Trade Shows – I love ‘em.
Posted by satureyes | Filed under personal, rants and moans
I was thinking this morning about how much I love trade shows. They’re full of brilliant characters and its always fun to see what swag you can nab from the stands.. so here’s my take on the whole phenomena.
Of course, some of these observations are not all about one venue or show – but an amalgamation of years of research and trawling through Trade shows and expos around the country.
You’ve got your pass in the mail, you’ve consulted the ’seminar guide’ and circled the talks you want to go to.. so its time to hit the road and spend 3 hours travelling to the venue.
I love the walk from the over-priced car park where you’ve already been in line for 20 minutes behind overly excited sales-people and visitors to pay for your car park space.
Then there’s the delighful walk miles to the main door, around the back of the exhibiton centre, whilst you desparately try and mind- map the route to the front door so you can get back there later. You could of course wait 20 minutes for the shuttle bus which is caked in leaflets and plastic bags that people have deposisted there because they dont want to take them home- and feel a little disappointed that you’ve seen some leaflets that give away some of the secrets of what lies within the big doors to the exhibition halls.
You’ve inevitably chosen the wrong day to visit. Its ’student’ day so you have to push past loads of Indy kids and teenagers smelling of Joss-sticks and Patchouli oil.
You eagerly attach your lanyard to the pass- and wonder why you have a green band on the badge whereas everyone else has yellow, what DOES it mean, I think I’m special because I have green. I am the best. Green means brilliance. The reality is probably that green meens ‘waste of space, dont even talk to me’
So you collect your show guide from the self-tanned brunette in tight black trousers and flat shoes, and decide ‘This year, I’m going to have a system, I’m going to walk up and down each aisle so I see everything.’
This lasts approximately 5 minutes before you’re distracted by a fire-breathing woman on stilts or a giant teddy bear handing out candy.
Once you wade past all the students looking at kit they can’t afford, you then walk up to stands displaying kit you have been reading about (but can’t afford) have a visit onto the stand that has the MOST expensive kit in the universe on, and watch men take photos of an oriental lady in a short skirt for their ’special’ collection, whilst they pretend its for ‘testing’ purposes.
You become very disappointed with the lack of ‘free stuff’ at the stands. Surely it’s not already been given out. You manically collect plastic bags hoping there’s something other than a pen inside…perhaps a keychain, or a torch, or a torch keychain. Something. Not JUST leaflets. PLEASE!
A few stands grab your attention – but loiter at your peril. You’ve only just arrived and not in the mind-set of wanting some sales-person to chat to you.. so you loiter slightly further from the stand – ‘dont make eye contact’ you tell yourself.. dont.. make..eye..contact. DAMMIT she’s seen you..cue fake smile while she tries to see your name badge. You can hear her brain computing.. ‘name… occupation.. are they worth talking to?.. OH NO HE’S GREEN’ she stops smiling and looks away. WHAT? not even offer to scan your badge.. the ‘green line paranoia’ builds. Not even a M&M from their stand to keep your energy levels up. Anyway… Where’s the free booze?
Twenty minutes later you’re still trying to pry some cheap champaign off a stand. You know the only way you will get some is if you hide that damn badge and pretend you are responsible for a multi-million Euro budget and you may just consider booking their hotel for 5000 people and a 6 month conference.
Mission success! You have a glass of fizz and meander happily to the next stand – now you’ve got your patter sorted. Time to try and get pissed. Four glasses later, the heartburn has started, you’ve lined up for 20 mins to get a scoop of free ice-cream and you’re on top of the world.
So – seminar time. There’s only one, possibly 2 seminars you think are of real interest, so you make your way over to the pre-fabricated ’seminar room’ located somewhere between the male toilets and the area where they push massive bins full of empty bottles past at regular 2 minute intervals. The only problem you’re not the only person who thinks that this seminar is going to give them the secret to unlocking your sales potential, or indeed how to do something on a shoestring budget. The line extends around the corner, past the stand giving chocolate hearts wrapped in red foil…you’re not going to get a seat.
