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The Stimson Group Newsletter
Apr 2008
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Vol 2 Issue 4
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Welcome Back,
If you enjoy these emails and get value from the content, please do me the favor of forwarding this month's issue to a few friends or colleagues. You could also drop me a note with a question, comment, or idea for a future article.
This month we've added a new feature. You can now access archived issues of AV Matters from our website or the links list on your left. The newsletter links will still work and the format is printable.
The Best Practices installment this month contains suggestions for managing freelance talent while minimizing company risks. Our friend Philip Barret shares a dire warning about the future of our wireless mic spectrum. And one of our readers becomes the teacher when they share a proposal format inspired by a previous issue of AV Matters.
Enjoy,
Tom (TR) Stimson, CTS
My Direct Email
Website
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 Chicago Roadshow RESCHEDULED!
I bet this this has happened to you before: You find a great location, plan a trip, tell your friends - then work gets in the way and you have to reschedule. The Chicago Roadshow is being rescheduled to November 5. The New York Roadshow will now be July 30th. Stay tuned for more details. Check the Roadshow webpage.
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R&S Monthly Trends Survey
March '08 Results
Another record-breaking survey month! Over 160 respondents answered the call about cell phones, laptops, and other devices that keep us productive (or not). Can't decide if you need a cell phone and a PDA? Wondering if you can leave that laptop at home next trip? Want to know what your colleagues are doing? Download the results and see for yourself.
April Survey Preview
The first quarter of 2008 is done and it's time to take everyone's temperature. How has the year been, where is it going? Have you or will you be making any adjustments based on the economy?
Take the survey now.
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Best Practices Installment
Working with Freelance Professionals (Part 1): Fair is Fair
If you wait too long to book freelancer pros, all the good ones are gone. If you plan ahead and schedule early, then the project cancels or moves. I am often asked "What's a fair amount of time to cancel a freelancer without expecting to pay a cancellation fee?" I like this question because it tells me the person intends to be fair about it. No one likes to cancel or be cancelled, but it's a normal outcome in our line of business. The short answer is that if you treat freelancers fairly all the time, this becomes a moot question.
For high end stagers and integrators, quality freelancers (or sub-contractors) are as important to the success of the firm as great employees. But freelancers are selling you a piece of their schedule. The closer you are to the event or install, the harder it is for them to re-sell that time. As a freelancer you want to take bookings, but a customer who drops you without any accommodation such as rebooking or fees is not worth giving up your availability. On the other hand, it is unreasonable to expect the employer to treat bookings like contracts. They too, are being rescheduled or cancelled.
For the employer, the biggest concern is often the cost. That unfortunately is short term thinking. Cost is important, but in the long run doing consistently good work is worth more. If you put cost first, then you will find yourself freaking out when subs are on a job and staff is "idle". In the world of technology there really is no such thing as being legitimately idle. Downtime is when you do training, get caught up on other projects, or otherwise plan for the future. There is also nothing wrong with letting an employee burn a vacation day and recharge their batteries. After all, that's what your best freelancers are doing when they are not booked. Bottom line, freelancers are helping you avoid having more fulltime employees to feed while reducing employee burnout. Don't take advantage of your employees at the expense of your sub contractors.
"Aha!" says the freelancer. "The event stager gets to charge cancellation fees, they should pay me when I get canceled." The simple truth is that stagers that enforce cancellation fees don't get hired again (just like freelancers). In the rare cases where it is warranted and agreed upon, there has probably been a considerable amount of overhead invested by the stager. They take a lot of risks, they earn the reward (when there is one). In my experience of handling up to a thousand jobs annually, I saw maybe one or two circumstances a year that generated an actual cancellation fee of any size. But, I dealt with dozens of freelancers who wanted to test our cancellation policies.
So if no one really gets to charge cancellation, what's fair? Let me give you some guidelines, but you will have to work out how you handle exceptions. Because the assumption in these guidelines is that you operate openly and truly value the professional services you outsource. It also helps when freelancers don't behave like jerks - but you can always burn their phone number. (And freelancers, you can fire a customer by turning down their gigs.)
Guidelines for booking freelancers:
- Let them know in advance if this is a preemptive booking. This tells them that the gig might go away and that they are being called early because they are so valuable. It also gives them some flexibility if another job overlaps and they need to back out. Fair's fair.
- What constitutes an early booking varies by trade. For instance - with all due respect to camera operators - camops are a commodity. You want your favorites, but they are more easily replaced than other skills. I would book them one or two weeks out during slow times, and three or more weeks out during busy season. Key operator positions need more time. The good folks get booked three or more months in advance during busy season.
- When you book this early, expect changes (that's why you need fair policies). Before you cancel someone, see where you could reschedule them on to other jobs. It doesn't have to be a one for one exchange on days; and the farther in advance the easier it is.
- If you aboslutely have to cancel a freelancer, offering a cancellation fee is a good policy. In determining what a cancellation is worth, consider how long has the person been booked, how long was the original job, and how far out are you giving them notice. A rule of thumb for calculating fees is half of the first day's booking plus a quarter for each successive cancelled day. But, if you are generally fair then the more professional freelancers will turn the fee down.
I am of course, talking about professional freelancers. Day laborers, general techs, and other persons who work as temps generally won't garner the same consideration. However, when you really owe them some work, I find that there are always projects to be done in the shop. It's good for your office morale too.
