Pic Tip Friday: Light it up

Pic Tip # 12: Light it up. Make it special. If something seems boring, make it exciting. LA Philharmonic does this with its Hollywood Bowl concerts that involve creative lighting and, on occasion, fireworks, as well as video screens that make it easier to see what's happening if you're sitting in the cheap seats.

Hollywood Bowl Part 2: How Open Should We Be With Social Media vs. Copyright

My recent troubles with the Hollywood Bowl (which I wrote about yesterday) have led me to wonder how relevant and important copyright rules are these days. They're greatly needed in a lot of ways, but when it comes to allowing photos and video at, say, the Hollywood Bowl, or allowing people to tweet and Facebook from their phones at a performance (like Broadway/L.A. recently did for a performance of Shrek the musical), should we allow it or should we say no no? Or maybe we could just beat them to it?


The way things are so open today, it's probably a good idea to have some leniency. And if you beat the customer to it by providing your own media (i.e. videos, photos, etc), maybe people won't be as inclined to break the rules. So point number 3 from yesterday's post is Get Involved and Be Modern!


There's a similar controversy over whether fans should be able to write fan fiction because fan fiction infringes on copyright.

Thoughts? What is your opinion on the great copyright versus social media "war"?

Lessons from Hollywood Bowl Part 1

On a recent visit to Southern California I decided to go with a friend to the Hollywood Bowl. I was excited because I had never been to the SoCal landmark. I was just as excited to take pictures of the place. One problem: No professional cameras allowed. I don't know why I thought it'd be any different than an indoor concert at... say... the Walt Disney Concert Hall where photography of any kind is not allowed. Maybe I thought it would be OK because it was outdoor.

Turns out, I had to check my camera in with Security. This worried me because I was not sure if I would have enough time after the concert to pick up my camera and get to the park-and-ride bus before it left. I was also irritated because there were plenty of point and shoot and iPhone cameras allowed in that could take just as good of pictures as my SLR depending on how close you are to the stage.

A few take-aways:

1. Make your policies as clear as possible - don't save them for the fine print, and organize them clearly on your website. On this point, the Hollywood Bowl fails.
2. Follow the example of Hollywood Bowl: If you have customers complaining, handle them calmly, refer them to a customer service line, and offer a secure place for them to take their things.
3. Read tomorrow's post for point number 3 on social media and multimedia.

What customer service issues have you had and how have you dealt with them?