I know the cliche uses "north" as the correct direction for reaching Alaska. In order to get there using the about-to-expire ticket that I have, I needto fly out of Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC. Since that's south of here, I've got to go south to go north. Well, west and north.
I'm off to Anchorage to do a presentation to the Alaska Professional Videographers Association (APVA) on Wednesday. So it's a 3-hour drive to DC, a 5-1/2 hour flight to Seattle and a change of planes, and another 3-1/2 hour flight to Anchorage. That's about 12 hours if travel. Fortunately, there's only a short scheduled layover in Seattle.
That gets me to the Anchorage airport about 11:30pm local time, which is 4 hours behind the east coast. It's a long day of travel (it'll be worse coming home), but it's a first: no outside organization has addresses the APVA before. And another first is that I've not yet been to Alaska.
It should be an interesting couple of days. I'll try to keep current.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
An Attempted Scam
I got a call this afternoon from a translation service, telling me that they were communicating with me on behalf of someone deaf or hard of hearing who was using one of those special machines. Whatever. He’s asking about video for his daughters wedding on 9/1, in Philadelphia. After a brief “conversation” through the translation service, I was asked to send information via email. As you see below, I did that.
His reply, however, is the classic scam spiel. I've shared this with as many industry professionals as I could. My original email is at the bottom.
************************************************************************************
From: daniel collins [mailto:danielcollins777@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2007 3:24 PMTo: Steve@SteveWernick.comSubject: special favor needed from you
Dear Steve,Thanks for your response and kind effort,the quote you have provided is okay and i will like to book and make total payment with my credit card,i will like you to know at this point that i also hire the service of a African Traditional dancers who does not have a credit card machine to run my card for his payment,i was billed $3000 for this service and i have been able to send $1000 to him via western union money transfer and i do not have enough raw fund on me at present to pay his balance than paying with my credit card so i will like you to add up the remaining $2000 to your charges and charge my credit card details for the sum of $6000 and forward $2000 to him in return via western union money transfer at the nearest location,the excess fund will be for the western union charges and compensation for your time and effort i want you to get back to me with a response and let me know if you are okay with this arrangement so i can forward my credit card details for the payment,thanks for your co-operation in advance,stay blessed.RegardsDr Collins
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for contacting me regarding your daughter’s wedding. If you haven’t yet done so, please visit our web site at www.videoccasion.net. We have sample videos and more information there.
Our standard programming always includes two camera coverage for both the ceremony and reception. The videos are all fully edited, and you’ll receive three identical copies. My intent is one for the bride and groom, and one for each set of parents, but how you divide them is your decision. Our pricing, if the wedding is in the general Philadelphia area, is $3495.00.
Please let me know if you have any other questions. If you have access to Instant Messaging, you can find me at WernickSteve on AOL IM.
Regards,
Steve Wernick
Videoccasion, Inc.
His reply, however, is the classic scam spiel. I've shared this with as many industry professionals as I could. My original email is at the bottom.
************************************************************************************
From: daniel collins [mailto:danielcollins777@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2007 3:24 PMTo: Steve@SteveWernick.comSubject: special favor needed from you
Dear Steve,Thanks for your response and kind effort,the quote you have provided is okay and i will like to book and make total payment with my credit card,i will like you to know at this point that i also hire the service of a African Traditional dancers who does not have a credit card machine to run my card for his payment,i was billed $3000 for this service and i have been able to send $1000 to him via western union money transfer and i do not have enough raw fund on me at present to pay his balance than paying with my credit card so i will like you to add up the remaining $2000 to your charges and charge my credit card details for the sum of $6000 and forward $2000 to him in return via western union money transfer at the nearest location,the excess fund will be for the western union charges and compensation for your time and effort i want you to get back to me with a response and let me know if you are okay with this arrangement so i can forward my credit card details for the payment,thanks for your co-operation in advance,stay blessed.RegardsDr Collins
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for contacting me regarding your daughter’s wedding. If you haven’t yet done so, please visit our web site at www.videoccasion.net. We have sample videos and more information there.
