| Image 1 Studios |
| Image 1 Studios, LLC Image 1 Studios Private Contractor Travelling Photographer Executive Portrait Legal Paperwork Dispute Tazewell, Tennessee |
| 21st of May, 2011 by User563804 |
Ok, so here's the story. I saw an ad posted on Craig's List for a traveling photographer in my area. I decided that I'd apply for the position. At first things were going great. The woman I was interacting with, her name was Heidi, and she was very friendly and helpful at this point. The Craig's List bounce/encrypted e-mail mask would not take my portfolio size, so I decided to send a message. Below is the ad (After it was edited to reflect "Portrait" emphasis), the initial e-mail I sent, her reply, and my reply to her. This all took place between May 15 - May 17. Advert:
Traveling Photographer (Kansas City and surrounding areas) Date: 2011-05-14, 10:35AM CDT Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?] Our nation-wide executive portrait photography company is looking for
superior photographers/retouch artist to add to our team for better than
average pay. You must have world class customer care and be willing to
travel extensively. You must have a strong understanding of Photoshop.
We have clients in all states and we are growing as fast as possible
to meet their needs. Must be willing for immediate training. Please include a brief cover letter and resume along with several samples of your work - particularly portraits. Location: Kansas City and surrounding areas
Compensation: $800-$1,200/week + plus semi-annual bonuses.
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My first e-mail: Hello, I have been trying to send my cover letter, resume, and
mini-portfolio to you through the provided craig's list e-mail link on
your advertisement. However, I believe the 13MB .PDF Mini-portfolio
file is being rejected by the craig's list forwarding service due to
size, it's not giving me very much information, however this is the only
determination I could think of. Do you have an E-Mail address which I
might be able to send this to directly? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank You,
***** ******
http://kansascity.craigslist.org/med/2380645480.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her Response: On 5/17/2011 7:19 AM, [email protected] wrote: Hello Jason! Thank you for your persistence! Please send your requested materials
to this address instead. ([email protected]) Heidi Sent from my iPhone ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Response (which as you read will tell you held my Resume, Cover Letter and Partial Portfolio): Hello Heidi, Thank you very much for the information. I have included with this
e-mail an attached copy of my cover letter, resume, and mini-portfolio.
However, I went and re-read the advertisement again and it seems to have
changed from general photography/portfolio requirements to portrait
centric requirements. I will compile a few more portrait shots over the
next couple of days and get them to you as well. However, I wanted to
get my resume and portfolio in for immediate consideration so you may
see the type of work I do in both photography and retouching. I thank
you very much for this opportunity. Sincerely,
***** ******
p. ***.***.****
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, that all sounds good right? Yes, I would agree, she's very helpful and very communicative. However, I now had a name of a company I could look for (the Craig's List advert didn't mention the company name). So, I searched for Image 1 Studios in google, found another Ripoff report, and the same report posted on a scam informative site. That was the first minor redflag. The report detailed the guys issue with them not being able to reschedule an interview. His dealings were with a woman named Stephanie Hurley (You'll see her name later). I figured 1 report, 1 angry guy, that's ok, these things happen. However, the website also looked hokey. He wasn't able to find their website, however, I found it at www.image1studios.info. First red flag here is the domain. .info is free to register everywhere I believe, and even if not, it's what? 8 dollars to register a .com for a year? and, image1studios.com was not taken when I checked the other day. The second red flag in this is the fact that their website looks like it was designed just to have a site, there's no content, the 1 "Album" is locked, there seems to be "Other Albums" that have no existing buttons, and there's 3 posts on the side (presumably the guestbook) asking for passwords to view things. The only information on the page is that they are executive photographers, and do onsite photo retouching. However, the locked album that is there is for a family reunion? How does this even make sense? The next day (Thursday), I get a telephone call at 8:30pm, which turned out to be a mini-interview. It was Heidi and she asked me several questions about my prior experience, my camera experience with different brands/bodies/lenses, questions about my studio lighting experience and if I minded traveling a lot. She mentioned that I would sometimes be away from home