You get a seat. At the back, in the corner, so you can make a quick escape. Seminar starts. Guy in ill-fitting suit on stage with a neck-mic set too low. He asks if we can hear him. ‘No’ we say. Mic volume is put up. Feedback through the speakers. Mic level turned down. Time to check Twitter on the phone.
You then realise you’re sitting in a plastic rectangle with a roof made from strips of material. This has the accoustic properties of a ruler and a piece of string. Coupled with the catering staff pushing bins on wheels full of empty beer bottles past the side of the seminar space you realise you’re on a hopeless mission- but you stick it out. You may learn something…
The presenter informs you he realises you’re all tired after walking round all day. He then makes you stand up and ‘get interactive’. He needs to demonstrate that you can communicate and win business without talking, so proceeds to make monkey sounds and wave his arms furiously. You leave.
For the photo shows, perhaps visit a seminar at Canon or Nikon where they show you the most ridiculously well shot images and try and convince you that with this camera you too can achieve images like that. They dont tell you its been taken by a photographer with 60 years of experience and processed using NASA kit, in zero gravity.
Lunch time.. whoa what a choice.. you’ve spied out the ‘eateries’ while you’ve been wandering.. you’ve tried in vain to get satiated by eating chocolates and canapes from as many stands as possible but you are weak. All this walking has made you hungry.
Why not grab an over-priced dry sandwich and a coke and not get change from 20 quid- OR spend 30 minutes waiting for a 6 inch Subway sandwich and not have anywhere to sit and eat it.
There’s always Pizza Express.. you have a voucher for that somewhere.. you check the small print.. ‘not valid in the Pizza Express you are currently standing next to.’ Of course its not. Dry sandwich it is.
A moment to contemplate the day so far.. and how long you can bear to stay for the afternoon..There’s a load of stands you haven’t seen, and you never know – THEY may have some good freebies.
3 hours later, laden with plasic bags and nothing in them apart from a mouse mat, pink stress ball and a badge. You make your way back to the exit.
Will you do it all again next year? OF COURSE you will!
Tags: exhibitions, london, rant, rick bronks, satureyes, seminars, trade shows
No more FREE!
Posted by satureyes | Filed under personal, rants and moans, tweets
More and more the use of ’social media’ is becoming some sort of ‘bargaining chip’ to get free work.
I’ve noticed this becoming more of a trend in the event & creatives industry. I’ve had chats with a few people and it seems it’s not just me who has experienced this. Basically each month I have a load of people asking me for something and and they don’t want to pay for it. It usually is followed by a ‘promise’ of something in return.. ‘I’ll twitter about you’ or ‘I’ll put you on my website’. You get the idea.
Then there’s the ’showcase’ events. We all know these.. ‘If you give us a load of free stuff you can come to the event’ Promises of ‘exposure to new clients’ is a favourite one.
I had a great offer last year – In return for photographic coverage of an event, I was offered ‘membership’ of this collective of venues. I asked if this would enable me to be a preferred supplier to the venues- no it wouldn’t. I was offered the membership which had the cost of 1500 quid..but in return for this I had to do 1500 quids worth of work over the year for these people NOT including the event I was asked to shoot! What tosh.
I am known to be a bit of a grumpy old man, but think about how ridiculous this is. Imagine going into Tesco and telling them that you only want to pay 2 quid for a 10 quid product, or buying a DVD and telling them in HMV that you’ll talk about them on your blog. It’s just stupid!
Yet.. here we are in the event industry and it seems to be becoming the norm that clients ask us for something for nothing.. I don’t mean a discount (which I often give) but totally free.. and worse of all they think its totally fine to ask.
‘Can you throw in another 2 days shooting within the budget?’
‘Can you do it for 50 quid and some tweets?’
‘Can you do 10 days edit and we’ll pay you for 5?’
‘You have a camera, so can we borrow it for a shoot? You don’t need to be there. We’ll pick it up and return it the next day.’
