i read an article this morning about businesses that react more swiftly and generally better if the complaint is registered on twitter, rather than in person.  and i found it highly disturbing.

customer service has been a huge part of every job i have ever had.  i take it very seriously, and i take a lot of pride in being really good at it.  in many of my jobs, i was the person who handled front line customer feedback, and made decisions about how to respond.  one of the hands down most effective ways of helping an upset customer feel better, or more calm about a situation, is to listen to them, look at their face, and really hear them.  and tell them that you hear them, and that you understand why they are upset, and mean it.   from that point, you decide how to resolve the situation.  and let’s face it, sometimes there isn’t anything you can do to fix it other than to apologize.  and you also can’t talk to everyone in person, but you can take some of the same steps via phone or email.  i used to respond to customers with handwritten letters, when i worked at businesses that didn’t have computers yet.  (shocking! i know!)

here’s what bugs.  it is tragic that even in a crappy economy, there are businesses who would react to an IN PERSON complaint by doing almost nothing, but turn on the charm when faced with the threat of other potential customers finding out about it via facebook or twitter, or whatever other way you find out about stuff.  don’t they know that even without social media the threat is there and always has been?

when you have a great experience at a business, you tell people.  you feel good about recommending it as a place to spend your money.  but if you have a bad experience at a business, it’s like a virus.  most people tell 10 times as many friends about bad experiences as they tell about good ones.  don’t believe me?  check out your twitter feed and count how many people are complaining about something.  that used to happen *before* twitter too.  believe it.

as a business owner, i would so much rather get a complaint in person.  i consider it a great opportunity to have someone say to my face what they need, or didn’t like.  so that i can respond to it! with my voice!  to their face.  and we can either live happily ever after or go our separate ways with a sense of closure.

YES.  businesses should monitor what people are saying about them on social media.  i have clients who pay me to do this for them,  it is critical.  i answer questions on twitter or facebook such as “how late are you open?” or “can i bring my dog to sit on your patio?”  and it’s just another channel of communication that needs to be open for people to talk to a business.   but NO!  businesses should never in a million years give extra special over the top customer service to someone because they are afraid that if they don’t, 1500 people on facebook might find out.

businesses should give thoughtful and attentive customer service to everyone, across the board, because it’s the RIGHT THING TO DO, whether someone is going to talk about it on social media or not.

all that said,  it’s not unreasonable to ask customers everywhere to give businesses an opportunity to make things right by speaking directly to them, via whatever channel, as a FIRST effort, rather than than just throwing a complaint out into the atmosphere and waiting for free stuff to be delivered to your door.

the article that spawned this rant can be found here.

once he found out that he would have access to video and lights for his EP release show at the bryant lake bowl, he had the idea to create a backdrop of photography and art by by some of his friends.  he lined up yours truly (um, me) and jenn barnett, wing young huie, sara montour, alexandra k, john alspach, and stacy schwartz.

my contribution to the show will be from my nyc snapshots series, taken last fall in…obviously…nyc.  i went there in august and it was about 850 degrees.  i brought three cameras and after the first half day, i schlepped it all back up to the hotel room and left in a skirt with pockets, my iPhone, and a credit card. and my room key!  geez.  it then only felt like 820 degrees.  i walked and walked and walked, and took almost all my photos with my aging phone.   i was very happy with the way they turned out – and one in particular caught ryan’s eye.  it was taken about 5 minutes before storms being pushed in from a hurricane further south dropped sheets and sheets of rain on the city for an hour.  i barely made it into a taxi in time, and i snapped the photo while i was hailing one.  i actually took two – this happened during the first half day that i was still toting big camera around, and i took it with both.  this is the one from the iPhone:

ryan said the first time he saw it that he wanted to use it as an album cover.  but!  someone had already claimed it as such the day before.  we stopped talking about it and he picked out one or two of the other photos in the series to use for posters/handbills.  months went by and the musician who originally claimed the photo for a cover went another direction.  ryan had decided to use another one of the series for the cover, a photo of a sign that says “cute souvenirs.”  we were working with the contrast and brightness to get it right for the cover and it wasn’t going well. i remembered i had taken a similar right-before-the-storm image with my nikon, so i pulled that out and sent it to him with a note that said, i just found this.  no one has ever seen it before.  i forgot i had it.  he replied a few minutes later saying, “that’s the cover.”

and so it is.  there’s always a story with these things.  cute story.  cute souvenirs.
please try to make it out to the bryant lake bowl on july 1st for this show – support local art, support local music!  details below,  see you there.