anywhere from 1 week to 1 month. I have no pets, and my fiancee is in school pretty much full time, so I didn't really take issue with this. The interview went smoothly, and she had said that she had several other people to contact and if she was still interested that she would call within 48 hours to schedule an interview. The next night (Friday Night) at 8:30pm again, while I am in the concession line at the movie theater, Heidi calls, and gives me the good news that she wants to interview me on Monday. This is where things start to get really fishy. During this call, she mentioned a few things, that my interview would be on Monday some time, and that tonight she would send me an E-Mail with the address, and attached to that e-mail would be a Non-Disclosure Form. That's pretty standard, but then she dropped the news, "I need you to sign and have this notarized BEFORE you come in for your interview. I CANNOT interview you without it" she then proceeds to tell me "You'll see a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo on there, but all it really says is that we have marketing trade secrets and you cannot divulge those to anyone". At this point, I am trying to pay for food at the concession stand and decided I'd read the NDA when I got home. I kindly said "Ok, I look forward to meeting with you" or something to that effect and we hung up. Later that night, I get home, and there's nothing in my inbox. I go to sleep wake up in the morning. Still not there. I decide to call her. I get her voicemail and leave her a message expressing that I had not received the e-mail yet, and to please call me if something had gone wrong, maybe it was lost in cyberspace, you never know. No return call all day. So, at 8:30pm (on a saturday night mind you) I try calling again, she answers the phone, so I explain I had left her a message and that I still had not received the e-mail. She explains that the "Admin's" mother in law passed away and that I would definitely receive this NDA and e-mail tomorrow (Sunday). Now I must ask at this point, does any of this sound legit to you? They wish for me to read over and sign a legal, binding document within 24 hours? AND have it notarized? Anyways, I leave my concerns inside my head for now, hoping that the e-mail would get to me early and I could call my Lawyer (A good friend of mine) and have him look it over for me. No such luck. I receive the next e-mail at 4:19pm on Sunday and here it is below (complete with the NDA (Parts bolded for pertinent info).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hi Jason,
This email is to confirm your interview appointment on Monday, May 23rd @
3:15pm with Heidi Hostetler. Attached you will find a Non Disclosure
Agreement. Please bring a signed, dated, and notarized copy of the
agreement with you. Ms. Hostetler will be unable to interview without
this completed document. The interview location is: Leawood Executive Suites4745 W. 136th St. Leawood, KS 66224 Yours in Service, Stephanie Hurley
Image 1 Studios
Vice President of Operations
678.650.0519
[email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------- NON-DISCLOSURE
AGREEMENT This
Non-Disclosure
Agreement (this "Agreement") is made effective as of
(date) _____________,
by and between Image 1 Studios,
LLC, of 3130 Hwy
25E South,
Tazewell, Tennessee
37879, and _______________________,
of _________________________________,
_______________, Kansas. In
this Agreement, the party who is requesting the non-disclosure
from the other party shall be referred to as "Image 1", and
the party who is agreeing not to disclose
shall be referred to as "photographer/applicant". Photographer/applicant
is interviewing to be
an independent contractor for Image 1. 1.
NON-DISCLOSURE
COVENANT.
For a period of 5
years,
or as long as is enforceable by the laws of the State of Kansas,
whichever is longer.
After the effective
date of this Agreement, photographer/applicant
will not directly or indirectly engage in any business that competes
with Image 1. This covenant shall apply to the geographical area that
includes within a 50 mile radius of any offices or associated offices
wherein Image 1 operates in all states depending on enforceability
utilizing states' laws 2.
NON-SOLICITATION COVENANT.
For a period of 5 years, or as long as is enforceable under state laws wherein Image 1
operates, after the effective date of this Agreement, photographer/applicant will not directly or indirectly solicit business from, or attempt to sell, license or provide the same or similar products or services as are now provided to, any customer or client of Image 1. Further, for a period of 5 years, or as long as is enforceable under state law, after the effective date of this Agreement, photographer/applicant will not directly or indirectly solicit, induce or attempt to induce any employee of Image 1 to terminate his or her employment with Image 1. 3.
PAYMENT.
Image 1 will pay compensation to photographer/applicant for the covenants of photographer/applicant in the amount of $.50 per year. This compensation shall be payable in a lump sum on date of interview. 4.
CONFIDENTIALITY.
