[Nick Griffin]

[Mark Alexander] “video was all “fluff” and not necessary in the corporate world”

To my way of thinking this is a ridiculous generalization which assumes all video is alike. Hello??? Sure a video can be fluff. It can also be several dozen other things. It’s all about the content.

Many of our clients often use video as a way to show the multi-million dollar machines they make in operation — to demonstrate capabilities in ways that a brochure never could. But it’s not an either/or kind of thing. There are occasions where a brochure is appropriate, others where a video is useful and still others where only an in person visit to watch a running machine can make the sale. And that’s usually the progression from “suspect” to “prospect” to “customer.” The more serious the buyer is, the higher level of engagement they require.

We also recently completed a trade show where videos were being used everywhere to show things either too big, too complicated or too dangerous to bring into a booth. One of our videos consisted of interviews of existing, top earning customers of our client’s products talking about their businesses and what had made them successful. The video provided many different insights and subtly said “oh, by the way, each of the highly successful guys uses…” (our client’s machinery.) The basic goal was to provide something of value to the viewer — what do these guys do differently from the average owner, what can I learn from them — and not just “fluff.”

Producing a “fluff” piece means that you have little respect for the viewer and assume that he or she will mindlessly watch a screen for no particular reason. When you respect your audience and approach a topic from their point of view, providing what they want to know and see, then your chances of being effective go up tremendously.

[Nick Griffin]

“Ohh, Doctor, my eyes…”

[Nick Griffin]

This whole thing brings to mind a few of the most important rules of this and most other businesses. Stay engaged with many, many different prospects because only a percentage of them are going to turn into clients. Plan on there always being some attrition in one’s client base — it happens so be prepared to deal with it. And when times are good, save for a rainy day because, like now, there will be rough patches.

Good luck, David. We’ve seen downturns before and you just have to still be sure to be there for the upturn.

[Nick Griffin]

[Bill Dewald] “I’d never take a stab at drafting legalese.”

I fully agree. Playing amateur lawyer is a recipe for pain AND serious expense when what you’ve written — or more likely left out — creates the need for you to hire an actual lawyer to try to fix your mistakes. That said, and kind of a parallel situation to the poster’s original question, what I’ve done in the past is ADD myself within the disclaimer written by the client’s attorney. Most recently I did this in a training video where there’s a strong potential for future liability should someone get hurt on the job and their lawyer want to point fingers in every possible direction.

Here’s the disclaimer with my additions in bold and italics:

PLEASE NOTE:
This presentation, and/or the information contained herein, is not intended to replace, or be used in place of, the Original Equipment Manufacturers or other vendor’s operating or safety instructions relating to methods, procedures, machinery, equipment or other products.

This presentation is presented for educational purposes and is therefore supplementary and not to be considered exhaustive. (Client), its officers, directors and employees as well as the programs’ authors, producers and video crews hereby disclaim any and all responsibility for any loss, injury, damage or expense directly or indirectly arising out of or relating to use or reliance on this presentation or the material contained in this presentation.

Copyright (c) 2008 by (client) – All Rights Reserved
This program may not be copied in whole or in part without the written consent of (client).

Also as stated within this thread, you can write a plain English statement of what the powers that be want said, but go on record, in writting stating that you are not a lawyer and that one should be used to review the statement for legality.

One more thought: Someone in this process is being extremely naive to think that a warning on a video is going to provide much in the way of competitive protection. If a dealer wants to show something to one of his buddies, he’s going to do it. Having them sign a really serious looking NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) that threatens them with serious consequences in order to even be able to view the video is a much better strategy.

But what do I know? I’m not a lawyer. Just someone who has signed NDAs which read such that if I blabbed I could lose my house.

[Nick Griffin]

Since I’m an old fart who has been doing this nonsense since 1974, I’ve hired and fired a number of people. And yes, I’m like Grinner and tend to avoid confrontation. That’s not a good thing in a boss.

