Let The Exodus Begin (resume?) While PhotoShelter Picks Up More Talent

Where do I start? Or, better yet, when will it end? Getty Images(NYSE: GYI)has lost Genevieve Harley (LinkedIn profile), just shy of a 5 year stint at Getty Images doing market development, to take on the title of Director of Sales at PhotoShelter. Clearly, the ink isn't even dry on this deal, as her LinkedIn profile still lists her at Getty. Evidence of a further commitment to getting their name (and your images' visibility) out is their landing former American Express Senior Product Manager Andrew Fingerman to be PhotoShelter's new vice president of marketing.

(Continued after the Jump)

What I'll be curious about is Genevieve's historical approach to working in the Royalty Free market (she was at DigitalVision, an early RF company that Getty acquired early on), and how that will jibe with working alongside/on behalf of many photographers who hold their rights (and the control thereof) dear. Further, one thing she does bring is relationships with entertainment clients and the red carpet needs they have, and, I understand, that is/was a springboard into her work with other genre of clientèle. How far she dove into that realm was, no doubt, a query the good folks at PhotoShelter looked into before bringing her on board. Hopefully, Genevieve will spread her wings even further than what was, no doubt, a clipped-wing situation over at Getty.

Does this signify the beginning of an exodus from Getty of some of their talent? We previously reported of the expected departure of the well known Jeff Kravitz (9/21/07 - Three Free Men - Getty Images on Lockdown) yet, somehow, Getty placated Kravitz enough to stay (or, perhaps, threatened him with a non-compete, who knows). Firings Departures of previous people on the eve of their new website launch (8/30/07, the 'virus' is spreading, & 8/24/07 Getty Site - Site Down as Stock Is Down?) as well as JDK's status change from Upper Northwester to New Yorker, could symbolize a further downward trend in Getty's talent pool.

A few weeks ago, I wrote (1/2208, JDK - Getty Images' CEO and KKR's Track Record - History Repeats Itself?) about a Q&A JDK had with a Canon Europe website:

Q: ....we often read that you have a vision for the company - what is that vision?
A: Fron the outset, we had a very unusual approach in that we wanted to build a business over the very long term. There were never any plans to buy and sell or to get out of the business when a certain profit had been made...I was very lucky to find the imagery business as it has become a passion of mine and I could not imaging working in a different area or industry.

I wonder if his staff has now been disillusioned with the reality of a lack of viable buyers for GYI, and further, the revelation that they all weren't working for some Koom bay ya organization, but rather, as the tools of an industry roll-up?

What of Andrew Fingerman? HE has updated his LinkedIn profile, and while that's about all I know about him, I wish I'd known him while he was still at AmEx, since maybe he could have located my "lost in the mail" Centurion card. I do think that it's a good sign that PhotoShelter is looking to those outside the photo community for their team to make strategically sound moves as our industry evolves.

Let's see what the future portends for Getty moving forward. I think the future is bright for the good folks at PhotoShelter, and the now streamlined Digital Railroad. (DRR blog update, 2/11/08, worth a read!)

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