Photographer/applicant will not at any time or in any manner, either directly or indirectly, use for the personal benefit of photographer/applicant, or divulge, disclose, or communicate in any manner any information that is proprietary to Image 1. Photographer/applicant will protect such information and treat it as strictly confidential. The obligation of photographer/applicant not to disclose confidential information shall continue for a period of 5 years or for as long as is enforceable under state law, whichever is longer, after the effective date of this Agreement. Within the period of one week after receiving a written request, photographer/applicant will return to Image 1 all records, notes, documentation and other items that were used, created, or controlled by photographer/applicant. 5.
ENTIRE AGREEMENT.
This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties regarding the subject matter of this Agreement, and there are no other promises or conditions in any other agreement whether oral or written. 6.
SEVERABILITY.
The parties have attempted to limit the non-disclosure provision so that it applies only to the extent necessary to protect legitimate business and property interests. If any provision of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and enforceable. If a court finds that any provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, but that by limiting such provision it would become valid and enforceable, then such provision shall be deemed to be written, construed, and enforced as so limited. 7. INJUNCTION.
It is agreed that if photographer/applicant violates the terms of this Agreement irreparable harm will occur, and money damages will be insufficient to compensate Image 1. Therefore, Image 1 will be entitled to seek injunctive relief (i.e., a court order that requires photographer/applicant to comply with this Agreement) to enforce the terms of this Agreement. 8. APPLICABLE LAW.
This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Kansas. PROTECTED PARTY: Image 1 Studios, LLC By:
_______________________________
Image 1 Studios, LLC
President NON-DISCLOSURE
PARTY: By:
_______________________________
Photographer/applicant --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I bolded the necessary "Spooky" bits to make it easier to read. Basically, in my understanding of this "NDA" it's a whole lot worse than just "Marketing trade secrets" If I was to sign this PRIOR to the interview, I'd be basically saying, I will NOT work for any other photography company that competes with them on any level (So far all I know is executive portraits, pictures, and event photography, as well as any retouching I do could be taken from me for 5 years or more), it also states that I will give them anything they ask for that I used on one of their shoots, so if I happen to use my own camera, or lighting, or anything else, I have to give that to them. That last one may be a stretch, however, at this point I am not willing to take any chances, I want to have my attorney read it for verification. So, I send an e-mail to Heidi, she replies, and I reply back, I will post them in order below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Heidi, According to the time stamp on the e-mail I received from Stephanie, the message hit my inbox at 4:19pm this afternoon. I don't mean to be picky or anything however, you guys are asking me to read, process, comprehend, and sign a legal agreement with notarization in less than 24 hours. My Interview is at 3:15pm tomorrow afternoon. I understand that it may affect my standing with your company, however, after reading this agreement, it is telling me
that I may not work for any of your competitors for the next 5 years without knowing the first thing about who and what image 1 studios does and who your competitors even are. There are a few other things inside this agreement I am unclear on and I would like to have the opportunity for my lawyer give it a read before I sign it. It is for this reason that I must ask to reschedule the interview for a later date and time. I will need at least Monday and Tuesday for this process, which means that I could be ready to interview anytime Wednesday or later. If you absolutely need me to interview tomorrow or Tuesday, I must regrettably decline your invitation. I sincerely hope this does not hinder what could be a good relationship between myself and image 1 studios, and that you have time for interviews later this week and I look forward to an answer either way. I thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely,
***** ******
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her reply: On 5/22/2011 6:26 PM, [email protected] wrote: Jason- I'm sincerely sorry to hear that, and I wish you all the best. Heidi Sent from my iPhone ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My reply: Heidi, Please try to understand. I really do want this interview. However, I know 0 about your company, and you're asking me to sign away 5 years of my passion based on that. The whole point to an interview is for you to find out about me, and me to find out about your company. By signing this agreement, I am under the impression that I would not be able to work for even Olan Mills or some other portrait studio, nor would I be able to work for any event photography, or any photo retouching places. It also seems, by this document that I wouldn't be able to even work for myself in these fields. All of these things for the next 5 years... That just doesn't seem fair without giving me some information about who you are and what you do first. I have tried to research Image 1 Studios and seem to come up with different businesses when doing a google search. I am pretty sure that the scam report posted is about this particular Image 1 Studios, as well as some other things that point to you being a reputable company. However the website for the company is less than what someone would usually expect from a nationwide photography firm that deals with executives on a regular basis. There is nothing listed about you on the better business bureau either. Somewhere it was stated that this was a fortune 500 company, yet I find no record of you guys on the fortune 500 list either. All these things have sort of left me confused and I am in
