Forrester Media's Atlanta Video Production Blog

The value of repeat business

I was speaking with someone yesterday and noted that it's a good thing that I'm not a wedding videographer. Think about it. You work hard to market your business, land a job and then you most likely never see that client again. You have to do the entire marketing and sales process for each client each and every time the phone rings. The client actually hopes they never need your services again. At the end of the year, you have a very, very long list of one-time clients.

One of the things I've worked hard to do through the years is to treat each client as if they are long time clients, even if they are first time clients. We've all heard the saying 'it's easier to keep an existing client than find a new one.' That's true. But it's not the 'easy' part that makes it worthwhile.

It's the relationship you form that makes it worthwhile. In this economy, clients are watching every dollar and want to make sure their production is in good, competent hands. They don't want to take chances. So now, more than ever, we are booked with work from repeat clients. Clients we've had for as little as 2 months to as long as 10 years.

Yes, it's nice to be busy. But it's even nicer to be trusted by those you serve.

Live shot from our studio

Live shot from our studio, originally uploaded by forrestermedia.

We are one of the only production companies in the state with the capability of feeding live video anywhere in the world. This morning, United States Congressman Tom Price (R-Marietta, GA) stopped by for a live shot for CNN's 'American Morning.'

Our studio is convenient to anyone in Northwest Atlanta and Cobb County and is available 24/7 for breaking news.

Somebody Get The Phone...

Well, after a quiet post election and holiday season, we're off to a good start in 2009. BET came back to Atlanta for Sunday Best auditions and for the 2nd year in a row Forrester Media handled all video production. This year was all HD and we provided 7 cameras, lots of wireless audio and a crew of 14  as the Sunday Best staff auditioned hundreds of potential contestants at the GWCC.

When that production finally wrapped out at 2:30 AM Monday morning it was back to our usual busy schedule of Green Screen studio shoots and location conference shoots. January - March is conference season in Atlanta and every year we spend a great deal of time in Hotel Conference Centers recording every manner of speaker. This year is no different and we're already booking gigs for next month.

We also worked on our second instructional DVD for the Little League and High School player market. Our last one was on pitching, this one was a more all encompassing affair with workshops on hitting and fielding as well. PBS and the BBC called for a couple of live shots just to spice things up a bit last Friday.

Next month, we'll welcome back a couple of returning clients with some rather large location and studio productions. So, here's to a great 2009. Happy New Year!

It never fails to surprise me!

In a previous life I would spend hours upon hours traveling the friendly skies. Many times I would engage the person next to me in conversation (although it seemed like most of the time they engaged me) and we would always talk about what we did for a living. This is what amazed me... how people earned their living. There would be the occasional pilot or doctor but most of my plane buddies would have obscure ways of making a living. Most of them were not in traditional fields and it always amazed me on how they found themselves in these types of occupations. I remember many of them but a couple to mention, one guy designed some kind of medical equipment (still wasn't sure even after he explained it to me) and another was a plastics artist!!!
Anyway, the reason I bring this up (I know there's a reason) is that I'm continually amazed about how people spend their spare time (everyone has an interest in something). I love sports of all kinds both watching and playing...but I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. Michael Forrester for instance wouldn't know a Green Bay Packer from a Cleveland Indian but he does know trains, and there are millions of people like him. This has been highlighted in the last few days. We worked on a roller coaster documentary "The Business of Fun" (check it out at businessoffun.com) and I started looking into people who are interested in roller coasters. I was amazed to find hundreds of clubs with thousands of members. These people are passionate about their hobby and the response from them about the show has been immediate and enthusiastic. But before I worked on the show I wouldn't have even thought about people being interested in such a thing.
All this proves that we are a big country full of diverse people with diverse interests and at times it's nice to stretch your mind and know that it's o.k. to be different... with different interests and beliefs....

I'm Love'in it! (and no not McDonalds)

   So it's almost 2am, I just got home from an 18 hour production...and it was awesome!  I got to the Hyatt downtown at 7am.  McAfee is having a big conference and today was their kickoff.  The actual show was scheduled to start at 7pm.  So what is there to do for 12 hours you say??  DRESS REHEARSAL!! As a pproduction assistant I carried boxes and ran to home depot.  But when I came back, around 10:30am I went to work with the editor building a ton of graphics for the show.  Behind the stage on one of the tables were about 9 laptops that all had a different function.  Four of those were being passed between the editor and I and jump drives were flying everywhere!  We worked feverishly on graphics and animations for about 8 hours all the way up until show time.  It was so fun, and they were so grateful their PA happened to know how to edit.  Then during the 5 1/2 hour live show which included speakers, skits, pre produced commercials, and a live band.  And even Jack Hanna was there with about 6 animals to introduce during the "late night" portion of the show. I shot B-roll using the editors Sony XD Cam.  There were about 1,400 people at the kickoff watching the show.

     It was a long day, but in the end I had so much to do and so many different things to help with, the time truly did fly by!  I also met some amazing, talented people and made some great contacts.  Hopefully they will be back in Atlanta soon and we can work together again. 

I love working really big productions just as much as I like to work on the smallprojects.  They both bring such different dynamics to my job.  The big productions are exciting, and usually adrenaline fueled (especially the live ones!).  The small jobs are much more personal and it's fun to work closely with someone on their project, it means so much to them, because generally they are the sole decision maker for the project.  But overall, what a great day in the field!