The worst thing is that we are made to feel guilty if we decline the ‘offer’. It becomes OUR issue that the event can’t be shot, or covered, or catered for within the budget that the client has.
Why has this madness not been stopped? We all seem to get suckered in time after time.
Recently I did a video piece for a client. TOTALLY for free. I was promised the world in returns of PR, exposure (no pun intended) and getting my company name around the internet. This was a video for a campaign that was going to go places.. people will love it.. it will be all over the web, you’ll get press coverage, loads of hits to your site.
What do you think happened?
In short – they got a free viral that would have cost several thousand in pre and post production.. squeezed every ounce of patience out of me, then complained when I raised the issue that their campaign was a pile of piss and no one cared enough to even watch the film. 200 views on YouTube doesn’t constitute a successful campaign. I’d have got more hits in a videoof me dangling my testicles over a fence.
So good people my new years resolution is that I’m done with free. Its time we took a stand and did the same, or we will be perpetually made to feel guilty for not doing everything for nothing.
Wishing you all great business for 2010.
Here’s a video that sums it up perfectly.Enjoy!
Tags: business, corporate, events, free, photography, rick bronks, satureyes, video, viral, work, youtube
Social Networking or Ego Massage?
Posted by satureyes | Filed under personal, rants and moans
It’s been a while since I’ve had a jolly good whinge…
…So now winter looms, the evenings are drawing in darker and wetter and every single train seems to be delayed- I thought I’d pop up and spread some delicious and perhaps questionable debate about something that has been bothering me for a little while now.
I’m fast coming to the conclusion (after hours of highly scientific observation and research) that for many – the ability to boast a massive social network is a base for massaging their ego and ultimately use this network to brag to others about how big it is- possibly using it like a geeks penis extention or perhaps breast enlargement- or perhaps both.
I’ve been active on Twitter now for quite some time – I’d say I was pretty aware of the ins and outs of using it. I noticed st the start of my twourney that there was a handful of folk who were proclaiming to be ’social media gurus’ or ‘web evangelists’. I still don’t know what the crap that means but a fellow Twittee mentioned at the time that this was the equivalent of putting ‘creative imagineer’ on a business card in the early ’90s. Basically a load of old bunkum that serves nothing but to massage the ego of the so-called ‘imagineer’.
We’ve moved on from meaningless job titles on business cards to these new kings of the social networks.
They’ve got thousands of followers hanging off their every update – what do they do? What gives them the credentials to preach their new media evangelism over the Twairwaves, or the Facebook fan pages, or the Linkedin accounts..you get the idea. I dont know what their backgrounds are – and they are usually not so forthcoming to tell us. I actually don’t get it. I see people with a mysterious skillset telling us about how good social networks are – and posting endless links to other reports and not actually making that much constructive commentary themselves.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence of the closeness in spelling Twitter has to twatter- and way way too easy to think of countless puns for these ’social media gurus’ so I’ll avoid the trap of calling them Twatters. Or Twatterateri.
I actually don’t know what gives them the supremacy they seem to command. I observe lots of reverence but little knowledge imparted into the salivating mouths of their loyal fans. Sure- they use their network to organise events- a Moonwalk in London as a tribute to Jacko- but why? Perhaps they’ve been a devoted fan and this was the only way of consoling themselves following his death.
I’d wager this wasn’t the case though.
I actually asked the organiser why bother – no answer. I put it to him that it was because he siezed another opportunity to promote himself and his ego – but if he does have something to promote I don’t know what it is, so not a great campaign. Perhaps I’m too cynical and it was arranged purely for a bit of fun and and act of utter selflessness and that they wanted to harness their network power for the sake of others and that’s all it was. (cough)
So what is the secret? Well I think it’s down to the same old story – size. The more people you have in your network the more you can repeatedly tell them things that make you out to be a super-geek-online-hero-Jedi-Master. Keep telling people something and sooner or later they will believe you.