need of a 3rd party opinion on whether or not the document is safe to sign. It's almost as if you're asking me to buy a one of a kind brand new concept car that's never been reviewed by anyone, seen by anyone, or heard of by anyone, and then telling me it's the only car I can ever drive for the next 5 years, and not telling me about it's safety ratings, gas mileage, other cars in its class, etc. I would really like you to reconsider, or perhaps explain about image 1 and it's competitors so that I may make a more informed decision on what to do with this
NDA. I hope to hear from you. Sincerely,
***** ******
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I still have yet to receive a reply from her. If one happens to come up, I will update this post. However, I strongly urge anyone that has applied or is attempting to apply for this company to seriously re-think their strategy. It seems very fishy that they will not give me time to have this analyzed by a lawyer, and it seems even worse that they're wanting me to sign something this rigid in such a short amount of time. They would have effectively owned my career in photography for the next 5 years had I signed this document. I am sure of this, and my lawyer hasn't even called me back yet. As stated, and just to reaffirm, I will be keeping this post updated if I get any more information. Thanks Ripoff Report! |
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| Same experience I just had with them. Can't really say it is a photography company since no questions were answered. Did not sign, canceled interview because it was not worth the drive. Pity the fools who sign with them. |
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| I just dealt with the same thing. Some asshole named Lawrence Verde? What an idiot, I knew this was a scam from the start. Right when he said I'd have to sign that form before I even had the job I knew it was a hoax and when I asked him what the company name was, if they had a website and why I had to fill out a notary before I even got the job he was scuffling for answers. When I asked his last name he tried to buy time and asked me what I said? I asked again and he said Verde, I repeated his answer and that's when he told me to forget it try find a job in Chicago he won't be interviewing me. I told him he should really beware of who he tries to scam and told him my uncle is an FBI agent. I notified my Uncle about the situation and some action will be taken with these unintelligent group of scum bags. He wanted me to travel to Nashville in 24 hours for an interview when I live in Chicago and I told him, I would, as long as his company is flying me out there. I hope he reads this because I have his number now and gave it to the proper authorities. Noone fall for this crap, if it seems to good to be true it usually is. I'm a professional cinematographer and I have plenty of jobs lined up "Lawrence" you'll get yours someday you and those tramps you work with. Later sucker!! |
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| I just dealt with the same thing. Some asshole named Lawrence Verde? What an idiot, I knew this was a scam from the start. Right when he said I'd have to sign that form before I even had the job I knew it was a hoax and when I asked him what the company name was, if they had a website and why I had to fill out a notary before I even got the job he was scuffling for answers. When I asked his last name he tried to buy time and asked me what I said? I asked again and he said Verde, I repeated his answer and that's when he told me to forget it try find a job in Chicago he won't be interviewing me. I told him he should really beware of who he tries to scam and told him my uncle is an FBI agent. I notified my Uncle about the situation and some action will be taken with these unintelligent group of scum bags. He wanted me to travel to Nashville in 24 hours for an interview when I live in Chicago and I told him, I would, as long as his company is flying me out there. I hope he reads this because I have his number now and gave it to the proper authorities. Noone fall for this crap, if it seems to good to be true it usually is. I'm a professional cinematographer and I have plenty of jobs lined up "Lawrence" you'll get yours someday you and those tramps you work with. Later sucker!! |
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| If you read the agreement correctly it states that you will not compete with us directly. If one, is a professional photographer in good standing with an established clientele this would not present as an issue. The bottom line is we are an established company with successful professional photographers and long standing professional relationships. If you insist on calling this a scam please look up what a scam is, were you ever asked for money? Were you asked for personal information? Were you fraud ed in any way? NO. you were simply offered the opportunity to interview for a photographer position & to possibly come on board with a successful company to work in an industry that fulfills your photography passion while earning a healthy legitimate income. |
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It is a JOKE to have someone sign a non compete before they even are hired!!
Do you make your telemarketers sign the same non compete ?
