Mike Cohen
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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I work in a postcard quality New England village – we have 4 white steeple churches and a mix of Victorian and Colonial houses along Main Street. So Woodbury around this time of year is straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
Speaking of which, if you are ever in Stockbridge Mass, visit the eponymous museum there with Rockwell’s original paintings which are much larger than the Saturday Evening Post covers we all are familiar with.
As for our office itself, we indulge in holiday themed candy sent by our vendors. We used to have holiday parties for the staff and local friends such as the mayor – but nowadays we just assume employees will celebrate with their families and friends.
Happy Holidays.
Mike Cohen
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You may need to get permission from the show organizers to shoot on the show floor. There is usually an official photo and video firm attached to either the show, the convention center or the union that runs the convention center. I have been scolded for taking stills with a point and shoot camera.
Mike Cohen
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I agree with Bob. I read this new issue cover to cover. I flipped the pages with such vigor I pulled out one of the pages!
Keep up the great work.
Mike Cohen
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Let’s put this into a business perspective for those readers who may be in need of some good business advice:
When you ask “how much should I charge for X?” consider the cost of health insurance as part of your overhead or your burdened labor, depending upon whether you are an independent contractor or an employer.
If you are a independent contractor/sole proprietor/freelance operative, you should have a minimum of health insurance, even a catastrophic policy. Because if your sole source of income is whatever work you alone can manage, and you are injured or serious ill, you are seriously in trouble.
If you are an employer, your burdened labor rate is the rate you pay your employee plus your half of medical, medicare, social security, and retirement premiums. If you don’t account for a percentage of those costs in your billing then you have to come up with that money out of thin air.
And if you are an employee of someone else but you set the prices, then you need to know these rates, or at least a percentage overhead charge to add to your labor to get a fair selling price.
And likewise, if you are asked “Why do you charge $3 for a DVD copy? I can buy a blank DVD for a nickel.” you can reply, or at least know, that the labor to make a quantity of DVD copies takes someone’s hourly wage plus these other additional fees that you as an employer pay for each hour of labor. So it may cost you $45 an hour to make $3 per unit DVD copies. And that’s why dvd copies don’t cost a nickel.
If you are a sole proprietor, figure that you have to provide similar additional costs to yourself.
So in other words, you should have some form of healthcare. But more importantly, make sure you account for these costs in your cost of doing business.
Mike Cohen
PS – Please debate the politics of health reform on the Politics forum.
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Since you have just accepted a job, it seems too late to investigate other options.
How big is your fledgling company? If you have more than 1 employee you can get group insurance, often through your state’s business association, chamber of commerce or other entity.Mike Cohen
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We use a system with about 15 extensions – we have several incoming lines, so each one has its own flashy button when it rings. Typical voicemail settings and recorded messages, dial by name, extension, ability to access your mailbox from off site, etc
I think we have a service provider for maintenance and adding of extensions.
We tried tomato soup cans and string, but had trouble with echo.
Mike Cohen
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[Andy Morin] “A. Does anyone have an example of a production form that best fit the terms of agreement
Statement of Work
What you will do
How much you are charging
Payment Terms
What is not includedB. Is there a site where we can list clients that don’t pay out?”
Best not to air your dirty laundry in public.
Mike Cohen
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Clip a lav mic to the back of the mask, which is somewhere between the ear and the mid-cheek. This will avoid rubbing on the gown and reduce the chances of overmodulation. Keep an eye on the levels and have some headphone or earbuds handy. just make sure the long earphone wire is wrapped around something. Run the wire up the back of the scrubs before they put on a gown. Wireless is best as surgeons sometimes switch sides of the patient which would be difficult if they are tethered. However some older hospitals with a lot of steel in the walls interfere with wireless signals. in those cases, a shotgun works. You will pick up more background sound, but it’s usually acceptable since the OR is full of sounds anyway.
If your camera is not close enough, try to mount the shotgun on an IV pole pointed at the surgeon, or on a c-stand over the surgeon’s head. You will have to negotiate with the OR staff, primarily the nurses, to get permission. Different hospitals have different rules for what can go near the sterile field and what can’t.
Good luck.
Mike Cohen
Medical Education / Multimedia Producer
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Check out my article – it may help.
https://magazine.creativecow.net/article/surgical-video-the-cutting-edgeGeneral rule of thumb – anything blue is sterile, or at least something you don’t want to touch.
When people ask me how to shoot surgery I of course say “hire me!”
But what i will tell you is, have good communication with the surgeon. Setup a small monitor that the surgeon can see without having to turn his or her head too far away from the operation. Watch your exposure – surgery is extremes of light and dark.
If you are not accustomed to the OR, be prepared for some odd smells and long hours on your feet. I keep some mints or lozenges in my camera bag. Eat when you can.
Good luck.
Mike Cohen
Medical Education / Multimedia Producer
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Some companies charge for these services, others roll the price into their rates. We do a combination. But a specific price has to be based upon your own business.
If you are rendering, and not multitasking on that computer, then the machine is not available for you to use for billable work. So that has some value. Is this value something you bill for? Or is the price you charged for the production adequate to cover rendering and / or authoring. You will have to make the call.
Mike Cohen
Medical Education / Multimedia Producer