email address wouldn't allow them to send you a package though right? Plus anytime you enter some kind of contest like that there is always something else behind it - ie read the fine print. It is how many folks end up on telemarketer lists.

Not saying Houzz did the telemarketing thing, but be careful with many contests online they will sell the info and make good money on it. Always read the fine print before entering so you know what to expect.

And as far as being "nice" or not "nice", these are businesses, and I assume they do what makes sense as a business, which is what businesses are supposed to do. The individuals at them seem pleasant enough as people, which is always a bonus.

Does it make sense to offend people, MRRedux? I agree with Magdalena, that it was a poorly conceived promotion. There were other 'business' decisions they might have made, that avoided that result. Having just the drawing for an iPad was a much better idea. Everyone has an equal chance to win it and no one gets offended. Or even having multiple iPads and a drawing that included the entire membership, probably would not have cost any more than what they did. Offering products for sale on the site with the Houzz logo at a steep discount for the first month after GW moved. Or free to the first X amount of members who asked for them, or any number of other choices they could have come up with.

Now I'm feeling bad that I started this topic.

Terriks - I don't think you have anything to feel bad about. You didn't do one thing wrong. And Houzz simply made a mistake, which I hope by bringing it to their attention they can learn from.

I have said what I thought and responded to others to clarify and I'm happy to drop the subject.

I think it's kinda fun for some people to get random goodie bags - I didn't get one, nor was offered, but that's ok! I go through water bottles and sunglasses at an advanced rate so ones with logos would still work for me.

Prairiemoon, has it right. A drawing for an iPad would have been perfect. If I was given the option, I would have registered for it.

But maybe they had ulterior motives than just "welcoming" GW members. Like maybe they sent the "receive a gift" email out to only those members they had incomplete personal info on. Or maybe they just had a closet full of promotional junk they needed to get rid of to make room for GW staff. ;-)

BTW, if any of the Houzz higher-ups are reading, I love water bottles. ;-) ;-)

terriks, do not feel bad. I was wondering if the gifts had been sent, and what was included. Thank you for posting.

I received the water bottle (it's TALL) and the tape measure. The bottle is BPA free so it will definitely come in handy while I'm gardening. Thank you, Houzz!

I assume, like all business decisions, economics played a role in the fact that only some were able to receive gift bags. I believe the administrators when they said a random few were selected and nothing personal was meant to hurt anyone's feelings.

The houzz team and Tamara have been very helpful and polite and I believe have gone an extra mile for us here during this change. In a perfect world GW would have continued on its coarse and not needed to merge with another website but we all know this is not a utopia and the alternative was no more GW.

I think the promo gifts are tasteful for what they are, I did not receive one, and I think the people I have witnessed behind the scenes at Houzz and GW have handled this past month both professionally and personally with grace.

Well, I don't see how people were offended by Houzz's gesture here. As I understand it, they sent emails to anyone with a viable GW email and asked for a mailing address to send a gift. I got one but did not see it in time because I don't check that email often. I probably would not give out my address for a free gift anyway. Maybe for an HGTV dreamhouse! : )

Anyway, AFAIK, anyone who responded got or will get a gift. I am not sure how that is offensive.

I don't think anyone said they were offended. I certainly was not. I was just commenting on a poorly conceived promotion (it was a promo not a gift).

Prairiemoon asked:

Does it make sense to offend people, MRRedux?

Mtn, I think I read somewhere that the GW posters who got the email about the gifts were randomly selected, so everyone will not receive a gift. I think that is what Magdelena and others are talking about. I have a viable GW email and was not asked to enter my address for ipad/gifts. I'm not offended, but think it was in poor taste.

Ah, well, I guess I speak for myself.

MRRedux - I am surprised that you are continuing to keep this discussion going. Or anyone else needs to either. What more needs to be said? You disagreed with my point of view. You don't understand how anyone could be offended. Noted. Some here don't feel anything should have been said about it. Is there anything new that anyone else would like to add?

Why don't we just let this discussion drop? In the grand scheme of things, it's of no importance at all.

"

graywings123

I
got the slimmed down version: no water bottle, slippers or sunglasses.
Just the tape measure, which doesn't retract after I pull it out."

same here, but I am happy to have it well enough!

Prairiemoon, you've crossed the line IMO. The notion that you get to determine when and how a thread is to end is .. well, disrespectful at best. You not only stated your point of view you repeated it multiple times. Prior to this post, I was embarrassed by your unrelenting need to call out the Houzz team-- but now you've turned on our own board members. I don't appreciate how you spoke to Mtn ..;. or anyone else who might have wanted to post.

If this is how you behave for something "of no importance at all", I'd hate to see how you handle an issue that is important to you!

I thought it odd that they didn't send an email out to everyone (rather than a random few) and say they were offering the opportunity to receive an iPad or runner up promo items. They would have gotten a lot more addresses to sell that way (cynical much? lol) and they still could have given away the same number of goodies. Maybe their servers can't handle that much email traffic.