I have this image of these big-twitters sitting in a flat with no food, furniture, curtains or carpet. Just broadband and a laptop, yet the perception of these folk by their loyal fans is somewhat different. They seem to be accruing fans like sheep, and I just see lots of people blindly following folk like sheep because they think (and this is the key) they THINK that they will get a secret that will change their life in some way – be it through a way to ‘utilise the network’ to earn money or to get something for nothing. The reality is very different but once you’ve been trapped under their spell you can’t escape.
I was always a firm believer in quality over quantity, and to me this makes sense. Have a group of people that can directly affect your network and give you something that you don’t have. Share ideas with others and perhaps make friends, but its the quality of who you speak to, tweet to or chat online with that will help – not having an over-inflated ego and filling up their fans hard drives with bags of manure and drivel.
I once went to a ‘networking’ event hosted by a well known married couple who run a successful ‘networking’ website, and it was their birthday celebrations. It was like sitting in a scene from the Witches of Eastwick. I was fully expecting the audience to peel off their heads to reveal some hideous creatures beneath. Admittedly some didn’t need masks- but what I heard was absolute nonsense of the highest brainwashing order. It was 2 hours of self-indulgent back-slapping banter that was nothing more than to lay praise on the founders of this site. A couple of badly produced videos thrown in for good measure too- all making out these people to be ‘life changers’. Looking at the audience it didnt appear to have helped them – every single one there selling a service, and no one buying their service- but they again touted ‘the more people you have in your network the better.’ The only thing its better for is the membership fees of their website.
It was actually bizarre and horrifically scary how this audience were in awe of these folk. If they had commanded the audience to boil each others heads they probably would. It really was that weird.
Following the speeches there was a networking session. I was approached by a clearly demented man wearing a multi patterned tweed jacket who butted into a chat I was having with someone who only had one head and looked on the surface human – he butted in and I asked what he did. His reply? ‘I do whatever you want me to do.’
I then left.
Here’s my conclusion and final thoughts. The whole social media thing is certainly a more advanced networking but without people actually talking face to face. – Still this is based on the paranoia caused by the need to generate new business. Its a vicious cycle of desperation.. lack of work so out you go networking, you meet others who are also looking for work, who are also desperate, you leave feeling deflated and under-valued so you look to the social networks online – full people following people who don’t help either.
My advice? Handpick who you speak to. Don’t follow the crowd. Don’t be too pushy and be yourself. You may not win new business but at least you wont be following the herd.
Im determined to blog more..
Posted by satureyes | Filed under personal, rants and moans
Just testing to see if this tweets and posts 
Tags: testing
Olympus EP-1 – Hands on
Posted by satureyes | Filed under personal, photos, rants and moans
So, we got hold of a sample EP-1 for a project we’re working on and decided to take it out for a trip, to a huge rock concert at Wembley Stadium.
There’s been a lot of buzz about this camera, people really want to get their hands on it, and with good reason, it looks great and for many it harks back to the days gone by where cameras were used by real men who knew a little about how to shoot photos. If you’re interested in this camera you already know what it looks like – and you’ve read the reviews, so I thought I would offer a personal look at how the camera was to use, in a real life situation. There is no techie reasoning here.. no pixel peeping.. just little old me, a pro(ish) photographer looking to potentially invest in something nice to take on holiday.
When the kit arrived (the 14-42 lens kit) I looked at it and thought ‘why do i need MORE kit’ I spend the afternoon thinking about who this camera is aimed at.. where it sits in the market, and if there is indeed a market for it. I still dont have an answer. I have a couple of DSLR’s and the lovely Leica S-lux 4 so I think I’m pretty happy with my photo tools. I just don’t know who would be buying this camera. Its not cheap – around 6/700 quid with the lens, so its a pretty major investment for a keen amateur, and to add lenses to this you have to be making a fairly major commitment to the 4 thirds system, so for someone like me who has Canon kit, I’m not sure I’m ready to be getting a whole other kit.
