Re: Waiver for technology shortcomings?

Sebastian writes -

"Let's say that you had really bad luck one day at an event and technology failed you."

REPLY -
Sebastian, is this a joke, or WHAT ? I was hired in May 2008 by Nickelodeon Television to build a shared storage system. Problems developed with the system, and it stopped working. It was not my fault. At this moment, it didn't matter if my wife got sick, my dog got hit by a car, my family was kidnapped by terrorists, and my roof caved in at my home. All that mattered is that THE JOB HAD TO WORK - no matter what, no matter who died, no matter who gets hurt, insulted, or inconvenienced - THE JOB HAD TO WORK. Believe me, I was SICK TO MY STOMACH, and I was scared, but I GOT IT TO WORK (thanks to great tech support from several companies).

There is NO EXCUSE for YOU screwing up a job (or me, or Walter Biscardi, or any other PROFESSIONAL on this list). You CANNOT make a mistake - everything you do MUST be done the right way. EVERYTHING is your fault, and you must plan for it, you must prepare for it. All that matters is that the job comes out perfectly. And you charge for this professionalism.

There is no question that I will screw up in the future (and you will have equipment failures in the future) - its going to happen. Let me assure you, one day soon - YOU will have a disk drive fail with all of your valuable media on it. YOU WILL LOSE YOUR WEDDING FOOTAGE, and when this happens, its YOUR FAULT. You must have backup. Does this cost money - you bet it does. Can you afford it - I don't know - you have to have the budget to be able to do this. You cannot say "hey, the drive might fail, and you have to sign a waver that you won't sue me if the disk drive fails after the wedding". Its YOUR FAULT (and it's my fault, and everyone on this lists fault who is a professional).

You might say "but if I have to budget in for a backup disk drive (or camera or battery), my budget will be too high, and I will lose out to my competition".

Welcome to business.

Bob Zelin