Progress Continues

Last week Brian came over to help scan in images for the film. He made it through an entire stack of Surry's photos, and even did a bit of image processing to make the photos look better. What a huge help!

While he worked, I covered the door to my home office with brown shipping paper to write notes about the film. On it is listed the steps we must take to get to a director's cut, as well as goals for each of the next 12 months. When the director's cut is ready, we'll send it to the folks working on the next steps: Patrick for animated graphics, AB for music, and Todd for branding and marketing materials. There are so many more steps to complete.

Tonight, Matt is here working on slide scanning. He is a champ! We spent about an hour trying to work through an error message the scanner kept giving us, and he finally got it working. His timing could not have been more perfect, too. After such an ordeal over getting a scanner that works, I was quite willing to throw it through the window tonight. But he got is working and is now cruising along.

Needless to say, this film will be completed soon--and only because of the wonderful people helping us make it to the finish line.

OfficeMax - Part II

On Tuesday, I wrote about the time wasted with OfficeMax in relation to a failed scanner. The photos and slides from Vietnam will be used in the film--only if we get them scanned properly.

After several hours on the phone with customer service representatives, one of whom blatantly hung up on me, I was finally escalated to a woman named Vivian who finally seemed capable of finding the answers I wanted to hear. She connected with the scanner manufacturer, had them send me a new one, and gave me a ticket to mail the faulty one to California free of charge. But I'm stuck with a phone bill that is twice what it should be, and an extra trip to drop of the faulty scanner when all I wanted was to return what I bought from the store originally.

It's unfortunate that it took several hours, and five OfficeMax representatives to finally find a mildly-satisfying resolution. Shouldn't the response, "Here's how we can make this right," be the first one? You would think so, but I suppose OfficeMax doesn't empower its employees to handle the situation right out of the gate. They have to stick to policies so they don't get fired, and even phone center supervisors are willing to hang up on a customer before extending some level of understanding and support.

Years ago, I read a book that highlighted Van Eure's customer service. If you're not familiar with her name, she helps run a little place called The Angus Barn here in Raleigh, N.C.--one of the nation's most successful restaurants with $10 million plus in annual sales. What can OfficeMax learn from Van Eure? The commandments of customer service, for sure. Not only does she get it, but she empowers her employees to help the customer as well.

One of the sections from Eure's chapter has stuck with me for many years. The book is Nine Lives: Stories of Women Business Owners Landing on Their Feet by Mary Cantando with Laurie Zuckerman. Here are excerpts from the book that I continue to enjoy:

This focus on the customers rather than the trappings of the business is the hallmark of Van's managment style. and she has learned that hiring the right employees is the foundation of customer satisfaction...it is not uncommon for Angus Barn managment to interview 100 applicants to fill two positions. From dishwasher to office staff to head chef, each applicant faces elaborate reference checks and a series of interviews. Then, before a job offer is made, everyone involved in the decision must give a unanimous thumbs up. A safecracker could break into Fort Knox more easily than a mediocre employee could get on the Angus Barn payroll. As a result, all 240 employees wear their Angus Barn employment badge of honor. And, once they make it in, they guard the door to ensure that the next employee meets the same high standards...

Each night those employees are put to the test. With an average of 900 customers a night and all the variables that go along with each order...it's just a matter of time before a slipup occurs...

Delivering a medium when a medium rare was ordered is bad enough, but the kind of slipups that Van hates the most are those involving special occasions like somebody's birthday or graduation party. Her approach in these situations is never to ask, "What do you want me to do for you?" but rather to say, "Let me tell you what I'm going to do." Then she always does more than she promises.

OfficeMax, if you are listening, please take a note from Eure's thoughts on management and customer service. Not only am I holding a grudge about your representative hanging up on me, I am angry that my phone bill is more than twice what it should be this month. You've ignored the opportunity to make things right. I'm fairly easy to placate in these situations but you have failed me many, many times this week. You, clearly, don't get it.

