Disappointed

[Music City Mama]

Is WMkathy THE Kathy from the podcast??

No, Kathy Werling from the podcast and a DUT agent is not the WM here.

Thank you for asking this! I had assumed (wrongly) for years that she was the same person.

I have a statement that yulilin3 wanted me to post.

“I miss being able to interact and help plan everyone's trip, miss our sww threads, our Galaxy's edge sub forum. But seeing the recent moderation I cannot come back. It has only become worse from when a big group of us were banned for voicing our opinions about true actions taken by PW and the WM/Mod team. Speaking for myself, I am happy on the DBCPod/DBC Server, it's a smaller group but we are all very open, honest and most importantly, respectful of everyone's opinion. As always, happy planning"

Ahh, I miss Julie, glad she's doing well. She is the sweetest, most helpful person. I met her with my family 2 or 3 times during various SWW -- and her son and daughter -- hope they're all doing well!

 

[john7994]

Totally get that and don't disagree. The paying customers have every right to enjoy the event they paid for, likely without having any idea what was going on behind the scenes. They were entitled to have the hosts present and attentive, and be free to learn of the PW/AmEx events on their own, at their own pace, just like everyone here and on other boards has been able to do.

The issue some people have is that the social media content doesn't reflect any engagement with the ABD attendees on the part of senior leadership at all. Every post was about John or Kevin, with nary a photo of any of the individuals or the group activities they were supposed to be engaged with.

It does paint a very specific picture and supports an ongoing narrative- whether true or not.

Looking at some of their past direct interactions on these boards (and lack thereof now) continues to shade this in a very specific way which was only reinforced by a half-hearted approach to just turning the page in the one and only statement they made on the current issues.

 

[take36]

Thank you for asking this! I had assumed (wrongly) for years that she was the same person.

At the risk of getting banned, Kathy Werling (on the show) has always come off as super nice, sometimes to a fault (recent example is not standing up for herself after the rest of the crew laughed at her for her Pinocchio movie review, her opinion is her opinion!). It’s hard to imagine her laying the ban hammer and deleting posts for the last 20 years while going on the show and giving out wholesome content and what seems to be great travel agent service.

 

[take36]

The tease about next year's event was probably less than a minute. John said that they traditionally alternated years for these events between a land based gathering and a cruise. He said next year would be a cruise but had not done anything on it. The tease occurred during the body of the podcast, not at the end.

I never had the opportunity (ok fine money lol) to go to one of those events but seems like you have? Do they always “tease” the next event? Not to make light of anything but it seems like just a script and corporate talk to their die hard fans.

I’ve been part of these corporate retreats where even I as a nobody knew for a fact that the company was either going under or there will be significant cutbacks next year and it was the same “see you guys next year in Las Vegas!”

I can see people feel it’s tone deaf given the low level of response elsewhere and the gravity of the allegations but maybe in context it wasn’t so bad?

I do wish for a stronger statement such as the recent ones by Corey but at the end of the day they are a private business and they can handle it as badly as they want to.

 

[Ensusieasm]

At the risk of getting banned, Kathy Werling (on the show) has always come off as super nice, sometimes to a fault (recent example is not standing up for herself after the rest of the crew laughed at her for her Pinocchio movie review, her opinion is her opinion!). It’s hard to imagine her laying the ban hammer and deleting posts for the last 20 years while going on the show and giving out wholesome content and what seems to be great travel agent service.

Not the same Kathy

 

[Jamie77]

Even if you take away The Dis Unplugged team completely (I agree, those guys are great)... this community forum specifically has been the epitome of toxic for a long while now. Because of the culture that Pete created here, the forums have repeatedly banned many of its biggest contributors and best moderators all due to Pete's ego and controlling personality.

Anyone involved with this community has no room to speak about toxicity of other websites. I know that many of you have found a home here, but there have been so many warning signs and red flags of dysfunction behind the scenes.

I remember there was an episode where even Pete was disappointed with the boards for its toxicity. He said something to the effect that he wished he never even started it. Now this sheds new light on things if he contributed to the same thing he claimed to be displeased with. But with all the things coming out about him now we see the irony of it all. Nothing he said was on the up and up.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

Oh no, no, no. THAT Kathy seems like a very sweet and kind person.

Thank you for the info.
I always hated when Kathy from the podcast was on because I thought she was the biased and rude mod here. I would fast forward when she talked.
Very dumb of me not to realize that there could and is more than 1 Kathy in this world.

