I've copied this from Kim Baileys site as I thought was was quite interesting, he has a guest blog each month & this month it is Nick Gomersall
Nick Gomersall - December/January
I have been a racehorse owner for over 12 years and my first trainer wanted a web site so I started a hobby business building web sites for the racing industry. This got me closer to my passion and have built web sites for Henry Cecil, Roger Charlton, Jeremy Noseda, Ferdy Murphy and Charlie Mann to name just a few. Fast broadband, YouTube and Twitter now lends itself to using video, people want to see not read, the web is changing.
Currently I have been doing interviews with trainers and syndicate owners about their horses and they wanted to show some of the wins that they had had by showing the video of the horses winning as part of the interview.
After contacting AT The Races, who have the media rights for around 50 racetracks, they could not have been more helpful allowing me to use any video footage that I wished. What a supportive attitude they had. I then approached Racing UK, who control the other 50 tracks (http://www.racinguk.com/page/Racecourses/0,,12542,00.html) and are owned by the racing industry, to ask if I could use 10 seconds of the closing stages of 9 races for Roger Charlton’s interview, and received the email below.
Dear Nick,
Following up on xxxxx’s email, I would be grateful if you could send me a list of the nine races that you wish to include on Mr Charlton’s website.
Our usual rate is £300 per race but as you require nine races we would be happy to offer you these races at a discounted cost of £2K instead of £2.7K. If you are happy with the above, please let me know and I will draw up an agreement. I see from the attached link that you already have a copy of all these races. Please let me know if you do need broadcast quality copies of the races, if so, could you let me know whether you would like them dubbed onto a DVD or sent via an email link.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a good weekend.
Today there is software where you can record any video from a web site so you don’t even need to ask for the DVD of the race as noted in the email above.
2 years ago I approach RacingUK to ask them if I could film at racetracks as trainers wanted to have video footage of a day at the races. When I attended the meeting I was reprimanded about linking trainer’s horses to the Racing Post web site because I embedded the form into the site, This was because the Racing Post had a video link next to the horses this put them in breach of contract.
Here is an extract from another email I received after I challenged the wisdom of not being able to embed Racing Post form into a trainer’s web site in this manor. (them being the trainers)
Nick,
And I am sure that being a fine upstanding and honourable man that you will apologise to them on behalf of yourself and the Racing Post for having used the content inappropriately and for having placed the Racing Post in breach of their contract, albeit inadvertently and in good faith. At the end of the day this is your error. I would not like to hear back that you are misrepresenting the position in any way at all because if I did we would need to take action to correct the position.
Best wishes
I did try to explain that people would still have to pay 20p to see the race and trainers wanted the form more integrated into their web site but RacingUK have no ears they just tell you how it is. I also thought this email was threatening so I contacted John Maxse of the Jockey Club with my concerns but nothing happened.
So this was when I started to move all the form from my trainer’s sites from the Racing Post to AT The Races as they said I could link to their racing form and embed this into any racehorse trainer’s web site. They would even remove the log in so that owners could go straight to the video of their horses. We worked out that we were getting over 120,000 visitors and many million of hits per month to all my sites.
Having had dealings with Racing UK I found that you can’t negotiate with them, they just tell you this is what it is and live with it. I advised Roger not to bother trying to negotiate a deal because of this attitude. Unfortunately they are so far away from the reality of what racehorse trainers are facing trying to keep things together in today’s economic environment. They actually thought that the cost for the 10 second clips of Roger’s horses winning his own races would be met, as from phone conversations and emails I have received, they believe that trainers can well afford this charge.
I have moved on from the Racing Post but many top trainers today are linking illegally to the Post’s site and embedding RacingUK videos without paying the £300. Video is becoming increasingly important to market the racing product and to embed it into racehorse trainer’s webs sites. I have now removed all RacingUK videos from Roger’s interview and just use the AT The Races clips which is a shame as most of Roger’s big wins came on the RacingUK’s tracks. But a big thank you to AT the Races for their support never the less. See www.VisAds.com/200910
Owners and racehorse trainers kindly do interviews free of charge to RacingUK. What would happen if all trainers and syndicated owners now refused to give interviews? I don’t think RacingUK would have a credible product.
RacingUk’s attitude needs to change and I am prepared to put my head above the parapet in order to get change. We need more commercially minded people running our industry. In sales you always look for a win - win in every deal, were the customer and supplier both end up winning. RacingUK negotiate on a lose - lose basis. I have a passion for racing and the reason why I help trainers, breeders and syndicate owners is that racing is my hobby.
Call to action.
All owners and trainers should refuse to give interviews to RacingUK until they allow the trainer to use video footage free of charge on their web sites.
Bravo for AT The Races let's support them by moving all form to their web site and giving them the traffic.