Freelancers, you need to follow some guidelines too. Never cancel a client for another (better) gig. Explain the circumstances, and ask if they will let you cancel. I have rarely declined anyone the opportunity to cancel a two day job to take a weeklong gig. However if they make a habit of it, I may book them later and later.
Next month, we'll take a look at the best practices for paying and insuring freelance staff.
Tom Stimson, CTS
Comments or Questions? Send me an email.
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Reader Comments
Back in January the Best Practices Column was about proposals (Better Proposals: Three Times Three). That article, combined with a seminar I gave in December led Kevin Wright with Audio Video Headquarters to share the following letter:
Tom,
I just finished reading your January newsletter, again. I really appreciate the insights you shared. This reinforces what you were expounding on at the recent R&S Roadshow in L.A.
As an inspiration from your ideas shared, I would like you take a look at a proposal format I created (a work in progress). If you would like to use it as a reference (good or bad) in future articles, or reply directly, feel free.
I look forward to any feedback you may have towards this proposal format and definitely to future articles.
Sincerely,
KEVIN WRIGHT
Technical Director / Owner
The proposal Kevin sent was a brilliant interpretation of the challenge posed in the article. After some email exchanges and minor revisions, Kevin would like to share his work. You can download a PDF of the AVH Proposal here. Thanks Kevin for sharing what you've learned and giving us something to think about.
Have a comment about anything you've read? Email it to me.
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How HDTV Will Really Change Our Business
"Is My Wireless Mic On?"
by Philip Barret
"Is this thing on?" The answer may soon be a definitive NO! Surrounding the hoopla around the transition to digital television are sweeping changes in the way wireless frequencies will be allocated and used in the US. Here's what you need to know - and it's not pretty. -Tom
When wireless mics were invented they were considered to be the sole domain of the radio and television broadcaster, no one envisioned their proliferation into live events, churches, and the drive-thru window. Therefore, they were allowed to operate in the spaces left mostly vacant in the upper reaches of the television spectrum (UHF channels 52 to 69) as long as they didn't interfere with a legitimate broadcaster's signal. Since wireless mics need a very small slice of the frequency pie to operate, things went pretty smoothly and even large systems could be set up and run reliably.
However, the FCC has mandated that by February 2009 all analog TV transmitters be switched off and stations will be broadcasting entirely digital signals in new spectrum allocated to them some years ago for this purpose (at this time most stations are transmitting concurrent analog and digital broadcasts). In the interim the FCC has licensed or auctioned off the soon to be vacated and very valuable
analog spectrum. At this time it seems as if Verizon has acquired the majority of the bands, however, there is also an open access clause in the contract. This provision states that other broadcasters have rights to use the available slivers left in the spectrum for other wireless services. Google this week filed notice with the FCC that they intend to do just that. Lined up behind them are other major players including Microsoft, all eyeing the open frequencies.
So where does this leave us and our ballroom wireless systems? Without putting too fine a point on it - out of luck! Smaller markets may still have some frequencies available but most major cities will be completely locked up with high power, digital transmissions of the type most likely to interfere with RF mics. Most of our systems transmit between 10mW and 250mW of power (much
of which is absorbed by the wearer), by comparison the new transmissions will be from towers rated as high as a megawatt. Compounding the problem is that RF mic users no longer have any right of access to those frequencies, if it doesn't work, so be it, end of story.
But surely you ask, the wireless manufacturers must be doing something to work around this? Yes, there are certain solutions out there including transmissions in the WiFi/2.4Ghz spectrum and some nascent burst technologies but at this time none of these will provide the kind of fidelity or reliability we have come to expect. Some companies are releasing models that operate in other
frequency bands, however, these systems will still face interference from wireless devices, particularly cellular traffic. Audio manufacturers are not large operations and cannot afford the kind of R&D investment needed to reinvent their technology. Venues will probably start to be constructed with passive RF blocking (look to Broadway first) but it will be a longtime before any facilities are online. And in the US active blocking systems (jamming) will land you a spell in jail.
So where does this all leave us? After the February transition happens a successful show in a top market will need to include the following - if any confidence in the wireless systems is required:
1) A thorough & honest assessment of the real RF needs on a show, including intercom
2) A pre-show site survey with an RF qualified engineer & test equipment to verify available frequencies
3) Pre-programmable RF systems that can be dialed in ahead of time to the cleared channels
4) An on-site, dedicated RF A2 with the equipment needed to continually manage the systems in use
5) Critical antenna specification and placement
6) Talent mic'ing at the RF receiver location where a thorough verification can be made prior to their presentation
7) A fast back up plan (wired handhelds, lavalieres or podium mics) and presenters briefed on how and when to use the backups
8) A greater reliance on wired Audio Response systems in place of Q&A mics
In the parlance of the business presenters, this will be a paradigm shift in the way events are designed and handled. We need to be both prepared for the worst and accepting when even our best efforts fall short as other legitimate wireless users will not have to verify the availability of any given frequency prior to transmitting. Finally, our clients need to be made aware of the limitations
they will inevitably face so they can prepare accordingly.
Philip Barrett is a freelance audio engineer and writer. He welcomes your email comments.
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 About Thomas R. Stimson, MBA, CTS
Tom
Stimson is celebrating over twenty-five years in the communications
technology industry. As a Consultant, Tom helps companies build
smoother operations, focus sales, and increase profit. For more
information visit the website.
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