[Nick Griffin]

I have a similar problem for which the workaround has been simple enough that I haven’t tried to find a better, more permanent fix.

My main system has a Kona 3 card which gives the option of displaying the desktop through the external video monitor. About 20% of the time when I start up in the morning the dock, which I keep on the left side, is gone. I have to re-assign it to the bottom so I can access the AJA control panel which I then turn to becoming a mac monitor, then turn it back to test pattern and viola(!) I can then return the dock to the left side of my main screen.

A pain, but not quite up to the level of invading Afghanistan.

[Nick Griffin]

Yes, but… grinders rarely know that they are grinders. My personal belief is that most of them rationalize their actions to the extent that they never see themselves the way others see them.

[Nick Griffin]

Full disclosure at the start: We don’t have much in the way of collateral for ourselves. When needed we have a one-off, color laser-printed, spiral bound presentation book. It contains a brief company history/philosophy, bios on my partner and I along with bios on the key freelancers we routinely use and ends with a sampling of our print work. Often, when appropriate, we include a DVD sample reel of video work.

I justify this simple and sparse amount of leave-behind material two ways. 1) The shoemakers children go barefoot because the shoemakers are always busy making other people’s shoes, and 2) We only pitch new people two or three times a year. Our company doesn’t have a large number of clients coming to us for a small number of services, instead, and mostly because of our technical/industrial focus, we have a small, hopefully stable number of clients for whom we go very, very deep. Simply put the guy working on the client’s print ads doesn’t have to explain anything to the guy working on the web page, the guy writing and shooting the video or the guy writing the press releases and magazine stories because they are one in the same guy. Works for us, but everybody’s business — and especially everybody’s marketplace — is different.

So why did I bring all of this up and offer so much detail? Because we do enough print collateral and have for enough years to know that in the right circumstances it works. Note that earlier I referred to it as “leave-behind material.” Collateral is most effective when it’s being left behind after a face-to-face sales call. It’s not a substitute for the sales call and it’s certainly not something that’s sent ahead of a meeting.

Well done collateral does three things very well. First it says on an un-spoken level that your company is for real. Someone with just a business card and a demo disk doesn’t have the same level of substance and credibility. Paper weight, print quality and enhancements like varnishes and custom diecutting add to the cost of the collateral but this is offset by showing that you are even more “for real.” Fly by night, here today/gone tomorrow companies seldom have good collateral. Companies of substance and tenure in the marketplace do.

Second well done collateral gives the person with whom you’ve had your face-to-face meeting a tool for selling you “up” to the boss/committee members who were NOT in the meeting. In the corporate arena as well as the ad agency world it’s not at all unusual for the person accepting the meeting with you to be gathering information for the decision maker(s), so it helps to give that person relaying your message the best tools.

Third, printed collateral provides a structure to your sales message that talking alone cannot. People forget. Paper rarely does. A capabilities list that would take minutes to say, and sound silly in the process, makes an impressive column of printed information. Then there’s the old truism about a picture being worth a thousand words. Add to that the fact that an illustration or diagram is often capable of communicating some information which just words cannot.

From what I understand of Todd’s business I believe that a serious brochure or perhaps a folder with step-downs (insert pages of varying heights going from shortest in front to tallest behind) will be a worthwhile investment.

PS – I also think Matt’s sales brochure is effective and accomplishes much of what’s discussed above. But then I like most things which quote me as a satisfied customer. 🙂

[Nick Griffin]

Thanks, Todd. I do believe that the decision was already made that this was too much of a jerk to be involved with again. Screaming at a professional like they’re somehow beneath one is simply not acceptable to anyone who has any options.

Many of us have reached the point where we won’t tolerate idiots. Idiot clients can be replaced, usually easily. The truly good clients should be cherished and given the best treatment one can possibly offer because they are very hard to find and equally difficult to replace.

[Nick Griffin]

[Will Tsang] “- Is their a production bid process? And what kind of information is in these bids aside from hourly or flat rates?

I think the best answer to this is the fact that there are entirely different processes and procedures for different kinds and levels of businesses. Typically with a governmental or big business organization a bid comes as an “RFP” (Request For Proposal). Completing the proposal can involve answering numerous specific questions as well as submitting a detailed break-out of all costs -or- it can be as simple as a few questions and a bottom line number. Ideally the RFP will fully define the intended end product, but in my experience it’s almost always necessary to meet with the decision makers either in person or by phone to clarify exactly what their expectations and requirements are.

At the low end a bid request can be as simple as “tell me how much a three minute video of our sandwich shop is going to cost.” At the high end it could be submitting an entire production budget along with a written “treatment” and storyboards of key scenes or even the entire show.

It all comes down to who’s asking, how much they want to know and how much effort it’s worth on your part to win the business.

[Will Tsang] “- – Production Insurance (Location)? What’s up with this? I have no clue, I understand this is needed, correct?”

Good for you for recognizing this up front, Will! You need insurance because things can go wrong on a production — just like any other aspect of life. You can be the cause of an automobile accident, so you need auto insurance. Your house or apartment could burn to the ground with all of your stuff inside, so you need property or renter’s insurance.

A production is no different ESPECIALLY if you are working on someone else’s property. This is where most location owners / companies with any experience whatsoever will REQUIRE that you show proof of insurance in addition to any consideration (fees) you may be asked to pay. Why? One of your lights could fall over, break a window and set the drapes on fire. Or worse something you are doing could result in a person being injured. Somebody’s got to be in a position to pay and that’s what insurance is for.

It’s also worth noting that no rental house will deal with you without insurance. If you break their $50,000 camera they want to be paid, so you have to show proof of insurance to be able to rent their camera and, in many cases even their $175 tungsten light fixture.

Hope this helps. It’s complicated and that’s why they call it a business.

“A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.”
-British politician Sir Barnett Cocks

“Creativity always dies a quick death in rooms that have conference tables.”
-Source Unknown

[Nick Griffin]

Talked to my friend late this afternoon and she’s thrilled with the advice coming into this thread. Thanks everybody!

[Nick Griffin]

Or it could be the one that’s pronounced the same as Coke — Koch Industries. They’re just a tad politically active (funding many Tea Party activities and candidates) and a few years back bought Georgia Pacific.

What’s the line? “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.”

[Nick Griffin]

[Ronald Lindeboom] “Did she mention why? I’d love to hear her comments, if she made any as to why.”

Calm down, Ron. I don’t believe it’s anything personal, more like the fact that the majority of the herd here is in film, video and motion graphics.

Then there’s the fact that many, many people are not comfortable writing in an open and public forum. For example I have another friend who is an excellent DP/cameraman who I’ve nudged, pushed and pleaded to start participating in the COW, but he never gets around to it. I suspect it’s because he feels the majority of his knowledge is centered on his craft and that he might embarrass himself with inarticulate writing. That’s why they’re so many more lurkers than posters. But then I seriously doubt I’m stating anything that isn’t obvious to most of us.

[Nick Griffin]

Thanx, Robert. Deinterlacer is an interesting piece of software but oddly enough it doesn’t seem to be able to take a 1920 x 1028i PAL file and make a 1920 x 1028i NTSC, just smaller semi-HD. I’ll keep playing around, but still think I need other options.

[Nick Griffin]

[Tim Wilson] “what Nick did… made him a spectacularly successful entrepreneur without being a weenie.”

Um… gee, Tim. Thanks? I Guess?

(BTW, I’d substitute “mildly” for “spectacularly.”)