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Avid to move to Boca Raton to be closer to Bob Zelin
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[Herb Sevush] “As for the Entenmann’s, they only had to go to NYC for that.”
My point being that, in practice, there’s no functional difference between NY and the portion of Florida from Palm Beach to Miami Beach.
Avid would certainly have been better positioned to serve the Milky Way galaxy and beyond from New York, no doubt about that.
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[Tim Wilson] “My point being that, in practice, there’s no functional difference between NY and the portion of Florida from Palm Beach to Miami Beach.”
The Pizza is much better in NYC. The beaches are better in Florida. Rats vs bugs – we’ll call that a draw. Does that make it a distinction without a difference?
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
[Herb Sevush] ”
The Pizza is much better in NYC. The beaches are better in Florida. Rats vs bugs – we’ll call that a draw. Does that make it a distinction without a difference?”I think alligators should also figure into the equation… the danger of poolside attack vs misguided sewer exploration.
Shawn
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[Tim Wilson] “My first reaction to the story was, “But there’s no pool of appropriately-skilled software developers in South Florida.” It made no sense. “
Well, that’s not necessarily true. Remember that both DaVinci and Teranex started down here. There’s also a sizable presence in designing and engineering tools for the simulation and training market (corporate and military, not entertainment).
[Tim Wilson] “I don’t KNOW that this is still the case, but I’d think that Hollywood is still Avid’s key market, yes?”
Compared to broadcast and news? I’m not so sure LA constitutes a large income for Avid. Presence and PR value – yes.
[Tim Wilson] “But again, this is something for a small sales team to handle. Not the rest of the company in a way that’s also adding 100 new jobs.”
If we are talking about back-office, then the move is about the incentives. There are tons of companies that have done the same thing, so clearly counties are working to bring any type of company in. For example, close to my house, there are a bunch of banking and credit card company call centers tucked away in nondescript office buildings.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Shawn Miller] “I think alligators should also figure into the equation… the danger of poolside attack vs misguided sewer exploration. “
Actually, south Florida (especially in the Everglades) has a large and growing python problem. Thanks to idiots who consider them to be pets and then release them or let them escape. Alligators are downright welcomed – all things considered. 😉
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
And pythons!
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My two views on the move, and could be totally wrong, or just partially wrong… 🙂
1. An exec wants to live in Boca Raton. Maybe he/she is from there (actually there seem to be women on the avid.com exec page), worked there before, etc.
2. It is a form of RIF without calling it a RIF. A whole division moves to another state. Your job is there now – can you get up and go? No? You no longer have a job. “We didn’t let you go, you just couldn’t come along!” In in some scenarios (depending on employment contract) if they offered any kind of moving assistance and you can’t make the move for whatever reason, they don’t have to give you a severance package.
In the end, I think it’s a combination of the two in some way. Corporation on the whole (and there are exceptions) are more about the execs than the “below the line” folks. I remember in a previous regime where there were several hundred folks laid off, the CEO got a nice $500K bonus.
So I await the Q2 earnings call to see how this all fits into the company strategy.
Michael
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[Herb Sevush] “…a distinction without a difference…”
Now there’s a new forum name…
Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive | RenderBreak [blog] | Profile [LinkedIn] -
[Michael Phillips] “An exec wants to live in Boca Raton. Maybe he/she is from there (actually there seem to be women on the avid.com exec page), worked there before, etc. “
The current biggest tech employer in South Florida is Citrix, and that’s exactly why it happened. An high exec had a home in Coral Gables, so let’s move the company.
It was odd, and potentially telling, that the Avid quote in the longer press release cited IBM as part of the county’s tech heritage. True. Thirty to forty years ago. They’re down to 600-ish employees last I checked, down from over 10,000 in the mid-80s.
Not to trivialize the value to Palm Beach and the state of 100 new jobs, but maybe whoever from Avid made that quote wanted to assure Palm Beach readers, “Yes, we’re well down from our peak, but don’t worry, we can still matter somehow.” LOL
[Michael Phillips] ” It is a form of RIF without calling it a RIF. A whole division moves to another state. Your job is there now – can you get up and go? No? You no longer have a job. “
That’s the only way that 100 new jobs make sense, if you’re axing MORE than 100 jobs on the way down.
It also makes more sense thinking about the move as primarily administrative, exec, financial, etc staff. Those skills are ubiquitous and commoditized, like the Visas and Deloittes of the world that Oliver mentions.
I’m still struck by the announced $2 million+ capital investment. There are surely largely vacant office parks with lovely private lagoons that could be customized for a song.
But your point about not wanting to move is very well taken. Quips about Boston sports, politics, and weather notwithstanding, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one on this thread that lived over a decade in each of those areas, and there’s not a chance in heaven or hell you could have gotten me to move back to FL from MA. Not a chance. I’d have gladly had my job eliminated and worked at Petsmart before moving back there.
Of course I’m 3000 miles from both of them now, and that suits me just about fine.
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[Tim Wilson] “The current biggest tech employer in South Florida is Citrix, and that’s exactly why it happened. An high exec had a home in Coral Gables, so let’s move the company.”
Just to clarify, as far as I know, they ended up in South Florida, but they shopped the whole state. There were rumors floating around months ago that Avid was moving this same operation to Orlando. Obviously the folks in South Florida upped the ante.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com
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