I received a tape measure and I'm thankful to Houzz for the outreach. It seems to retract but I haven't attempted to pull it out fully. It is very compact and might be good while shopping for houzzhold stuff.

Wow!

Another example of how you can't please all the people any of the time.

I kinda think the Houzz Shoes are cute. get it? Houzz shoes.

ML

I didn't enter, but think the hand written notes were a nice touch. I like the look of the water bottle. They didn't have to send anything and we could go back and forth about the shoulda coulda - would have been better if - but that doesn't change a thing.

Maddie - Ha, Houzz shoes.

I received the tape measure today. That was all, just a little package from Houzz so I knew what it was. I've been a GW member about 10 years too, and signed up on Houzz a long time ago. I don't thing longevity had anything to do with it. Just random selection. Not complaining. I have plenty of water bottles from road race swag bags, I am picky about my sunglasses, but I do appreciate Houzz sending the welcome gifts as a token.

What I want to know is, who won the ipad??

Funkyart, I’ve considered what you have to say and I looked back over the posts I made today. I don’t see anything that I’ve said that was disrespectful to Houzz or to MtnRR. Nor did I repeat my opinion over and over.

And actually, I think it odd that you framed my comments to say I’ve ‘turned on my own board members’. I see that as really distorted. Look over the rest of the thread. Not only have others made indirect disapproval of my viewpoint, but of the fact that I spoke up at all. Add to that the fact that Emily the Houzz representative has taken sides in this disagreement and gone along the thread, adding likes to anyone that supported their actions. If anyone is not supporting GW members it’s not me.

I’m actually trying to stick up for ALL the GW members. Who are you sticking up for?

And if your post to me wasn’t disrespectful, I don’t know what is.

Hahaha. I hadn't noticed that Emily is liking posts. That is too funny.

I don't see much in the way of disrespect going on here. Just opinions.

A Houzz rep went thru this thread liking "Houzz friendly" comments? Wow, not very professional.

I actually work in the advertising industry and simply commented on the fact that I thought their promo was a dud. I GUARANTEE it wasn't a "random" selection for "gifts." It was DATA MINING. My perspective is an analytical one and doesn't have anything to do with not being grateful, hurt feelings or unappreciative of their kindness.

I have no problem with Houzz. In fact, I was one of the early adopters patiently waiting for everyone to get thru their GW grief. Forum sociology is fascinating.

I came here hoping to see pictures of what everyone received. Talk about disappointed. And not by the gifts, but by some of the recipients. I guess it's true no good deed goes unpunished. I entered nothing, received nothing, and just wanted to satisfy my curiosity as to what everyone received. I'd hoped to see people discuss how the little goodie bags brightened an otherwise boring trip to the PO. Honestly, I would have been *shocked* if the items had NOT been labeled with the Houzz name or logo. My dentist gives out toothbrushes at each visit - a nice gesture. Because his name and phone number are on there does not make the brush any less useful. I guess the logo on these slippers will ruin someone's hopes of passing off the Houzz slippers as this year's Louboutin's.

I just don't get this anger/frustration/disappointment with Houzz! Houzz is a business, businesses do try to get their brand out there and businesses do this by giving out trinkets with logos. I mean when the grand prize is a few hundred dollar i-pad, what were you expecting as the lesser prizes?! The queen's jewels? And for those so against logos, why would you enter a drawing for a product with one of the most iconic logos ever prominently displayed on the back of it?! When you buy a car, do you demand Toyota remove its name from your vehicle? When you get a new Dyson, KitchenAid, Wolf, Samsung, that you PAY FOR, is the first thing you do scratch off the name? Peel off the tag? No, you don't. Why would you expect that FREE GIFTS would be unbranded?? I personally have never received a free gift from any website just as a good will gesture. For those of you who find yourselves aggrieved somehow....well, what a sad life it is when you seek out ways to feel offended rather than to see the good.

This is all manufactured rubbish. What a bunch of ingrates.

Hey, wait .... is this our first kerfuffle on Houzz? Maybe this means we have settled in , LOL. Keep in mind it can be never-ending .... no 150 post limit.

Prairie, I don't really have a dog in this fight, as my main point was just if you give away a free gift, it is good business to carefully balance your business desire for a huge ugly logo with what the recipient wants, ie no logo at all. I don't consider answering the question posed to me, by name, "keeping a discussion going".

Having explained that, I really, really, don't think I have any more to add now.

Gifts are very nice. Non-promotional gifts are nicer.

Randomly selecting people, giving different amounts of gifts to those selected people, and not explaining the promotion to most of the board, leading to feelings of exclusion or being less valued, does not seem nice, although I'm sure it was meant to be.

Being a Houzz staff and "liking" pro-Houzz comments, without making any comment, is just hilarious.