We're moving towards a society that engages with one another on a very personal basis using many different tools. Seth Godin writes about this in his book Tribes, "The tactics are irrelevant, and the technology will always be changing. The essential lesson is that every day it gets easier to tighten the relationship you have with the people who choose to follow you."

"Van has learned that people just want to feel special and small personal touches go a long way," Cantando writes. You have a huge opportunity in front of you, OfficeMax, but some part of me doubts that you'll capitalize on it.

OfficeMax

For several hours I have been going back and forth with OfficeMax and the manufacturers of a scanner I purchased from them. Matt, one of our editors who's proficient in digital imaging, had planned to come over tonight to work on scanning images that will be used in the film. What a battle has ensued with OfficeMax, instead.

Here's what happened (as briefly as it can be told):

• Bought a scanner in March 2009 for digitizing archived footage from Vietnam
• Set up the scanner last week for use by Matt to digitize the large number of images
• Realized that the scanner was not working properly (added a weird green light to each image)
• Called the manufacturer to find out if it could be fixed, or needed replacing
• Called the local OfficeMax store to find out about returning the item, and was told they have a 14-day return policy, don't carry the scanner in the store anymore, and I have to talk to the manufacturer
• Talked to the manufacturer call center rep, who was very helpful, and confirmed that they could replace it but I have to pay the shipping fee
• Angry that I couldn't return it locally and would have to pay for shipping it, I called the OfficeMax customer service center; was told about the 14-day return policy again and that I would have to talk with the manufacturer
• Escalated my call to a supervisor who was incredibly rude, told me there was no one else that could help, and then proceeded to disconnect our call after telling me she was going to hang up on me. (Is that their policy? To hang up on customers instead of helping them?)
• Called again, spoke with two people, and then finally left my name and number for another supervisor (after about an hour of waiting, explaining and talking)
• Finally received a return call from a supervisor who is supposedly going to help me get a new scanner.

These are the little things you never see on film, aren't they? The little battles you fight in the attempt to wage war in finishing a feature-length film. And they are never seen on film, because they're insignificant if the final result is achieved. The behind-the-scenes ordeal for simply getting a scanner that works is of little importance if we have a final film with digitized original photos from Vietnam.

I am appalled that OfficeMax has a customer service representative who blatantly hangs up the phone instead of transferring the call to someone who can provide assistance. What started as a simple and very straightforward matter has become an inordinate waste of time and resources for both of us.

A 14-day return policy has now damaged OfficeMax's reputation and brand for me. It has caused an unbelievable amount of inconvenience, when I simply wanted to return a faulty product they sold me. The matter could have been resolved so quickly, too! All I wanted was someone to return the money I spent on the faulty scanner, or help cover the cost of shipping it to the manufacturer.

They are supposedly calling me back tomorrow morning with an update. I'll keep you posted. In the mean time, does anyone have a scanner we might borrow?

The Interview with John Plaster

Friday was the big day. I woke up too early. It's hard to sleep the night before an interview, I have found. I get so worked up about it, that I can hardly rest. Remember what it was like to wait for Santa to come? How can you sleep when you know what excitement will come in the morning!?

Timeliness
Because I was using my cell phone as a watch, I almost showed up for the interview an hour early. Thankfully I remembered that my phone was still on EST, but managed to still show up 10 minutes too early. I was used to leaving 20 minutes early to get anywhere, and forgot how conveniently close the Inn was to our film location.

It was, again, an important lesson. When a Special Forces guy tells you a meeting time, they keep their word. Ironically enough, I had been watching the Military Channel the previous day while working. A show about training for the Marines was on, and one of the exercises was about detonating explosives at a specific time. They were four minutes late. And got into some serious trouble because they didn't follow directions. Mistakes like that lead to casualties in the field. It's important to know you can rely on that soldier to do what is asked of him (or her), like detonating or showing up on time.

So, needless to say, I felt pretty terrible about showing up 10 minutes early. And since the filming location was a quiet little area, I couldn't very well sit in the car and look like a stalker waiting for those 10 minutes to pass. By the time I got out of the car, the door opened and they were there to greet me. And did so with a smile, I might add.

