Hourly rates for basic corporate events

[Greg Ball]

Sure. Would you prefer to pay a young college student to paint the interior of your house for $200, or would you rather hire a professional for $1,000? Will you get the same results?
Would you have a college kid cut your hair before your wedding or big job interview? Or would you go to a professional.

If someone wants a poor quality video of their meeting, let them bring in their own home camcorder. Don’t take advantage of a kid for your own gain.

[Lex Park]

c’mon y’all… he’s asking a pretty simple, basic question dealing with the idea of hourly rates. Don’t waste posts bickering about what you do in your life, and questioning how he living his. He’s a full time student… do you think he’s thinking about daily rates?!

Geez… one person actually answered the question, and thank you Rob Jackson because I’m doing my first shoot next Friday of a corporate speaker’s keynote and I was wondering this very same thing. I’m not anywhere close to a full-time or even part-time videographer, but was asked if I would do it because of all the other video and graphics work I do for my company. This will be on the side and I had to come up with a rate, so thanks again for giving me at least a ballpark to work with.

Carry on…

– The Foonshoe

[Todd Vanslyck]

Thanks for the responses
I had a basic idea from surfing the net. I wanted to hear from those on the cow.
By the way, I’m not a student, I’m a professional who has been in the business for 14 years. However, I have not done freelance work in quite a long time.
tvs

Mac G5 dual 2.5’s
2.5 gig ram
Final Cut Pro HD 5.0.3
and all the studio goodies
After Effects 6.5
Photoshop CS

[David Merfeld]

I have some price structures that seem to work. In corporate world asking 95-150 per hour is very reasonable but we lump that in a 1/2 day and full day rate. Me, Camera, Wireless, Stock is extra.
Non Profits I price differently 50-85 per hour but its again 1/2 day and full day. I work with other production companies in town under their name. they give me 2-5 gigs a week and it is pretty regular I 35-50 per day if they pay on time and they are not an ass to work for. If they are dicks I tend to ask 75 per hour 1/2 day and full day
I do agree 1/2 day and full day rates are the way to go in the corporate world.

I tend to charge a little more for the 1/2 day because of the missed opportunities on the other 1/2 day.

I am a FCP 6.0 user G-5

[Coach Feratu]

No one is really being taken advantage of here. If you want below par work, done to mediocre standard and you pay $50, then that person gets $50 and you get a mediocre work.

If you want a professionally done work, with someone that has experience, than you can 100 percent trust, then you pay $1000. It’s a simple method of you get what you pay for.

The problem would only arise, when a professional who is good at what he/she does is getting paid a crap wage, or an amateur who is mediocre is getting paid an handsome wage.

This way, it’s easier to get experience. If I want to give some young amateur with no experience, some work, wouldn’t I be more likely to risk $50, than a $1000. If you’re making me pay full price for an amateur, that is just starting up in the business, then I’d rather give the money to the professional, but that means no amateur will ever get experience, because they would require experience to GAIN experience.