 

[dachsie]

Thank you for asking this! I had assumed (wrongly) for years that she was the same person.


Ahh, I miss Julie, glad she's doing well. She is the sweetest, most helpful person. I met her with my family 2 or 3 times during various SWW -- and her son and daughter -- hope they're all doing well!

She works at DHS now.

 

[Hunterr]

I'd love to see Craig and Ryno break off and do their own thing, a la Molly with Mammoth Club.

Here’s the thing. Suddenly becoming YouTubers on their own…they’d lose all their benefits of working for a company (401k, health and dental insurance, etc).
The YouTuber game is a very anxiety ridden game, because its over saturated and can suddenly dry up out of nowhere.

If Cryno do their own thing, it would be a side hustle at best. They’d need to get another stable gig.

 

[Princess Jes]

Thank you for asking this! I had assumed (wrongly) for years that she was the same person.

I don't mean this in a condescending tone as I was the same many years ago, thinking they were the same, but that was when I first started listening to the podcast and posting here, along with many who have and still do make the same mistake.

What gives it away now is that Kathy Werling was from the NE of the USA (I think? maybe like, Pennsylvania or something? I'm not from the US, so please forgive my ignorance), whereas WM Kathy has a very large and in charge picture of Texas as her profile pic/avatar on the boards these days.

 

[Hunterr]

Thank you for the info.
I always hated when Kathy from the podcast was on because I thought she was the biased and rude mod here. I would fast forward when she talked.
Very dumb of me not to realize that there could and is more than 1 Kathy in this world.

Ooof

 

[Princess Jes]

Ooof

Right?! Makes me sad because Kathy Werling is a treasure.

@safetymom just tagging you to let you know we value you

 

[ncc1701]

I don't mean this in a condescending tone as I was the same many years ago, thinking they were the same, but that was when I first started listening to the podcast and posting here, along with many who have and still do make the same mistake.

What gives it away now is that Kathy Werling was from the NE of the USA (I think? maybe like, Pennsylvania or something? I'm not from the US, so please forgive my ignorance), whereas WM Kathy has a very large and in charge picture of Texas as her profile pic/avatar on the boards these days.

Yes Podcast Kathy is from Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. She mentioned it in a one the I listened to.

 

[Tonyz]

Thank you for the info.
I always hated when Kathy from the podcast was on because I thought she was the biased and rude mod here. I would fast forward when she talked.
Very dumb of me not to realize that there could and is more than 1 Kathy in this world.

That's hilarious!

Yeah podcast Kathy is great. But I could never listen to a second of this Kathy on the pod.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Yeah podcast Kathy is great. But I could never listen to a second of this Kathy on the pod.

So we’ve determined PC Kathy is wonderful and NOT PC Kathy isn’t? Sounds appropriate.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

Ooof

That’s exactly what I did when I read that they aren’t the same person.

Most of the on air people are “webmasters. never even entered my thoughts that there could be more than one Kathy.

 

[Jafar30]

This is all shocking but I stand with the victims and the DIS crew trying to help others heal.

 

[patmcnamar]

Sorry if this is a horrible question but this one thread alone has 312K views as of right now. I assume DisBoards profits from the amount of traffic it generates (I keep seeing Google AdSense referenced). This ongoing discussion is important, but is it generating profit off of current events...potentially to one said owner who may not yet be fully divested?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Sorry if this is a horrible question but this one thread alone has 312K views as of right now. I assume DisBoards profits from the amount of traffic it generates (I keep seeing Google AdSense referenced). This ongoing discussion is important, but is it generating profit off of current events...potentially to one said owner who may not yet be fully divested?

On a different site, Sean states that on a good month, the boards generate $60k. This board is very small and not as busy as TPAS, Resorts, or Dining. At least there is a safe space for discussion for those who are concerned about the future of DIS.

On TPAS, Resorts, etc., most posters aren’t even aware of current events. I’m not really concerned about the income this forum is generating. Discussion is cathartic ~ especially for those of us who are former mods.

 

[soniam]

On a different site, Sean states that on a good month, the boards generate $60k. This board is very small and not as busy as TPAS, Resorts, or Dining. At least there is a safe space for discussion for those who are concerned about the future of DIS.

On TPAS, Resorts, etc., most posters aren’t even aware of current events. I’m not really concerned about the income this forum is generating. Discussion is cathartic ~ especially for those of us who are former mods.

Plus, it’s keeping some of us delinquents occupied and off the streets