Our standard programming always includes two camera coverage for both the ceremony and reception. The videos are all fully edited, and you’ll receive three identical copies. My intent is one for the bride and groom, and one for each set of parents, but how you divide them is your decision. Our pricing, if the wedding is in the general Philadelphia area, is $3495.00.
Please let me know if you have any other questions. If you have access to Instant Messaging, you can find me at WernickSteve on AOL IM.
Regards,
Steve Wernick
Videoccasion, Inc.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
More Adventures in Travel
This week I’m in the San Diego area, shooting video for a corporate client. We’re shooting interviews in three cities (Princeton, NJ and Evanston, IL are the others) that the company plans on using as part of their effort in recruiting college grads and MBA-types for their world-wide offices.
The company booked the air travel for me, and that became a bit of an adventure. First, we had the administrative error of flying me out of Philadelphia, but then returning me to Newark, NJ. Driving home after than would have been a bit of a challenge. Then we had the airport challenge.
I was booked on United, flying from Philadelphia to Denver, then changing planes there for the final part of the trip. As I usually do, I checked in at United’s web site the night before my trip, and printed a boarding pass.
When I attempted to check in at the Untied kiosk, in terminal D, I was told that I’d been switched to USAirways, and to go to terminal C to check in there. No big deal, I thought. So I walked back outside, in the hot afternoon sun, dragging my suitcase, with my backpack full of gear weighing me down.
USAirways, remarkably, had a pretty short line at the kiosks. However, once again, I was not able to check in. The customer service rep told me that I had to go back to the United counter and get paperwork from them showing that my reservation was indeed transferred, and then come on back. Oh and that plane is scheduled for 4pm, not the 4:30pm that would have been the departure time with United.
So it’s back to the hot sun hustle between terminals, deal with a United customer service trainee, and her trainer who was clearly having issues with the transaction. Then it’s back to terminal C, where the line is longer and the clock is ticking. I sort-of cut the line, but I’d been told to come right back to the counter. Finally, my papers are in order and I’m off to the security line.
What happens when you have to take several trips between terminals, in the hot sun, with plenty of stuff to carry, and under time pressure? If you’re me, you work up quite a sweat. And someone dripping sweat while going through an airport security line is probably pretty high on the list of red flag behaviors. And I got flagged. That meant full pat-down, and swabbing of all my carry-on gear.
In the end, I obviously got through. The USAirways flight was direct, non-stop, which is always a better way to fly. And although I was in a middle seat, between a father and daughter returning from Switzerland, the fact that I arrived in San Diego about 2-1/2 hours earlier than I expected made up for that inconvenience.
The company booked the air travel for me, and that became a bit of an adventure. First, we had the administrative error of flying me out of Philadelphia, but then returning me to Newark, NJ. Driving home after than would have been a bit of a challenge. Then we had the airport challenge.
I was booked on United, flying from Philadelphia to Denver, then changing planes there for the final part of the trip. As I usually do, I checked in at United’s web site the night before my trip, and printed a boarding pass.
When I attempted to check in at the Untied kiosk, in terminal D, I was told that I’d been switched to USAirways, and to go to terminal C to check in there. No big deal, I thought. So I walked back outside, in the hot afternoon sun, dragging my suitcase, with my backpack full of gear weighing me down.
USAirways, remarkably, had a pretty short line at the kiosks. However, once again, I was not able to check in. The customer service rep told me that I had to go back to the United counter and get paperwork from them showing that my reservation was indeed transferred, and then come on back. Oh and that plane is scheduled for 4pm, not the 4:30pm that would have been the departure time with United.
So it’s back to the hot sun hustle between terminals, deal with a United customer service trainee, and her trainer who was clearly having issues with the transaction. Then it’s back to terminal C, where the line is longer and the clock is ticking. I sort-of cut the line, but I’d been told to come right back to the counter. Finally, my papers are in order and I’m off to the security line.