Setting Up
About half an hour later, we were set up for the interview. Actually, I could have been a full hour. I am very meticulous in framing the shot now, and have no misgivings about making the world stop until I have it set up the way I want it to look. It's taken me a while to get there, but I finally make no excuses for taking my time to do it as great as I possibly can. Hopefully that will pay off in the end.

Finally, we sat and turned on the camera. John began to answer my first question, and as I listened with the headphones on I realized that I missed a connection. The wireless mic wasn't being picked up by the receiver. No, wait, the receiver was picking it up because I had a green light. Aha, I had missed a very important cable--the one that connects the wireless mic receiver to the camera itself. We paused to look for it.

It was nowhere to be found.

I looked inside every piece of luggage. Inside every pocket, every corner, every place I had touched since I walked into the room. It was nowhere. Nowhere!

I flashed back to the moments at RDU, fumbling to shift the weight of my luggage around so that I could check my bags. Had it fallen out then? I always look over my shoulder as I walk away to make sure nothing fell. Nope, didn't remember seeing it there when I looked back. Was it resting comfortably in the camera bag I left in Raleigh to make the suit case lighter? Nope, I had checked that twice before leaving.

If there's one thing I had done, it was pack and repack and then check everything again. When you leave your house, you'd better have everything you need for that shoot. Otherwise, you'll miss your flight or later waste precious time trying to buy the thing you've forgotten. I still couldn't find it. And by this time, I was starting to break a sweat, angry at myself for letting something so silly as a connection cable like that waste my precious interviewing time.

Oh, my kingdom for a cable!

I surrendered. And took off the wool sweater that was helping me turn red with anger over such a silly missed detail. We sat down to start again, and John was ever so patient with me. We started rolling the tape.

The Interview
Having read his books, I was prepared for our interview. But, I confess, reading the stories and hearing them in person quite different. I found myself struggling to restrain against sitting back to listen with undivided attention. Like a kid at story time, I wanted to sit with my legs crossed and my chin resting on my knuckles and stare in fascination at what would be shared next.

Acting as the director and interviewer, though, I did my best to listen, zoom out when he used his hands, and still be prepared with my next questions so the transition from one answer to another would be logical and seamless for him.

It's been really interesting to compare each interviewee against one another. Some of them are slow to answer, others are very succinct and eloquent, and most of them are well versed in giving interviews. I feel so lucky to be speaking with them, and appreciative of their patience with a new filmmaker.

In two short hours, we wrapped the interview. My legs were restless, but I could have sat and listened to him talk for the rest of the afternoon. We stopped the tape, and he left me to strike what had become our set as he prepared our lunch.

John and Gail served me one of the best roast beef sandwhiches I have ever tasted (or probably will ever taste). John had made them, and--wow--was it delicious. I learned that John was a cook at age 17. I can hardly remember what I was doing at 17. Perhaps life guarding? I was very impressed, needless to say.

Post-Interview
The rest of the afternoon we spent looking through photographs and scanning in the ones we thought would be most helpful. I came home with a striking collection, and really look forward to using them in the film.

What a relief it is to start collecting visuals! I have been quite anxious about how to collect these, knowing that I would need them, but not able to focus on that effort just yet. While in the midst of filming, it is tough to start working on post-production efforts like collecting images. I recognize that now we have wrapped filming, and collecting those has become quite easier with the help from many key folks (more on that later).

After we wrapped those efforts, we took my equipment back to the Inn and headed to The Flying Eagle for a fish fry. It was delightful! We stepped out of the vehicle into the frigid air, and the view of such a clear starry night sky was unforgettable. I have not seen stars like that since I lived in my hometown in Eastern N.C. Not a cloud in the sky, just a big blanket of twinkling stars above.

In short, the entire day was one dream come true after the next. The interview, scanning the images and the delicious food made for one amazing day. This, my friends, is the type of thing you only see in movies because it's almost too good to be true!