Thursday, July 1 - Vita.mn Presents:
Cute Souvenirs Session EP Release Show -
with guest Janey Winterbauer (and more) and a set by Zoo Animal
Bryant Lake Bowl Theater – Minneapolis, MN
$8 advance – $10 door. Buy Tickets Online (June 1) at BrownPaperTickets.com
or BLB Box Office: 612-825-8949
Doors: 9:30pm

kevin steinman

The man in the white suit stands at the bar and talks to a friend of mine. I work up the courage to enter their conversation, worrying that I’ll say something stupid.

Yes, Scott Seekins’ coiffure and dress reflects an aesthetic from another century.  Most of us have seen him from afar; walking out of a restaurant, sitting at a bar, standing on Lyndale Avenue holding one of his famous signs.  Up close, he emits an otherworldly glow, a warmth that would require tanning beds, a deal with the devil, or frequent snake hunting excursions.  It turns out the latter is the most probable cause.

“Yeah, I’ve been to Bakersfield,” he says when I admit to being having spent my childhood in one of the most conservative cities in the USA.  “There was a girl from MCAD who was visiting family in LA, so I traveled out there with her.  While we were in Bakersfield, I got in some snake hunting.”

Snake hunting crops up three times during our evening’s conversation.  I buy him a glass of wine as he describes his collection of (and affection for) World War II movies.  Scott is a connoisseur of German war films, insisting that they are far better than the American films of the same propagandistic genre.  He speaks with the poise of a history professor on the little known role Finland played in that last great war, and proudly asserts that he has two pictures of that country’s leader standing with Adolf Hitler.  I nod, impressed.

When we talk music, he is a veritable encyclopedia of garage rock from the 50s and 60s.  I think an hour or two more of this kind of talk could be very valuable to my music learning, but then I get the ultimate treat:  a personalized tour through his “traveling gallery,” a canvas satchel he lifts from the floor containing a white three ring binder of his recent work.

scott seekins (photo by karen kopacz)

Page after page floats by as he narrates: street scenes of Scott holding cardboard signs with postmodern messages as cars drive by between the Walker (“the Microsoft of art galleries”) and the Basilica.  He makes it clear that no one’s ever given him money during these shoots.  I’d very badly like to give him some for one of these prints, which are, for my money, some of the best art I’ve seen in a while.  But I’ve just spent my last five on his wine, so I’ll have to wait ‘til Art-a-Whirl, where he’ll probably be hunkering down near 331, which he says will be the perfect spot to hawk his wares.

I ask him if he needs a ride, and he says sure.  On the way home, he inquires about the financial side of my next venture, a recording project I am about to embark on.  I explain the ins and outs, and we commiserate on the economic hardships suffered by artists.

I drop him off in an alley, and before I’ve turned my car around, the man in the white suit has disappeared.

the dream of having a job with creative freedom came to life – but with me as artist rather than curator, quite unexpectedly.    my workspace has been wherever i want it to be, and that will continue to be the case.  but let’s be honest, winter in minnesota is cold, and photographers need to make a living year ’round.  i do the occasional photo shoot outdoors in the winter, but mostly have just found borrowed spaces indoors.

a few weeks ago, a set of circumstances began to align themselves in favor of me finally getting into a studio.  i was meeting with friend and fellow photographer elizabeth barnwell about her website, which i will be helping her to reinvent, and we naturally got to chatting about lenses, cameras and studios . . . and – long story short – spent most of the day together and looked at an open studio in the architectural antiques building in NE minneapolis.

through conversations over the last weeks, we have seen eye to eye on every detail, and have moved forward with the studio/gallery at what seems to be the speed of light – but to us has felt comfortable, natural and right.  the space is miniature – a mere 275 square feet.  just days before seeing it, i had watched this video about the transformer apartment in hong kong, and so my brain was racing with ideas to make the tiny space a mighty little exhibit and shooting room.