Wait, how do you know who is "liking" the posts? And I see a variety of opinions being "liked", not just "pro-Houzz".

And I apologize in being remiss in thanking Houzz for my gifts. I was just so confused as to why I got them!

Terriks, if you click the words "1 Like" instead of the thumb, you'll see a popup showing who liked the post.

Of course it would have been nice for all members to receive the gifts, and for everyone to receive the best gift pack. But let's don't forget the biggest gift from Houzz is the provision of this forum at no cost to users and with very little to no advertising by way of pop ups, videos and other annoying tactics. And, if I'm being honest, I'd rather see a few people randomly receive gifts with "some" value rather than to see all receive a paperclip or magnet or some other silly throw away. Whatever their budget was for this give away, it makes no sense to me to expect them to devalue it to the point of meaninglessness just to be able to send something to everyone.

If my local hardware store says, "free rain gauge this Saturday while supplies last," I wouldn't be the least bit upset if they ran out by the time I got there. Nor would I if they were giving away blue gauges to one line and yellow to another.

As I thought more from my last post, I guess what makes me the most upset about the complaining here is that it really disrespects the time, effort and generosity of Houzz and more importantly, its employees who worked this promotion. These people spent hours thinking of something nice to do for the "new folks," knew they couldn't do it for everyone, so they came up with a method of selecting who would receive gifts and what to give. Was the execution perfect? Doesn't matter. It's the thought that counts. As these people who've worked this promotion read all the pi$$ing and moaning by some on here, it's no wonder they're liking posts by people who are expressing some reasonable thoughts about this!!

I have my houzzslippers on. They look kinda funny because they're too big, but that makes me laugh (I'm easily entertained.) They're comfy and they were free. Can you imagine how freaked out we would have been, if they had asked for our shoe size along with our name and mailing address? Oh dear.

I sent in my address because I was curious, and frankly it was kind of fun to wait for something to arrive. Anything. (See, easily entertained.) I looked up the UPS shipping costs, and it was probably over $10 for houzz to send my box to my zip code.

Thank you houzz!

I got a tape measure! I would have loved a T-shirt, hint, hint : )

I might be unusual but I loved promotional stuff. I LOVE shirts that have the name of a business or product. Of course I have to like the product. I have issues with houzz but certainly would wear a t-shirt with houzz on it.

The one thing I don't like is car dealerships putting their logo on your car. The car brand is fine but I don't want to advertise "joe's auto sales".

I GUARANTEE it wasn't a "random" selection for "gifts." It was DATA MINING.

I inquired about this because I was not interested in sending my name and address for purposes other than this particular give-away/ipad drawing. I was assured that names and addresses would be disgarded after this particular event and would not be used for any other purpose. I got a tape measure which is already stashed in my purse. It still would be nice after all this to know if anyone actually collected the ipad ...?

In regards to the Houzz staff liking some posts I took that as a sign of thanks not taking sides. I really think it is always best in life to assume others do not act with ill intent. To live this way opens one's day to so much less resentment and doubt. There are a few posters in this thread who may wish to try this method of living.

It really will open your life to much greater joy.

I didn't get involved in the giveaway--- but I find all of this odd... esp the defensiveness of some of the posters! but, if the employees 'spent hours thinking...' on this, then they probably weren't business or advertising or even psychology or sociology majors!! :)

MagdalenaLee - you said a mouthful!!!

"Forum sociology is fascinating."

Thanks for posting, Emily!

What a sweet, and very appreciated, message from you Emily Hurley.

I got mine! The UPS guy jumped over the 10 inch drift of snow at the curb to deliver my gift from Houzz. I got the water bottle and the cute little measuring tape. I will use both. Thank you, Houzz.

Well then maybe mine will show up today too! It would be a nice little surprise to life my spirits after all this snow, ice and frigid temperatures.

I got mine yesterday - slippers, water bottle & measuring tape. Thank you, Houzz.

Mitchdesj, I used the tissue paper for a gift I'm giving in a royal blue bag. It's pretty and came in handy!

I only got the tape measure. I'm not unhappy about only getting that. It is what I will use most and it is a great size for my purse. I have a vague recollection of getting a survey and giving some pretty scathing answers about various issues with Houzz. Maybe my "gift" reflects their opinion of my answers?

Oh. I could use another tape measure!. I never received the email and probably wouldn't have responded so I am just wondering. Was the email only sent to the most active posters? How did they choose the email recipients?

Honu3421, they said it was a random drawing. My guess it was done the same way bloggers pick winners on their sites.

I got the water bottle, tape measure and nice welcome note......love my little welcome gift! If anyone wants to donate their Houzz slippers that don't fit, to me, just shoot me an email. :0)

Yes, I wear North Face, have a Wolf stove top, a Dyson and various things with brand names on them.....go figure....I think Houzz had very tasteful little gifts for us!