NWS and Videos

[Mike Hollingshead]

I can't remember if I brought this up on here before or not. I am still trying to understand why it is some NWS offices will just write you a gov check for your video like everyone else does(literally...no e-mails, nothing, just a gov check in the mail from their office) and why some ask for free copies? Do we owe the NWS/Gov free vids for spotter training? It is a nice gesture but I'm sorry I generally could use money. It isn't like I'm even asking some extra fee to use it for spotter training. It would just be nice for them to purchase the video beings they have gov money to do so. The more I think about it, getting asked over and over is really starting to bug me. Perhaps they should ask those that didn't put a video together and do all the work that is involved for them to dig up some video for free. If I had a gov check book I'd certainly be willing to buy a video. Sigh. I don't have a problem giving my local office one, but giving one to every other office will get old.

Evil-doer chaser signing off....

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

Most of them get video thrown at them from "amateurs" all the time. If they have to pay for it they probably move on down the line. Market saturation would be my guess.

Just plain evil-doer :wink:

Tim

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I gave my 8-9-99 footage of southern MN tornadoes to the MPX NWSFO a few days after the event. They never said anything about payment, and I never even thought about it actually. I guess it's not really a big deal to me. If it had been used for business purposes in which they were trying make a profit (e.g. TWC, local news, etc) I guess I wouldn't have given it w/o some sort of compensation, since, afterall, they'd be making money on my video (of course, charity videos don't fall under this category). But, whether they use it in their Skywarn classes or if it just sits on a shelf in the office, they aren't making money on it, and thus I don't really care about payment.

 

[Shane Adams]

I've always provided video to the NWS for free, because as a rule I never charge for educational/scientific contributions. I guess I never really thought of the NWS as the government, since they actually provide a service.

I think it just depends on the chaser, but then again I've never had an NWSFO "expect" me to provide video for nothing; I've always approached them and volunteered. However, a few offices have reimbursed me on their own: OUN keeps a stack of blank VHS tapes, and they always give me one when I donate a video. DDC sent me five one-dollar bills wrapped in a thank you note. A few offices never responded to me at all, not even to let me know they'd received the tape: OAX & PAH. All the rest have never offered reimbursement, but have been cool to work with.

 

[Glen Romine]

Do we owe the NWS/Gov free vids for spotter training?

I'll probably sound like a jerk for saying it - but why not give the NWS video if they ask for it? I'm not talking about polished production quality stuff, just a raw segment for their training. If they put it on their web site - you are getting free advertisement, the NWS folks get a better understanding of storm behavior relative to remote observations, and in turn they are able to offer better products that help you be a more successful chaser in the future. Seems win-win to me. Do you owe it to them? Maybe not, but it seems a small concession given what they offer in return. If other offices want copies, send them a price sheet.

Glen

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

Just to add an additional comment, and Mike can correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe he was speaking of the finished DVD product. I would probably not go mailing those off in bulk at no cost since you obviously have costs put into them.

Shane's description of swap-a-tape sounds like a good policy for the offices, and would certainly be more than fair. The guys at GRR offered to do that for me, though I turned them down, but it was a great gesture.

Tim

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

I'll probably sound like a jerk for saying it - but why not give the NWS video if they ask for it? I'm not talking about polished production quality stuff, just a raw segment for their training. If they put it on their web site - you are getting free advertisement, the NWS folks get a better understanding of storm behavior relative to remote observations, and in turn they are able to offer better products that help you be a more successful chaser in the future. Seems win-win to me. Do you owe it to them? Maybe not, but it seems a small concession given what they offer in return. If other offices want copies, send them a price sheet

I don't have a problem giving my local office one, but giving one to every other office will get old.

It is equally as little of a deal for them to write a GOV check for a video that will cover so much of what they want to show each year(when various offices do). Hell less of a deal for them to do that. I mean c'mon. Get my point at all here? I do not have a problem giving my local office one, like I said.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Just to add an additional comment, and Mike can correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe he was speaking of the finished DVD product. I would probably not go mailing those off in bulk at no cost since you obviously have costs put into them.

Yep that is what I'm refering to. A video with EVERY chase on it. It is just the point of it. If you have GOV funds, you are providing a service, you should offer up the whopping $25 for a video that will likely cover your whole spotter training or use what is offered to you. I didn't get into chasing for the weather service. I'm a fairly nice guy and will always say yes and ship the thing, but feel I must grumble in here when other offices just write you a nice check for your efforts.

I thought I paid for their services when I payed my taxes. Oh well...

 

[David Schuttler]

Alot of paperwork can be involved when getting a check out also some Gov't agencies are issued cc cards for purchase's now ,instead of checks and cash. If thats the case then they need to get a paypal account...

If they want it bad enough ,they can put the work into the paperwork just like you put the work into making the tape.

 

[Shane Adams]

I'd give OUN a copy of my video, but every other office would need to pay for it. The reason is because there's already a ton of tornado video in every NWS office archive, so denying a free copy of mine isn't like keeping something vital from them. In fact, I'd think the only reason an outside NWSFO would even want a copy of a produced video is because someone at that office wants it to view personally.

After all, production videos are creations of art and personality, not geared towards education and training.

 

[Glen Romine]

I mean c'mon. Get my point at all here? I do not have a problem giving my local office one, like I said.

Yeah - and like I said - I'd certainly not be giving them the production quality material either - though adding a watermark is probably a good idea. Folks NWS or otherwise asking you for free videos is uncool - I'd agree they should pay for those, at least at cost + shipping. If an office asks for video from a specific event - that is what I'm referring to - then it seems responsible to offer them what you have. That's all I'm trying to say.

Glen

 

[Robert Dewey]

What would be a great idea, like Glen said, would be to put your website URL on the bottom of the video clip, and then send them the clip that they want, and make it as high quality as you can (similar to a "preview" clip, but just the segment/event the NWS wants, since they usually won't play the whole tape anyways)-- That way it would "wow" the audience, and possibly increase sales due to the extra advertising.

 

[John Diel]

I gave some footage of the late season Wellington Kansas Tornado to ICT this year. There were a couple of reasons for that. First off, ICT is out of my CWA (OUN) but since we are a radio station we routinely report the weather in south central Kansas. There were two reported tornadoes that day, the one I was on and one over by Udall. No one had any video that I was aware of. In fact, the Wichita radio stations weren't picking up on tis tornadoe until it had been on the ground some 10 minutes (KFDI in particular).

The second reason is that it gives us a better working relationship with ICT. I'll be going to one or two of there local Spotter Training sessions as well. Unfortunately, OUN is really stacked up with the OKC Metroplex and it really hard to establish a working relationship with them as we are so far north. That's not to say we don't have something, we ARE in the OUN CWA. It's just easier to work with the group at ICT.

By the way, the folks at ICT were amazed to see a tornado as large as the one we had on video. I know the folks back at the station never saw the shear or TVS markers until after the tornado had pretty much roped out.

 

[David Drummond]

I try to give a rough edited tape to any NWS office that I happened to tape anything significant in. I can say that in all but two cases, I never even received so much as an email saying the recieved it. The two exceptions were pretty happy about getting it.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

This is a good deal, lol. Now I have a whole list of people to refer these people to. I will reply with two links, one to my video page again and the other to this topic. Hell they might accept free videos from everyone on here.

Thanks!