Friday, January 13, 2006
Passing strange
Yesterday afternoon I got a call from somebody at a big company that was worried about whether open source communications (especially Asterisk) would disrupt its established Cathedral-style business. The caller wanted somebody who was not an open source zealot, but could give a level-headed assessment of the impact of open source on the company's business. This is just the kind of thing I like doing and do well. When I told the nice caller that when I gave my valuable advice to a commercial enterprise, I usually did it for a fee, the tone of the conversation changed. The caller would get back to me.
This morning I woke up singing, "The ways of man are passing strange, he buys his freedom and he counts his change." But I couldn't figure out whether I was singing about myself or that company.
This morning I woke up singing, "The ways of man are passing strange, he buys his freedom and he counts his change." But I couldn't figure out whether I was singing about myself or that company.
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Comments:
I have been hit with "don't you give a half day or a day free"?
One company even asked for me to do about a week's worth of serious work for nothing, suggesting that it "might lead to something" ..
On the other hand ... a large company associated with music wanted to know what was being said about a couple of drm approaches on campuses. It happens that I've been gathering data in that area and could give them a quick readout. They started by asking for a free consultation. I told them I could do something for 4 hours. They hung up and I figured they'd never get back. The phone rang at 7pm the next Saturday night. It seems the head of the division was now frantic and wanted to know if I could meet with him and his staff the next day (Sunday) in NYC. I pointed out that I had stuff planned and they would have to pay me 1.5x my full day rate for a half day and it would be Q&A and working with them as there was no time to prepare. They went for it.
But this is not my norm:-)
One company even asked for me to do about a week's worth of serious work for nothing, suggesting that it "might lead to something" ..
On the other hand ... a large company associated with music wanted to know what was being said about a couple of drm approaches on campuses. It happens that I've been gathering data in that area and could give them a quick readout. They started by asking for a free consultation. I told them I could do something for 4 hours. They hung up and I figured they'd never get back. The phone rang at 7pm the next Saturday night. It seems the head of the division was now frantic and wanted to know if I could meet with him and his staff the next day (Sunday) in NYC. I pointed out that I had stuff planned and they would have to pay me 1.5x my full day rate for a half day and it would be Q&A and working with them as there was no time to prepare. They went for it.
But this is not my norm:-)
I have been hit with "don't you give a half day or a day free"?
One company even asked for me to do about a week's worth of serious work for nothing, suggesting that it "might lead to something" ..
On the other hand ... a large company associated with music wanted to know what was being said about a couple of drm approaches on campuses. It happens that I've been gathering data in that area and could give them a quick readout. They started by asking for a free consultation. I told them I could do something for 4 hours. They hung up and I figured they'd never get back. The phone rang at 7pm the next Saturday night. It seems the head of the division was now frantic and wanted to know if I could meet with him and his staff the next day (Sunday) in NYC. I pointed out that I had stuff planned and they would have to pay me 1.5x my full day rate for a half day and it would be Q&A and working with them as there was no time to prepare. They went for it.
But this is not my norm:-)
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One company even asked for me to do about a week's worth of serious work for nothing, suggesting that it "might lead to something" ..
On the other hand ... a large company associated with music wanted to know what was being said about a couple of drm approaches on campuses. It happens that I've been gathering data in that area and could give them a quick readout. They started by asking for a free consultation. I told them I could do something for 4 hours. They hung up and I figured they'd never get back. The phone rang at 7pm the next Saturday night. It seems the head of the division was now frantic and wanted to know if I could meet with him and his staff the next day (Sunday) in NYC. I pointed out that I had stuff planned and they would have to pay me 1.5x my full day rate for a half day and it would be Q&A and working with them as there was no time to prepare. They went for it.
But this is not my norm:-)
