[Mike Cohen]

Premiere Elements – hmm. I hope it has been improved since the last time I used it.
Are the reporters going to FTP the files back to you for polishing, and then you do the uploading?
Are these reporters in the US? If so you might think about laptop broadband service, to bypass the shoddy hotel internet service Vince mentioned.

[Mike Cohen]

Start a website. Use Google Adwords.
Post portions of the video on YouTube, Vimeo, etc, and Expert Village or a similar site that caters to self help typing or whatever videos 😉 . Advertise.
We do a lot of direct mail. We attend trade shows. Try to get some local press. Try to get reviewed in a magazine or journal related to your topic.
While a bit dated now, I enjoyed the book “Futurize your Enterprise.”

You gotta spend money to make money. There is tons of competition.

What is your video about (not really typing presumably)?

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

I try to use contractors with whom I have an existing relationship, knowing that if they were to impinge upon my business with a client, it could jeopardize our relationship.
I sometimes use a “non-disclosure” statement in a contract, along the lines of:

This project is proprietary and must not be discussed while in-development, etc.

I also ask for a conflict of interest declaration, something that is standard in medical education – to see if a contractor does work for a competitor or a sponsor. It is ok if they do, but everything needs to be on the table.

Here is an example. I use a particular animation house to do 3D when it is requested by the client. Knowing who my client is, the animation house could certainly hit up my client for work, if they so chose to do so. However out of respect, they do not. By the same token, if a client asks me for a 3D animation vendor, I will give them the name of my own preferred vendors, who are honorable people to work with, and who do great work.

Speaking of lawyers, although unrelated, we have had a few shoots canceled at the last minute because the patient’s brother, who is a lawyer, started asking about royalties and scale pay.

Mike

[Mike Cohen]

This is a never ending discussion. Premiere has some quirks. But I like many on this board not only use Premiere professionally, but with great results.

A better subject line might be “help with a few functions” and then ask your “how to” questions.

Not sure you can change a tape number once captured.

You can use TAB to go from cut to cut on the timeline, but not to select one clip after another.

Premiere, FCP, AVID all have things that are different. You can’t please everyone all the time.

Mike Cohen

[Mike Cohen]

one should not use effects for the sake of using effects.
Can you post a clip online that needs some jazzifying?

[Mike Cohen]

I tried watching it on C-SPAN but got this message:

Luckily MSNBC had slightly more bandwidth available, however you had to sit through an Audi commercial in order to view the live feed. Nothing like having TV coverage of the American Inauguration sponsored by a German car company! That’s capitalism.

Of course while I was trying to find a working live feed after C-SPAN failed, I actually missed the Oath of Office, but caught the speech.

Most entertaining was watching the CSPAN feed of the camera covering the dignitaries exiting the Capitol onto the dais. The mic picked up all of the small talk, including this gem:

Pres. Bush to Dick Cheney (in wheelchair):
Heck of a way to travel. Heh, Heh.

Dick Cheney:
Yes Sir.

[Mike Cohen]

try importing a WAV or AIF file and see if it makes a difference.

[Mike Cohen]

I agree that ALL CAPS is difficult to read.
Is that your voice narrating the video on the home page? Sounds a bit amateurish – I would switch that out to a proper narrator.

Nice Photoshop work.

I like your concept, but show examples of “not using text” to get the message across. Corporate folks love PowerPoint, so it takes perseverance to convince them there is another way to go. There have been some threads on this forum about corporate videos (need for them vs lack thereof) so there are opportunities if you know where to look.

MIKE COHEN

[Mike Cohen]

Saying “Facebook is more popular that Creative COW” is like saying “Apples are more popular than Oranges” or “Cars are more popular than bicycles.”

In other words, you can’t compare the two.

Out of my 75 Facebook friends, about 7 of them are in production. However assuming these 7 people are connected with 10 or more production people each, that still doesn’t do anything for my business, because my customers are not other production people.

Networking is good, of course, which is why I am on these sites. In fact someone I am Facebook friends, have never met in person, started reading my COW blog, so there is some connection there.

I guess it depends on your business.

[Mike Cohen]

I should mention that I used the original pre-internet social networking site, AOL, back in the early 90’s. While I did not do anything business related on AOL, I did find one lasting relationship – my wife!

Mike Cohen