This week we are interested in hearing your thoughts on whether the TM Hub should have a focus? Our initial thoughts are that random availability updates are uninteresting for others so we should disallow these although we'll be more than happy for people to promote themselves via the films/programmes they have made. But what you think & want? Do you want to chew the fat generally about TV life or think a 'focus' to the feed would make it more useful? Elaborate in the comments please...
Edited on 28th Feb 2021 19:43pm
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Eleanor Casely
As a freelancer, i'd be interested to see a feed made up of posts from companies and general questions from freelancers. I'd still like the option to promote but seeing a lot of promotions from other people as a freelancer is pointless and I fear I would just start to not read the feed as the majority would end up being a promotion. Just a thought, is it possible to have a 'group' for self promotions and then the feed be made up of only company posts and freelance queries?
Steven McVeigh
@EleanorCasely I agree with this - I wouldn't mind seeing some cool **** people are proud of from time to time - but i'd return regularly to the board if there was mainly a focus on pertanant industry topics, camera/ tech tips and a pinch of moaning about injustices ;)
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Steven McVeigh
@StevenMcVeigh Well your censorship function works! hahaha.
George Cathro
@StevenMcVeigh did you say ****?
Steven McVeigh
@GeorgeCathro i'll let you decide the veracity of my curse!
Rachelle Gallagher
I agree with Eleanor that it's easy to go a bit promotion-blind when there is too much at once. I've seen other groups do "self-promotion sunday" and the like where promotion is only allowed on a certain day which I think is better. I think this helps curate the feed and stop promo overkill and helps any employers look at a specific feed rather than relying on luck/timing alone.
Rachelle Gallagher
@RachelleGallagher All posts also sit under one posts as comments (like this thread).
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Iolanda Neto
Don't know how feasible this is but I would love some of the focus to spotlight things like seminars, zoom events, and training opportunities that you see on e.g. Screenskills. Finding the various zoom networking events that various groups run is a bit of a game of whack-a-mole at the moment, so would be lovely to have a consolidated place as it is still career-adjacent
Sarah Lee @ The Talent Manager
Expert Contributor
@IolandaNeto we do have an events tab in the community section but it doesnt get a huge amount of traffic and I wonder if that's because we havent publicised it much. Do you think events would be better off here on the hub?
Bethan Stacey
@SarahLee I didn't actually know there was an events section in the community tab! I agree with Iolanda about events being publicised here if possible. Or, at least, regular reminders that things can be found in the community/events section
Piers Sanderson
I agree, allowing self promotion would make it like those Facebook groups where everyone posts up their availability - and does that even work? Do recruiters and production companies really comb those posts for the people they are looking for? I am much more interested in hearing people's experiences across a broad range of jobs in TV, I've worked in many roles so can empathise with most experiences. I would also be interested to hear what production companies are up to.
Bethan Stacey
I agree that seeing people saying they're available is not something I'd want on here.
Samantha Castro
I agree with Piers and like Rachel's suggestion about a certain day of the week or time for promotions to occur. Trying to get my foot in the door, I'm much more engaged with groups/communities that I can see updates of production companies and know who's looking for what vs. availability of others.
Samantha Castro
@SamanthaCastro Also just noticed there isn't a way to edit comments. Am I missing where we could edit a comment or is this a feature for the future? Thanks!
Rebekah Levine
****o, I also agree about going a bit promotion- blind. I would be interested in topics about people's experiences, kit questions/tips or being pointed to new or interesting content. All this may get hidden if the feed is flooded with availability updates and self promotion. I also didn't realise there was an events tab so maybe this needs to be pushed a little more? @PiersSanderson I've wondered that same thing re:Facebook groups.
Rebekah Levine
erm....not sure why the first word in my post was censored....just a generic greeting. ha ha.
Becs Hall
@RebekahLevine I was trying to work out what word it could possibly be! Thanks for highlighting though, will let our team know to dial down the profanity filter!! Haha!
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Sarah Lee
@RebekahLevine I think our profanities filter is a little over zealous
George Cathro
I think it could be a lot more use to freelancers if it doesn't just become another FB forum for TV professionals - there are enough private FB groups for such self aggrandi*****t and 'promotion'. We need to think about people who are not in work and how depressing it can be to be bombarded by postings from people on shoots in the Seyc****es telling us how good the food is!Its a tricky job for the moderators but a worthwhile one if we can get it right.
Leo Carlyon
@GeorgeCathro loving the way the censorship works in this post. :0
Maybe turn it off Sarah? isn't having a rule good enough? The effect is ridiculous. And awful if you live in S****horpe.
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Sarah Lee
@LeoCarlyon I agree! F'ucking ridiculous
Leo Carlyon
Totally agree that allowing self-promotion would be a huge turn-off. The old tvfreelancers board and then the tvwatercooler spinoff worked well when people were able to exchange info about which companies were busy/ recruiting. Also when freelancers were able to offer help to each other (including looking over cvs etc for people asking for genuine advice). But bald self-promotion generally got short shrift.
Leo Carlyon
@sarahlee how about the ability to anonymously report wayward job ads as a future feature. Naked have just posted a 'regional' job demanding candidates from outside the M25 but editing in central london. Can't be right, surely?
Sarah Lee
@LeoCarlyon I'm really interested in this idea of sharing data anonymously so we can work together as a community to stamp out bad practices. This is how the ratechecker works. Specifically how do you see it working?
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Leo Carlyon
@SarahLee In the same way that these hub posts have a 'Report' button, add one to job ads so users can flag to you anything that looks dodgy/ exploitative.
Myles Judd
I think there's two different types of users - Freelancers looking for work, and people looking to recruit freelancers. As a freelancer on the lookout for work, seeing content posted by other people who are in the same boat as you is not that useful, apart from to get a bit of community/moral support. Whereas seeing content posted by the people recruiting giving insight into what they want & need, or even generalised feedback that is actionable for freelancers looking for work would be handy.
Tamsin Curry
I agree with Rachelle and Eleanor about the self-promotion, limit it to one day would be good. It would be good to have some focus and clearly marked topics that you can look back to when you have downtime (tech questions, filming tips, career advice etc). It would be really useful to hear from companies too, not just freelancers. TM feels quite one-sided at the moment, I see what other freelancers are doing, but maybe the Hub could be the place for more interaction with companies?
Julian Thomas
I agree - I've already stopped reading past the self promotions