The idea behind this is to KEEP you from working in the service area "Image 1" is trying to conduct business, that is unless you work for them!!!
LOL
I work with non compete and truth is, it is just that... you could sue the photographer if he signs that, for just taking pictures at a family event and getting a few bucks for it.
There is nothing about the clause that says you can't go to work for company, A, B, C .. it says you can no directly compete. Which means, you can't be PAID for your work by anyone, I make my employees including office people, sign the same thing.
A non-compete is very hard to hold in court for one, and two, after just a short time time on google I pull up LOADS of scam reports, rip off reports, BEWARE of theses people, not to mention the NAME PLAY of your "company" and that play is Image One Studios which happen to use the numeral 1 at in the logo, so first your playing off a BIG company's name, second you use cold call telemarketers to book your clients, third you make your photographers sign away their rights to work for anyone else before you EVEN interview them!!
oh yes, you did fix your website problem with IBUILT..NET and threw together a junk page in an hour.
Believe the RIP OFF REPORTS !! |
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I always get a little chuckle when I come read this little thread. I work for Image 1 Studios as a photographer and have done so for about 6 months now. For argument sake why don't we start my story before Image 1 Studios though? In 1995 I completed my Masters Program for International Business but my true passion had always been photography. Unfortunately it only took a 1 minute conversation with my parents to let them talk me out of studying it formally. After a great start as a financial analyst I decided being in an office and wearing a suit everyday was not the life I wanted for myself. So in 1997 I gave my two weeks notice and set out to be a professional (full-time) photographer. Keep in mind that up to this point I had already been published several times and also had made as much as 5k for 1-2 days of shooting on my gigs (the film days yay!). So essentially what I am guessing statistically is that at that point I had already been published more and paid more than most the people complaining on this thread (not a cheap shot... just a fact in todays industry).
Several months ago after working as a professional full time photographer since 1997 mind you I came across the Image 1 Studios advert. It seemed interesting so I inquired and had a nice chat with a soft spoken, very friendly Texan. We discussed the No Compete agreement and I thought about it after our conversation. Now keep in mind that I have been doing this on my own since 1997 full-time (as in my ONLY job) and in that time to give some examples I had photographed:
-Senators in Congressman.. not in passing or giving speeches but portrait sessions.
-CEO of Mc Donald's
-CEO of American Express
-America's and Australia's Nest Top Model Winners
-CW Network Hosts
-Television stars/actors
-Actors from The Wire
-Catalog work for Designers
-Look Books and campaigns for Designers
...Okay so you get the idea... I potentially had a lot to lose and needed just a little clarification as to what rights I would be potentially signing away. So I sent an email off to Image 1 Studios with my aforementioned concerns. I got back an email that explained everything as it pertained to me and my concerns... Long story short, I had nothing to worry about. So I decided to to push the 'I believe' button and
signed the No Compete and met with that Texan about the job.
So here I am several months later still doing everything I used to do plus working for Image 1 Studios. In fact the only thing that changed is my schedule. Those "Bookers" (as a previous poster called them) work very hard and have me booked all the time.
To answer a few things posted in the thread:
No Image 1 website.
-Image 1 Studios has not needed a website to reach its clients, in fact would be (in my mind) very counter
productive in creating competition.
-No Compete
"The idea behind this is to KEEP you from working in the service area "Image 1" is trying to conduct business, that is unless you work for them!!! "
-This made me giggle and could not be further from the truth.
"you use cold call telemarketers to book your clients"
-A business model that works well. We each do what we do best and guess what... you have a company!
"It's a scam!"
-Keep thinking that... I am sure your uncle (the FBI agent) has surely educated you by now (since it has been 61 days since your post) as to what a scam actually is. If not I would suggest Webster's.
"Lawrence" you'll get yours someday you and those tramps you work with. Later sucker!!"
-Lawrence is one of THE hardest working people I have met! Along with his staff and business model
he is actually helping the US economy by providing jobs and training... what are you doing? I will think
of you while I am drinking a Blue Moon on Honolulu next year... yes I will be there working for Image 1.
"Pity the fools who sign with them"
-Your funny! You sound like Mr. T! :D
Seriously though... We are doing great and I hope you are too!