we want to use the space primarily for photo shoots, but we also want to use it to exhibit work.   when we do exhibits, it will be for the opening night only.  we’ll throw a nice party, have some wine, invite you to look at some art, play you some music, and then it will all come down.  for now, we are going to focus on getting into the space, painting it, getting it all cozy, and working in it. we absolutely cannot wait to start working in it.  it has a wall of windows facing south (overlooking the courtyard of the uppercut boxing gym, which could get fun) and has beautiful natural light.

we are not starting a new business, elizabeth and i are maintaining our current businesses and operating independently.  we are merely coming together into this studio space to foster new ideas, and cultivate a creative and beautiful space to work from.

we won’t be doing a full on exhibit for art-a-whirl this weekend, but if you are in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hi.  we will most likely be covered with paint, giggling, and handing out business cards with paint fingerprints on the corners.  we do plan to hang up some pieces for display or sale in our hallway – i know i will be bringing some of the barn photos from the midnight or so project, if you missed an opportunity to pick up one of those.  or, if you need another one.  i’ll probably mark them down from the original price, just because i’d like for them to be making someone’s face happy rather than sitting in a plastic tote in my cave.

check out le Tiny – we are on the web, we are on twitter.  watch for openings, announcements, and events.  see you soon!

]]> http://www.paperlily.net/blog/2010/05/le-tiny-galerie/feed/ 2 http://www.paperlily.net/blog/2010/05/what-do-you-do-anyway/ http://www.paperlily.net/blog/2010/05/what-do-you-do-anyway/#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 15:53:11 +0000 elli http://www.paperlily.net/blog/?p=351 Continue reading →]]> i recently found myself in a phone conversation with my insurance agent about my business policy, trying to explain to her what it is that i do.  she was trying to understand which equipment to insure under which business and i was trying to explain that it’s all one business.

her: so, people get design and photography from you.
me: yes.
her: at the same time?
me: sometimes, yes.  sometimes no.
her: so it’s different businesses.
me: no, it isn’t.
her: but you have a design business and a photography business.
me: i have a design and photography business.

this went on for a bit.  it occurred to me later i could have used the target analogy.  you know how sometimes you need to go to target to buy, say . . . some socks?  and other times you need socks AND lunch meat.  but sometimes you just need lunch meat.  it’s like that.

i am involved in a lot of different projects and jobs, and i’m told i can be very confusing.  i am okay with being a little confusing, and i don’t mind if people don’t know everything i do.  i will never be satisfied with being just one thing, having just one job.  and if you are one of my clients and you are reading this – don’t worry.  i have it all written down.  i have a system!

i was recently advised to make a separate business card that makes it look like i only do photography, but i’m not going to do that, it isn’t true.  i would prefer it if you know that i can take your family photo for your holiday card, and then also design a custom card for you.

i would prefer it if you know that i can come photograph your business, and then use the photos to build you a yummy website.  (www.aster-cafe.com)

i also like to collaborate, it gives me energy and makes me feel creative.  i like to do design for the sake of design, and take photos that may never be seen by anyone except me.  i find them later, when i am looking through my library for stock or specific images, and it is like finding little treasures.

my current list of collaborations is getting pretty long.  i work with cleverkate, we have a few different events and projects up our sleeves, and more than anything we bounce ideas off each other and support each other as independent, small business owners.   i work with kate kunkel & pam cariveau on a breast cancer awareness project called of scars that i am very proud of.   i have worked with pam cariveau on other projects as well – she is my wonderful and talented sister at the helm of eleven pictures.   laura brown and i are hatching a plan to make some art together, but it’s too new to even talk about more than that.

and, drum roll, please – i am happy to say that some time in the next week i will be signing a lease and going in on a studio gallery with a photographer i greatly admire, elizabeth barnwell.  my mind is bursting at the seams with ideas for that–i have barely been able to contain my excitement about it and will have MUCH more to tell you after the papers are signed.

so.  to summarize!  everyone loves a good summary!

