Can be found at MediaPhoneBook.com (here)… someday… maybe. For now it’s got contacts for a handful of magazines, but since it’s a wiki anybody can add and make changes so eventually it really could contain all the contact info, book drop information, submission guidelines and anything else that might be useful to photographers for every media company in the world.

With this project I have that feeling I use to get when I made an assignment that could either be brilliant or get me fired (love that feeling) and so I want to quickly dispel any thoughts that this could somehow be a bad thing.

First, everyone’s contact info is already available from listing services for a price so I don’t think you have to worry about getting more spam. People already pay good money to do that.

Second, I think photographers might be worried that by giving away contact info for a client some other photographer will come in and steal a job from them. See the first point.

Lastly, as a Photography Director I would thrilled by the idea that I could tell everyone at once when to drop books, who else to contact in my department for specific things and in general lay down the law on how I want to be reached for work. Wouldn’t you?

Doesn’t that sound like a better way to do business?

I think so and I hope people will use it in the spirit that it’s given, let’s see what happens.

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32 Comments

  1. pretty cool stuff, as always. your a busy guy. amazing what happen when you quit your job;-)

  2. Cool, it’s like Adbase or Agency Access, but free.

  3. Rob-

    Great idea. I think you’re going to have a lot of people looking at that info and, hopefully, contributing. Mailing addresses would be a helpful addition, perhaps.

    I expect you’re going to get the stink eye from AdBase, Agency Access, Fresh Lists, et al…

    Good luck and thanks.

    Nick

  4. Very interesting. Sometimes I find it shocking how hard it can be to get in touch with a magazine without a list service.

    When I first moved to New York, I was trying to track down a photo editor at a magazine I really wanted to work for. I couldn’t find it in the masthead, or anywhere online. I discovered that their office was right down the street from where I live, so I went in to ask directly.

    The secretary told me that the PE never came into the office, and she couldn’t give out any of his information. The subtext of our conversation was that you pretty much had to be friends with him to be considered for an assignment.

    This was a pretty influential magazine, as far as photography goes, so I was pretty surprised that the PE had gone so far in limiting his potential pool of talent.

    I now subscribe to a list service, and looking right now… yup, that magazine is listed, but no specific names for the editorial department, and according the the service they don’t hire freelancers.

    Sometimes I’m surprised at how easy it is to get my book seen at magazines with dull, run of the mill photography, while it seems like the only way to get your work into a lot of the newer magazines that appear to take more creative risks is to go to art school with the creative director.

    So we’ll see where this goes. Seems like a good thing to me.

  5. At a previous magazine I actually landed a couple scoops because I had posted my email address on the website and none of the editors had theirs posted anywhere.

    At my last position I wish we had a website (so I started a blog instead so maybe it’s good we didn’t) so I could tell photographers to email me because I hate cold calls and that would save everyone time.

  6. I’m all for photographers sharing info as this will result in an elevation of the creative product. By that I mean that as the walls drop, photographers are getting more and more projects not based on geography or “good enough”-ness, but because the photographer’s work is distinctive and compelling.

    This is part of what we’re talking about at the ASMP SB2 events–better communication between photographers and, by extension, clients. It is good for everyone.

  7. This is very awesome!

  8. This is cool!!! Knowing the right way and person to contact saves time and money. I hope more will add their info!

  9. Interesting idea. I’ve just bought a list of magazine contacts here in London (side note: lists seem much less expensive here). I’ve always admired the way you’ve stood up for photographers ownership of the work they’ve done so I can’t imagine you want people to upload info from a list they’ve bought (as that list is a result of someone else’s work). Should you perhaps make a note of this? Just wondering what you think.

  10. Yeah, I don’t want to be sued by the companies that charge for this information even tho they’ve been making money off my contact info for years.

    Wait, can you buy a list in London of US companies that’s cheaper than buying it in the US? That’s interesting.

  11. My only concern with this would be the lack of an opt-out for the buyers who don’t want email blasts. Since it is a Wiki, someone could repost the deleted information.

    Otherwise, I think this a great service to the community, and quite admirable.

  12. Well done. Will do my best to behave.

  13. Well, you can’t opt out of the other lists. If someone has a good reason not to be listed I can always lock their entry to prevent tampering.

  14. Agency Access provides a system-wide “unsubscribe” on their emails blasts that take a buyer’s email address out of the database entirely. There are tons of contacts in the system that are lacking email addresses. I don’t know what AdBase does.

    Regardless, I still think it’s really cool of you to do this.