Looking back I completely understand why the No Compete is needed for this job and I think it is only something that will be understood in hind sight. Regardless of what people post here the company continues to grow and do well and those who do as I did and meet with Image 1 continue to prosper as full time photographers.
I do sincerely wish you all the very best with future your ventures and well being.
Cheers,
-troy |
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| Non-Disclosure agreements for job interviews is common. But no-compete agreements for interviews is unheard of. No-compete agreements should only be signed when you are extended a formal offer of employment. To sign one before that is foolish. And to expect a person to sign one for an interview is greatly suspect. |
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Troy
After RIP OFF REPORT .COM had someone post about the website, magically a poor website was thrown together.
When it was pointed out it was a FREE hosted website, they change it to www.IBUILT.net -and I know how this happen. $19.99 a month and you use a build it yourself template.
When that was brought up, finally they put together a REAL website. Poor and plain and very simple one at that!!!
A NON-Compete is just that, just because they TELL you they want follow up on it, you still signed it!! and YES they can SUE you for taking any money for any images you take not for them. Plain and simple. I made my employees, As CEO of my company, sign a non-compete AFTER they became employed.
and YES I know the laws surrounding a NON-COMPETE CLAUSE, maybe you should read up or talk to a lawyer.
Sure this is a fast growing company, and sure you are getting paid to take pictures of clients. Easy job, considering it is mostly businesses and company "yearbooks". Yeah, you offer each person the chance to BUY at extra charges pictures for the individual uses -different sizes, etc... but most turn that down because the company is paying for the images to be shot.
I personally know more then one person that works for this company and frankly I've warned them.
This is a START UP company and has no history, FACT: GOOGLE Search : Image 1 Studio
when the rip off reports were posted the first ENTIRE page was nothing but rip off reports.
EXCEPT for the REAL company www.imageonestudios.com . Infact a search today they will be the SECOND to show up, Third is STILL www.ripoffreport.com Then twitter, youtube, then back to other WARNINGS about this company.
So the simple fact the company is trying its hardest to cover up what people are saying about this company. I am shocked there is not a myspace and facebook to help push the RIPOFF reports onto the second page when you do a search.
And I LOVE the new website::::: Image 1 Studios is America's only national executive photography company working with many Fortune 500 Companes as well as smaller local professional businesses.
-seriously-
Every year we have had an average annual growth rate of more than 150% and are on target for achieving similar results this year and next. -how many years have they been in business?????????
We believe we have been able to do this because of our uncompromising commitments to delivering a stellar array of products and services, honesty and integrity in all our business dealings, and a core belief in providing win/win solutions for our customers, contractors, and personnel. -READ the reports, SEEMS honesty and integrity are missing
We also believe in the law of reciprocity. In short, you reap what you sow. In regards to this perspective, Image 1 Studios donates approximately 10% of gross revenues to local and national charities. -Simply for a TAX BREAK-
This ensures an almost 100% customer satisfaction rate. In order to be able to perform all of these tasks we have developed a ridiculously high standard in selecting your photographers and an intense training program - THIS is why they are hiring on CRAIGS LIST for such "high" standers
We have Event Coordinators able to plan and execute events in most of the United States and Canada. To discuss and plan an event custom made to your specific needs and benefitting your staff, your company - RIGHT... Event "Coordinators" for what event? You have Marketing agents who BOOK you to go shoot images, again mostly at business looking to put together a company "year book"
I doubt there is a single qualified REAL EVENT Coordinator that works for this company. -people go to college for years and study hard to earn that title.
and to quote the above post "Non-Disclosure agreements for job interviews is common. But no-compete agreements for interviews is unheard of. No-compete agreements should only be signed when you are extended a formal offer of employment. To sign one before that is foolish. And to expect a person to sign one for an interview is greatly suspect."
Outside of the work done on the field most the rest of the work is done from someone's home.
It is company practices that have brought out the rip off reports, I haven't seen anything bad about the job they do. Although I have heard some very interesting phone calls from some VERY PISSED OFF CLIENTS.
Wish the company best of luck, like I said I know a few people that work for this company and frankly I was worried when I started reading about the company.
So I wouldn't say that this is a FAKE company, or anything negative about the people who work for the company, but its START UP practices ... yeah, not the kind of rep you want to give your company when your starting a new one. |
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Thought Troy you might also be willing to read this, from rip off report. Because I didn't talk to any lawyers, nor did I really care other then the fact I was WORRIED for the people I know that work or were looking into working for this company.
