Conflict of Interest?

One of the leading video software companies requested that I help coordinate their introduction of a new product to our market. That help was to take the form of suggesting several local videographers association meetings where they would do an in-depth presentation. The association would get reimbursed (by the software company) for certain expenses, and one meeting attendee would win the new software bundle, valued at more than $1500.00. It was a classic win-win-win situation. But things are never so simple.

After discussing the meeting proposal with the president of one particular association, he readily agreed. Later on, however, he took it to the association board for their approval. That’s where it got complicated.

Sitting on the board was at least one person who receives direct compensation from an organization that considers us (The 4EVER Group) to be competition. There’s also one other person who has received compensation from that other organization. Allowed to sit in on the meeting, but not a board member, was another person who receives direct compensation from that organization.

And the association’s president expressed surprise when our proposal was voted down.

In my first job after college, we had ethics training. We were taught about both impropriety and the appearance of impropriety. It’s hard for me to see how the situation here represents anything but a conflict of interest.

Video Biographies In The News

I've long considered the Video Biography to be truly important. Whether looking at it as a professional, offering the service, or as a DIYer, having your family story on video is just awesome. I actually recorded my first Video Biography back in 1985, before we even had a real name for it.

Earlier this week, I was interviewed for an article about Video Biographies, which appeared in today's (September 26, 2008) edition of the Indianapolis Star. You can access the article through their web site, by following this link:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080926/BUSINESS05/809260402/1003/BUSINESS

Starving Artists?

Yesterday, I wan an invited participant in a regional video producers meeting, hosted by the North Jersey Videographers Association. The first part of the meeting was a 90-minute State of the Industry panel discussion, and that included two associates from Boston, one from Dallas, and another from Long Island. With a 3pm start, the meeting drew about 75 attendees.
One of the issues identified by the LI associate is somewhat local to his area i.e. there are a number of photo studios that, as he explained, treat event video as a commodity, not as an art form. They sell fairly basic packages at relatively low prices, and actively do not want artistic-type shots. The Long Island associate talked about his relationship with the couples he worked with, and felt terrible that he could not deliver an artistic video. While this may not be national in scope, there is a terrific business lesson to be learned. The fact is that the photo studio owner is acting like a businessperson. He is selling video for more than the video is costing him, and keeping that client in his studio. One attendee remarked that he recently started offering photography in his video studio, which is a perfectly appropriate action. The point that I made, and others on the panel made, was that we have to act like entrepreneurs, like business people, in order to achieve business success. It's a simple formulation, really.

Internet Radio Interview

I’ll be the featured guest on the May 22, 2008 edition of “The Frazzled Entrepreneur” program. The interview will be heard live at 8pm EDT on Blog Talk Radio, at this web address: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/frazzledentrepreneur/2008/05/23/The-Frazzled-Entrepreneur-Program-Steve-Wernick-Real-Entrepreneurs-Live.

We’ll have the chance to talk about the video production business, as well as about The 4EVER Group. Since the program runs for an hour, there’s plenty of time for a range of topics.

If you leave a comment below, and mention any topic we discuss with specificity, you’ll be eligible for a 10% discount on any new video production. I mention specificity because I want you to listen to the interview.

In addition to the live session, the program will be archived and appear on The Frazzled Entrepreneur Program website, at http://www.frazzledentrepreneur.com/, for many weeks.

Four City Trip Starts

These crazy few days kicked off with a trip to Boston, for an industry show on March 7 and 8. We (The 4EVER Group) were one of the exhibitors at the Camera Company Pro Video show, which was held on the campus of Stonehill College. In addition to the show, I was a panelist for the Vista Awards, presented by the local video producers group, the National Professional Videographers Association of New England (NPVA-NE).

The show itself was fairly uneventful, and it was run well. They’ve had some practice: this was the 18th year of the show, and the second time that we’ve participated. Unlike the last time we participated, the show has been geared almost totally toward industry professionals. That meant that the foot traffic was lighter than we figured.

Day two of the show, Saturday, figured to be busier. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t really cooperate, as there was quite the downpour. The show was held in the school’s gym, which was next to the main athletic field (W. B. Mason Field), and there was a lacrosse match that morning. That had to be an unpleasant experience, out in the cold rain.

At the show’s conclusion (5pm), I packed up and grabbed a quick dinner with a couple of associates. Then I hit the road, bound for State College. Seven entertaining hours later, I arrived in my old home town for the PA ABC meeting. But you should have already read that story.

The four cities? Boston, State College, Davenport IA, and Las Vegas.

Adobe Product Launch

The 4EVER Group has built an excellent relationship with Adobe Systems over the nearly three years that we've been active. That relationship led to a pretty cool invitation for me. Yesterday, in what was billed as the largest new product launch in the 25-year history of Adobe, I was among an elite group of 200 at the live roll-out in New York City.

Although I don’t edit video anymore, it was clear that the product upgrades were significant. Adobe also created better ways to maneuver between programs within the editing suite (called ‘bridge’). The one piece of Adobe software that I do use is PhotoShop, and they’ve improved that as well, by significantly reducing the time needed to load the program. As a non-editor, one of the cooler features of the product demo was showing how the program allows you to remove stray audio from a scene. It was like taking an eraser to the audio wave-form.

The product roll-out was simulcast on the Adobe web site. And, as can happen, about half-way through the demo, they experienced an equipment failure. The software was working fine, but the hardware—not so much. In the end, they had to stop the demo for about a half hour, while they made repairs.

Everyone in the room had experienced something similar, at some point in their careers. Stuff does happen. And while I would not have wanted to be one of the team on headsets, trying to trouble-shoot, I did enjoy being part of the audience, because that was when they opened up the bars, and started butlering some specialty drinks. Key lime martini? They were tasty.

In the end, the launch was successful. Adobe has some cool new tools for people in our trade, and everyone in attendance has a new story to tell.