Announcements and Forum Help! - 3FC Acquisition

Dear Forum Members

We would like to announce that last month 3 Fat Chicks was acquired by Internet Brands Inc, which operates leading consumer and enthusiast websites including CarsDirect.com and FitDay.com.
The plan is to maintain 3fc as a stand-alone site, while leveraging Internet Brands’ technology resources where they can enhance the site. There are no changes planned for 3FC at this point, other than moving to bigger, faster servers.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email them to me. We have been through this process many times and we see a few questions on different sites. Below is an FAQ about the acquisition that should answer many of your questions. We’re excited about the upgrades the acquisition will bring, and hope you are too.

Thank you.

FAQ’s

Q: Why did Internet Brands buy 3 Fat Chicks?
Internet Brands’ mission is to help consumers plan important purchases and discuss areas of interest to them. 3FC’s users offer outstanding advice and support for people involved with 3FC.

Q: Will 3FC become part of another Internet Brand site?
A: No, Internet Brands plans to keep 3FC a separate, thriving site operating as it does today. However, we believe the members of 3fc may benefit/appreciate a tighter relationship with one of our other sites Fitday.com. These sites will remain separate but we hope we can build a relationship between the two over time.


Q: What changes can we expect to see on 3FC ?
A: For the most part, 3FC will remain essentially unchanged. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The main change in the coming months will be that Internet Brands migrating the site to more powerful computers. Beyond that, Internet Brands plans to brainstorm with the moderators of 3FC about improvements that would make the site even better.

Q: Will my log-in or password change?
A: No you will still access 3FC as you always have.

Well, as I know NOW, anyway :)

True, Glory, it's been a little hush hush :lol: We wanted to make sure it was a done deal before spreading the word. As Steph mentioned, IB owns FitDay.com which we all love, and they also own vBulletin and other businesses with fantastic reputations. We think this move will be very beneficial to the 3FC community in the long run :)

dumb question, but can we still talk about other stuff like WW and SB - because not *everyone* loves FitDay ;) and it's kind of irrelevant to International Users (that's why I have such a problmem with SparkPeople - none of the food we eat outside of North America is on the list, meaning a LOT of extra work to use the site).

sorry for the ignorant question...

Hearty Congratulations to Suzanne, Jennifer, and Amy 3FC from a grateful forum member for the recognition implied by this purchase. What a journey for you guys.

IBsteph - In the supportive spirit of 3FC, I recommend you consider changing the first line of your maiden post from "As you know ..." to some form of a gracious announcement for the 80,000 registered users who didn't know until your post. The response from Glory87 is exactly what I felt and may be common.

You might also consider editing the last sentence that ends with "as you always h" - you might have had have in mind.

And I'm sure you're used to having the acquirees being a bit prickly at first - after all we're not baseball players who wake up each morning to check to whom we've been sold - so you won't mind me suggesting that you ask Suzanne 3FC or even your won PR department to supplement your sentence, "3FC’s users offer outstanding advice and support for people involved with 3FC. "to a meatier version such as3FC’s users offer outstanding advice and support to each other while working their journey for healthier eating and exercise.

All that said, :wel3fc:

Hearty Congratulations to Suzanne, Jennifer, and Amy 3FC from a grateful forum member for the recognition implied by this purchase. What a journey for you guys.

IBsteph - In the supportive spirit of 3FC, I recommend you consider changing the first line of your maiden post from "As you know ..." to some form of a gracious announcement for the 80,000 registered users who didn't know until your post. The response from Glory87 is exactly what I felt and may be common.

You might also consider editing the last sentence that ends with "as you always h" - you might have had have in mind.

And I'm sure you're used to having the acquirees being a bit prickly at first - after all we're not baseball players who wake up each morning to check to whom we've been sold - so you won't mind me suggesting that you ask Suzanne 3FC or even your won PR department to supplement your sentence, "3FC’s users offer outstanding advice and support for people involved with 3FC. "to a meatier version such as3FC’s users offer outstanding advice and support to each other while working their journey for healthier eating and exercise.

All that said, :wel3fc:

Well said.