AUTHOR: Jason Nalley - Kansas City (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Saturday, June 18, 2011
Now that the subject takes care of the apology for my confusion of your sex, you must have sucked as a paralegal, just saying. When 3 ACTUAL Lawyers, who have passed the bar exam in the states of Kansas and Missouri, have looked at it and told me it was good I didn't sign it, there's a problem.
Next, I've seen PLENTY of corporate photography done by Olan Mills, while they do specialize in Family Portraits, corporations do go to other corporations to get their pictures done, and Olan Mills has a large number of corporate clients. I know this for 2 reasons, 1) I've worked in corporate America most of my Adult life and have had pictures taken by Olan Mills for this purpose, and 2) There's several job postings on career builder and monster from Olan Mills (or at least were when I was looking for a job), for portrait photography that clearly stated in the description "working with corporate clients" and "Corporate Portraits" and "Pictures for Business Cards". The other thing you should take away from this, is that Olan Mills also does travel to their clients, just as Image1 does, in fact, the corporate end of things for Olan Mills, sounds very close to what the lady from Image1 was describing to me over the phone. My real point to all of this is, no matter where you work in photography, businesses will go to what they can afford, if they can only afford Olan Mills, they'll go there, if they can afford to spend more, they'll go somewhere better. Don't turn your nose down at something because you are some hoity-toity wannabe photographer who thinks she's awesome because she has a degree from Nossi college of art, and takes pictures of mangled faced rednecks in Tennessee.
Also, on the subject of education, Image1 was willing to hire another friend of mine with a GED, not that education has anything at all to do with Photography to begin with, he turned them down because the pay wasn't where he needed it to be, so I don't even know why you brought that up.
Now question, Being an ex-paralegal, would you advise someone to sign an NDA with less than 24 hours before an interview, that doesn't specify if the terms are after you get the job or not, and states that you may not work at any company that competes with the company the NDA is for? Lets not even use Image1 as an example here, since you so vehemently believe what you believe. Lets take this same NDA, and apply it to AT&T business class phone service, would you advise one of your lawyers clients to sign this very same NDA when it applies there? If you would advise them as such, you were just a bad paralegal and probably left because it wasn't your thing and you didn't comprehend, or got fired for good reason. The person signing this NDA, even if they didn't get the job, couldn't go work for Verizon, nor could they work at any other company offering business class phone service. If you think I am wrong, I think you need to go back to law school.
Lastly, if you read what I posted initially, and the reply to your rebuttal, you will clearly see that the legal portion of it was only PART of the problem. When I asked to give me an extra day or 2 so I could have a lawyer look it over, since they failed to get it to me in a decent amount of time (Sunday late Afternoon, and my interview was on Monday mid-day), I was responded to with what is quite possibly the shortest and worst e-mail from a hiring manager I could ever think of. Any company, no matter who you are, that's unwilling to give someone 48-72 hours to look over, double check, and sign a legally binding document, that could potentially block any further career moves in their chosen field, is a company that I would view as shady, underhanded, and very unforgiving. It's also a company that I wouldn't want to work for, so no harm no foul. However, I believe people have a right to know, and the fact that another guy went through something similar and felt the need to post here, only proves that my case is not unheard of, which further compounds the need for my original post.
Once again, HONOUR, I am very glad that you like the company and things are going so well for you, I just hope that one day they don't try and enforce the terms of this NDA on you. I feel you should know Image1 also did event photography in the past and might still, for AT LEAST family reunions, this is according to their website, which also means, if you have a friend hire you to do some freelance work at her family reunion, you might be in breach there too. Maybe you should learn to look before you leap, all I know, is that you need to get off your moral high horse and quit speaking about things you obviously fail at. |
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BUT for The company's SIDE.
I DO THINK they did away with this because of the reports and bad feedback. I could be wrong, but either way it is a mute issue with me.
I hope this company does well, I just think the "start up" practices were a bit shady.
I want to say they have cleaned up there act. Wouldn't know, that would be something for the CEO of the company to come on and clear up for everyone.
