Sunday 15 March 2015

Don't work for free

During several months in 2013 and 2014, I did a host work for a photo and video company called Northfire Productions based in Newmarket. The owner's name is Stephen Knowles.

During that time, I made several blank scrapbooks to be used in the photobooth portion of his business. Two of these were sold (without my knowledge) to customers, though I had asked explicitly to be present when they were used, he claims he cannot recall the conversation. He sold the two scrapbooks, pocketed the money for himself (after I had spent money out of my own pocket to create the books) and did not tell me they were used until LONG after the fact when I asked. This information was never volunteered to me. In an email, on Dec. 2, 2013, I asked Mr. Knowles what had happened to the books. "I did use both the ones you made. I thought I told you about at least one. One at a wedding and one for a 15th birthday for a girl" Never, at any time, was I compensated for these books. I am still, as of today's date, out the money I spent on the materials. (I had made two more, which were in his possession until approximately one month ago. I requested over and over that he return them to me over a series of months. Thankfully, I have them back now to prevent that from happening again.)









I created numerous business items for Mr. Knowles, including a banner for his Facebook page.





I had to ASK him to put my name on it, that it was created by me. However, he then deleted it. I was never paid for this.

Some of the other work I did while "working" for this "business" includes:

- Researching wedding/event shows in various markets
- Coming up with ideas other than weddings to attend & various marketing ideas for these
- Creating and maintaining a Twitter page, as Mr. Knowles is not well-versed in the use of social media, and uses his personal Twitter to communicate with women, hurting his own branding (The Northfire Productions Twitter can be found @NorthfirePhoto )
- On two separate occasions, Mr. Knowles asked me to find someone to fix his website. The first time, I posted networking ads on Kijiji and Craigslist, then vetted possible candidates via email and forwarded them to Mr. Knowles. He did not communicate further with any of the possible candidates and it fizzled. Several months later, he asked me again to find someone to fix his website, in exchange for photo and/or video services of comparable value to the web developer's rates. I was to vet the clients and select one I thought best suited for the job. I did so, set up a meeting and on the morning of said meeting, Mr. Knowles bailed. (He then sent me an e-mail money transfer for $40.00 with a note that read "Sender's Message: For the hassle and time you spent arranging today's meeting that I had to cancel." This was the ONLY time I was ever compensated financially by Mr. Knowles.)
- I wrote copy for the new website, which was used by Mr. Knowles without having paid, and when I asked why he had my copy on his website when he had not paid, he asked how much it would cost. I invoiced at my regular rate, and was told it was too expensive, at which point he removed the copy. (Wish I knew this before I went to the trouble of writing copy for the site.)
- I had sourced some people to help with a trial run for a pilot project idea that could possibly be integrated into the photobooth. Mr. Knowles had zero interest and demanded I do it myself if I wanted to do a trial of a possible new product. With no training at all on the photobooth equipment, I expressed that I was not comfortable going alone to shoot something. He set up a time to "train" at his home, then bailed on it the night before. Cancelling at the last minute is typical for Mr. Knowles.

During my time "working" for Northfire Productions, I learned how valuable my skills are, not to give them away for free, and not to work for someone who will take money out of  my pocket and act like nothing happened. I still have never seen any payment for the scrapbooks that were sold. My bedroom is full of items intended to have been used for the photobooth. Several items I purchased were never returned, including a scrapbook holder that would come in very handy for the work I do now. Similar to this one:

I am 100% for small business and believe small and medium sized businesses are what drive the Canadian economy. I, myself, am an entrepreneur, and I understand the logistics can sometimes become overwhelming. However, I do not believe in taking things from other people, or having others spend money out of their own pockets to work for me.