I hope this isn't the beginning of the end for 3FC as this new outfit comes in and makes "improvements." :(

When daily plate was purchased by livestrong, they kept it separate for a while. Now I cannot get to the daily plate without going to livestrong and I am annoyed by the changes they made. I do not track there with regularity anymore.

Big kudos on the recognition, it is huge! But PLEEEEEASE, don't go changin' stuff around!! :)

I have changed it. My apologies, I thought most you had been made aware by Suzanne or external media coverage.


Thanks,

I hope this isn't the beginning of the end for 3FC as this new outfit comes in and makes "improvements." :(


I agree

I hope I can set your minds at ease! There are no plans to change anything, other than the addition of new articles on the main site. The team has assured us all along that they appreciate what has been going on here for the last 10+ years and they like us just the way we are :) The change actually occurred earlier in the year, and I'll bet you didn't even notice!

What this means to you is that you can benefit from their expert techies in keeping everything running smoothly, and from the added content to the site.

What this means to us is that someone else is taking over the responsibility at a time when we are no longer able to devote the same amount of time to the site that we used to.

The mods, as well as Jennifer and myself are still doing the same thing we've always done within the community and that won't change unless our personal circumstances change. However, Jen and I are spending less time here than we used to due to obligations to our jobs in the real world. You'll still come to us if you need anything, you won't deal with strangers. We've increased our number of Super-Mods by promoting some of our existing moderators, so the forum community is still watched over by people that are personally connected here.

If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to PM me.

Thanks :)

Thank you, Suzanne

Today, I keep getting this:

The server at www.3fatchicks.com is taking too long to respond.

What's up? :?:

Everyone was getting that. The site was down from mid-morning about 4. It is still slow so we need to be patient. It has nothing to do with the change of ownership as that actually happened a few months ago and was seamless technically.

Will fees begin being charged?

Will fees begin being charged?

Oh my. That would certainly change things up a bit.

It isn't like it is The Biggest Loser site :) As far as I know, there aren't any plans to change anything except ownership.

Interesting coincidence that there is this server problem the day after they announce the change of ownership.

I'm having trouble too!

I hope we don't get a ton of ads here. I used to love LOVE fitday but it has too many ads now.

And TDP rocked until LS bought that out.

No fees will be charged :)

The ads you see and that you have seen since Spring are theirs, so you shouldn't expect to see anything change in that respect.

The site has been on their servers since around May without any snafus. The site outage today was unfortunate timing :o I don't know what the problem was, I just know I'm not the one that had to fix it :lol:

Glad the site is back up. The air in my office was blue yesterday because I couldn't get here. I'm working lots of overtime to finish a project before I leave for the holiday and 3FC is my stress relief.

Only a matter of time, dear Chickies, before things change. It is inevitable. For now, things will be the same, but lets face it, corporations want to increase profits thru tie-ins, ads, and so on. Expect to be routed thru another site within the year, and more ads of a different nature...
Sigh

Miss Kimothy, I really am not sure why you keep posting hostile messages about this. With all due respect, you've been here a very short time and cannot be familiar with the history of this website and how how it compares now to previous years. For the record, when the site was sold many months ago the ad banners were immediately decreased, not increased.

Your expectation are without merit and I hope you will relax a little. Your world is not going to change for the worse :)

Sorry, Suzanne if you see my post as hostile...merely expressing the sentiments of surprise and quite frankly dismay that were expressed earlier in this very thread by others especially since the first most of us heard about the acquisition was in the first of this thread dated 11-10-2009, just a few days ago.

And I don't know exactly what you mean by "keep making posts that are hostile". This is only the second post on this thread (and I am only posting in direct response to yours) and one other telling a member that in fact this site was sold! So I've made 2 posts about this, neither of which were hostile, just perhaps realistic because you have to admit, the change from a family-based website that was created specifically as a place run by women who have experienced what the majority of us have experienced, to one run by a corporation for profit does kind of change perhaps the feel of the intent of this site for us small posters, don't you think? I've seen the publicity about this website for a long time, and read your book and am aware of your public appearances and your mention in O magazine, so although I haven't been on this site for a long time, the origins and intent of the site is definitely out there in the public forum and that was what attracted me to actually screw up the courage and publically participate online (my first site ever!) in this forum.