  15. Interesting. Didn’t know you could opt out of the whole system and not just that particular person’s campaign. I think if you want to do a marketing campaign you’ll still need to buy a list but if you really want to shoot for Men’s Journal and the jerk who would never return your phone calls has now left but you’re not sure who the new person is you now have a place to quickly look. Plus, I get asked a lot for my replacement’s info. Problem solved.

  16. first you ruined it for the no-flash html designers and now you’re gonna screw adbase and agency access out of their revenue stream? What’s next, Rob? A Free online photographer showcase. Look out Black Book and Workbook. When will you start the APE 30? And The no-fee APE Photography Annual? How about no-fee digital workflow workshops? Maybe you could start a wiki database of serial numbers for photoshop and aperture. I bet Polaroid quit the polaroid business because of you. Jesus man.

  17. Thanks for the Enkoder shout out, Erik. I use it when I have clients who insist on having their e-mail addys on their websites.

    OTOH, I wouldn’t have my e-mail addy on my site if you paid me a million bucks to do it. I’d rather that my addy be more private. Kind of a friends, family, and clients thing, if you get my drift.

    Instead of putting my e-mail addy on my site, I use a contact form that’s driven by software from Willmaster.com. I use the Willmaster’s paid version, Master Form, but I can vouch for the quality of the free version, Master Feedback.

  18. I like the idea and concept…as a photographer.

    I wonder though if PE’s, AD’s etc would be so keen on this? Sure, you have to pay for this info at present through subscription services or by doing your own leg work, but for PE’s and AD’s that surely must provide some barrier to an ever burgeoning inbox of emails?

    Anyway, as a photographer, I love it. So well done.

  19. Honestly, the emails coming from the subscription services for the most part suck. I used to never answer that phone call where someone says do you hire freelancers? How many times a week? and the day I did my spam went up like 5 times. The personal emails photographers sent me were so much more relevant. Since it will take a lot of effort to make a huge list of emails from the wiki I think people will use it to send more personal emails.

    @ Russell: Thanks for the good ideas. Now it will be your fault too.

  20. Okay – that’s one of the great things about this blog – getting a real PE’s perspective.

  21. Very Interesting – never messed with a wiki before; will you unlock the contents sidebar so we can add some stuff?

  22. Looks great and can’t wait to see it fleshed out a bit (especially with international publications). I think a few things could make it more useful to both editors and photographers, though, especially more information about the publication. It’d be nice to have a short blurb about the nature of the magazine, what it publishes, where it’s located, and a link to the publication’s website so photographers can see what sort of work it publishes. That way, photographers would have a better idea whether or not to pitch to that magazine. I added a little info to the NYT Sunday Magazine page.

    Something that would also be very helpful is anecdotal information from photographers about what approach worked best in contacting the publication.

    I also couldn’t figure out a way to add a new section; perhaps it’d be good to add a section with links to similar resources. Sites like http://www.epuk.org/Resources/206/newspaper-email-addresses would be useful to have on file because it’s likely to be more accurate faster than this site as editors change (though that site has few personal addresses listed…). I’ve also found Workbook ( http://www.workbook.com/phonebook/ ) useful for verifying contacts; I don’t have a subscription, but by putting in an editor’s name I can verify that they’re still with the publication (it’s a little out of date, though; searching for Rob Haggart still brings up Men’s Journal).

    Anyway, all that’s to say that I really hope this takes off.

  23. I’m like all for the APE 30 and the APE Photography Annual.

    PDN is like so freaking expensive man.

  24. Actually, I read somewhere a while back that LeBook tried to sue one of the other sourcebooks (I think it was Workbook). They claimed they had lifted contact information directly out of LeBook and could prove it because LeBook “seeded” their information with a few fake names (if the names turn up elsewhere, they know where the information came from).

    The court found that listings are NOT protectable by copyright, since they are publicly available information. Although it’s not illegal to charge for public information, there’s nothing illegal about giving it away for free.

    So, I must say, some industrious person who wants to do the entire photo community a favor could enter ALL of the info available (hint hint). I would, but unfortunately I barely have time to comment here, much less do any data entry.

    The sourcebooks can still sell the information – it would be a lot of work to compile several thousand names from a Wiki into a printable spreadsheet and ensure their accuracy, and besides, they can still make money off the ads they sell to photographers.

  25. Cool! I have been compiling a database for my own personal use, but I think that a Wiki is a fantastic idea for this.

  26. than you a million times!!
    I will use this info for good and not evil.

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  28. Hi, I think the link has stopped working. Am i right or being a doofus?


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