3 ms·
To all the folks who would do it "for the exposure": my partner volunteered as a graphic designer for a well-known European charity event that featured a former
by jsdwarf 5y ago
To all the folks who would do it "for the exposure": my partner volunteered as a graphic designer for a well-known European charity event that featured a former US president, known music groups and fashion designers as pro bono acts and had a live TV broadcast.
She really liked to volunteer and we received free tickets for said event and definitely enjoyed it.
She added the project to her CV, but unfortunately it had zero impact on her career - no paid project was ever generated out of it.
She learned about the why in several job interviews:
- the design tasks were "below the line" work, applying an already developed corporate design to various event brochures like invitations or menues.
- she wasn't the only volunteer for this event. Every year it recruited dozens of musicians, hairdressers, actors, designers to work pro bono for the good cause. The hiring bar wasn't very high - everybody in the "scene" knew this which devaluated the reference.
I do see some parallels to the Netflix show - if they ask photographers to work for free, they will surely ask hairdressers, caterers etc as well. Creative power of those volunteers will likely be 0.
- Ekaros 5y agoThe last one is interesting point. I wonder if this is their general approach on these weddings. How many free talents working for exposure do they involve? Not the crew, but the venue, decoration, bands and so on...
- tpmx 5y agoYou're saying she should have made money from this charity event she volunteered for? Or just avoided it, because she didn't get any meaningful "exposure" out of it? For the second time in this posting, as a (northern) European I'm quite puzzled about all of this. I think we may have wildly differing thoughts about what concepts like "volunteering" and "charity" mean.
- jsdwarf 5y agoNo - my point is that some posters in this thread overestimate the monetization potential of exposure. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if the project is for profit or pro bono - either way you commit to unpaid work. Volunteering doesn't only have to be about a good cause, it can also be for your own professional benefit. However, you should be sceptical about the exposure potential of such a gig. The main drawbacks are that you are likely not the only volunteer in the project and that it's often pretty clear you weren't hired for exceptional talent (in the case of the Netflix show a potential customer can do a quick web search and learn that the show contacted many photographers and only accepted free offers).
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- akshaybhalotia 5y agoNone of those, I believe? Both the parties should be clear on what they are doing and why. If you are doing volunteering for charity because you want to do good by the society, great! If you think this is an opportunity that will multiply and pay you back tenfold, then no, that's not gonna happen. Similarly for the organizers, if you are asking for someone's time or expertise for free because you want them to contribute to a cause, great! If you are asking them for a free service because you won't pay / feel this is a great opportunity for them, grow up.