[Nick Griffin]

Todd,

You’re welcome and glad it worked out so well. Both of these guys are unique talents.

I’ve never worked with Peter Thomas and, at the moment don’t have the sort of thing for which he would be appropriate. Best talent I’ve EVER worked with (and no doubt now long gone) was Norman Rose — the original VOG (voice of God) and top talent on both coasts. Never ceased to amaze me that I could get him for the same scale as I’d have to pay the local sportscaster.

[Nick Griffin]

Bill-

As usual, I agree with Mark. The important part here is to put your request in writing. Phone calls are fine, but a written record is a much more effective tool in the long run. Especially should you in fact actually have a problem. But don’t assume that you do. I also agree with Bruce. It hasn’t been that long and is more likely to have a satisfactory outcome than not.

[Nick Griffin]

IF (and it’s a BIG if) you can become the “Change Order” Nazi and each and every time the “many hands” make a change, you have a signed record that they made the change and, that by signing, they agree to additional costs. With this type of system in place you can possibly make these kind of jobs work. Not likely, just possible, IMHO.

But Ron is right in that when it’s a public rather than corporate gig getting a change made to the RFP/contract is probably not worth the effort. Typically once this kind of mentality is in place, it’s too late for it to work out well for you. The ideal situation is one in which you are building a nurturing, consultative relationship with the client. One where you are helping them define what they want, what things cost, and what they are willing to pay. Jointly you set the scope and the budget.

So Dean… just how badly do you want this? Recognize up front that you may be committing yourself to a lot of extra, un-paid work. You may also get trapped in a job that’s never considered finished and therefore never fully paid — even with their agreement in place.

[Nick Griffin]

I’d tell him that as a working professional it’s part of his JOB to archive his WORK so something as routinely predictable as a hard drive crash doesn’t take away his work product.

You may need him and may have to negotiate to get the project back on track, but in a proper business environment the idea of you or your client having to pay a 2nd time for something HE LOST is absurd.

Hard drives are rated MTBF – Mean Time Between Failure. It’s never a question of IF one will fail, rather WHEN. A 5 year MTBW means that half of that particular model will fail before 5 years and half after. Anybody who doesn’t live with some reliable form of back-up is under-informed or an idiot, waiting to get what he deserves.

[Nick Griffin]

Jeez, guys. Didn’t mean to start a debate on the merits of Facebook. Just trying to make the point that whether employee or employer how you spend your day can have an obviously enormous influence on success versus failure. AT least when we’re spending time on the COW we’re learning something… usually.

Ultimately I think the more career-oriented sites like LinkedIn are of greater potential benefit and utility than Facebook, but these days most people are happy with business which comes from any direction.

[Nick Griffin]

[Mark Suszko] “Nothing in life is free.”

And little about the scenario discussed here seems likely to have a happy ending. It’s always “interesting” when clients have dumb ideas, force you to implement them, hate the results and somehow it’s your fault.

[Nick Griffin]

[walter biscardi] “All three of those things, with low overhead being the most important in my book, are the three keys to running a successful business no matter what the economic climate is like.”

That and working 18 hour days, 6 or 7 days a week. Remember Walter, I saw the industrial-strength coffeemaker just ten or so steps from your edit suite.

In all seriousness, I see this constantly in companies of all sizes, in good times and bad. The guy who comes in before 7 in the morning, eats lunch at his desk most days, and goes home after 6 at night gets one hell of a lot more done that someone who does 9 to 5, spends half the day on Facebook, only learns new tools when forced, and wonders why the other guy and not him is getting ahead.

As [Mick Haensler] said: “relax, take things in stride, do some extra marketing, learn some new revenue generating skills, do some pro bono work, and most of all keep a level head.”

If you have extra time on your hands, put it to good use.

Back to the original intent of the thread. Our business has been slower than we would have liked, but by no means awful. I attribute this to a momentum built up over several years, specialization within a limited number of industries and the many great relationships we’ve built — otherwise known as the basics.

I’ve written in earlier posts that, in many cases, we’re seeing evidence of a “delay economy.” Few projects get outright killed, just postponed. My irrational fear is that everything comes back to life at once along with the new stuff we’ve been pitching getting approved, giving us more than we can handle. I know it’s an irrational fear because in 30+ years of ups and downs that’s never happened.

Business will be back to normal levels soon enough for the healthy among us. The sun will come out tomorrow. Those heavily in debt, with crushing overheads and minimal work ethics, may not make it. But that’s usually the way it works out anyway.

[Nick Griffin]

I’m late to this thread, and have to agree with both Bill and Mark.

What they are really asking you is for ways to to this cheaper. They’re not thinking at all about the fact that it’s highly unlikely that their own people can do this with satisfactory results.

So instead offer ideas like sending the people to you, perhaps sending them a few at a time so overall shoot cost is minimized. Or one that I’ve employed quite well, shoot a whole bunch of talking heads while the people are at some off-site meeting or trade show where you can have a real set-up in a nearby room and bring a large number of people through as needed.

Above all else, tell your client the truth — that this is not a very good way to get decent results and that you will help them explore alternatives which can provide the maximum bang for the buck.

If they insist on doing it themselves the cheapest light source is going outdoors with a reflector. Have the subject stand with the sun to their back and bring the reflector in tight, under the bottom of the frame.

[Nick Griffin]

Todd-
One of the most talented VO people I’ve ever worked with is Peter Gil out of Washington, DC. He would be a good contrast with Peter Thomas’ warmth and should have little problem with adding a mild accent.

Peter primarily does foreign languages – at which he is simply brilliant as Spanish speaking people swear he is one of their own as do French and Portuguese. AND he has a great vocal tone and command of vocal acting in English as well. His number is (301) 984-1247 and email: PGilVoz(at)AOL.com

Tell Peter I sent you.

[Nick Griffin]

Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s end of February because I recall that 1099’s are due a month later than W-2’s which are due 1/31. But, I too will have to check with my accountant.