I thought that if I owned one, then I would use it instead of a DSLR and then take it to more places where a DLSR cant go. Here’s the thing though – take the EP-1, a flash (there is not one built in) and a couple of lenses, and I’m pretty sure it will be in a similar size bag to a xxD and a lens (even if you make do with a built in flash on the Canons)
So.. that was the initial thoughts.. of course I’d not taken any photos yet. The menus seemed to befuddle me.. you can customize pretty much everything which lots of people will like. Personally I had to actually read the manual off the PDF because it was too much – not very intuitive. I realised how we take for granted a great UI until we encounter one that is a little too complex.
So home the camera went.. took some snaps around the home.. the usual – cat, kitchen, some hight ISO shots.. the ones we all take when we get a new camera and its too late to go out and shoot something. Popped the card into the Mac.. problem 1 – Aperture doesnt recognise the Olympus RAW file. It will in time, but its a brand new camera so you will be tied to the Olympus software if you want to use RAW. I then switched to RAW and JPEG just so I could see what the camera is capable of.
The day after…It was time to go to a huge rock concert at Wembley Stadium. I decided to leave my Dlux 4 at home and take a chance with a camera I didn’t feel 100% comfortable with. I like the idea of shooting some HD video there too (hell why not). I was really debating whether to take the EP-1 or not. I wanted to get some nice shots.. but I wanted to take something more compact. THIS I thought was the real reason why I would have one of these units.
Bravely (well I thought it was) I toddled off to the concert EP-1 in bag, excited about putting it to the test.
OK.. it wasn’t like I was in the press pen, so i could get some amazing photos of the band, but I wanted to put it to real life testing. The people I was with needed to take a decent photo of me when I hand them the camera, and it needed to take some pretty good photos if it’s to live up to the hype.
Long story short. It was a mixed bag of feelings. The focus didn’t work a lot of the time.. it ‘hunted’ in any mode apart from full Auto, and would not lock focus. Took the lens off.. cleaned the contacts.. reset the camera.. and well.. no use. No matter what I tried it just didnt want to play.
I shot some video – it looked nice. Put some of the fancy built in filters on it.. was fun.. but well nice but not something I feel the need for in a camera but nice to have.
Once the light went, then the only thing we could take photos of was the stage because it was so well lit. We needed a flash badly for snapping us having a good time. ISO3200 wasn’t great.
I still dont know. I am desperate to really like the camera. If felt great – a good weight to it and seemed it was going to be a no brainer. I just feel a little underwhelmed. I think for many they are in love with the the idea more than the actual practicality and real life usage.
I also think its possibly people lusting after a rangefinder camera (read: M8) who will try this.. but its not the same beast. No way.
I will give it some more go’s, but right now I am not sure. If i was gonna shell out 700/800 quid for some more kit I think I’d think about a new lens (or even a 50D body) and keep on with what I have. I just don’t understand the market for this camera. I’ve spend 3 days trying to think of who would use it and why, and still can’t. Perhaps its me being a little dumb.
I’ve posted some images.. JPEG’s straight from camera.. as they are, some with the effects..one is taken of me by a stranger. They have been shrunk to keep the size down.. thats about it..
As always, over to you. Comments people?
Tags: EP-1, Oasis, Olympus, RP-1, satureyes, Wembley
Ok so its time I at least made SOME effort to post things!
Posted by satureyes | Filed under rants and moans
I’ve been really busy recently but thats no excuse. I seem to be getting quite involved with a Twitter community of event people.
So. Now that I can copy and paste and all things 90s with my iPhone- so hopefully I may be be tempted away from 140 characters or less
Until then- byeee
Tags: lazy, rants and moans
In the right hands, any camera can be good.
Posted by satureyes | Filed under personal, rants and moans, tweets
I’ve just been exchanging some ‘tweets’ and an interesting but age old debate seemed to re-emerge. ‘That must be a good camera, the photo is lovely.’
Something interesting came up today after a few sessions on Twitter. I posted some photos that I’d taken last night whilst walking home from a launch party. I’d had a few drinks (the event was sponsored by Beefeater Gin) so it would be rude not to have a sample, or two.