Which if it was my company I would be cleaning up any negative feedback unless there was fact behind it and it couldn't be cleaned up.
You cats fight it out
Wish Image 1 Studio the best |
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I applied to Image 1 Studios recently and met spoke with Lawrence Meredith personally.
He offered me the job but I did not take it. I am a photographer and I can tell all of you that this company
is as shady as can be. To answer the post above, they have not changed anything and are more like pimps
(photographers being the prostitutes). The fact that they pay such a low commission to the people actually doing the work is sad. This guy Lawrence proclaims to be a photographer but just listening to him talk about photography is like listening to a 12 year old that got their daddy's camera. I can promise you he sucks as a photographer. Everyone beware of this company and do NOT sign that document! |
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I am very familiar with Image 1 Studios as I used to be a former "sub contractor" for them, I say sub contractor because that is how they like to label everyone who works for them so that they can take advantage of the tax breaks that come along with labeling people that way. However they fail to accurately treat thier "sub contractors" as so, anyone who works with the company is treated poorly and as an employee.
While Image 1 Studios is a relatively legitimate "company" and I use that term loosely the company as a whole is ran by a man who acts like a 12 year old throwing a temper tantrum the entire time, the only other person of note in the company is the "VP of operations" who also is an emotional wreck for the most part.
The company prides itself on finding consistant work for their photographers with a specific clientele, However they just spend all day cold calling venues to book you at and then require you as the photographer to go in and make the sales happen, their booking process is even shady for the poor clients that they book for.
During my time working with Image 1 Studios I had a number of clients scream at me saying that they thought everything was free and that the whole thing was a scam for them. which was very difficult for me as a photographer.
The company does offer a sign on "advance" of up to $2500 for equipment and relocation, but only if the owner thinks you deserve it, and then you are required to pay it back, which is understandable but also makes you a prisoner of the company untill the debt is repaid, which can take half a year of so. This is a method that the owner developed to trap photographers into continuing work with the company no matter how miserable they were.
Also the company boasts of a 300% growth over the past 3 years, however just in the short time that i worked with the company i saw nothing but a revolving door of photographers and other employees, including: 9 photographers, 3 assistants and at least 3 booking agents, came and went in less than year.
The company does not "allow" you to have any communication with anyone else in the company expect for the VP of operations, this made getting anything accomplished efficiently very difficult if not impossible. The reason the company had this policy was because it is common practice for the owner and the VP to keep detrimental secrets from everyone who works for them. It became common knowledge that the booking agents made a higher commission if they kept booking the photographers in a "home" territory which ment the photographer would be paid a lower commision, which in turn made more money for the owner. This created alot of anamosity and resentment in the relationship of the photographer and their booker, for me this created a rediculous amount of stress.
In addition to everything else there were specific hours that the "sub contractor" photographers were required to work (which is illegal btw) and if a photographer was caught leaving a venue before a specific time that subcontractor was screamed at and then forced to do free work.
The company does alot of convention events and often required the photographers who worked the convention for them to work anywhere from 14-20 hour days with ZERO breaks! The owner would often complain that he didn't even want to provide a simple sub sandwich to his photographers since they couldn't even take a fricken break, and then to top it off where pushed into doing additional work at the event and then NOT paid properly for it. This situation became common practice for the company.
They also require thier photographers to sign a new non compete agreement every single years further extending the 5 year hold on competing with their company, and icing on the cake is that the new non compete that their lawyer drew up for them is ran through Delaware legislation only, so even if you live in a different state you would still be held to Delaware law which is rediculous.
This is a cautionary tale for anyone considering working with the company, they treat their photographers like slave workers and dont pay them crap.
its also public knowledge that the owner has a distaste for people who follow an alternative lifestyle such as non-christian spiritualists, homosexuals, and anyone of Ethnic cultures. This information came straight from the horses mouth, The owner even boasted of his social stigmas often and is an embaressment to be affiliated with. |
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| Also poor Troy up there who so honorably defended this company is now being sued by the owner just because he chose to leave the company, and apparently anyone who stops working with Image 1 Studios for their own reason are immediatly branded as competing and served papers even though the company has no proof that such an offense occured. Troy has now become a victim of his own kindness towards the company and an owner on a 12 year olds temper tantrum. |
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| how much do a photographer really can make a month |
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