[Mike Cohen]

My social media experience of late has had to do with the Connecticut film industry. Turns out, as in many regions, everyone knows everyone – go figure.

On Facebook, if you work in media and you are in New England, there is one producer who has likely friended you. As a result, you are connected to his thousand other friends. But I don’t make a habit of friending people I don’t know.

Fast forward a few months. I hired a couple of local actors for a shoot in Hartford. A few days later I noticed that one of the actors is FB friends with he who must not be named, so I friended her too. Then in June I attended a few events at the CT Film Fest, and added a couple of more FB friends, who it turns out are also friends with the actor and you know who.

Finally in August of this year there was a CT Film Industry Summer mixer – a wrap party to the annual mixer held during the CT Film Fest – so there I met a few new actors and other producer types as well as people I connected with previously at events and on FB. In other words, social networking online is just an extension of social networking done with actual voices and drinks in hand.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

Speaking of SEO – what’s today’s opinion on meta tags in web pages. One book or blog says that meta tags have been so abused by idiots that the search engines ignore them, while other current publications say they are a must, and others say they are not important but still do it just in case.

I see that the COW’s home page has lots of meta key words, so that makes me say to myself “do it, it might be a good idea after all”

Mike

[Mike Cohen]

Have you been to iTunes? There are reams of Podcast titles – many of them are quite well done.

The best shows appear to be from existing producers of content, such as NPR, Washington Post, etc, as well as from dedicated podcast producers. As the others have said, shoddy production values only go so far in any medium. But there are some very well done shows indeed.

One problem I see with the word “podcast” is the assumption by people that you need an iPod to view the podcast, and that you need iTunes and Quicktime player – which believe it or not, a lot of people do not have, at least on their business computers.

Some call their podcast something else. Like the Harvard Business Review Ideacast. Same thing just cast in a different light.

Using it for self-promotion can be like a needle in a hay stack, given the number of people doing the same thing. Unless your content is spectacular, in which case people will find it.

We actually sell Podcasts, along with web-based access to some content.

https://cine-med.com/index.php?nav=surgery&subnav=sages

Buy the DVD, you get the podcast version free. People may rip a DVD to iTunes anyway, so we just give them that file format.

I think the hype of the word Podcast has been transformed into it being just another file format to offer.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

There have been numerous threads on this recently. Todd summed it up nicely. The only thing I will add is the Hourly vs Project methods of billing.

Depending upon the client and/or scope of the job, it may be advantageous for one or both parties to bill for the project vs hourly.

For example, it may take you 80 hours to build a custom web page from concept to launch. At $Y/hour that’s $80Y . Or you may make a proposal listing your deliverables and responsibilities, but rather than breaking down the price by hourly estimate, list line item costs for each service. You can then make the line items add up to more or less than your estimated hours times rate depending upon how you want to split the benefits.

If 80 hours is your estimate, but you will likely go way over – it is beneficial to the client to charge by the project.

But if you will likely be under the hourly estimate, it is beneficial to you to also charge by the project.

Others, of course, just keep the meter running, but that’s what you do when you work day to day. As a small business owner, you need to work longer term, so project pricing is often better for your business, and makes your work for hire business into a professional service vs a hourly worker.

To compare apples to apples among and between clients, make up a rate card for the different types of deliverables, ie, commercial show open website etc.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

Fantastic and inspiring.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

If you need to use SD footage in an HD program, it will look less bad in a 720 vs 1080 project, because it is being magnified less.
An alternative is to display the SD material in a PIP box integrated into your program design in such a way that it looks intentional, without calling attention to the fact that it is SD material. For all your viewer knows it is HD material but you chose to display it this way to get your message across.

You can’t make something out of nothing.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

Scott – I would say Health Issues are very much ON TOPIC.

Since we are all either independent operators, small business owners or employees of others – health care and its costs are definitely a business issue. The costs are not only insurance and its associated controversies – but perhaps more importantly – the costs of not being healthy.

True, in our line of work, back injuries are common. I used to transport a 70 pound operating room tripod around the country as checked baggage and carry the full size broadcast camera in bulky Portabrace case on my shoulder and onto the plane – not good. Today, while the camera is smaller, the rolling golf case of gear is still 50 pounds and those wheels don’t get it in and out of my car. And carrying a HDV camera case with batteries, mics and tapes on one shoulder and a laptop case in the other hand is still pretty bad for your back.

In the past 2 years, I have taken off maybe 2 days due to back pain, and 5 days for flu-like illness. Neither of them are entirely preventable. But prevention is the key to longevity. Here is my strategy, though I may need to bookmark this post for future reference:

1 – Drink a lot – of water that is. On days when I remember to drink two liters of fresh tap water and have a lot more energy after I leave work, am less grumpy and my urine is nice and clear. Hey this is a health topic and I work in a health related field so we don’t mince words when it comes to bodily functions. Clear urine = clean plumbing.

