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Do I have a beef?
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Bob…you’ve capsulized what I’ve been trying to figure out how to say about this thread, as well as other financial/ethical threads.
There are times in people’s careers, either as employees, freelancers or business owners, where the opportunity to do high level work for a particular client overshadows the importance of setting up deposit and pay schedules, and taking a hard line with getting invoices paid on time.
I’m not saying we should let that happen, but it’s easy to have it occur.
Our company has gotten the chance to work with national companies with 8 figure advertising budgets on two occasions. In each case we had no business getting the accounts. Our reels paled in comparison to our competitors, our experience level, while extensive, was mostly regional in nature, and I’m sure we’re not even the most creative company in our own city.
We were chosen because we’re very fast, we do solid, consistent work, we’re fun to work with, we’re fair, we’re affordable, and we deliver on time. In each case, we got so busy doing the client’s work, that keeping up with their billing didn’t seem as critical as it should be.
Bills often were sent 30-45 days after a project was completed, following up on invoices sometimes was overlooked, and we rarely complained because there was almost always a stream of revenue coming in at regular intervals.
So I think there are times when a company might not have the status or stature to make some of the demands that so many write about on these forums. I know most of you would argue I’m full of crap, but like Bob said, the opportunity to do work you really have no business doing makes the hassles of getting these “grinders” to pay you almost worth it.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
I certainly didn’t hire any of them. Don’t think I could hang with someone who just stabbed their BFF in the back.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1 HD . -
You’re jaded. Get out regardless of it you have a job lined up because once you lose that spark that got you into this business in the first place, you’ll find it’s hard to get it back.
Also, do yourself a huge favor and never, ever, ever, ever (ever?) ever play the “that’s not my job” card using your real name on a public forum that will show up for all eternity anytime someone googles your name. Try it. Your post comes up 4th in google now. Not good. The context of your contention will likely be lost on an HR assistant hired to pre-screen applicants for future jobs you might want. All they’ll likely think is ‘this guy is a complainer’.
I suggest you send Ron and our friends at the cow a big gift basket and beg them to nuke this thread. Seriously. I would hate for you to Don Quixote (sorry, had to drop that in there after the windmill video) your career because you had a bad weekend and posted an angry thread about it.
My 2 cents.
John
President & Creative Director, Magic Feather Inc. -
John Davidson wrote:
never, ever, ever, ever (ever?) ever play the “that’s not my job” card using your real name on a public forum that will show up for all eternity anytime someone googles your name.
I have to disagree. I believe these forums are exactly the place to post these sorts of questions. His post has generated a huge number of responses and a lot of differing opinions about the issue from facility owners, freelancers and employees.
I also don’t think you can post on the Cow without using your real name…or without a reader having access to your name somewhere in the post. The person who posted brought up some great issues, and perhaps the advice he’s been given will help change his view of the situation.
Also…if HR assistants and HR directors are resorting to “googling” a person’s name to evaluate them, then we’re in bigger trouble than I thought. Who on this list believes that an employee or freelancer agrees with them 100%…or for that matter, even 50% of the time? I know people disagree with my opinions and decisions. But I’m the person with the money and risk invested in this business, and ultimately the person held accountable for those decisions.
So I think being criticized or questioned is a part of being a leader. Should we blacklist or discourage people who publicly criticize political candidates and corporate CEO’s? I certainly wish someone in the financial world would’ve questioned the strategies, decisions and policies at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia, AIG and Washington Mutual.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
If the worst thing Fuld had done was ask a salary employee to come in on a Sunday to record a meeting and some interviews, the world (and Lehman bros) would be a much better financial standing. Aaron wasn’t exposing corporate fraud or busting grinders, he was demonstrating unhappiness with his current employer. Grinders should always be publicly exposed and flagellated and this forum is EXCELLENT for that.
I’m fortunate that I have a very common name. I can’t order coffee at starbucks without having 5 other John Davidsons trying to grab my Venti Brownie Frappucino with extra whipped cream. When I hired a junior editor a while back, we googled the final 10 candidates. The young man that we hired had less experience, was still in school, and based on resume alone was not the strongest candidate. It was a youtube video we stumbled across that he had made that closed the deal. The video showed he had a fearlessness with graphics, the ability to self-teach, and a love of television. If I had discovered this post instead, I would not have hired him.
Hundreds of articles have been written about how companies are googling employees now (google it!). Your e-reputation is now almost as important as your real one.
https://www.career-launch.com/blog/job_search_tips/many_employers_google_potential_employees_to_gather_info_-_what_will_your_search_say_about_you.html
Googling potential employees will become a mandatory part of almost all major corporations HR processes – it’s just a part of protecting themselves from gun-toting maniacs that interview well. Many of the next generations workforce are learning the hard way that those slutty drunken pictures that look so funny on myspace are a big turnoff to Timewarner, or Discovery Networks, or Disney, etc.It’s not even applicants that can be affected. People are losing their jobs based on what they write, pictures they post, and how they behave online. The world is getting smaller by the minute. Just ask this guy:
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/NEWS/80828006If that’s not enough for you, I think it was Confucius, or perhaps Dick Van Patten, who once said: “Don’t s%#t where you eat”. It’s the reason why I never post frustrations I have with current clients (or most past ones), and neither do most of the other folks on these boards. Have I written up some doozies that I almost posted? Heck yeah! Did I actually post them? Heck NO!