In any event, I wasn't trying to be hostile and I'm sorry if you were offended by what I said. I wasn't trying to be argumentative, I was just EXPRESSING the views of quite frankly a number of us, which is also what I honestly thought this site encouraged.

You don't see why Suzanne views your posts as hostile? Really?

Your comment in the other thread

This site was fun while it lasted..




Yeah - I'd call that hostile.


Yep, this site encourages expression - but not at the expense of personal attacks - and that's what much of the criticism has been - thinly veiled (and often not so thinly) criticism of the owners of this site for their decision. Snide and yes even hostile comments, and dour predictions with little or no evidence to support the criticism (and a system outage after 9 months of ownership is very poor evidence. An outage like this can and does happen to any site. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not - but certainly not signs of a great conspiracy).

I can certainly sympathize. Whenever a company gets too big for the original owner to handle, they face a lot of criticism from customers. Some of it warranted, but most of it just a reflection of a fear of change - rather than the actual changes that result.

Nine months under the new management, and no one noticed. Now it's an issue?

The timing of the problems is unfortunate, and conspiracy theorists will never believe in coincidence, but having worked in systems support for one of the top insurance companies in the US, I know there's a Murphy's Law aspect to some of these things.

It's easy to armchair quarterback - especially when you don't know the work it takes to maintain a system like this when it outgrows the management.

Given the alternative of having no 3FC (because it became unmanageable and had to be sacrificed) and a 3FC that "may" change (and for that matter might change in a positive direction), I'll take my chances and be grateful for them.

I understand the fear of change, but that is no excuse for the hostility being hurled at former ownership (especially since management and moderation hasn't changed key personel). Easy to judge when it's not your life and livelihood that's being impacted.

Whether this site changes or not - and whether or not I am happy or not with those changes - I'll make comments on the actuality not prognostications of doom.

I'll reserve judgement until I SEE changes I don't like, not criticise on changes that might or might not happen. I've known many businesses that have declined after a transfer of ownership - but I've seen just as many improve the quality of service. A site outage can happen to any site, any time, and coincidence or not, it's unfair to assume that this problem is a harbinger of worse to come.

Since ownership transfered 9 months ago, I'd call that a pretty good indication that changes will be made conservatively.

Even without a change in ownership, there are never guarantees that a site like this will not change. Change happens - for a variety of reasons.

Gripe if you want to, but doesn't change the fact.

Well I hope you POWER CHICKS made a lot of $$$$ ~ You deserve it! :hug:

Sorry Kaplods. I personally think that some read way too much into posts to see things that really aren't there. I don't really care much who owns the site. I will say that I didn't know about the turnover until I read the thread dated 11-10-2009. I am saying that I am not the only one who has expressed reservations about what this means on this thread, so I would appreciate NOT becoming a lightning rod for this issue. I am saying that I am not the only one who feels a bit uncomfortable with the tone of the announcement and the late date of it (i.e. if it is meaningless, then why announce it? if there will be no changes, why state clearly the "for now" aspect of it and mention "tighter alliances with other websites in the future"?). Many of the other things which seem to anger you have been brought up by other members in posts earlier in this thread. So please, please PLEASE don't make me the lightning rod for your anger! And please please PLEASE don't read more into what I wrote than what I actually wrote! Thanks.

Yep, there's been a lot of criticism, and not all of it's come from you - but your comments (especially the one quoted below and in my post above) have been the most harsh I've seen so far. I wasn't addressing the comments made by other posters (so I'm not using you as a scapegoat), only addressing the comments made by you, and most specifically

This site was fun while it lasted...


Uncalled for, in my opinion, and unnecessarily provocative. Maybe I AM reading more than was intended - but it sure sounds like (at worst) a suggestion to boycott the site to me, or at best an unreasonable rush to judgement.

