Stupid Question - CSRNation2024-03-28T14:54:47Zhttp://csrnation.ning.com/forum/topics/stupid-question?commentId=1736041%3AComment%3A1213261&feed=yes&xn_auth=noWell, Kelli, competence is a…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-10:1736041:Comment:12133162011-12-10T16:49:50.463ZBradley Cookhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/BradleyCook
<p>Well, Kelli, competence is a rarity in every profession. That's why you need to take things on a case-by-case basis. When I was editing trade journals, I was astonished at the work people would submit for publication. Later, when I ran the music section of an "alternative" weekly, it was even worse. </p>
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<p>And so far, I haven't seen the "clean product" of which you speak. Every depo transcript I've ever scoped was very far from clean.</p>
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<p>And it isn't that I "want to…</p>
<p>Well, Kelli, competence is a rarity in every profession. That's why you need to take things on a case-by-case basis. When I was editing trade journals, I was astonished at the work people would submit for publication. Later, when I ran the music section of an "alternative" weekly, it was even worse. </p>
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<p>And so far, I haven't seen the "clean product" of which you speak. Every depo transcript I've ever scoped was very far from clean.</p>
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<p>And it isn't that I "want to charge 1.25 a page." I want to charge the accepted norm, which is why I started this thread in the first place. I'm not sure why my asking such an innocent question has engendered such hostility from you.</p> You're missing my point. If…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-09:1736041:Comment:12130962011-12-09T23:52:03.411ZKelli Combs (admin)http://csrnation.ning.com/profile/Kellicombsadmin
<p>You're missing my point. If you give your scopist a clean product to begin with, they don't have to work very hard, maybe a comma here or a period there, they shouldn't have to charge 1.25 a page ever, even if they've been working for 30 years as a scopist. Where scopists make their money is on expedites, not this piddly extra 25 cents.</p>
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<p>My experience with new scopists is when I get the job back, sometimes there are more mistakes than when I gave the job to them; i.e.…</p>
<p>You're missing my point. If you give your scopist a clean product to begin with, they don't have to work very hard, maybe a comma here or a period there, they shouldn't have to charge 1.25 a page ever, even if they've been working for 30 years as a scopist. Where scopists make their money is on expedites, not this piddly extra 25 cents.</p>
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<p>My experience with new scopists is when I get the job back, sometimes there are more mistakes than when I gave the job to them; i.e. speakers changed to the wrong speaker, misspellings, typos, etc. You seem to want to charge 1.25 a page and that's fine, but you have to work harder for it. That's my only point. </p>
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<p>Maybe you are different and you turn back a perfect quality transcript. I've been doing this job for 24 years and that's never been my experience that a scopist of two years does an incredible job. I'm just saying....</p> So if I'm doing lots of clean…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-09:1736041:Comment:12132042011-12-09T21:30:36.612ZBradley Cookhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/BradleyCook
<p>So if I'm doing lots of cleanup, I should charge $1.25 even though you don't think "a scopist that only has two years' experience should be charging such a high price"? </p>
<p>I really don't see what the length of time I've been scoping has to do with my rate. After all, all we're talking about is familiarity with the rules of grammar and some software functions.</p>
<p><em>My scopists have been scoping over 15 years and they don't even charge me that.</em></p>
<p>Well, what do they…</p>
<p>So if I'm doing lots of cleanup, I should charge $1.25 even though you don't think "a scopist that only has two years' experience should be charging such a high price"? </p>
<p>I really don't see what the length of time I've been scoping has to do with my rate. After all, all we're talking about is familiarity with the rules of grammar and some software functions.</p>
<p><em>My scopists have been scoping over 15 years and they don't even charge me that.</em></p>
<p>Well, what do they charge? And how long will they have to scope before they're allowed to charge $1.25? Does proficiency with grammar and software really take over 15 years?</p>
<p></p> I totally agree with Patricia…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-09:1736041:Comment:12131952011-12-09T18:16:29.980ZKelli Combs (admin)http://csrnation.ning.com/profile/Kellicombsadmin
<p>I totally agree with Patricia that if you are doing a lot of cleanup, you certainly deserve the 1.25 or maybe more. No doubt about it. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that point. </p>
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<p>I do pay 1.25 to 1.30 to my scopists if I have a very difficult witness or a lot of argument, depending what the case may be. If it takes more time and more difficult, such as an accent, definitely worth more $$$$.</p>
<p>I totally agree with Patricia that if you are doing a lot of cleanup, you certainly deserve the 1.25 or maybe more. No doubt about it. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that point. </p>
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<p>I do pay 1.25 to 1.30 to my scopists if I have a very difficult witness or a lot of argument, depending what the case may be. If it takes more time and more difficult, such as an accent, definitely worth more $$$$.</p> Yep. Makes sense. Thanks, Pat…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-09:1736041:Comment:12132912011-12-09T17:43:51.118ZBradley Cookhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/BradleyCook