What happens when you have to take several trips between terminals, in the hot sun, with plenty of stuff to carry, and under time pressure? If you’re me, you work up quite a sweat. And someone dripping sweat while going through an airport security line is probably pretty high on the list of red flag behaviors. And I got flagged. That meant full pat-down, and swabbing of all my carry-on gear.
In the end, I obviously got through. The USAirways flight was direct, non-stop, which is always a better way to fly. And although I was in a middle seat, between a father and daughter returning from Switzerland, the fact that I arrived in San Diego about 2-1/2 hours earlier than I expected made up for that inconvenience.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
I've Been Busy
This photo represents the entries from the competition that we’re hosting at The 4EVER Group. They all had to be sorted into the 15 different categories in the competition, and that was after each label had to be removed, and replaced with a control number. These videos will be shipped off to judges, and they’ll select the ones that will go to the final round.
The judges are all professional videographers, and they’re all volunteers. Judging in the upcoming opening round is done at the judge’s own location, and does take a considerable amount of time. We then all get together in one location for the final round, which takes the better part of four days and nights.
Videographers are deadline-oriented people. We accepted entries for eight weeks, but about 80% of the entries showed up on the two business days prior to the deadline. No fewer than 39 packages were delivered to my door on the day of the deadline.
The next couple of weeks will also be pretty busy. I’ve got a wedding, along with a corporate shoot that will take me to Evanston, IL and Carlsbad, CA. I’ll try to keep up with this blog throughout.
The judges are all professional videographers, and they’re all volunteers. Judging in the upcoming opening round is done at the judge’s own location, and does take a considerable amount of time. We then all get together in one location for the final round, which takes the better part of four days and nights.
Videographers are deadline-oriented people. We accepted entries for eight weeks, but about 80% of the entries showed up on the two business days prior to the deadline. No fewer than 39 packages were delivered to my door on the day of the deadline.
The next couple of weeks will also be pretty busy. I’ve got a wedding, along with a corporate shoot that will take me to Evanston, IL and Carlsbad, CA. I’ll try to keep up with this blog throughout.
Friday, June 29, 2007
One Wedding, Two Firsts
After nearly 24 years in the video production business, it’s rare that I have the opportunity for one new thing in a day, let alone two. That’s exactly what happened on June 23, with a wedding at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia.
This particular wedding was referred to me by Sheila Corbett, who is a full-service consultant (http://www.elegant-events.net/). Although this was the first wedding where we worked together, I wasn’t counting that fact. This was the first Persian wedding we’d ever recorded, and it was also our first event recorded in High Definition (HD) video.
The photographer (http://www.alwaysandforeverphotography.com/) promised to supply a couple of pictures, and they’ll be posted as soon as I receive them. (UPDATE: They're posted!) It really was a visually interesting wedding, as the bride and groom sat on chairs placed on a riser, with a spread of various items in front of them. Some were clearly non-religious, like the two stuffed animals, and the honey was part of a ritual, where each dipped their little finger in the honey, to share with the other. And with much of the wedding ceremony in Farsi, well, I just hope there was nothing said that we need to bleep out.
Overall, they had a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, so all of their outdoor photography/videography will look great. It turned out that their Persian ceremony was not also a civil wedding, so they scheduled the civil ceremony for earlier that same day. So I guess they were married before they were married.
Oh, yeah, that HD thing. We were using Canon A1 cameras, on loan as part of the Iron Videographer competition. We ran three cameras during the ceremony: manned camera on a tripod at the back, my camera was hand-held at the front of the room, and an unmanned camera facing the bride and groom. As usual, we ran two hand-held cameras during the reception. With only about 60 guests, it was a remarkably fun party. I’ll post a short clip on our main web site (http://www.videoccasion.net/) after we’ve edited the full wedding.
