A word of thanks

[Larry McKee]

I just wanted to say a personal “Thank You” to Jim and the entire RED team. My girlfriend, Gina, and I were fortunate enough to engage in lengthy conversations with Dave (the machinist), Matt (the designer) and Bart (the behind the scenes guy) outside of the RED booth and they treated us like we had been friends forever. Inside the booth, I had more condensed talks (because the of the ever-present crowd) with Jarred, Stewart, Graeme, Evin, and others. Again the interchanges were more like talking with friends than equipment suppliers.

There was one event that exemplified what the RED leadership and RED spirit was all about. A few weeks ago I had a shirt made with the RED logo and my serial number printed on the pocket side of the shirt. I thought it would be cool to wear the shirt to the RED booth on the first day of NAB. The day the shirt arrived, there was a question posted on the forum about the use of the RED logo on business cards and t-shirts. Then I realized what a dimwit I was to have had the shirt made without even thinking about it not being appropriate. Of course Jim said “no” to the post on the forum, just as he should have.

I took the shirt to the booth with me and told Jim that I was the bonehead that had the shirt made with my serial number on it. I asked him if it would be OK to ask him and the rest of the team to sign it. Without hesitation he whipped out a Sharpie and signed the shirt and handed it back to me. Then he said, “You may have a problem getting the rest of the signatures.” The booth was crowded as usual. His face changed to a look of resolution, he took the shirt back from me and went over to Jarred, then Matt, Stewart and others and got their signatures for me before returning to his duties at the theatre.

I was pretty much speechless. Jim’s generosity blew me away. That’s when I realized why the rest of the team treated me with such warmth. It was because that is the way Jim is and he surrounds himself with like minds. Selfish and stingy people probably don’t get through the front door. What an incredible way to build a company.

I also wanted to throw out a hearty “Thanks” to Phil for spearheading the REDUSER get-together at the Hoffbrauhouse on Tuesday. That is where I got to spend some time with Matt and Bart. It was also a great opportunity to meet some of the users from the forum. One of which was Sean, who is right down the street from me. So, thanks Phil for introducing me to one my neighbors and fellow RED reservist. I hope you had a safe trip back home.

[Ken Corben]

Thanks for sharing that t-shirt story. It emphasizes that although money does not buy class that the RED TEAM is a class act.

[Casey Green]

I've posted this a couple of places on the web, and it certainly belongs here on RedUser:

I am just getting caught up from a long exhausting week of working NAB and then getting back to L.A. in time for other production work... so I've gotten a bit behind on updates. I had a blast at the show - it was a frenzied blur of new information and relationships, but before I add anything more to the various threads, I must say:

A HUGE THANK YOU to ALL of the incredible people working the Red Booth, from the top down, for their graciousness throughout the week. It was difficult for me to cover working another booth all week, and still have time to introduce a few colleagues to all things Red. Special thanks to Jim, Ted, Jarred, Brook, Kenny, and anyone else I may have forgotten to include! Your approach is truly freshing and I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. :) Thanks again.

[CVB]

While we are sending out thanks I wanted to thank all the REDuser folks that stopped by our booth at NAB. Its amazing how outgoing, optimistic and generally open to new ideas the whole community is as compared to the general population of NAB goers.

[ChristopherKenworthy]

It's not just about the camera, is it? It's about the fact that the Red Team are here, listening and sharing. With most companies, you never get closer than the PR team. To have ready access to the boss and his crew is really unusual, and welcome.

[James Milner-Smyth]

I also cannot say thank you enough to Jim and the team for eveything so far, as well as their welcome at the stand. Everything about this project has been a rare example to businesses everywhere. I'm sure there will be many future doctoral theses about this.

I happened to be standing near Ted at the stand on the first morning when some late-to-the-party, but obviously powerful (and used to getting their way) rental house people came up and started trying to blag their way higher up the list. Ted was as friendly and polite as one can be but firm in the democracy of the reservation system.

I am very grateful that last year when I had a problem (my fault!) with one of Graeme's FCP plugins, and I was up against a deadline, I emailed him and he mentioned he was working on Red, I knew then that it was a serious project with people who knew what they were doing which gave me the confidence to commit.

Thanks again everyone, oh and also thanks to Kelly for adding to the drinks fund at the Hofbrauhaus!

James