• i get to design things all the time – business cards–like this one that i just made for Josh the Barbarian!  and also postcards, logos, advertisements, cd covers, and much more.
• i get to take photos of wonderful things.
• i get to talk to bands all the time because i book them at a music venue – the 318 cafe in excelsior.  (and soon, the aster in minneapolis.)
• i get to do creative projects with awesome people.

don’t tell my insurance lady, but . . . i am just not sure how it would be possible to put an insurance policy on the best. job. ever.   my best insurance would be that people keep coming to me for design work and photography, and keep telling other people that i’m professional and nice to work with.  so far, so good!

from toothpaste for dinner dot com

well, it’s official.  after spending the last few-and-a-half-years in rural parts, paperlily HQ is now installed in NE minneapolis.  the essentials are unpacked:  the hard drive fleet, the surge protectors, and the panflute flowchart.  the rest of everything is still in boxes, partly because i need to get a shelf to put it on and partly because i’ve been working, working, working like a busy little bee.  i keep hoping that the Puts Away All Your Clothes Fairy would come, but so far no sign of her.

i will post a better picture of the officey area when it looks better, but i think it’s off to a good start:

and! i unpacked in just enough time to find my lenses and my battery chargers and head off again to the james j hill library to shoot the americana showcase.  this is my favorite of those, click it to view the rest.

benson from the Pines

at this point all i can really do is show up and enjoy the show – which is so great because the music is going to be so, so good.  but i did want to take just a few minutes to lay down a few facts about what is going on tonight.

1) jenn barnett is an important local photographer who has **donated** a LOT of her time promoting local music, and shooting great images that local bands use to promote themselves.

2) jenn’s camera died, and she needs a new one.  she’s a single mom that just made it through a horrible recession year as an independent photographer.

3) lots of cool musicians offered to put on a show to help jenn raise some money for a new camera body, and they were more than happy to donate an evening of their time to thank her for all she’s done for them.

i can think of at least 5 other people who will be there tonight who are going through some kind of major life or health crisis, all of whom deserve a benefit of their own.  the thing is though, if you allow a benefit to be thrown for you, you are also agreeing to have your personal stuff written into press releases and sitting out there on the interwebs for all to see.  if anyone thinks jenn agreed to this lightly, please be assured that she did not.  she really, really did not.  this is a show that her friends wanted to do for her to show her that they care, and that they appreciate what she has done for them and their various art forms.

if you can get behind the concept of artists supporting each other to get through difficult times, then please show it by coming to the Jennefit tonight, or by spreading the word about it.

come to the turf club tonight, be there at 9 pm so you don’t miss any of the great lineup.  most details here, but we also have some surprises in store for you.

i book a small listening room in excelsior called the 318 cafe.  we’ve got an ongoing series there called excelsior city limits that, even if i didn’t book it myself, would be one of my favorite things going on.  for most of them, i’ve gone in and introduced the musicians to each other as they were setting up their gear.  i have two strict rules for the series:  you can’t play any covers, and everyone plays on every song.  i’ve seen them all play with their usual bands, or solo – and it’s SO cool to see them playing a song they’ve played hundreds of times and suddenly be surprised, excited and amazed by the direction it’s taking because they’ve got two complete strangers adding their thoughts and interpretations of it as it unfolds live in front of a room full of people.  moments like that are why i am so involved with music.

my friend brandon sampson shares this view.  he fronts a great band called Six Mile Grove that’s based down in rochester.  he started his own rounds series down there called the americana showcase and has had the best of the best in his lineups.  in november i drove down to see him, jeremy messersmith, molly maher, darren jackson, and adam levy play together at this show.  people!  omg!  you *have* to get to one of these, it’s the real deal.  brandon has been working on the lineups to bring the showcase up to the twin cities this um – well, let’s call it spring.  it’s going to be wicked good, check it out:

• March 7th – Martin Zellar/Adam Levy (Honeydogs)/Ben Kyle (Romantica)/Brandon Sampson
• March 27th – Sally Barris/Brandon Sampson/Molly Maher/Erik Koskinen
• April 9th – Martin Devaney and Jake Hyer/Bethany Larson/Asheligh Still and Adam Levy/Brandon and Barry of SMG
• April 30th – Dana Cooper/Dan Israel/David Stoddard/Brandon Sampson
• May 16th – (Grand Finale – Line up Announced Soon)

here’s the scoop – but email me if you want any more info.