The cameras were fairly easy to use, especially given how thick the manual was. The few adjustments we needed to make (setting the input for external microphones was an important adjustment) were simple changes found in the menu. Both of us had used the camera before, which certainly helped. Still, the cameras offer something like a zillion things that can be adjusted, tweaked, or refined, and it’s easy to make a mistake if you're not careful.
Cheers to Ghazaleh and Jahan, who had a wonderful wedding day.
This particular wedding was referred to me by Sheila Corbett, who is a full-service consultant (http://www.elegant-events.net/). Although this was the first wedding where we worked together, I wasn’t counting that fact. This was the first Persian wedding we’d ever recorded, and it was also our first event recorded in High Definition (HD) video.
The photographer (http://www.alwaysandforeverphotography.com/) promised to supply a couple of pictures, and they’ll be posted as soon as I receive them. (UPDATE: They're posted!) It really was a visually interesting wedding, as the bride and groom sat on chairs placed on a riser, with a spread of various items in front of them. Some were clearly non-religious, like the two stuffed animals, and the honey was part of a ritual, where each dipped their little finger in the honey, to share with the other. And with much of the wedding ceremony in Farsi, well, I just hope there was nothing said that we need to bleep out.
Overall, they had a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, so all of their outdoor photography/videography will look great. It turned out that their Persian ceremony was not also a civil wedding, so they scheduled the civil ceremony for earlier that same day. So I guess they were married before they were married.
Oh, yeah, that HD thing. We were using Canon A1 cameras, on loan as part of the Iron Videographer competition. We ran three cameras during the ceremony: manned camera on a tripod at the back, my camera was hand-held at the front of the room, and an unmanned camera facing the bride and groom. As usual, we ran two hand-held cameras during the reception. With only about 60 guests, it was a remarkably fun party. I’ll post a short clip on our main web site (http://www.videoccasion.net/) after we’ve edited the full wedding.
The cameras were fairly easy to use, especially given how thick the manual was. The few adjustments we needed to make (setting the input for external microphones was an important adjustment) were simple changes found in the menu. Both of us had used the camera before, which certainly helped. Still, the cameras offer something like a zillion things that can be adjusted, tweaked, or refined, and it’s easy to make a mistake if you're not careful.
Cheers to Ghazaleh and Jahan, who had a wonderful wedding day.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Wedding Industry Interviews
For some time now, I’ve been the host of podcast interviews that are found at The 4EVER Group web site, www.4EVERGroup.org. Generally, the content has been directed to professional videographers, as we spotlight the personalities is, and tools used by, our industry.
Because of the ridiculous new book about weddings (no plug for her!), we’ve started to branch out with our interviews, and include other wedding industry professional. When I was recently in California, we had the opportunity to do our first non-videographer interview, and that was also our first Vidcast.
I interviewed a wedding planner named Jeannie Savage, and her company is Details Details (www.aboutdetailsdetails.com). She’s a big proponent of professional video, maybe in part because she didn’t have a video at her own wedding. In the interview, she explains about two really crucial moments that happened (an extemporaneous toast from her father was one) that she just can’t remember fully, as her wedding was five years ago. In addition, she realized what a valuable memento the video would have been for her own children.
Anyway, if you want to take a look, please follow this link:
http://www.elysiumproductions.com/jkh/4egvidcast1selfcontained.html
Because of the ridiculous new book about weddings (no plug for her!), we’ve started to branch out with our interviews, and include other wedding industry professional. When I was recently in California, we had the opportunity to do our first non-videographer interview, and that was also our first Vidcast.
I interviewed a wedding planner named Jeannie Savage, and her company is Details Details (www.aboutdetailsdetails.com). She’s a big proponent of professional video, maybe in part because she didn’t have a video at her own wedding. In the interview, she explains about two really crucial moments that happened (an extemporaneous toast from her father was one) that she just can’t remember fully, as her wedding was five years ago. In addition, she realized what a valuable memento the video would have been for her own children.
