Hold On

	Hold On By Beth Marchant

	It’s January. The weather’s bleak and—surprise, surprise—so is the economy. Though we may have had periodic glimpses of recovery, the numbers are just as grim as they were last year at this time. This relentless downward pattern, coupled with the fear that the worst is yet to come, has driven some media departments and independent businesses to the brink of extinction. Is your media department, or job, an endangered species? Consider the frightening news from the audio/visual side of our industry. When contributing editor David English was interviewing sources for his piece on the changing role of AV specialists, he was surprised to learn about “controlled layoffs,” a widespread practice that marginalizes long-time employees when they are summarily fired and then rehired by an outside staffing agency. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Hold on. In our cover story, the latest in our Smart Media Business series, executive editor Steven Klapow outlines a number of proactive measures that producers can take to keep their media divisions intact and on course. For today’s business media professional, it’s all about being flexible, expanding your skill set and always being on the lookout for your next production opportunity. Also keep in mind that NAB is just a few short months away, and several exciting product categories are heating up. The product news at the show could translate into real value for your business. In his review of the Panasonic AG-DVX100 24P camcorder, Erik Holsinger raves that the $3,800 camera lives up to the hype. “Video shot with the AG-DVX100 ... is beautiful,” he says. The camera “is one of the hottest industrial DV camcorders to hit the market in years.” Holsinger suspects, as I do, that other manufacturers have been quietly developing their own low-cost versions of a 24P DV camcorder and will be ready to announce them soon. Add to that Hitachi’s recent DVD-RAM camcorder release and the likely scenario that we will see competitive cameras from other makers, maybe as early as NAB. All of these developments signal one very promising thing: The manufacturers are finally listening, sharpening their focus on the basic needs of the realistically lean media division and independent producer. Source: AVVMMP