Timothy J. allen
Forum Replies Created
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Jon,
I understand the difference and thank you for pointing out that there is a difference.In many cases, when hiring new employees, these documents will be presented in the same “package” of documents within the framework of an new employee contract, so I think protecting that type of information is a relevant topic within this thread.
You asked Steve “What trade secrets could this employee possibly have that cannot be found on any number of websites like the cow?”
Technically it’s those kind of things that would typically be covered under NDAs. But while an NDA may prevent an ex-employee from disclosing that information to third parties, it could be difficult and costly to prove to a court that someone is using internal processes and systems you developed for their own work. A non-compete clause in the hire contract removes a bit of the incentive to do that.
Of course, the best case is for employees to always leave on great terms and everyone love and support each other in future endeavors. (No shotguns involved.)
But seriously, one thing that is important is that the “non-compete” portion of a contract is enforceable. That means that you not only need “consideration”, but that it is within the bounds of logical reason. That’s one reason why a non-compete has to have reasonable time and geographic limitations when compared to the “consideration”.
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When you find it, let me know. I’m using Microsoft Project. It’s o.k. for the type of work I do most often – since most of our client’s are used to seeing Gantt charts to clarify project schedules, but it would be nice to have something more specifically geared towards corporate video production.
We looked into Scheduall software several times over the years, but at the time, it was more than we needed. You may still want to see if it suites your needs.
https://www.scheduall.com/ -
I wouldn’t give someone access to my client list, budget templates or fee calculation spreadsheets unless they sign one.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want them to make a nice living after our partnership is over. I’ve had former employees hire me on jobs and it’s important to be fair. That said, I’ve worked hard to develop certain processes and tools that help streamline and improve my work flow. Things that (IMHO) help make me “more valuable” to clients than my competition. If someone I hire is going to have access to my company’s proprietary information, I’m going to try to protect it.
I also have them sign it in order to prove due diligence in protecting my client’s proprietary information. This could be knowledge of new inventions or processes, financial data – you name it. When you do work for high-tech companies or the government, you begin to understand the value of information and you owe it to yourself and your clients to protect it.
I don’t care if someone uses knowledge they gained while working with me – as long as it’s things like “how to edit faster”, “how to color grade a sequence” or “how to figure out not to blow a circuit breaker when lighting an office”. I actively encourage people taking that type of knowledge and using it. I do not encourage them to use my “budget proposal” spreadsheets.
See the difference?
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True… if the employee is already leaving, you are pretty much at his or her mercy on whether it gets signed.
Are you throwing this employee a “farewell” party? 🙂
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Just make sure that it’s over a smooth concrete floor – then it’s easy to clean up with a razor blade once the wax dries.
😉
Seriously… thanks for posting that publicly David. It’s just good for folks to see that the elements of any contract are there.
In plain language, you have documented:
1. Who the agreement is between. (The undersigned and “their successors, assigns, and personal representatives”)
2. What – (direct or indirect competition, disclosure of trade secrets and confidential data etc.)
3. When (for a period of up to __ years)
4. Where (radius of __ miles from the present location of the Company)
5. Why – for both parties (for consideration and employment/to protect trade secrets, etc.)If nothing else, the agreement makes your stance on disclosure of your intellectual property to a third party very clear and the agreement proves that you discussed your stance with the employee. Those elements are extremely important if a problem with the former employee ever arises.
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I’ve worked on “cooking shows” where the appliances were loaned to the set for a specific period of time in exchange for a listing in the credits.
It was better than asking for something permanently, because the company (a local Sears vendor) would switch the appliances out and keep them updated. It generally worked out pretty well, except the host had to relearn where the buttons were every few months. That wasn’t difficult on a stove, but may be more of an issue with video technology.
I’d go for a local vendor rather than a main company and draft a memorandum of agreement to borrow the equipment for a specific amount of time – with the option to extend the agreement once both parties see how it’s working for them.
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Unsolicited demo reels by mail will just sit in a file cabinet until I’m ready to hire.That could be months or even a year. (I purge my filing cabinet of reels once a year since I figure people will have usually moved on by then.)
By the time I need to hire, if I’ve seen a promising reel that was sent a few months before, I’ll most likely ask the applicant if they have an updated reel anyway.
Even though technical video quality is not as high on the web, it still gives me enough to know whether I want to pursue an employee further. It also gives you a better chance to keep things fresh and up-to-date.
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If I only hear from someone once every six months they might not be the first to come to mind the next time I have overflow work. While word of mouth is still the the best marketing tool, it wouldn’t hurt to send your targets a reminder email or e-newsletter that lets customers know that you are offering additional services, tips for post production or something “of value” that also reminds them that you exist.
Are production companies your main target? How about independent producers? In your post, you didn’t say where you are located, what type of client or industry you specialize in (corporate, commercial, music video?). You may want to cast your net a little wider.
Put your company website URL at the bottom of every post here on the COW and everywhere else. Hold an “open house” to show people your work. If you don’t have a professional facility that you want to show off, you can still team up with other production industry folks and have a “Video Production Open House” with other partners that offer animation.
It’s ironic, but one way I’ve gotten work from production houses was by referring work that I couldn’t do (or didn’t want to do) to them. For instance, I never was interested in the wedding video market, but I’ve sent potential wedding clients to friends who do a great job with that type of event. Those guys have in turn recommended me to clients who want a scriptwriter and producer for high-end corporate videos (nonfiction scriptwriting isn’t one of the services he offers).
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Yes, they are pretty simple. Here’s a sample from ASCAP…
https://www.ascap.com/musicbiz/cue_sheet_corner/pdf/SampleCueSheet.pdf
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I’ve been going through hours of interviews for a project right now. Since I like to work out of the office and on several different operating systems, I needed a way to transcribe using my standard office PC laptop – which has no editing capability (other than Quicktime Pro)
(It doesn’t solve your timecode notation issue, but since its related to transcribing, I’ll go ahead…)
I exported my interview audio out to itunes and put the tracks on my ipod. Then I found a quiet place and opened up Microsoft Word on my PC. I turned on the “speech to text” feature in Word and plugged in my USB headset microphone, put one earbud from the ipod in my ear, then just repeated the interview into the headset. (Since I’ve used a voice prompter before, repeating my questions and the subject’s answers doesn’t seem that odd to me.)
Anyway, since I ran through a few training sessions with Text to Speech, my transcripts have been more than 95% accurate on the first read. Using the standalone ipod for audio, I can pause and scrub through the interview without having to switch applications.
I’m not that slow of a typist, but using speech to text cut my transcription time in half.
I always play through a second time to correct any errors from where Word “hears” me wrong. Usually, it’s just a phrase or per paragraph or two. By the end of that second run, I pretty much have the interviews memorized and the transcript is just as accurate as if I had sent it off to be done professionally.(I must learn faster when I hear things and repeat them than when I type them, because when I was simply transcribing the interviews by typing them, the content didn’t really stick with me like it does when I enter the text with speech to text.) The accuracy probably is a result of me actually being the one that was asking the questions in the original interview session – since I know the lexicon, I can easily correct things that those not familiar with the conversation might not understand right away. Our interviews tend to be pretty technical and the transcription services I’ve used in the past sometimes have trouble with all those weird NASA acronyms 😉
Since part of the reason I’m transcribing is to get familiar with the content, I’ve been saving the $100 per transcript fee that I had been paying and doing it this way for the past couple of months. So far so good…
I still have to say that I’m missing the capabilities of my old Avid Adrenaline HD these days.