Ladies and Gentlemen, put on the pot of tea, grab a coffee. Curl up on the couch and enjoy your warm beverage on this wonderful day. Relax, sit back and sip your beverage as you read yet another Drop Life Entry ;) As much as I respect those I work WITH, its the people I truly work FOR. Please, allow me to attempt to explain. I spend a lot of time in my own world, If you see me in public, I am often alone, never in groups of people unless I am working an event. Often people comment on how different I am at home or in public, compared to when I am on stage. Part of this reason is that I cant seem to turn my mind off, I am constantly in-visioning things and carrying them out in various forms. 90% of my time is spent alone in the Dungeon, working away. I am most definitely an odd ball who is eccentric as I am crazy lol. Over the past 18 or so years in the industry of entertainment (I started playing drums in bars while underage, but shhhh... dont tell anyone lol). I have struggled to deal with visions I had, and making those visions a reality in the world of entertainment. I used to spend a great deal of time picturing something, and then trying to communicate to others how I envisioned it. In the beginning It always turned out the same, regardless of my approach, my explanation or examples provided. I could never have the other party truly understand what I was going for. And it usually ended up with my doing it myself. The earliest memories of this was communicating an advertisement to a certified graphic designer, in which their reply for why they could not obtain my vision was You cant do that, In school I learned that this is how it should be done. At which point, I began to learn photoshop, and did it myself lol. The funny thing is that years later I learned that my instincts were right for the placement of information on the advertisement I attempted to have created. When I was 16, I ended up working at a market research firm. I actually hated working at the place at the time, but now truly value the wealth of understanding I use to this day when approaching the visual representation of a project. I hated what they wanted me to do at that job. I actually stopped people in the mall and asked them survey questions, if they qualified for a certain demographic, then I would conduct a longer interview with them. Sometimes I would show them commercials, sometimes product designs, magazine adverts etc. I would ask them basic questions, multiple choice, 0-10 like or disagree type stuff. And I hated it, because I had to read exactly what was on the page. Anyone who knows me knows I dont use scripts, everything I say is on the fly, its just the way I function. The weird thing is that in a roundabout way, that job taught me valuable lessons in how marketing, design and advertising worked. Why things were the way they were and most importantly, how the people I was interviewing remembered them. To this day I can recall hating to do that job that I truly felt I did not fit into, it wasnt me. But it strangely helped me understand what I was attempting to accomplish creatively when it came to my own visions and projects. I used to study the new product designs, commercials, magazine adverts etc, I would go through the survey questions and figure out what the client was hoping to achieve with their design/ campaign. But more importantly I learned that regardless of what the suits wanted to accomplish, how much money they spent or how much they wanted for something to work. At the end of the day it was the people who determined if the client accomplished their intended goal. Spending a sh*t ton of dollars to someone to come up with an idea sounds great, but if they cant execute it with the intended outcome, then you clearly over invested a.k.a. F*ckin Failed! lol. That job among many others (Which I am sure I will get into one of these days lol), made me realize the importance of staying true to your goal. In entertainment I strive to create new ways of doing things, and have people and those who I work with benefit from those visions. Which brings me to my original thought As much as I respect those I work WITH, its the people I truly work FOR. If the people did not support my events, booed me when I was on stage, or simply refused to support me in the things I do, then my worth would be diminished. The world of entertainment is not a total Gamble, its a business model compiled of calculated risks, understanding of markets and ultimately knowing what the people want/ will support. So when I receive an offer from someone of a certain dollar amount, to provide a service. That dollar amount does not make me worth what they are offering. For if they offer it, and I drop the ball on the opportunity given, or am the face or a large part of the reason they feel their goal was not met, then they clearly offered me to much money to do the task. a.k.a. over invested And more importantly, I agreed to something that I should have known was not going to be beneficial for all involved. Now, I understand a great deal of people do not feel this same responsibility. If someone pays them to do a job they do it, they dont worry how everyone else has to do their job in order to make it all worth it. However I simply can not ignore what I know will work, and why. Again, please let me explain. I often find myself in a unique position. See, I am not your standard host of events/ concerts. I am not your standard Graphic Designer, your standard Photographer/ Videographer, standard Promoter, standard event organizer, standard producer, standard Video Director (yeah thats a thing now), standard Dj, standard Personality etc. For being all of those things at different points in time over the past 18 years, has offered me a very unique understanding/ perspective of the industry I am involved in. So hiring me to provide a service is great, and I enjoy working with new people However, when you ask me to do something that I know will not meet your expectations, let alone provide a valued experience to the people I will always decline the offer. You can talk sh*t about me, get pissed off etc. But it wont change my mind. I have watched countless people try to obtain their version of success by attempting to achieve various personal goals. But personal goals are not always best for the people, and usually end up in a one sided ego trip, financial loss, and end of a so called career. Its not that I am trying to disrespect the person making the offer to me, its not that I do not like being paid for my service. Its that when you have been around for as long as I have, know what I know, seen what I seen and can do what I do. You understand that a Great Deal from one persons perspective, is most often Limited in the greater scheme of things. So I support anyone trying what they feel will work, I often do not speak publicly on things I feel will fail involving others, because at the end of the day. Who am I to decide how someone wants to spend or waste their money. Nothing makes me happier than being proven wrong (I wont lie it doesnt happen often lol), cause when I am proven wrong, I now process another example of how to make something work. However sometimes I do take the time to call someone out on their obvious bullshit, not because I want them to fail. But because I feel their shitty decision will negatively affect others involved and the people. Parents want to know when a Predator moves into their neighborhood, And I feel those in the entertainment business want a similar heads up when a Predator enters their world I truly enjoy working with new clients, making their visions come true. Because I know the feeling, and its a unique feeling taking an idea, and turning it into a physical benefit. For some its financial, others its bragging rights etc. But when you have an idea and you bring it to fruition, and it succeeds, its an awesome feeling regardless of the benefits. All this being said, I posted this for a reason. My next step is near. I am still available to work with others in regards to business. But its rare, not because I am not often asked, but because I seldom accept the offer. So decisions have been made that will benefit my future greatly Some of these decisions may seem different to some, but trust me. I know what I am doing And if these decisions did not benefit the people I would be silly to have made them. So in closing It is what it is. The money man never determines my worth, value or future, you the people do. So thank you. -DROP #ReflectiongOnThePastPreparingForTheFuture
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:54:22 +0000
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