On a more serious note (I'm not always all about the snark, just 99.4% of the time):
Quote:
Originally Posted by M!NT
(Absolutley), I agree with you, after the release of "MINT Conditioned" on 02.14.2012
I'll be surprised to see any Agencies still around.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nuglet
By that statement, did you mean to INCLUDE "Mint" as a soon to be "disappeared" agency? It would make sense.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M!NT
Yes (nuglet), ALL Agencies
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This implies that you see agencies as inherently exploitative, which is certainly an interesting position for a person who, depending on whom you ask, recently ran or is currently running his own agency.
There are some benefits to agencies that I can see from this side of the fence:
* infrastructure - a provider doesn't have to worry about supplying an in call, scheduling appointments, or taking calls. All that is provided for her. Many providers have business management issues (to put it politely) and for them this is an asset.
* convenience - from a client's standpoint, the ability to call and say "I've got some free time in a couple of hours, what can you do?" Although some independent providers offer this level of response, most do not, since they have significant overhead in terms of organization (setting up an in call, scheduling enough appointments to justify it, etc.) and thus prefer at least a day's warning. For clients who prefer more spur-of-the-moment assignations the convenience agencies offer is an asset.
Bear in mind I speak purely from the standpoint of devil's advocacy - I don't patronize agencies, because I prefer the money given to the provider go to the provider. I am under no illusion that everyone who states they are independent are, or that there isn't ever a "booking agent" or "pimp" or "boyfriend" or whatever term you'd like to use hovering behind the scenes. However, part of being a consumer is making informed choices based on available information.
Putting information out there for providers to not be taken advantage of is certainly a worthy goal and I certainly don't discourage you from it (though yours won't be the first book on the subject, nor the last). However, I suspect it won't quite have the neutron blast effect you ascribe to it.