Anyway, I was walking home and pulled out my camera that I carry with me every day. Its not my weapon of choice but I keep it with me just in case there’s an opportunity that arises. I feel that I’d rather have some memory than none at all. Not every photo I take is (or will be) a work of art.
I posted the images on Twitter this morning via Twitpic, and within a few minutes I’d had some great feedback from a couple of my followers. One wanted to purchase the image for her office, and the other wants to print it in their magazine. The images can be seen HERE
Another follower (@incapete) also commented on how nice the image was, and especially because it was from a compact camera and not a DSLR. After a few Tweets between us we came to an agreed conclusion: That when people say ‘ooh thats a nice photo, you must have a good camera’ is more than likely nonsense.
In the right hands (and with some knowledge) anyone can take a good or great photo using most cameras.
When you think back a few years, most of us had 35mm compact cameras, some had 110 cameras (the casette type thing) and some (including me) had the Kodak disc system.. then we had APS etc etc.
I think that its a shame how most people now dont even take 10 mins to look at how their new cameras work . If they did, they would probably have much better results. Simple things.. learning how to compose a shot, not always using ‘Automatic’ using a higher ISO etc.
Funny thing was that with film people knew about film speed.. even if it was basic knowledge – the film boxes had icons to tell you what that film was suitable for… clouds, sunshine etc.
People sort of knew that outdoors they would need 100 ISO, indoors 400 or 800ISO and that was that.. limited knowledge but it was all useful and helped take a better photo.
Digital has pushed this out of the window.. we’re lazy, and flippant. Film cost money to buy and process so we when were very careful.. now we spend 10 quid on a memory card and we can store hundreds or thousands of photos for a 2 week holiday and not have to worry.. when you get home.. you put them on your computer and that’s it.
That’s a whole other story which I will pick up another time, but the original point was that a small amount of education and knowledge can really help you take a better photo.
The marketeers at Canon and Nikon will have you believe that buying an ‘entry level’ DSLR will mean you immediately have better photos. I am certain that it won’t. I am also certain that most people charge it up, turn it onto the green square and leave it like that. Essentially you have just got yourself an expensive point and shoot camera. In my opinion, you’ve wasted your money.
There’s a ton of resources on the web – free guides, workshops, forums and so on.. plus there’s your friends (everyone knows a photographer) ASK!
I have no problem offering advice, its a compliment when people ask me things.
The summer is pretty much upon us, all cameras will love the weather.. learn the basics and you will reap the rewards with some lovely photos.
I promise!
Tags: ideas, photos, sunshine, tips
Finally theres some sense in the world
Posted by satureyes | Filed under rants and moans, tweets
Just had this sent to me. Seems to explain a hell of a lot when of comes to the question friends ask ‘what the feck is Twitter?’
Now we can answer them visually!
My moaning legacy continues…
Posted by satureyes | Filed under personal, rants and moans
The problems I posted about with my mac are now apparently seemingly solved.. but a website has been quoting from my original post that spawned thousands others
Tags: Macbook Pro, problems, rants and moans, screen
Somebody is in trouble?
Posted by satureyes | Filed under personal, rants and moans
Following up from the latest saga with my Apple Macbook Pro.. things seem to be ‘kicking off’ in the slanging matches between the graphics card manufacturers…
Stumbled across this link today. Seems like my original ‘help me’ post on the Apple discusions site is getting a LOT of response.. Whilst people await an official response from the big fruit in the sky.. people seem to be holding back on new purchases of the 17″ laptops.
What amazes me in this current climate is that companies like Apple are simply being careless.. there is NO room for errors on scales like this one appears to be. People are edgy about making high value purchases and don’t need a reason to move to another manufacturer.
So the wait for my replacement continues, perhaps it was a faulty batch and it’s all s storm in a teacup.. as usual – time will tell!
Take a look at AMD’s little jab at Apple HERE
Tags: 9600M, apple, gracphics, Macbook Pro, problems