2 – Eat on a regular schedule. First have breakfast before you leave the house. If you have a 6am call time or flight, the last thing you want to do is get up extra early and toast a bagel. If I have an early day ahead of me, I sometimes stop on the way home from work and get a pastry or some flavor of bagel that tastes good un-toasted to eat in the car. Also try to have a good portion of liquid in the AM to replenish your body post-sleep.

Eat healthy choices, shop the perimeter of the supermarket. Any food package that says it is healthy might be lying. Low fat pasta? Of course it’s low fat, it’s pasta. But fat does not make you fat. Carbs make you fat. Fat gives you heart disease. Food manufacturers are catching on to the fact that people are paying attention to what they are eating – that was not always the case.

3 – If you keep food at work try to find something either healthy or a small enough portion that it does not kill your diet. When I was in my 20’s I stocked my desk drawer with Little Debbie products and juice boxes. Did not affect my waistline due to my high metabolism, but probably didn’t make me any healthier. My parents both have diabetes, so I’d better watch my sugar intake if I know what’s good for me.

4 – If you are sedentary a lot, and we all are, there are a few things to do. I agree about the good chair. I’m saving up. Our chairs are actually pretty adjustable, just need extra cushioning.
Try to sit with your back as straight as possible. Those chairs with a lot of levers let you lean way back or have a rocking chair. That’s fine if you are playing video games or if you are the CEO. But for long duration computer work, you need all your parts in alignment. Feet flat on the floor, elbows on arm rests with fore-arms angled slightly down from the elbows. Thus the keyboard and mouse should be around the level of your navel.

Another problem with being sedentary is what happens on the inside. Sitting down a lot can cause problems down below. This is another reason to drink lots of water. One coffee a day may be ok, different people react differently to caffeine. I drink a lot of green tea in the winter. Constipation and other problems in that neighborhood can result from lots of sitting. Eat enough fiber to compensate. That should keep you running!

5. Sleeping. We too invested in a nice pillow top bed. My wife and I both sleep with our backs elevated 45 degrees and a good sized pillow under our knees. The pillow behind the back prevent snoring and helps drain the sinuses. The pillow under the knees keeps the spine in alignment which is good for the next day spent in a chair.

6. Exercise. Anything is better than nothing. In the warm weather I try to walk around the building a few times a day, or even into town a 1/2 mile. Even in the winter I will bundle up and go for a jaunt.
But even inside the office, I do a lot of MBWA so I am always in other offices. On days with a hot deadline for FedEx I move even faster.

As for actual cardio or resistance work – I have some dumbells in my bedroom. I’ll do a dozen reps in the morning if I think of it. Stretching is very helpful. I ride my bike but not very often and should get more exercise overall. But don’t be fooled into thinking you have to workout to exhaustion to keep weight off. When you run for your life, your body thinks it is being chased by a velociraptor and increases cortisol to give you that energy boost. That is not going to help you lose weight but it might improve your muscle tone. And when you eat a lot of carbs, your body thinks you are preparing for hibernation, so it stores that away as fat storage. Then when you don’t hibernate or increase your activity level, but keep eating, the body keeps packing on the fat.

In other words, a healthy diet with deliberate food choices, moderation, and regular activity, strenuous or otherwise, is a good idea for all of us. If you have additional middle-aged health concerns like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, then all bets are off – do what they tell you to do.

7. Unplug. Have an outlet for spending time that is not your job. The COW for example – still sitting at a computer but using a different part of your brain. Have a hobby that is not shooting video. I go to the library every 2 weeks and get a suitcase full of books. Fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, travel books, biographies. Keep that brain running. I bought my obligatory economy stimulation 40″ LCD television last year, and almost never use it. I also write short fiction and screenplays for my own amusement, but it is not work. Free your mind and the rest will follow.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

Not as cool as David’s post, but a few weeks ago we had Mother and 3 baby raccoons living in a storm drain next to our condo. When I went to take a picture, the mom actually grabbed a baby with its paw and dragged it into the drainage pipe.
A short time later we were driving nearby, and traffic was stopped as another mamma raccoon was carrying its babies, one at a time, across the road.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

Who doesn’t enjoy a good circumcision joke, Nick?

I once made a video on the subject, but I used too short a VHS tape and the author kept complaining that the end was cut off.

I don’t know if this is still the case, but they used to give babies a piece of gauze soaked in Manischewitz wine to suck on before the ceremony.

Having filmed a bris or two, it is the only type of video where you say “Cut” before you roll tape.

Sorry, my mom’s family spent a lot of time in the Catskills.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

Mike – sometimes a complex problem has a simple solution. Thanks

Mike COhen