Perhaps a better and safer solution would be for this particular forum to have an option for frustrated posters to email questions to an address on the cow without exposing themselves or jeopardizing their jobs or clients. It would still prevent the anonymous flame wars that brought on the ‘you must use your real name’ rule, but allow those of us with legitimate concerns and questions to post them without fear of reprisal. I know Ron and the guys are usually super busy, but I bet it would increase the number of extremely interesting and valuable posts on this particular forum.
John
President & Creative Director, Magic Feather Inc. -
Based upon last night’s The Office, maybe we should have an “immunity” button for a first post – the post would need to be reviewed by Ron to make sure it is a legitimate personal gripe, and not spam or whatever.
Personally, I am careful whenever I post comments on a forum, facebook, myspace (don’t really use that one anymore) or any google-able site.
Thanks to Creative COW, my own Google result is #14 or so, which is pretty good considering how many people with my name there are in the world.
In fact I once left a message for a doctor in a hospital, and he called me back almost immediately. Little did I know, the director of some prestigious medical society shares my name!
Mike Cohen
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Aaron, you can elect to go to work or to stay home but after making either of those decisions, I can’t see where you can gripe about either of em.
Take a sick day and grab a gig you can grow with at your pace.
this is what sick days are for.
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John,
Both the links just make me believe more strongly in my disagreement with people’s responses to this thread.
It’s downright scary when, regardless of their job or community standing, a person cannot go out on the 4th of July with friends and drink beer on the lake, without fear of losing his job! I don’t care if he was a public official. Does becoming a public official instantly prohibit someone from having fun? Who draws the line on what is or isn’t “acceptable?”
The only thing the guy did wrong was initially deny he’d been out on the lake drinking beer…something that’s perfectly legal and ethical.
The googling of people’s names is Orwellian. We once hired a young guy who had a tremendous reel, interviewed well, and had all the right credentials…but others in the production and advertising community warned us that he was “trouble,” saying he couldn’t and wouldn’t take direction, that he was argumentative, and that he hated making changes to his designs. One even forwarded us an internal email the guy wrote complaining about the way a project was handled at his previous job!
We went with our gut and hired him anyway. He was a joy to work with and a truly nice guy. So who was the problem employee after all?? The employee we hired who turned out to be a great worker? Or the oaf who forwarded one of the guy’s internal emails complaining about an issue at his previous job?
The point I’m making is that if a company uses some post or some set of silly photographs or some innuendo from an email, a forum post or a google search to make their hiring decisions, they’re going to miss out on a LOT of good people.
Additionally, if they formulate their overall opinion based on what they find on that same information, they’re scary.
It’s like when Howard Dean went from Democratic frontrunner in 2004 to dropping out of the race weeks later because he whooped it up at a campaign rally. (The “Dean Scream”) Many journalists now admit they were wrong to do what they did to Dean, who did nothing more than show a little joy and excitement on the campaign trail. The guy is a Doctor, a two-term governor of Vermont, probably one of the smartest guys in politics, and the press and public decide he’s “not presidential” because he gets a little excited at a Democratic Caucus.
Stuff like this reminds me of the witchhunts we all read about in school. I just can’t beleive people would take an otherwise ideal job candidate, then base their final decision on a handful of random ramblings or posts or photos that show up on Google or MySpace.
Perhpas the original poster on this thread is a “bad egg.” But for people to make their judgement and subsequent admonition of him based on his views is just wrong in my opinion. People come to The Cow for help, advice and direction. Not to be admonished and warned and scolded.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com -
I think your problem is not with responses to this original post as much as you aren’t happy with the fact that the world is developing a long memory. I’m warning Aaron for his own good, primarily because I’ve been there myself. It’s a fact of life – our mouths can get us into trouble. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, but it is a real thing.
Now, if you’d like to back up your argument by making a list of all your best paying clients and detail the stupid notes, decisions, and demands they make, be my guest. At this point, I don’t think anyone here will stop you :-).
Oh, and one thing that I simply have to add with a wink and a nod….
“People come to The Cow for help, advice and direction. Not to be admonished and warned and scolded.”Somebody tell Bob Zelin that! God bless ya Bob! I love all your posts!
John
President & Creative Director, Magic Feather Inc. -
[John Davidson] “…the world is developing a long memory. I’m warning Aaron for his own good. It’s a fact of life – our mouths can get us into trouble. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, but it is a real thing.”
Hear, hear. Good advice, John.
[Chris Blair] “The googling of people’s names is Orwellian.”
Wow, that is quite a leap. I do it all the time and I am hardly trying to usher in 1984 (which as a calendar event may have passed but is quite upon us as an Orwellian event, thanks to disparate forces like political correctness, governmental snoopery and other Orwellian tactics).
[Chris Blair] “The point I’m making is that if a company uses some post or some set of silly photographs or some innuendo from an email, a forum post or a google search to make their hiring decisions, they’re going to miss out on a LOT of good people.”
That largely depends upon your personal preference in setting the height of the bar while determining your relative definition of what is “good.”
In the end, I think John Davidson is correct: our mouths either do service for us, or they hurt us. In most cases, it is arguably some of both. It is the rare individual that can bridle their tongue or think far enough ahead to weigh the relative merit of what they are about to say. Sometimes, the words carry with them an aftermath — which is what I think John Davidson was alluding to.
Ron Lindeboom
creativecow.net
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