Independent Programmers

Kenny

I know there are several independent programmers and dealers in need of programmers for various projects that cruise these forums.
As a programmer, how do you get new work. Not just from repeat customers. How do you get in touch with new integrators?
As dealers, how do you find programmers for those projects that your current staff can't handle for what ever reason?

Where I work we have a programmer or two that we call on when the work load gets to heavy but we really don't know where to go to get a good programmer.

a_riot42

Good question. Other than the VIP listings on the AMX website, I don't know of any other manner for clients and AMX programmers to meet and discuss potential work other than through the dealer network. I don't believe AMX requires a dealer to have an on staff programmer (I could be wrong about that) and that would mean dealers have to find reliable programmers for the projects they sell which can be problematic. I don't think an individual programmer can be a dealer, (again I could be wrong about that), so there seems to be a large dependence on the dealer/programmer paradigm working out for all concerned.
Paul

Colzie

Word of mouth.

I'm not sure how a "new" independent programmer would get started, but having been in the AV world for years it really is just networking (and providing an exceptional product) that keeps me busy.

GregG

For reference the "official" AMX list page is at: http://www.amx.com/partners/VIP.asp - and even though our company is list there (RSD/ICD) we have had overflows of our own and used some very good people from that list to help out.

champ

Call up your local AMX representative, I'm sure they keep a list of programmers as I do.

As far as certifications go the list I hand out has the certified guys at the top so if you are independent and don't have an endless supply of work then you would be doing yourself a disservice by not getting certified.
While I'm on my soap box I'll say the same thing about CTS certification, the more certified people in the industry the better.

I'm not sure how it works in the rest of the world but in Australia having a certified AMX programmer on staff is one of the requirements for becoming a dealer.

Danny Campbell

Like Colzie said, word of mouth is the best method that I've found. Here on the East coast there is quite a bit of movement of people among the various integrators, so you can almost always find someone you know that works for a particular integrator. I get even get called in to help with people who have moved to other offices within the same company.

LinkedIn is also handy at times, even though there is quite a bit of "spam-like" material that comes along with it.

Your network is the way to go. I've had customers remember me even after they have stopped working with a particular dealer, so customer relations skills are good to have for both your customer when you are acting as a sub, but also with their customers, who may remember you long after the original dealer has come and gone. About 95% of the time it is no secret to the end-user that I and sometimes the installers are subs that work for several dealers. When the customers change dealers for whatever reason, they remember who did a good job for them and will ask their new dealer to sub out the work to me.

I've also provided help and sample code to installers who decide that they would like to try programming. As they finish the training and move out into their own careers, they will also remember who to call when they get overloaded.

Do good work, be nice to both the customers and the techs, and be fair in your pricing and people will remember you for the next project.

And when a project is failing or experiencing technical issues, lend a hand to get things back on track even if it is outside of the programming scope of work. On several projects, I've been the only one on-site who has worked with a particular piece of equipment before, so it pays in the long run not to be stingy with what you have learned.