As of this week, we are 15-years old!  Not so old in the scope of, well, eternity, but it has been a substantial part of my life and career, and it astounds me how much things can change in 15 years.  I didn’t have a cell phone 15 years ago.  Neither did I have gray hair.  Business was all about VHS and audio cassettes.  The internet was dial-up, exciting, but slow and often frustrating.  We didn’t have Starbucks, though I acquired my daily cappuccino at a lovely coffeehouse that has long since been run out of biz by Starbucks.  (Coffee factors into all of my business memories since I can’t sit down at my desk without a cup…)

And so I find myself reminiscing about dba TW Media Services, originally known as TW Graphics, Inc.  And when I think back, the memories that come to mind are a bit random and scattered… a few crisis situations, but mostly lots of great clients and co-workers.

Most Memorable Jobs…    There was the sizeable rush job that ended up at the bottom of a lake.  The extremely reputable freight company we were using had an extremely intoxicated driver hauling our shipment.  And he somehow managed to navigate his semi into a lake.   (Don’t worry though – the drunk guy lived.  Our product wasn’t so lucky.)  We found out about the accident late in the afternoon (the day before it was due to be delivered), and our crew stayed all night to re-do the job.   We put it on an airplane the next morning and had it couriered to our client for arrival just minutes before needed.    Then there was the bus-wrap we were hired to design for a major-motion-picture promotion.  Not our usual CD and DVD fare, so quite a fun and challenging project.

Memorable Clients…  Many amazingly brilliant, funny, interesting and quirky clients that I could go on and on about, except for the whole “replicator/client privilege” thing.  So, I will refrain.  Michel.  Oops, did I type his name aloud, on the internet no less?  Yes, he has been with us since the early days, and is one of our all-time favorite customers.  He has invoked laughter, tears, heaps of memories, and a few near fatal incidents.

Have to comment on our UPS guy (since I can hear him down the hallway).  He’s a hoot, and goes ridiculously out of his way for us (and ultimately, our clients).  Special trips, extra trips.  Always a skip in his step.  And the daily bantering between him and Cheryl is something worth listening to — not that eavesdropping is necessary — the whole building can hear them.   At any rate, if he ever gets transferred to another route, we’re moving with him.

Co-Worker Memories…      Trace, our beautiful and extremely sensitive graphic designer, who occasionally sheds tears over jobs.  I remember the first time I saw her crying, working at her computer, tears dripping on the keyboard as she cleaned up the blood (in a Photoshop graphic) for a hunting DVD package she was designing.   Bloody animal pictures just aren’t her thing.

Dwight, our warehouse manager, chasing me with a broom because I (unknowingly) dropped a Cheeto on the warehouse floor when walking through.  The way he keeps a warehouse, I had no hesitation picking that darn Cheeto back up and eating it.  In Dwight’s warehouse, the 2-second rule is an unnecessary consideration, cuz he keeps the place really really really clean…

The “steak and beans” contest.  This was just a bad idea.  A sales contest, where the staff was divided into teams among the sales reps.  We booked a restaurant at month end, and closed shop to go to lunch.  The rep with the highest sales for the month and his team got steak and the fixings for lunch.   And everybody else had just a plate of beans.

The memories of Las Vegas… exhibiting at the NAB convention year after year.  Seriously great memories, and finally being able to put faces with names/voices of clients.  Would love to elaborate, but you know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

The traumatic morning I arrived to find that my Mac had been replaced with a PC.  Only the “creative” staff got to keep their Macs.  Oh, the sense of loss, the grief, that unshakable feeling of vulnerability.  It has been years now, and thanks to the unwaivering support of friends, family and a good IT-guy, each and everyday in PC-land gets a little easier.

I would like to give a huge THANKS to all of the amazing customers who have helped us grow this business through the years.   We wouldn’t be here without you!  Here’s looking forward to the years ahead, the continuing evolution of multimedia technology, and lots more fun!

To charge or not to charge for overages?  That is the question that every replicator must address.  Here is the reality.  Whether your replicator “charges” you or not, you are paying for overages… either outright and upfront, or hidden in the price.

So why do there have to be overages anyway?  Contrary to what some may say, it is not a ”scam-the-customer” tactic, but a common-sense and money-saving practice.  Any given job requires numerous processes — the disc printing, the replication, the printing of the associated packaging materials (inserts, traycards, etc.), and then the assembly aspects.  In an industry where every job is custom and unique, “setup” is a substantial portion of production downtime.  Even with the most stringent quality standards and the best maintained equipment, there will still be that occasional problem — a silkscreening misprint, for instance — when the disc ends up in the trash.   Running a few extra actually saves money, because it alleviates additional downtime for reruns and minimizes production schedule interruptions.  Overruns are necessary to the efficient flow of any manufacturing plant.

But should you have to pay for overages, if they are merely a replicator’s “mistake insurance”?   The reality is that they are a cost of production, and so whether you pay for and receive your overages, or you pay for the exact amount ordered, this cost is in there somewhere.  Be assured though, that as explained above — it is an efficiency practice that ultimately saves money by saving downtime.

How do we at TW Media Services handle overages?  We do charge our customers for overages; however, we strive to keep overruns to a maximum of 2 to 3%.  (Industry standard is 10%).

If you have any questions about our overage policies, please feel free to talk to a sales representative.