I believe (but don’t always remember to practice) that a good boss is a coach, pointing out problems from the same side of the desk, not across it, and asking the employee to help identify solutions.

The easiest firing I’ve ever had was that of a part time Admin. with accounting responsibility who I found to be embezzling. Not to say I didn’t have a knot in my stomach leading up to that confrontation, but at least I had a sense of being righteously outraged. After the fact I was quite proud to determine that I had discovered the embezzlement with only $1,900 gone. Later I learned that at one of her other part time accounting jobs a high five-figure amount was taken. She spent some time in jail for that one.

The toughest firing was that of a minority partner who, over a painful couple of years, we finally realized was simply incompetent as the business person he purported to be. We discovered that anything he had a question about, or perhaps didn’t want to deal with, was just stuck in the back of a desk drawer. (Oh, THAT explains why certain vendors are screaming at me about invoices I didn’t even know existed.)

That firing was rough because the guy started getting highly emotional, citing the security of his family and begging to keep his job. Needless to say there was a tall, stiff Jack Daniels therapy session waiting for me at the end of that day.

One thing I’ve seen in companies I consider to be really great is that the hiring process involves multiple steps — for the really hot companies, the more the better. For example, a minimum of three interviews before hiring a secretary; for higher level positions at least one interview with every member of senior management and multiple meetings with the CEO. The thing impressed me the most was that once hired everyone there knew that everyone else had been selected with equal care. They knew that they had been chosen to be part of a team of winners.

[Nick Griffin]

It is surreal, yet somehow appropriate to use this place to communicate something so deeply, deeply personal.

Ron & Kathlyn,
You have my deepest and most sincere sympathies. I can only imagine your pain and hope that it eases as time goes by.

Your friend,
Nick

[Nick Griffin]

[walter biscardi] “The only issue we ran in to was he could not work with the files from the Mac version of Quickbooks for whatever reason”

Walt, I think that’s been fixed, at least it hasn’t been an issue between our accountants and us for a couple of years. We use Quickbooks Pro 2007 and have no problems. The only serious problem we’ve had with Quickbooks was a year or so ago when one of it’s auto-updates also auto-wiped out the Mac it was on’s “desktop file.” As they say in software, “That’s not a bug… it’s a feature.”

[Nick Griffin]

Umm… can we regard this as a rather “fat” pitch, right over the plate?

“Hi, I’m a 25 year old, great-looking girl, wondering if any of you guys here in the bar would like to buy me a drink.”

[Nick Griffin]

Steve, Steve, Steve. (Said with a heavy exhale.)

Did you misplace an existing copy of an executed agreement or never have one in the first place?

If it’s the former, best not to do anything other than remind the departing employee that he/she signed it and leave it at that. DON’T LET THEM KNOW YOU LOST IT.

If it’s the latter, most of the advice below is correct. You MUST have serious consideration for the employee to make an exit agreement worth anything whatsoever. Perhaps one thing you could offer is full use of stuff he/she worked on for their portfolio — with the implication that without said permission they are NOT permitted to use your copyrighted materials. But you better also have some cash in it to make the contract hold any water.

And because Tim Kolb is one of the smartest guys in the room, it’s been my observation too that courts tend to side with the little guy. That said, a lot of this stuff comes down to what one has to lose.

If someone is just starting out and they are threatened with a lawsuit, they could easily shrug their shoulders and say, “So… what are you going to get from me? I rent an apartment and still owe 47 months on a car loan.” Yet when they are 40, married with kids, have equity in their house, own a boat, etc. — they’ve got something to lose. The threat of a lawsuit will mean a LOT more to them even if they think they will prevail ultimately but had to spend tens of thousands on their lawyers. In this regard, grownups are a lot easier to scare.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[Nick Griffin]

I probably average in the low 20’s, but to get all the admin done a work week is closer to 60. That said this prompted me to look up an especially busy week last month and billable hours for a 7 day period added up to 35.585 — 35 hrs 35 minutes. And yes, that was a week I had little time for the COW.