HD For Indies

Hey all -

so I'm sitting on the plane to Washington D.C., and on to Amsterdam thereafter as I write this (actually posting from Amsterdam - couldn't get online fast enough):

A few things to say:

1.) I'm working in the Red booth for most of my time at IBC as their representative, wearing their colors, flying their flag so to speak.

2.) So yeah, I have a relationship with these folks. What's the deal, and how does this affect my coverage of other stuff?

#1 - I'll be in the Red booth, working as their representative, giving the company line while I'm in the booth. Some have said this makes me an employee of Red. Well, for a few days, I'm representing them, that's all. When I'm not repping them, I'm me, Mike Curtis of HD For Indies. As I've said in the past, I wear many hats. At any given trade show, a goodly number of people in the booth (esp. at smaller and/or newer companies) are not direct employees or staff, but outsiders either brought in to help or volunteering to help for various reasons of their own. I've done this for numerous companies in the past, some I maintain connections or friendships with, some I don't; some for pay, some for fun or other reasons. (I even worked one show for free just to better evaluate a company I was considering investing in.) I don't see it as a big deal to work a few days in somebody's booth - before the blog, I spent over 10 years working in high tech business to business marketing communications, sometimes working for Dell, sometimes Compaq, sometimes Power Computing, sometimes Motorola, etc. It wasn't a problem to work for direct competitors at different times, because there was trust that everyone would be professional and maintain proper boundaries about disclosures.

#2 - So how can I rep them and still cover everybody else? Pretty easy, actually. Let me walk you through it...

MIKE'S DISCLAIMER

For the record, I have a relationship with Red. I've known Ted Schilowitz for years. I've known about the Red project since before they went public. I've been in meetings with them, and I'm under NDA.

My relationship with Red is not unique - I have similar relationships with other companies. I'm a consultant by trade as well as a blogger/reporter/whatever I am.

Unlike a traditional magazine journalist, I'm not paid. By anybody. For any coverage whatsoever. Nobody walks my dog, mows my lawn, or tells me I look like I've lost weight in exchange for me writing about them or their company.

I write about what I find interesting, and that centers around technology that helps independent filmmakers make (and sometimes distribute) their films. I'm into the post process and I've been getting more and more into the cameras over the last couple of years.

I do work for vendors' companies from time to time, one of the reasons that I started the blog in the first place was to cover these issues and hopefully raise my knowledge and profile enough that I'd be on the radar of companies for consulting gigs.

Similarly, I'm choosing to work in the Red booth because:

a.) It's fun, and I didn't have to do any of the heavy lifting - "I'm with the band." in Almost Famous-speak. : )

b.) It gets my name/face out there for exposure to meet interesting folks, just to be known in the industry as well as so that I can...

c.) Hopefully make some contacts that will (later, obviously, not while repping Red in their booth!) lead to some consulting work

I predict that the Red booth will not be a bad place to meet folks, and that it won't be unbusy there.

When I first heard about the Red project, I was stoked - it fit EXACTLY into what I was into, and what I'd been writing about for over a year - it is why I got to talk to them in the first place - our goals for next-gen cameras were aligned. I've been very interested in what they're doing - so I've been covering it - a lot. I've met more members of the team, and they're smart guys doing what I'd like to see done for a camera, and I know and like these guys - so I pay attention to what they are up to. As I do with other cool stuff I like - I was way into the Sheer codec last year, I was into that field acquisition device I was designing, etc. - I'm passionate about what I'm into at the moment.

However, I do my best to not let that influence the essence of what I write - if Red pulls a blunder, I'll tell it like it is on the blog. When they do things I don't like, I try to bust'em for it (see the recent discussion on 1920x1080 10b444 on DVInfo.net for example). And I try to cover everything interesting, but there aren't enough hours in the day for me to write as much, as well as I'd like, about everything I find interesting going on in the field.

So far, Red's achieving their ambitious goals, and I like what I see...so I write enthusiastically about it. I've met'em, I know'em, I trust that they're not trying to snow anybody.

In my coverage of other vendors, cameras, gear, etc., I'll write from the perspective of what I believe and am interested in - primarily digital filmmaking, and what/how I think it viable, especially for indies that don't have stacks of cash. Since I like indie-viable pricing, that makes me especially interested in the Red project.

I think I've done a decently good job of reporting the facts about Red. I've been enthusiastic, but I have been honest (or so I think). Some accuse me of being overly Rah Rah about it....but there are things that not everyone knows, so I can't exactly publicly rebut those comments. If anything, my biggest self-knock is that I haven't given other vendors, such as Silicon Imaging enough attention - they have what looks to be a very indie viable camera about to get to market (Red is still 3-9 months from shipping I'd guess) and I haven't spent a ton of time on it - in part because I don't know Ari and his guys as well, in part because it is locked to a PC at the moment (hope that might change at IBC if Cineform for Macs is announced) and I'm Mac centric just by experience and the gear I personally own; and in part because they aren't based in LA or Austin - the two places I spend my time on this stuff. They also haven't had a lot to say publicly recently other than the blog on the Spoon feature - they have a very different marketing approach than Red. I hear people expressing preferences either way for the two different marketing styles. Take your pick.

I've never accepted banner ads on HD For Indies, specifically because I didn't want to have the appearance of favoritism or advertising pressure. I write what I do because it is what I think - period.

Since I've been pretty open about my relationship with Red, I don't feel bad about my dealings with them while writing about them at the same time - I'm not an employee of theirs, just someone they know. And since this should make my relationship abundantly clear, I'm going to continue to write what I think about all the new toys and PR at IBC.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I do on this blog, and how I use it. I've been realizing I've been spending HUGE amounts of time on here, and I've been enjoying it. However...it's also time for me to start paying attention to my own world a bit more. I need to spend more time on my for-profit endeavors. I also have been thinking about what and how I write on here - in general, it takes about 3-5 times longer to write something "magazine grade" rather than just "blog grade."

I don't have enough time to write as well and in depth about everything I want to - even if I didn't have any for-pay projects.

So while it has pretty much been the case up to now, it definitely will be in the future - this is a BLOG, a collection of notes and quickly written musings. Typos, grammatical errors, etc....I'm going to get stuff wrong, just roll with it. This isn't the NYTimes. It's my blog. There are times I'd rather cover issues sloppily rather than not be able to cover them at all (I have far too many abandoned half written articles stuck in Draft purgatory). I still think there will be interesting and valid and unique information to be found here, but it is still a glorified notebook that I share.

So if you're comfortable with all that, continue reading the blog. If not...do whatcha gotta do...

...but of course this also means I'll have all kinds of skinny on the latest developments at IBC...so check back often!

Plane's landing, gotta go...but I promise, it's gonna be a helluva week!

-mike