John, thanks for your thoughts. But, actually, I won.....a good-sized paycheck.



That works good in a world lavish with altruism....but, where I live (in a cosmopolitan area) it's a free-for-all. You basically take the money and run. No one is going to say what a nice fellow he was (me) not asking for reimbursement, let's "make sure we hire him in the future. You're forgotten within 8 minutes of your last conversation. I've heard of instances where it went as far as 12 minutes though!

Mark

I booked a gig for an October Saturday. The client changed dates which still worked for both of us. I got a call from a production company I do work for and booked a job for the vacated date, sent contract. It was a smaller job but a bird in the hand. Then I got a call from another production company looking for my full band for twice the amount for that date. I referred them to a friend of mine as I was booked. Again a I had my bird in the hand, though I wished I had a bigger one-but I wasn't going hungry.

The day after I got my signed contract back I got a call from pro co #1 telling me the client cancelled due to finances. But he promised to make it up to me and I have had some very good jobs from him so I did not complain - I am certain he will. So I call pro co#2 hoping to get the fatter bird and have not heard back from them- the job may have been given to the friend I referred.

So contract or not, preserving the relationship with pro co #1 was more important than the booking. I may still have a shot with pro co #2, and it is a popular date. I expect more offers for this date and won't go hungry....

Mark

That's a good story and sometimes Good Deeds Do Go Unpunished !

Good luck, se you on the 1st at the DC

Mark ... I think I said this in an earlier post, but I recall the days when our band was just starting out (high school) and a 'client' would say "Play this one for $x - much less than the going rate - and the next time you can name your price." ... STILL waiting for the "NEXT TIME" ...

Mark,
I really can relate to your experience. Here in my area it is about the same. I play only senior venues and just the last 6 months I have had 21 Activity Directors turn over at places I have played for years too. Same story - new people don't know me and frankly don't give a damn - so you start all over with them - even though you have filled in at the last moment for them - been very well received by the audiences - and asked to return many times. Fortunately, there must be close to 500 such places in my area so I still stay as busy as I want to be. But, it still is a very large PITA re-calling places where I was a regular for years. For now I just move on a market the new places. Sometimes a corporation will fire the entire staff at a place and absolutely no one is on staff who might remotely remember me.

All that said, I still maintain my standards in choosing whom I will book for gigs. If the staff seems not to care or make an effort to get folks to the performance I just don't rebook them. Some of the senior places simply have a set number of activities that must be held monthly and we are just numbers to the staff.

Yes, we still have the "scammers" trying to get folks to "audition" for free - don't hold your breath to hear from them after the audition if it means getting paid. At least I have never fallen for that one.

Deane

Last installment, and I think I figured it all out.

So I got a call from the client today inquiring if I received my reimbursement check. That’s unheard of in the entertainment world OR the business world....maybe even the SynthZone!

So what is it I did this time, that I didn’t have to go through hoops to get what I was entitled to? I thought about it all afternoon. What I did was...don’t waste any time going up against the enemy. Don’t hang around in the trenches. Attack immediately. State your case straight away, advise them of your recourse plan of action, be firm, show them you mean business, and give them a short time limit (7 days) to respond.

My feeling is the reason they canceled me the way they did was because they thought I was a slouch, and expected me to act like a slouch...i.e. run off with my tail between my legs. I guess when they realized I wasn’t born yesterday, they...reconsidered.

But, to be fair, they did act gentlemanly through the whole procedure. So, I’ll wonder forever was it because I explained to them that I was ready to enter into legal action and that going to Small Claims Court is not much different than spending time in Dante’s Inferno and only a step above taking a day trip to Purgatory. Or was it because I was lucky enough to have this issue with really genuine, good people. BTW, the organization was a large ethnic organization based in Europe. European folks DO have somewhat better business ethics.

Well, the check was in the mail, and now the money is in my pocket.

Mark

Mark - count yourself lucky to have dealt with some pretty super ethical people. Your legal aggressiveness wouldn't normally phase another client. I don't think any client considers someone a slouch when they make cancellations. As I've read this thread it seems pretty obvious there was a lack of internal communication with the client and you got squeezed. Here in the USA I would never use your heavy handed approach. I think you should be thankful for having such a great client instead of boasting about how you bully'd them into submission.

I already did and I include them in my prayers every night, and I'll be certain to send them a Xmas card every year



I think anyone with an IQ larger than their shoe size would get the bigger picture!


Poor choice of words.........I should have said "PUSHOVER"



I definitely got "squeezed".....as for lack of "internal communication," there was NONE on my part....I'm as clear as a bell when it comes to business communication and MONEY. BTW....I also have a Black Belt in "communication" and the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval in business ethics.


I AM in the USA!. NYC area. Around here, before you even get your driver's license, you take "survivor skill" courses.......like Jungle Warfare training, Guerilla tactics,
Emergency survival skills, courses on how to buy a used car without getting ripped off, how to get married, etc. Then, after all that schooling, you take what you learned to the General Motors proving grounds and if you pass those tests, you take your place back in society and hope you never need any of it! This time I did!



Yes'm.....Yes'm.....Yes'm....I totally agree with that!



So you're saying no one on the SynthZone boasts about anything, and if you do, you have to do 20 pushups? If I remember correctly, someone boasted in this room a few years back and no one chastised this person. Wait.....I think that was me and you must have overlooked it.

My monologue was maybe 25% boasting and 75% trying to pass on some helpful knowledge for anyone else caught up in this type of situation. Most of my friends don't even know there exists a Small Claims Court for contract enforcement.

I didn't "bully anyone into submission." I gave them their choice in a polite, but firm manner. "Take the reimbursement route, or I'm going to "double down" in court and ask for twice that amount.

It wasn't like this years ago. Now with the economic downturn, and the "every man for himself" mindset, and "always sit with your back against the wall" philosophy, playing music and entertaining an audience is not the joy it used to be! I wish it wasn't like that, but it is.

"Adaptability" is the key word here. You change your behavior to match your client's behavior. You "fight fire with fire." Heck, do I honestly think I'm going to get a condo in Heaven waiting for me (with Fran's showgirls to greet me) if I don't show that I earned it here in the real world!

Mark

Tony got this right here! How many of us were "green" in the early days before we learned to take the bull by the horns?