Thanks to 300...

[KETCH ROSSi]

So let me add to this by saving thanks to everyone involved.

I also want to expand on a post I made on twitter.

We walked into the room - straight from the very $$$ canon event.
There was a group of several hundred Red customers sitting around on fold out chairs - looking at a not very animated or informative screen while trying to get a signal themselves on whatever laptop/ipad/phones they had... after watching some great show reel stuff - it became apparent that there were serious server issues. They were people rolling their eyes and just talking amongst themselves - but the atmosphere was mild, and going down, at this point no music, no flashing lights... just a dull wait.

It seems like Jim, and nearly all the senior team were off in another area either trying to post, or trying to sort out servers... and so the users sat and waited... now there was some catering but this was no expensive open bar... it was OK but not a party set up with expensive waiters etc - I am talking a table and a small queue of semi-bored people - waiting for anything to happen.

At this point Red's Scarlet launch could have gone one of two ways.
Option 1 : Management annoyed at the external server crashes - cancels the event - says sorry and tries to reschedule... standard approach - which would have been a PR nightmare, let's face it earlier at Canon there was an ARMY of PR handlers - staff, - VIP suites etc etc - nothing went wrong - it was perfect ... In Red's position - most companies would have bailed and the CEO would have been annoyed but certainly justified in cancelling the event.

Option 2: Walk out in front of the semi-disappointed mob and give a personal heartfelt honest - this is where it is - I am personally going to tell you - talk. Stand and answer questions until you can get a bunch of cameras in here for people to look and play with. Jim turned a PR nightmare into a near religious rally - and his customers loved him for it. He was transparent - and direct and turned 300 annoyed customers into 300 product evangelists. It was one of the most impressive displays by a CEO I have ever seen. Even the Mic did not work when he stepped up. But one thing did work - his singular belief in what he was doing and saying... and this honest approach just inspiring to see.
At 6:23 - it was a lame party and a bitter disappointment in the making
at 6:30 - it was the only place on the planet to be - the only room to be in if you cared about digital cinematography and thinking outside the box. It literally suddenly became the coolest empty bit of soundstage in Hollywood. One guy - no crap - not even a working Mic and 300 customers who totally walked at the door thinking this company cared about them.

I am sorry for those of you who would have liked to have been there and could not be, and who suffered that painful internet experience of nothing on refresh - but for a small band - a rare few of us...it was inspiring. I wish you could have all seen it.

Mike

I so am going to crucify my Doctors if there isn't something seriously WRONG with me after all the tests are done...

They didn't allow me to fly under any circumstances this time...

And looks like I missed what would have been my Best day at RED STUDIOS yet... :(

Thanks to all of those that called Internationally, and to those that kept me and many others informed via the many ways of Chat on Skype, Face Book, eMails, Twitter, TXT Messages (also International)

All of you ROCK!!

[Antonio Forjaz]

I want to thank tonaci for his tweets, that is who I was following

[SeanBrown]

As do I thanks Tonaci!

[Chad Lancaster]

Thank you Jim for having us. It was a lot of fun!

[Sergio Perez]

And I have to thank dvxusers :) It was there that I got Tonaci and Mike/FXguide's links after the reduser attack :) Big thanks to Mike and Tonaci, of course!

[Sulekh Suman]

As do I thanks Tonaci!

ditto

[Pierce Cook]

Remarkable event. A great buzz in the room. No gaudiness or strained showmanship - just straight up person to person involvement and interaction. Even the security guys seem at home.

RED Studios is a great atmosphere, and the second the request to get the information out to the world came out I think nearly every electronic device in the room was broadcasting something.

A few pictures during Jim's talk on my twitter (see recent images on the right) - http://twitter.com/piercecook

One thing that really moved me about being there. The imagination and innovators of RED were all in the room, on the floor, talking with everyone. Jim, Jarred, Deanan, Graeme, Stuart... etc. Show me another company where this happens!

Thank you, Jim & Co.

[Michael Dalton]

Guys, remember, our "normal" hours of operating ended the time the event began at RSH. The BOMB SQUAD was not at the studio, but at our Irvine HQ with the rest of the RED team here. We were waiting for specs and information to be posted on REDUSER on a projector - just like you. As soon as we got word that it looked like REDUSER and RED.com were being cyber-assaulted, we ran from the rest of the team, turned the phones back on, and started taking calls. Until we got more information, we were flying a little blind - BOMB SQUAD relies on RED.com for info, too. Within a few minutes, we were armed with info and taking orders.

We always encourage online purchasing as first option (so you can see accessories, agree to terms of sale, etc). If you placed an order online last night - but called first - email me a brent - at - red - dot - com with the phone number you called from. I will pull the time you called from our phone switch data and honor that as time of order placed.

Email me time you called based on your records as well so I can narrow my search of our records. Please only email if you called and were directed to RED.com before we knew we were getting attacked.

BC

Brent, but what is fair? We were told to order online, and despite the fact that I started the process within seconds of the site going up, it still took an hour go through the process. So all of us online were in the same boat. If people called, they were side stepping the process. It's hard to tell what is fair?

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Brent, but what is fair? We were told to order online, and despite the fact that I started the process within seconds of the site going up, it still took an hour go through the process. So all of us online were in the same boat. If people called, they were side stepping the process. It's hard to tell what is fair?

I guess you could say that the existing Epic and RED One customers ended up getting priority after all. ;)

[brian hanson]

Yeah, sorry, order confirmation emails only go out from RED.com after order is placed online. If you talked to a live voice for your order, you are all set.

No worries, guys. It is a philosophy that starts with Jim and runs downstream through the rest of the company - put yourself in the customer's shoes. If I see something we can "make right", we'll damn well try to.

BC

good to hear.
still worries me that i haven't seen a charge to my credit card or a pending order in my red account.