photo by david c. weber

on sunday march 7, the james j. hill library in st. paul will inaugurate a unique celebration of american heritage, combining the extraordinary photographic exhibit america the beautiful: the monumental landscape of dedicated environmentalist clyde butcher, with the americana showcase, a southern minnesota-based music series that honors the rich musical heritage of the american midwest. this celebration will include a series of five music concerts which will be performed in the midst of 50 of butcher’s epic photographic images echoing his love of the american landscape.

a five-concert season pass can be purchased for $75; individual tickets are $20 in advance, or $22 at the door. purchase tickets at www.americanashowcase.com. season ticket holders will also receive a discount on tickets to the exclusive after-show meet-and-greets with performers hosted by the saint paul hotel at $40 for all five. individual ticket holders can join the after-party for $10 per show.

august 9th of 2008 was a beautiful day.  i set out with friend/musician ryan paul to do a photo shoot after having waited for the perfect time of day, when the light was exactly just the way i hoped it would be . . . the sun setting and making that super pretty gentle light sideways across a hill down the road from my house, at the end of which was a completely hideous and ghastly abandoned house.

i had passed the house hundreds of times and the plan for this day was to take photos on the porch of it–where there were no less than 3 stoves, many unidentifiable tools and several other large appliances carelessly stashed.  the house is located on a farm, and there is a fully functional regular house on the property.  it seemed appropriate at the time to ask permission to be wandering around taking photos, so we parked and i approached the front door.  couldn’t get to it.  the only way in was through the open garage, the backyard, and on the porch.  i cautiously went through the garage and out into the backyard and found several dozen diseased, dying, bleeding, crying and otherwise heartbreaking cats and kittens.  fighting back tears, i stepped through the terrible kitty yard and up onto the porch.  i was terrified as i pulled open the screen door and knocked on the kitchen door. after a few minutes the door swung open loudly and cigarette smoke billowed out in a huge cloud onto me.  the creepiest of creepy old dudes appeared through the smoke and stared at me until i started to stutter. . .

“uuuuum….i.   i am a photographer?  annnnnnd……wondering if.    could i?  the house over there.  the broken-y one?  i can take pictures on the porch for a few minutes, please?  friend.  band.  needs pictures.”

and his answer:  ”THAT HOUSE?!? that house ain’t mine.  that old guy in, well he lives in CHANhassen.  he don’ care. whatever.  grunt.”

so i ran!!! back through the bad kitty place and ran!!! out the garage and leaped into the car, breathing so fast, and looked at ryan with sheer terror, and said, “it’s ok.”  and he didn’t believe me.  and i said, “no.  it’s fine.  tell you later.  oh my god.”

so we went over to the house and started poking around on the porch, taking some shots.  i didn’t know ryan well enough yet to know he would do this, but he immediately went over to the garage attached to the back of the house and shimmied his skinny ass under the 1.5 foot opening and started climbing through the house.  i’m thinking, “NOPE.  unh-uh.  i am NOT going in there.  no way, not gonna happen.  gross!!  who IS this guy?”  but all that comes out of my mouth is, “um, are you okay?  what was that noise?”  and what i hear from inside is:

“OH MY GOD!! HOLY SHIT!”  …crash….thud….”DEAD ANIMAL! you HAVE to come in here! climb under the….the door, climb und—-” CRASH.

nope.  not gonna.  not climbing under that door and going in there.  i followed along the side of the house, taking pictures in through the window so i could see what was going on.  (window height is above my head.)  i heard him smashing through the house, swearing, and then finally appearing out on the front porch.  ”oh!  hey.  the front door was unlocked.”

sigh.

needless to say, he convinced me to go inside and we spent a few awesome hours exploring the nasty house, taking photos, and admiring the sound of his new guitar in an abandoned house.

and there you have it, joseph.  the story of where your photo came from.

5.30.09~12:04am

5.30.09~11:50pm

5.30.09~11:46pm

if you are interested in one of these, please send me an email.

]]> http://www.paperlily.net/blog/2010/02/midnight-sale/feed/ 0