[Ron Lindeboom]

[Mick Haensler] “Does this mean I have to apologize to Bob?”

No, nobody apologizes to Bob.

Well, at least nobody really means it if they do.

Bob wouldn’t want it any other way.

After all, he’d have to drive to your house and slap you around or something, if you tried.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Nick Griffin] “Well sure if you’re 18 to 22 years old training to work in television or in a recording studio or in an ad agency sounds like a lot more fun than getting a “real” job. But how much sense does it make for institutions to churn out eight or nine or ten people for every one or two actual jobs which will be available? What possible justification is there for this? Hence my use of the word “moral.””

The saddest part in this sordid mess, are the ones whom the teachers will not politely tell them that “Your work is simply not going to get you a job. This is not your talent and the chances are that you will not have a chance in a market that already is far too glutted, anyway. But let’s compare your sense of design, color, editing…” — whatever they are doing — “…with some of the current work in the market.”

I see people in the COW who post work that is simply so void of talent and is so bad that when I tell them an honest critique, then all the bleeding hearts bemoan my meanness. I am not mean, I just think it is cruel to let someone spend their parents’ money on an education that is going to do them almost no good because everyone was too worried about hurting little Johnnie’s self-esteem.

I can’t tell you the number of people over the last 15 years that I have seen on our forums who come in thinking that they just graduated and are going to build a career. They open a shop on Mom and Dad’s money investment, which is in addition to M&D’s investment in their education and degree, and a year or less later, you see the fire sale on gear for sale in the Classifieds forum.

It has always been a heartbreak to me. I hate to see it. But I always scratch my head in bewilderment at the pros here who are far more concerned with being politically correct than they are in being honest, when some honesty would go a long way in helping some of the Truly Talentless & Artistically Inept from entering an already horrifically over-saturated market.

And yes, I realize that art is subjective, but I also know that there are some videos that I have watched in this and other sites, that wouldn’t have a .001% chance in hell of ever selling anything to anyone.

Kathlyn and I have a saying that we use when we see someone like this, and it goes: “Well, there’s more of Mom and Dad’s money wasted on having picked the wrong career.”

If I were an instructor at college, I would spend the first day showing nothing but exemplary work and pointing out the nuances and little things that make it brilliant work. And I would purposely try to scare the hell of people who think this is going to be a cakewalk on easy street and that making videos is fun. Yeah, right…15 to 18 hour days under heavy deadlines and intense pressures is a ball!

For those who get 8 hour days: you are such a minority in this market that you are the truely brilliant and my hat is off to you.

For the rest: get back to work, and if you are lucky, get your intern to fetch you some lunch at your workstation.

The Increasing Pragmatist,

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Ron Lindeboom]

[walter biscardi] “Thousands, maybe millions, of highly educated people have a job (or maybe don’t even have a job) that’s not even remotely associated with their college degree.”

Most of the people I know have jobs and careers that are completely unrelated to the degree that they earned at school. Obviously, careers like medicine, law, etc., are *usually* not included in this phenomenon.

I have always chalked this up to careers being planned by young people who think they know what they want to do and be, but aren’t always aware that the world is changing fast and most of the jobs being offered today were not being taught in school not that long ago.

I remember reading somewhere that people who are in school now are going to face a world in which most of the jobs that will face them in their lifetime, are not even part of any current curriculum.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Harry Benson] “My money is my money as far as I’m concerned.”

Then why ask us for our opinions? You already knew what you were going to accept and what you weren’t.

[Harry Benson] “My money is my money as far as I’m concerned.”

And that is why you will always have to make your living off all your own efforts, as no one is going to refer you more than once.

In situations where a monetary commission would be tacky or inappropriate, I always send a bottle of good wine or a gift certificate to a good restaurant, etc.

Sorry to be hard, but in a service business such as we are in, losing sight of the value of your “bird dogs” is not only short-sighted, it is going to cost you far more than you will imagine.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Ron Lindeboom]

[jerry norman] “Is there a way to view posts here by topic, but sorted by last response date (newest on top)? Similar to the way you can view SCS Vegas forum posts?”

At present, there is no such option in this site that follows exactly the method that you point to.

But you CAN date sort right now, by selecting “Sort By Date” in the pulldown menu that is seen just below the host pictures on this forum.

We have been at this for 15 years now, 10 as Creative COW, and our community raised total hell with us when we tried to switch to a topical view system. We quickly reset the default to threaded, but you can use a topical interface or the date sort — we support all three.

For those who prefer other systems, that is one of the reasons that so many different systems exist.

We must have some fans, as we now get over 2 million visitors a month and are bigger than any of our competitors — so we must be doing at least something right.

And no, we don’t plan on changing systems. We roll our own, thank you.

Have fun.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Ron Lindeboom]

Cowdog will likely be flying out to Las Vegas in his private corporate jet, while the rest of us have to drive into town.

Cowdog will also likely have his paws full of femme fatales of every color and breed. He will almost assuredly reek of expensive beers and kibble, as well.

We no longer go out in public with him.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Ron Lindeboom]

Nice suggestion, Mark. I like the idea and we will add it to the development pile.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Ron Lindeboom]

Many years ago when I was working as a commissioned salesman, I ALWAYS “spiffed” anyone that gave me a lead that turned into real money.

The more money I made from the deal, the bigger the “spiff.”

By doing this, I was never without a ready pool of agents (conspirators?) who kept their eyes and ears open for anything that might be in my market.

When they started giving me the leads, every one of them would say “Oh no, you needn’t give me anything,” when I mentioned that I was going to give them a piece of anything I made on the deal.

But, you know what?

No one ever sent the check back and no one ever failed to cash the check.

Me, I would NEVER fail to spiff anyone who brought me a job or a client that made me money.

Your mileage may vary, guys and girls — but I never varied on this point. ;o)

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Ron Lindeboom]

I wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole when I read in their contract that:

“(a) Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, the Rightsholder hereby grants You a non-exclusive, royalty-free, non-transferable, perpetual, worldwide license to access, download, and use the Work for one or more of the Permitted Uses. For clarity, this License includes the rights to create and use, solely as described in the Permitted Uses, works based on or incorporating the Work.“

I wouldn’t give them anything.

So, if you think those terms are not onerous, please feel free to sign up…but I won’t be.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Ron Lindeboom]

Whatever compression you use, you should keep in mind that the general consensus is that a video shouldn’t be more than 1.0 to 1.5 MBPS if it is going to be playable by the majority of people on the net.

You can upload by-passing our compression and we will support your upload and not compress it, but if it is like some of the videos in this contest that do this — using 5 MBPS and more, for example — they are playable by few.

We are working on our upcoming video support that we will launch in the future, that will allow us to have multiple versions of each file online to serve everyone from small to large bandwidth pipes. As of today, we only support one version per video — so choose wisely. ;o)

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt