cameraman rotation system

[spencer 0]

All you fulltime camermen working at busy Dz's,that are open all week, are you on a rotation system with the tandem masters, and aff instructors that can also fly camera, or are the camermen on there own rotation system, and what happen's on weekends when the part time staff turn up that can also do camera.

[CSpenceFLY 1]

This ought to be a good thread.I'm one of the people that used to work at a DZ on the weekend and had a job/business of my own through the week.I got tired of this kind of BS and don't do it any more.I'm pretty sure this is going to turn into "The full time people are more important" conversation.They're not.The DZ needs both full and part time staff.


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[PhreeZone 15]

I've been around a few years and seen a few different methods. The one that works the best is the one that keeps the majority of the people happy.

I'm not sure how the current system is, I just show up and do the jumps I was told to then fun jump the rest.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[jimoke 0]

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"The full time people are more important" conversation.They're not.The DZ needs both full and part time staff.

It's not a matter of full time staff being more "important" , but they should most definately have priority over the part timers. this is how they make a living, and most times it is a meager living at that.
think about yourself making 40 hours a week,during a slow jumping week or a rainy week and show up on the weekend ready to take this mans work away. skydiving full time is not going to make you rich maybe you can eat, pay some bills, and buy some gear.....then your broke again

The ground always, remembers where you are!

[freefalle 0]

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"The full time people are more important" conversation.They're not.The DZ needs both full and part time staff.

It's not a matter of full time staff being more "important" , but they should most definately have priority over the part timers. this is how they make a living, and most times it is a meager living at that.
think about yourself making 40 hours a week,during a slow jumping week or a rainy week and show up on the weekend ready to take this mans work away. skydiving full time is not going to make you rich maybe you can eat, pay some bills, and buy some gear.....then your broke again

I'm not saying either one of you is wrong but I will say this, A "full time" skydiver is a full time skydiver because they choose to be. They have the option to go out and get a 40 hr a week job like everyone else. They elect to make their living skydiving and accept the risks of working a job that is both weather and customer dependent

That being said, yes full time skydivers need to earn the money they make on the weekends when its busy, however the people who earn money by skydiving part time on the weekends probably do it because they too, need the money they earn skydiving.

I work 40 hrs a week, my job doesn't pay enough to cover the bills and raise my son so I do tandems and video on the weekends. I NEED the money I make at the DZ to support myself and my son. I NEED the money I make just as much as someone who skydives full time. So do I think Im taking money out of their pocket, no, I dont.

Be that as it may, as far as the rotation goes, its the DZO's sand box and he can rake it any direction he wants. However, if I am scheduled by the DZO to work a weekend and I show up to work a weekend I expect to be put in the rotation just like everyone else who showed up to work the weekend.

[airborne82nd 0]

At our Dz a weekend and once in a great while fridays dz

i am third in rotation.

we dont rotate like the Tandem masters, who seem to equally rotate,

there is the number one girl and then the number 2 girl
yep video chicks.

so they get first priority and it rotates between them two first.

if we do a 3 tandem load then my bat phone rings the spot light goes up through the clouds and i come up from the bat cave to save the day and do that one camera load.

so i love the 3 camera three tandems yaaaaaaaaa

but i am the back up i get one once in a while sometime i have got 8 in a weekend but thats once.

the two girls have been doing it much longer then i have. all three of us have different flying styles, video styles and editing styles. so 3 people dont get the exact same video or experience so thats one good example of diversity

for my jump numbers and 3 hours of tunnel time i see myself lucky to get to fly video. i do a good job and make it fun and try to be as creative and fun as possible.

So at our dz that the arrangement. i am the back up guy the third video man. if one of them is sick or gone for the weekend i get in there. if one is not packed yet or we are real busy i get in there.

so i have no complaints my hope is a higher % of tandems will get a video and then flood us with video work i have made a website with sample videos and we play a sample video while they hang out all in hopes to bring in more tandems and videos

it hurts us when we have 10 tandems and only 3 videos
thats when the dust collects on my lens.

I am not complaining this is what are arraangement is at our dz. We have another guy comming up who is the 4th back up who does a good job, we all are pulling for more tandems.

[BlueSBDeath 2]

Here at Raeford it is first come first served, or hay, you want to do this jump?!?!?!

We are all mostly weekenders, military, and just part-timers.

It will go from feast to famine!!!

However; when I was full-time in Hawaii (6 days on, one day off) the full-time guys would be priority and the weekend workers would fill in. Then every now and then we would have the "Main-land" folks rotate in and sometimes it became a challenge!!!

There will always be the DZ0 favorite, and the folks that just have to have it their way (Jump-Queens).

If skydiving is you sole source income, you know the risks, you know the beezzzz-waxxxx, and life goes on!!!!

Just smile
Peace Out,
Arvel

BSBD...........Its all about Respect,

USPA#-7062, FB-2197, Outlaw 499

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Here's how we do it at Raeford:

-you show up and you put your name on the instructor board and you check which blocks you are available for. I generally check AFF, Tandem, and Video. The manager plugs me in where he needs me. If only one or two video guys are there, but there are a ton of tandem instructors signed in, then I may end up shooting video. If not, then I will simply end up doing AFF all day. We do a ton of AFF and tandems here on the weekends.

Ultimately, equally qualified people are going to get an equal amount of work. If you have pigeon-holed yourself into a position where you can or will ONLY do video, then you have done yourself an injustice. It's pretty laughable to call yourself a full-time skydiver if you do not possess the skill-set and ratings to do whatever work is available and is needed. Get some ratings; seriously; or don't whine about not making enough money.

I have every "skydiving" rating there is and will happilly do whatever is asked of me. What chaps my ass, though, is getting "stuck" doing tandems all day long because some kid refuses to jump anything but his sport rig. Hey motherfucker (not you Spence, this is a general bitch here), how about giving ME a break so I can jump my Velocity, shoot some video (to maintain my proficiency) and rest my weary 42 year-old bones? Once again, don't whine about eating ramen if you don't have all your ratings or you refuse to use them and have let them lapse. I don't want to hear it.

Sincerely,

Chuck Blue
D-12501
AFF/SL/TM-I, BMCI-4, PRO, and a vidiot when I am not doing all that other shit.

[CSpenceFLY 1]

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If not, then I will simply pop a beer and sit on the cart with my dog Billy all day.

There I fixed it for you.Y'all coming to Chester?


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[Andrewwhyte 1]

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Be that as it may, as far as the rotation goes, its the DZO's sand box and he can rake it any direction he wants.

Yep. The truth is we will rake it in the direction I need to rather than how I would like to. I need my full-time guy to eat most of all so he will jump first. Next is my need to have my part-timers coming back when I am really busy so I have to make sure they get something on light days. Last is the fact that I would prefer to be in the plane myself; tomorrow is not busy so I will sit on the ground while I pay other people to do what I would rather do myself. That way I have staff on Sunday when I need them when we are busier.