The interviewee is Oscar H. Guerrero, a family member (my cousin) who is involved in different fields within the entertainment industry such as art, performance, actor, comedian and photographer. Unless he is working on a production, he is mostly working as a freelancer, which means that there is no set salary and his income has to be negotiated. One of the most frequent situations he encounters is that most negotiations he encounters are based on positional bargaining.
When the contending party has a set position, it is sometimes hard, but not impossible to get what you want. According to my cousin, what they all need is a “bone to follow” (personal communication, October 3, 2015). Freelancers are in constant competition between other freelancers seeking to get the same job. Once the contesting party grabs the bone, you have to add some sprinkles, which are extra services or goodies that you will provide. After that, getting what you want is relatively simple; it’s not impossible to change someone’s mind, but it takes hard work to create a reputation, knowledge and great interpersonal skills.
After speaking with him for a while, he depicted two of the most important aspects in deal-making and negotiation in which he has participated in and they are to find the “middle ground,” but never at the cost of your vision and passion (personal communication, October 3, 2015). Those terms are considered mutual benefit and objective criteria. Everyone has his or her own objectives in business. In the case of my future company, the event producers will want high quality coverage of the event and I will want to not only to have exclusivity and access, but to also have fun capturing moments. He said that it is imperative that both parties’ objectives are identified early during the deal-making process so the process can run smoother, but more importantly, both can benefit from the deal.
