gut feeling" if you will.

Good luck in any future endeavors, Eoghan.

[oso_rusty]

I know letting something go, that you work so hard for is tough. I understand your in feeling in this tough economic time. Good luck in your future.

[Totz]

That's a real shame.

[VReel-Eoin]

Guys, this is not a wake - VReel is not sold. This is simply preparing for if worst comes to worst.

[Winters]

Damn economic climate

Must grab you for a pint some evening if your about Eoin. I've lost my pigtails but I'm still good, I swear.

[Uncle Spellbinder]

Originally Posted by VReel-Eoin

Guys, this is not a wake - VReel is not sold. This is simply preparing for if worst comes to worst.

Maybe not a wake, but it does seem that the patient is in intensive care with the priest just outside the door waiting to perform last rites.

Shame that this economy (largely created by the Bush administration) is bringing down companies both large and small.

[morphina]

I agree... every sector gets affected... but rough times call for rough decisions. Our best wishes for VReel.net - hopefully, the rates will go up...

[TheExtra]

Aw now that is some lame news to receive.