[webproducers] Re: We're so cool you should work for free! (WILL SOMEBODY SHOOT ME NOW!)

This is a horror story but frankly, I'm not too surprised these
days.

I've been chasing dimes on my own for 6 months while I seek F/T
employment.

Back in January, I had an excellent shot at building a web site,
various admin tools and performing on-going updates for a small
but growing ad agency with several national offices.

I competed against a couple of other firms and won the project
after spending 120+hrs on various design concepts/treatments,
face-to-face meetings and proposals.

Upon hearing this wonderful news, I got them to agree on a
Letter of Agreement before we hashed out the contract. However,
they stalled sending it out and then suddenly without warning,
they scrapped the entire project leaving me to eat all of the
time and effort I had spent.

This particular firm was rolling in dough so it wasn't an issue
of money but rather they probably thought they could get a web
site for free by hiring someone's nephew rather than a
professional.

Had I gotten this project, I'd be eating steak rather than
rahmen right now and it would have lead to a lot of other work
for me. 

About the only thing that kept me from slitting my wrists was
the fact that early-on in the process, I got them to sign an
agreement that prevented them from using any of my ideas or
design concepts for their web site just in case they were
fucking around.

Five months later, they still don't have a web site so I guess
the nephew idea didn't work out for them.

Anyway, the short of the story is that I feel your pain and
anyone who freelancees or runs their own business will as well.

One look at the jobs posted on Craig's List will give you a hint
that this situation is far from unique. Nearly half of the
opportunities posted are for pro-bono work while the rest are
simply exploitative.









So, I essentially did all of this work for f


--- Michael James Pinto <michaeljamespinto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> --- Lydia Sugarman <thegoodegg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > You get what you pay for and what you deserve.  They'll come
> to you
> > to fix the disaster the false alchmists promised and then, 
> you can
> > really charge through the roof.  Those aren't the clients I
> want. 
> > Life is too short and the bullshit factor is too high.
> 
> I recently had a very depressing experience which I would like
> to
> share. I don't know if sharing it will change anything, but
> perhaps
> there is a lesson to be learned. So here goes my tale of woe:
> 
> For a few years I've been going after this one client which is
> a large
> well respected cultural institution* (you could say that they
> own a
> chain of museums - and perhaps some of the best ones in the
> world).
> Over the course of a few years I was invited to answer an RFP
> here or
> there - but each time we lost out. Of course in each case
> there were
> about ten or more firms on the list - so I could see that the
> odds
> might be against one if you only answered about 5 RFPs.
> 
> So recently we were asked to submit our qualifications for an
> inhouse
> trade show of multimedia developers. Of course we leap at the
> chance!
> There was a 50% chance that one would be invited (about 120
> were asked
> and 60 accepted). Of course the show was out of town - but
> this is
> marketing - so we had no problem wit the idea of spending
> money to
> travel to demo our company.
> 
> When we got there it was depressing. It was a room packed with
> about 60
> small firms like ourselves - and in the end we may have met
> less than
> 10 people who may have been able to use our services. Even
> more
> depressing was that folks sneaked in to give us resumes, thus
> taking
> away from the chance we might get to do sales or get on
> another RFP
> list. Being a small firm we didn't have much of a marketing
> budget, so
> it was a bit of a downer seeing some very slick presentations.
> But we
> figured it would be worth the investment because even if there
> was a
> 10% chance we might get a $25k job it would be worth it.
> 
> So at this internal trade fair my COO goes to see the contract
> manager
> speak, and he tells the audience that "since we are well known
> we
> expect that you will do $200 worth of work while billing for
> $100".
> Well at least the guy was honest, I would rather hear that
> before the
> project starts and know what I'm getting into. And to be fair
> this is
> often the case with name clients - but often not stated up
> front.
> 
> As luck might have it we got a small nibble for a tiny job.
> One guy
> wanted an "engine to do a game" and he seemed to be very
> clear, which
> can be a rare thing. I followed up and about a week later he
> tells me
> "I was just speaking to the head of contracting, and he tells
> me that
> some of the developers have offered to work pro bono - are you
> a part
> of this?" So not only didn't they want to pay a fraction of
> the cost,
> they wanted the work for free.
> 
> This was a few months ago. Today I got an e-mail which
> informed me that
> this institution was going to list the projects they wanted
> done on a
> pro bono basis - so companies would have to write proposals to
> do work
> for free! Not only that but the projects would be listed on a
> Federal
> Small Business Opportunity website. What's sad is that the
> entire point
> of the Small Business Administration is to give little guys a
> chance,
> not to take advantage of these small companies. 
> 
> But there is a lesson! I think that I learned that I don't
> want to do
> work with this organization - and that I won't waste the time
> writing
> up proposals. I'm getting into a "Fountainhead Mindset" that
> the best
> work can be done for the most obscure clients rather than the
> well
> known ones (i.e. it's better to design a very cool gas station
> rather
> than an ugly skyscraper which is designed by committee). I've
> always
> felt that Ayn Rand was a bit simplistic - and that would
> shouldn't blow
> up buldings just because you design got changed - but maybe
> she was on
> to something. 
> 
> I'm also looking at the work of Charles and Ray Eames - and
> I'm also
> seeing that if you really love a subject matter, you should
> create your
> own project rather than looking for help from high places.
> 
> But I'm still a bit grumpy these days...
> 
> Michael 
> 
> * If you know who I'm talking about please don't mention them.
> Their
> name doesn't matter because I could have suffered the same
> fate at the
> hands of any other similar organization.
> 
> =====
> M I C H A E L   J A M E S   P I N T O
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Where I Work: http://www.vm.com  
> Support My Book Habit: http://www.fanboy.com
> More About Me: http://www.michaelpinto.com  
> My Favorite Music: http://www.thefall.org
> Japanese Animation: http://www.anime.com
> 
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