A Note to Our Peers in the Wedding and Event Video Business

Over the last few years I have had several instances where it would have been great to have a resource pool of qualified talent to use for the seemingly endless supply of last minute gigs. To begin to work on this issue on a local level, I have come up with an idea to begin to share information and resources among video companies on the Bay Area. The idea is that we will post demo reels, rates, and general availability to a website provided by me, and all of us can post requests for assistance on jobs either to the group, or specific members whose work you like. Additionally, we can share information specific to our industry and address local issues specific to our region. All this AND we can post questions and support each other because, after all, the better customer service and quality we offer our customers, the more our industry will be respected and therefore grow. So now that you have heard my spiel (and I know you guys are here checking out the competition :-) I hope you will consider joining the group and help promote good ethics and a higher industry standard as well as enable your company to take on more work.
Click to join bayareavideo

The New Multimedia Studio

This is some really big news for all of us here at Simply Interactive llc. Something that each of us who contributes to the efforts of this company has been aiming towards for two years now. We are moving into a multimedia studio right on Castro Street in downtown Mountain View on March 1st. This move is not just a simple moving of equipment, we are going to really make this place stand out and show our creativity. The new studio is in a downtown area full of shops and restaraunts and will reflect the personality and commitment to customer service we have aimed for since day one. To highlight this event, and to bring even more value to our customers, we have hired on a very skilled photographer who has agreed to work directly under the Simply Interactive banner and offer services and rates that reflect the openness to our customers needs that we require from all our partners. Deborah Nagai has been a professional photographer for 7 years and has claim to being published in magazines like Audrey, and Asian Women's Publication (link goes to online version of the print pictorial). While she has been a photographer for 7 years, she has been focusing on wedding photography for the last 2 years. In traditional fashion, it seems that the majority of my partners and collaborators are from many years at Cisco systems. Deborah and I have been working together for many years already creating multimedia and multimedia standards for Cisco's internal and external websites. Deborah will be officially joining Simply Interactive on March 1st, and we hope to launch the new website to reflect these service changes. Our new studio will be at 461 Castro Street in Mountain View and the doors will open for business on March 14th 2005. We hope you will stop by and say hi.

Excuse me, do you do photography as well?

I can't tell you how often I get that question. The answer is always the same... that photography and videography are similar, but very very different mediums and technologies. It isn't that I could not ever be a photographer or that a photographer could never be a videographer. The simple fact is that I want to be perfect at one field of expertise, not "ok" at two areas of expertise. But as Simply Interactive has grown it has become apparent that a lot of people REALLY want photography. So it with real pride that I announce that as of March 1st, Simply Interactive llc WILL be offering photgraphy. But wait, you just said that you didn't want to do that... ? Right! But I have sweet talked a wonderful photographer to join forces with Simply Interactive to offer photography and videography under the same roof. Deborah Nagai has agreed to join Simply Interactive and perform her photography services exclusively under our name. This means that very soon we will be offering photography packages, video packages, and combined packages. Speaking of roofs, we are also moving into studio space in DOWNTOWN MOUNTAIN VIEW!!! Sorry if I seem excited, but on March 1st we take ownership of 461 Castro Street in downtown Mountain View. For those in the know, Mountain View's Castro street is a posh little street with lots of restaraunts, niche shops, book/coffee shops etc... Bottom line is that on Monday March 16th the doors to our multimedia, video, and photography studio open complete with portrait studio and the charming presence of yours truly. Our goal of becoming a power multimedia house are now realized with the expansion to this wonderful new location. Along with the location comes the reality that we will now be offering other retail items relating to weddings and events. I'll post a call here later for people who want to come to our catered, DJ'd, grand opening. Stay tuned!.