<p>Yep. Makes sense. Thanks, Patricia.</p>
<p>Yep. Makes sense. Thanks, Patricia.</p> I haven't heard of a scopist…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-09:1736041:Comment:12130922011-12-09T17:40:35.645ZPatricia Babitshttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/Patricia98
<p>I haven't heard of a scopist charging less than 1.25 a page for full audio, even a new scopist.</p>
<p>An excellent realtime reporter like Kelli who needs very little cleaning up is not going to be using a new scopist. You are probably going to end up with new reporters who require more work. If you are filling in drops and making tons of changing, I think 1.25 is very fair. Hope that makes sense.</p>
<p>I haven't heard of a scopist charging less than 1.25 a page for full audio, even a new scopist.</p>
<p>An excellent realtime reporter like Kelli who needs very little cleaning up is not going to be using a new scopist. You are probably going to end up with new reporters who require more work. If you are filling in drops and making tons of changing, I think 1.25 is very fair. Hope that makes sense.</p> These are all interesting rev…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-09:1736041:Comment:12130912011-12-09T17:32:53.595ZBradley Cookhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/BradleyCook
<p>These are all interesting revelations.</p>
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<p>I was recruited into scoping by my cousin, who is a court reporter, and with the exception of a few scoping jobs, all of my work has been for her. I am now learning that she has left out many key details. The $1.25 rate was her suggestion, but she never indicated to me that there are different levels of scoping, each with their associated rates. I should also add that all of her transcripts require "tons of cleanup and having to fill in a…</p>
<p>These are all interesting revelations.</p>
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<p>I was recruited into scoping by my cousin, who is a court reporter, and with the exception of a few scoping jobs, all of my work has been for her. I am now learning that she has left out many key details. The $1.25 rate was her suggestion, but she never indicated to me that there are different levels of scoping, each with their associated rates. I should also add that all of her transcripts require "tons of cleanup and having to fill in a lot of drops," so maybe that's why she was paying me so much. With such a limited frame of reference, it's hard to know. Her transcripts all include either fast talkers or lots of cross-talk. Maybe she only sends me the hard ones. I don't know. She also claimed that she was training me so that I would be prepared for any scoping assignment that came my way. Needless to say, I am disappointed that she left out so much valuable information.</p>
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<p>Perhaps if I had known that it would take at least 15 years to achieve the $1.25 rate, I wouldn't have pursued this line of work. I had previously worked as an editor for magazines and newspapers, which is why she recruited me. As you may know, the newspaper and magazine industry isn't hiring the way it once did, so I was happy for the opportunity. I think I will forward this thread to her along with a request for clarification. She is a member here, though I see there isn't any recent activity on her page.</p>
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<p>Thanks to all of you for the information.</p> I pay my scopist 1.00 for spo…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-09:1736041:Comment:12130902011-12-09T17:01:33.348ZKelli Combs (admin)http://csrnation.ning.com/profile/Kellicombsadmin
<p>I pay my scopist 1.00 for spot checking and 1.25-1.30 for full listen. That's usually because of an accent and I need someone else to listen to it, or someone is talking way to damn fast. </p>
<p>I would never pay 1.25 for spot check, since when I give my jobs to my scopist, I've already cleaned the job up to send a rough to the attorney; all names are put in, all untranslated words are taken out. The job is in great shape. I don't think 1.25 is a fair price for my quality of…</p>
<p>I pay my scopist 1.00 for spot checking and 1.25-1.30 for full listen. That's usually because of an accent and I need someone else to listen to it, or someone is talking way to damn fast. </p>
<p>I would never pay 1.25 for spot check, since when I give my jobs to my scopist, I've already cleaned the job up to send a rough to the attorney; all names are put in, all untranslated words are taken out. The job is in great shape. I don't think 1.25 is a fair price for my quality of work.</p>
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<p>However, if you are doing tons of cleanup and having to fill in a lot of drops, that's a different story. Also, I don't think a scopist that only has two years' experience should be charging such a high price. My scopists have been scoping over 15 years and they don't even charge me that.</p> Bradley,
Here's a poll that w…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-09:1736041:Comment:12132852011-12-09T14:56:20.767ZJudyhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/JudyRunes
<p>Bradley,</p>
<p>Here's a poll that was taken last year: <a href="http://www.bestscopingtechniques.com/2010_ratespg.htm">http://www.bestscopingtechniques.com/2010_ratespg.htm</a></p>
<p>I believe you'll find a lot of your answers there.</p>
<p>Bradley,</p>
<p>Here's a poll that was taken last year: <a href="http://www.bestscopingtechniques.com/2010_ratespg.htm">http://www.bestscopingtechniques.com/2010_ratespg.htm</a></p>
<p>I believe you'll find a lot of your answers there.</p> I've been charging $1.25/page…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2011-12-09:1736041:Comment:12132812011-12-09T12:52:57.563ZBradley Cookhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/BradleyCook
<p>I've been charging $1.25/page and double for expedites on everything. Can you tell me what other scopists typically charge?</p>
<p>I've been charging $1.25/page and double for expedites on everything. Can you tell me what other scopists typically charge?</p>