Originally Posted by
mixedgas
One word, NETWORKING! AKA Social Engineering.
Its not just about money, if you do a laser career for 20 years of your life, its pretty nasty if you don't have a professional degree hanging on the wall for doing it. I just interviewed for a career slot, and it came down to me and one other guy. The committee doing the hiring said that I had more experience and skills then my competitor , but the fact that he had taken the time to add some certifications and do continuing education made the decision for them. My previous employer would not pay for the continuing education thing and I said F&^% IT when I looked at the costs. Now it just cost me. If I had spent a few evenings and weekends attending the stupid certification thing, I would have had the job. Even though I could teach the stupid cert stuff in my sleep.
BTW, that job came with tenure, ie it was a university slot that if you make it through the first 90 days, its nearly impossible to fire FOR LIFE you unless you commit a felony.
OUCH!
So you start out as a hobby to do lasers and you beat the odds and turn it into a growing company, you want something to hang on the wall. You can either try for a ILDA artistic award, which can be somewhat of a long shot, or you could have certification. People will go for a certification. I assure you, if your AVI, LFI, Laser Innovations, DayStar, LaserNet, etc, your gonna get business because you already know how to get business, even without ILDA certification.
I only know one person with a degree in Laser Art, and that is because he went to a rather fancy , rather expensive, exclusive, college that allowed students in some cases to design their own degrees. That would NOT happen in today's market. I would not say his degree in laser art was a mistake, and I would not say it was a easy degree to earn, because he spread it out across a mix of art and science and engineering courses.
So some ILDA members are pushing to have a piece of paper on the wall. I can see why.
I'd have a hard time proving all the shows I have worked on, because I never kept a log, other then the ones on my own variance. When I was younger, I preferred to be paid in cash, so I have no records. Some of the guys I worked for are gone, dead, out of the business etc. I was too busy working to take pictures, and film was NOT cheap. Personal digital cameras really didn't exist yet.
(IF the IRS is reading this, I now prefer to have it on the record so I get social security, OK? You know, older and wiser.... I pay my taxes)
So if you, Carmongary, wanted to hire me, how do I prove to you I have done this stuff?
Would a ILDA certification suffice?
Besides, you get business by NETWORKING, almost nobody gets on the phone and calls around and says, I want a lasershow. The really big laser companies pay money to get listed in books, they go to things like conventions of Hotel and Convention Managers etc. They make sure when they do a gig at a hotel to give the hotel's event staff a business card and send them a thankyou note. (and probably something else too) My friend Karl just sent 400 full color fliers about his company to hotels and casinos. He might get 2 one night hits out of 400 expensive mailings.
So a ILDA cert on the wall doesn't count much more then ILDA membership already does.
And one last thing. I got invited to a ILDA conference by a ILDA member, thinking that my career as a hobbyist would be much easier if I got to know my parts suppliers. He was right. And much to my suprise, many times I have had big laser companies pick up the phone and call me, because they met me at ILDA and their staff was too stretched out or I was closer to a site, etc.
Even the biggest monster most Walmart like Big Laser Company has called me once, and thrown me a Gig. Why, because I sat next to the CEO at LFX one year, and I was in the ILDA directory when he needed a local technician for a emergency repair for big client.
ILDA membership has also helped me many times in a JAM. I've had ILDA members fedex me hard to get parts, TO A HOTEL ROOM, when I was 3000 miles away from my lab. Usually with "Don't worry about it, now, pay me later". I'd done the same for them. It still helps me even when I'm not a member.
I had a issue with a regional FAA person, who said, "I'm not gonna give you a outdoor show permit in my region because I've never met you, and I don't know who you are. FAA PERMITS are not exactly Shall ISSUE, like a gun permit. I , in desperation, picked up the phone, called a laser safety officer at the "REALLY BIG MONSTER LASER CORPORATION", she vouched for me with the FAA lady, and my permit was faxed in a hour.
How did I know Mrs LSO? I had breakfast with her at a ILDA conference.
As a way of saying thanks, I bought a 300$ show tape from the RBMLC, later on, and I'll tell you what, "C is for Cookie" is one of my most requested pieces in the inventory, even if it does look like it was drawn by a three year old. By adults, even.
And btw, just like PL, if your visiting a town and you know other ILDA members, you find you have a friend with a common interest to have a beer with.
ITS ALL ABOUT NETWORKING.
Not a one of you baats a EYELASH at taking Pangolin's PL Member discount or One Stop Laser Shop's PL Member discount, yet you say joining ILDA to network is unfair. ILDA has a individual membership for exactly this reason. ILDA does not require you to make X dollars in sales to be a member, Student membership is like 50$, and that gets you the mailing list, the Laserist, on line access, access to insurance, access to the Conference etc. Indivdual membership is not much more. ILDA usually gets a hotel discount for its members, so thats why people go to conferences. How many of you otherwise have a excuse to go to Amsterdam? ILDA somehow picks site's with GOOD BEER!
Oh, the hypocracy! You all like networking, what's wrong with doing it as a ILDA member?
Steve