Nick Gomersall
www.RacingWebs.com and www.VisAds.com
Nick Gomersall - December/January
Are the people harming racing, racing itself?
Are the people harming racing, racing itself?I have been a racehorse owner for over 12 years and my first trainer wanted a web site so I started a hobby business building web sites for the racing industry. This got me closer to my passion and have built web sites for Henry Cecil, Roger Charlton, Jeremy Noseda, Ferdy Murphy and Charlie Mann to name just a few. Fast broadband, YouTube and Twitter now lends itself to using video, people want to see not read, the web is changing.
Currently I have been doing interviews with trainers and syndicate owners about their horses and they wanted to show some of the wins that they had had by showing the video of the horses winning as part of the interview.
After contacting AT The Races, who have the media rights for around 50 racetracks, they could not have been more helpful allowing me to use any video footage that I wished. What a supportive attitude they had. I then approached Racing UK, who control the other 50 tracks (http://www.racinguk.com/page/Racecourses/0,,12542,00.html) and are owned by the racing industry, to ask if I could use 10 seconds of the closing stages of 9 races for Roger Charlton’s interview, and received the email below.
Dear Nick,
Following up on xxxxx’s email, I would be grateful if you could send me a list of the nine races that you wish to include on Mr Charlton’s website.
Our usual rate is £300 per race but as you require nine races we would be happy to offer you these races at a discounted cost of £2K instead of £2.7K. If you are happy with the above, please let me know and I will draw up an agreement. I see from the attached link that you already have a copy of all these races. Please let me know if you do need broadcast quality copies of the races, if so, could you let me know whether you would like them dubbed onto a DVD or sent via an email link.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a good weekend.
Today there is software where you can record any video from a web site so you don’t even need to ask for the DVD of the race as noted in the email above.
2 years ago I approach RacingUK to ask them if I could film at racetracks as trainers wanted to have video footage of a day at the races. When I attended the meeting I was reprimanded about linking trainer’s horses to the Racing Post web site because I embedded the form into the site, This was because the Racing Post had a video link next to the horses this put them in breach of contract.
Here is an extract from another email I received after I challenged the wisdom of not being able to embed Racing Post form into a trainer’s web site in this manor. (them being the trainers)
Nick,
And I am sure that being a fine upstanding and honourable man that you will apologise to them on behalf of yourself and the Racing Post for having used the content inappropriately and for having placed the Racing Post in breach of their contract, albeit inadvertently and in good faith. At the end of the day this is your error. I would not like to hear back that you are misrepresenting the position in any way at all because if I did we would need to take action to correct the position.
Best wishes
I did try to explain that people would still have to pay 20p to see the race and trainers wanted the form more integrated into their web site but RacingUK have no ears they just tell you how it is. I also thought this email was threatening so I contacted John Maxse of the Jockey Club with my concerns but nothing happened.
So this was when I started to move all the form from my trainer’s sites from the Racing Post to AT The Races as they said I could link to their racing form and embed this into any racehorse trainer’s web site. They would even remove the log in so that owners could go straight to the video of their horses. We worked out that we were getting over 120,000 visitors and many million of hits per month to all my sites.
Having had dealings with Racing UK I found that you can’t negotiate with them, they just tell you this is what it is and live with it. I advised Roger not to bother trying to negotiate a deal because of this attitude. Unfortunately they are so far away from the reality of what racehorse trainers are facing trying to keep things together in today’s economic environment. They actually thought that the cost for the 10 second clips of Roger’s horses winning his own races would be met, as from phone conversations and emails I have received, they believe that trainers can well afford this charge.
I have moved on from the Racing Post but many top trainers today are linking illegally to the Post’s site and embedding RacingUK videos without paying the £300. Video is becoming increasingly important to market the racing product and to embed it into racehorse trainer’s webs sites. I have now removed all RacingUK videos from Roger’s interview and just use the AT The Races clips which is a shame as most of Roger’s big wins came on the RacingUK’s tracks. But a big thank you to AT the Races for their support never the less. See www.VisAds.com/200910
Owners and racehorse trainers kindly do interviews free of charge to RacingUK. What would happen if all trainers and syndicated owners now refused to give interviews? I don’t think RacingUK would have a credible product.
RacingUk’s attitude needs to change and I am prepared to put my head above the parapet in order to get change. We need more commercially minded people running our industry. In sales you always look for a win - win in every deal, were the customer and supplier both end up winning. RacingUK negotiate on a lose - lose basis. I have a passion for racing and the reason why I help trainers, breeders and syndicate owners is that racing is my hobby.
Call to action.
All owners and trainers should refuse to give interviews to RacingUK until they allow the trainer to use video footage free of charge on their web sites.
Bravo for AT The Races let's support them by moving all form to their web site and giving them the traffic.
Nick Gomersall
www.RacingWebs.com and www.VisAds.com