Sorry again, Kaplods, but if it is the post that you quoted that is in your opinion the harshest, that was in another thread entirely. I'm not sure how cross-quoting works, so excuse my ignorance but I do find that just a tad unfair. Also, I really don't think anything was so out of line. I truly enjoy the access we have to this site at this time. I am concerned about this thread's original post's indication that in corporate head offices' opinion, we the members, may "enjoy" a tighter association with Fitday.com. Please note that other members have stated that this in their experience has meant going to a parent site to get to the "good stuff". So, it IS fun, while our current situation lasts. No harshness there, just perhaps some concern and some truth. But again, we are discussing the contents of a closed thread, so perhaps it isn't the most appropriate thing to bring that conversation to this thread.
I personally think the debate about profit and fee for access is way harsher, and I originated neither of these topics.

Well I hope you POWER CHICKS made a lot of $$$$ ~ You deserve it! :hug:


My thoughts exactly! This is great site and of course I hope it continues to be a great site. I have hopes of joining the maintenance group and don't want to be disappointed. ;)

I have hopes of joining the maintenance group and don't want to be disappointed. ;)

We can't wait until you join us either :)

Congrats on your loss so far!

And - I concur, ANY profit that the 3FC made, is most deserved! The hours that they have given to this site over the years are innumerable.

And, I applaud their decision to do what is best for them and their families. A core value that we celebrate around here.

Whatever the future of this site and any changes that may come - I wish Amy, Jennifer and Suzanne the very best - they deserve it!

SUZANNE, AMY & JENNIFER,
WISHING YOU GALS ALL THE BEST ON YOUR NEW JOURNEY. MAYBE NOW YOU THREE WILL HAVE LOTS OF SPECIAL TIME FOR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND YOURSELVES!!
I CAN NEVER THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR YOUR CARING, PATIENCE AND PUTTING UP WITH ME!! SENDING ALL MY LOVE AND WISHING YOU THE BEST OF EVERYTHING!!
CHANGE CAN BE A GREAT THING!! USE IT WISELY! :rofl:
LOVE, MEL :scooter:

STEPH~ GOOD LUCK AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING HOW THE WEBSITE WILL CONTINUE TO GROW! :wave:

This is a great site, and I'm glad the transfer didn't have any snafus.. I know I was lost for the last couple of days without 3fc. I was surprised that I had gotten that addicted.

Thanks, Suzanne and the other mods.

Hi,
I agree that I fear the "the daily plate" drama.... it is annoying and I really don't want anything from livestrong, except to use the daily plate calorie counter. Other than that I wouldn't mind the adds, after all, it is free to us.
Anyway, off topic, I didn't think misskim's post was out of line. Sometimes we tend to sugar coat things on 3FC and I think we are all just concerned about our favorite site.

Hi,
I agree that I fear the "the daily plate" drama.... it is annoying and I really don't want anything from livestrong, except to use the daily plate calorie counter. Other than that I wouldn't mind the adds, after all, it is free to us.
Anyway, off topic, I didn't think misskim's post was out of line. Sometimes we tend to sugar coat things on 3FC and I think we are all just concerned about our favorite site.I agree! TDP rocked and you can't help but get nervous when another site you loveloveLOVE gets purchased. :)

congratulations on the takeover! or transfer, whatever the right word was.

It's a while since I read 3fc's history but - isn't it that it began with just the 3 of you chattering about your own weights? and grew from there? Very impressive.

I've noticed no changes in the last 9 months, good or bad, to be honest, except that I no longer get that hanging forever while a big ad loads situation. I really only use the forums section, and I can't see how that could change: if people continue to post and support, and step over the odd thoughtless comment, then it'll still be the place that's been such a big help to me.

And so glad we're up and running again today!

I hope no fees. I feel that the income from advertising and links to all sorts of related sites is enough. They wouldn't have been able to sell it unless it was profitable. But who knows what their future plans are? Making more money is the American way. So, onto another site if that happens.

I'm pretty nervous, as I've come to depend on this site a LOT for maintenance support. Truth be told, I cannot STAND FitDay, and the possibility of a closer relationship between FitDay and 3FC in the future terrifies me. Like others, I can envision Livestrong and The Daily Plate's horrible marriage. Really hope something like that doesn't happen here...

I would just like to chime in and say that we expect to see no changes to the overall atmosphere on the forum. The main website - probably so, as Suzanne and I are no longer writing the content- but as far as the forum goes, Suzanne and I are still admins, the mods are still mods and it's totally the same group as it has been. If we need something, we let somebody know. The company that bought us respects what we've grown the forum in to, and they don't want to change any of that.