Anyway, if you want to take a look, please follow this link:
http://www.elysiumproductions.com/jkh/4egvidcast1selfcontained.html
Monday, June 18, 2007
The Iron Videographer
So I’ve been a little busy, and I haven’t made the time to attend to my blog. One of the major distractions was my being a part of the Iron Videographer competition that we (The 4EVER Group) hosted.
The Iron Videographer is a send-up of the Iron Chef TV show. We’re doing this bracket-style, featuring eight combatants in four regional competitions in the opening round. I was the host of the program, and our events were in Detroit (June 6), Dallas (June 7), Long Island (June 12), and Orange County, CA (June 13). That meant three different airlines (USAirways, Northwest, and Jet Blue), and four different hotels (Wyndham Garden Hotel, LaQuinta Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, and Fairfield Marriott). Airline service was barely average, although they got us to each destination safely, and the hotels all pretty much seemed the same.
Each combatant in the Iron Videographer competition used the same footage to create a wedding highlights clip. I provided the footage, from a wedding recorded in June 2006. One of the winning clips is posted here: http://blog.elysiumproductions.com/.
Once I’ve collected all of them, the bride will receive all of the clips on a DVD. In addition, they’ll be posted on The 4EVER Group web site, http://www.4evergroup.org/.
In the end, the competition was great fun. In three cities, the crowd averaged about 50, and we had about 100 at the Long Island event. Each competitor was given as much as four hours to edit the footage, and no one took less than 3 hours and 15 minutes. We interviewed each competitor during the session, and then again at the close. There was a panel of three judges in each city as well, but they were other wedding professional, not videographers. As we’ve seen in our Artistic Achievement Awards competitions, videographers and other wedding professionals can see things differently. The judges included wedding coordinators, photographers, and even recent brides.
The over-the-shoulder picture is of Julie Hill, from Elysium Productions in Irvine, CA. She was the winner of the West competition. The other picture shows me interviewing Terry Taravella, from Studio Vieux Carre in New Orleans, the winner of the South competition.
The next bracket in the competition will be the semi-finals, which we’ll host in late September or early October. I’ll blog more promptly then.
The Iron Videographer is a send-up of the Iron Chef TV show. We’re doing this bracket-style, featuring eight combatants in four regional competitions in the opening round. I was the host of the program, and our events were in Detroit (June 6), Dallas (June 7), Long Island (June 12), and Orange County, CA (June 13). That meant three different airlines (USAirways, Northwest, and Jet Blue), and four different hotels (Wyndham Garden Hotel, LaQuinta Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, and Fairfield Marriott). Airline service was barely average, although they got us to each destination safely, and the hotels all pretty much seemed the same.
Each combatant in the Iron Videographer competition used the same footage to create a wedding highlights clip. I provided the footage, from a wedding recorded in June 2006. One of the winning clips is posted here: http://blog.elysiumproductions.com/.
Once I’ve collected all of them, the bride will receive all of the clips on a DVD. In addition, they’ll be posted on The 4EVER Group web site, http://www.4evergroup.org/.
In the end, the competition was great fun. In three cities, the crowd averaged about 50, and we had about 100 at the Long Island event. Each competitor was given as much as four hours to edit the footage, and no one took less than 3 hours and 15 minutes. We interviewed each competitor during the session, and then again at the close. There was a panel of three judges in each city as well, but they were other wedding professional, not videographers. As we’ve seen in our Artistic Achievement Awards competitions, videographers and other wedding professionals can see things differently. The judges included wedding coordinators, photographers, and even recent brides.
The over-the-shoulder picture is of Julie Hill, from Elysium Productions in Irvine, CA. She was the winner of the West competition. The other picture shows me interviewing Terry Taravella, from Studio Vieux Carre in New Orleans, the winner of the South competition.
The next bracket in the competition will be the semi-finals, which we’ll host in late September or early October. I’ll blog more promptly then.
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