Mike Cohen
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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I too have an office/edit suite. On the rare occasion when a client visits, I toss the clutter in a closet and try to scrape the dried coffee stain from my desk. In the old days food and drinks near a $50,000 switcher were a big no-no. Now about the only thing in harm’s way is a mouse and keyboard.
I have just a few things on the wall. The space shuttle launch has been with me since 1982.
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Very interesting reading. I agree that production folks can get a lot out of this blog. Add some articles about how an effective corporate video sells more widgets. Perhaps a case study – get a happy client’s permission to talk in specific terms – or be generic.
Mike
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the website they promote is just one of those fake web pages with lots of unrelated links. I’m sure it is getting a lot of hits.
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depends upon your business model. If you make your income from piecemeal work, then you have a rate for that. If you make your living from project prices, ie, $XYZ for finished product, then compression and mastering may be part of the package price, and a client who is paying for a project from soup to nuts probably doesn’t care about individual costs. Some do and want an itemized list – which may have more to do with internal budgeting procedures.
Mike
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my opinion is – if one of the services you offer is web page design, hire someone to at least design your website and show you how to make updates which do not affect the design. Keeping design and content separate is a tenet of website administration.
Keep things simple, and make sure every page has a uniform appearance – that is, the pages should not look like you have jumped to some other website – that can be very disconcerting.Mike Cohen
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There are numerous discussions on this forum about copyrights. Assume nothing is public domain. If a symphony or school drama program buys the rights to perform a piece of music or a play, they are not also purchasing the rights to use the official artwork from the original production.
What type of organization is putting on this event?
Mike
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we bill by the gigabyte.
Ok, i’m kidding. We seem to buy hard drives monthly, and save everything indefinitely. Inevitably clients call up wanting to re-brand an old project.
Mike
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oddly, we occasionally have long delays in collecting the 2nd half from big companies due to complex end of fiscal year budgets and miscommunication. I got an e-mail forwarded to me once along these lines:
Hey Mike, hold off work for now.
Joe Blow wrote:
Hey Mary Jo – I know this is late, but can you spare some funds from your department to help me pay for this project?
Mary Jo wrote:
Joe – sounds like a good project, but this is the first I have heard of it. Why didn’t you get me involved during planning. Now that you’ve shot it there is little I can do.
Joe Blow wrote:
Yeah Mary, sorry. I really don’t have all the funds I need. Can I split this with you?
Mary Jo wrote:
Well, ok, but we may have to wait until next quarter. Can you show me the video in the meantime?
Joe Blow wrote:
Sure, I’ll have the video guys send it to you asap.
Mike – can you upload the edit today?
Mike wrote:
You mean the edit you told me to stop work on…
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years ago a local guy made some videos which he sold of some no-name bands which performed at his ski slope in the Summer.
Although he supposedly had a contract with the bands, at the time the bands probably did not know what they were signing. Those same bands years later became household names (no names mentioned of course) and of course sued.You never know what the future holds.
Mike
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We make arrangements with our freelance designers to get the Quark files, so we can make minor changes – typos, etc. We get a new design pretty much every year for the same catalog – we win and the designer wins.
A working relationship with a contractor should include an understanding of what each party gets out of the deal.
Mike