What this means for Suzanne and I, is that during outages, like we had this past week, and for other technical issues, we don't have to stay up all night and fix it. Suzanne has been known to work for 24 hours straight when the site went down. Now we can just be chicks and enjoy the forum, and we love that. :love:

Congratulations to 3fc. You deserve it. You have done so much for us. Thank you.

Thanks Jennifer! That makes me feel a lot better!!! Congrats, too!!!

Well done to the three of you original Chicks on a BIG success!!

I'd just like to add my thanks to Amy, Suzanne and Jennifer for the work they have put in on this site. I've been here on and off for nearly 10 years - much more in the last 5 or so. The site has developed to an easy to use application (apart from those blogs) from something that, looking back, was pretty basic. I'll never forget the time that I whinged about something that I couldn't work out and got a reply from Suzanne almost immediately. I live in Australia, she's in the States. She must have been pulling an all nighter to enhance the site for the whole community. That's dedication. She also explained about backup and other site health checks which explained why I was having problems at certain times.

Suzanne, Jennifer, Amy. Thank you for everything you have done. It's rare to see such dedication and willingness to help ones fellow man in todays world. I hope you enjoy your 'retirement' and have time to put your feet up.

Welcome to our new people. I look forward to seeing what you can do for this site.

I just wanted to add all my congrats and thanks to the original 3FCs. This place has been an incredible source of support and has introduced me to many new amazing, kind and occasionally tough love friends from all over the world that I never would have met if not for this site.

As you say, the forums will still be under the same tender guidance, and if you guys no longer have to stay up for days to deal with tech issues, that's a good thing. More tech support is always a good thing :) I think you guys have more than earned the break.

Now if we could just get them to figure out a way to bring back the journals... ;)

Oh yes loved those journals.

Is that the real reason why we lost the journals? NEW OWNERS PLEASE BRING BACK THE JOURNALSSSSSSS!!!!!

Good Luck to the original 3fc!

Is that the real reason why we lost the journals? NEW OWNERS PLEASE BRING BACK THE JOURNALSSSSSSS!!!!!

Good Luck to the original 3fc!

When I first read about this, I thought the same thing. Can't quite remember the exact timing though but it would make sense.

The journals were replaced by the blogs several years before the sale. :)

The journals were replaced by the blogs several years before the sale. :)

Yes, that's right but those who chose to continue using the journals over the blogs did so until the very end (earlier this year), which was sometime after the blogs were introduced. In order to keep "journalling" you had to make sure that you didn't lapse on signing in. 30 days of inactivity was the deadline.

I'm still having a really hard time getting these pages to load. Will this get better soon?

So Pleased for you all! :cheers:

I just want to add my thank you and congratulations to Suzanne, Jennifer, and Amy. I appreciate all you have done for us and join those who hope that you made big $ on the sale. You deserve it! Also thank you for hanging around and staying with us. :hug:

OMG, live for today, don't worry about tomorrow. Enjoy this site as normal. It's great. Change can be good. Don't live for all the what If's in the world and the tomorrows. If my Aunt had b*lls she would be my Uncle.

Annie, :rofl: Thanks for brightening my day!

I wholeheartedly agree Annie! Enjoy and appreciate the site as it has been and continues to be! This has been such an invaluable support system for me on my weight loss journey! I have become cyber friends with so many wonderful, caring people, and I'm grateful for all the connections I have made.

Thank you and big congratulations to Suzanne, Jennifer, and Amy! I truly appreciate all you have done and the site you have built for us. I hope that you've received the rewards you deserve from the acquisition, both monetarily and newly found free time, for all the tireless hours of hard work, love and support you've devoted to us for so many years.

Love, hugs and appreciation to you wonderful chicks!

Suzanne, Jen, Amy! I also want to sign my name in wishing you guys the utmost success in all you will pursue. Yes, I also hope you made a buttload of bucks. You deserve every last penny gals! Thank you for creating 3FC. It has been and is paramount to me and my efforts--and the only website I have every really been a part of. Ya'll rock.