Panday Kids

Aerial shoot in Morong, Bataan went very smoothly. First location shoot was in Zambales where we took some aerial shots of the lahar area.. next was the river shot revealing the hanging bridge where a fight scene is taking place, and lastly was a forest overview shot.

As we presented the stabilized aerial video to the production crew that same afternoon, everyone got so excited and they were all happy with the results and how fast we were able to execute Direct Mike's instructions. Christopher De Leon was there as well and was so pleased and amazed with what we did.

3 locations within 6 hours, using just 1.5 liters of fuel, -everything was shot with just one take. I guess it is safe to say now that our experience made the big difference.  :)

Animo La Salle!

We had a successful shoot today at DLSU - Dasmariñas Cavite. Another world record attempt that we got ourselves involved in, -- to form the biggest human star (about 12,000 participants were expected)... We provided a live video feed to the Large LED screen and made a total of 5 flights from 5:30PM to 7:30PM. Another milestone for AeroEye Asia that showcases our capability for doing aerial shoots at night.

Safety was everyone's major concern so we did our best to manage our risk. We had so many backup plans and emergency procedures in place. I'm glad that we were able to pull it off perfectly without any incident. Another proof that our policy on safety, maintenance, pre-flight, post-flight checks are all working for us.

Whata-Windy-January!

Average wind conditions lately has been 12 kph, peaking up to 20 kph!... I'm happy to report that despite of unfavorable weather conditions, kayang-kaya pa rin namin!  But of course, once my pilot starts to raise red flags, I'll call off the shoot no matter what. Safety first.

One of the lessons we learned the hard way in one of our past projects is knowing when to say NO to clients.

Saying YES all the time is dangerous and outright crazy. If it's beyond our competency, then it is better to be honest about our limitations than risk our safety record and the reputation of our business. Managing the client's expectation before conducting any shoot is our standard practice.

My Autopilot system has finally arrived!

We had another successful shoot today at an industrial park in Batangas!

Yesterday's wind condition prevented the B Team to take any shots. It was too gusty, around 40kph! For safety reasons, after 4 different take-off site attempts, we decided to pack up and go.

I went back to the park again today around 7AM, but this time with my A Team. The reason why it seems that we are resolved to get the shots done ASAP is due to our January 18 deadline. Our client, an assistant to the president of a big holding company based here in Manila, needs the photos for a very very big presentation to their Chairman of the Board this coming Tuesday.

Having a reputation to make things happen, despite the windy weather problem, we went ahead with the shoot and was able to take enough pictures to back up our client's report.

We are set to go back to the park this coming Friday to have another go with the borrowed autopilot system, try to reach a height more than 150 feet and use a standard lens to capture a panoramic shot.

On my way home, while in transit, I went on-line to check the shipping status of the GPS-equipped autopilot system I ordered from the U.S. and it stated that it is in transit for delivery... I then quickly called home and our security guard said that the package is already there! Wooohooo!!

There's no stopping us now from Conquering 2010!

AeroEye Asia Today

As we strive to attain our Vision to be Number ONE and make AeroEye Asia brand synonymous with Aerial Videography and Aerial Photography in the Philippines, as well as our Mission to "Exceed our Client's Expectations, Commitment to Quality and Safety Above All.", we now have embarked on a 5-year development program that will expand our current capacity and competencies to include and cater to two niche markets that we have recently identified.

Presently, the company owns a fleet of three petrol-powered rotary wing aerial platforms...

Another gasser and an electric coming this February...

Two camera mounts, and another two in the works..

Two great pilots who both understand my business formula and principles..

Client-friendly downlink monitors...

A safety officer who doubles as Helicam Operator in case the client requires two helicam teams...

A team of female Brand Ambassadors /Safety Officers for big events...

A Team of Cessna pilots and access to a two-seater plane...

A Cessna mount in the works already and scheduled for testing by March 2010...

A Full Scale Helicopter camera mount (testing phase already) and access to a Robinson R44..

Insurance coverage for third party liability and property damages...

Group insurance coverage to cover our risks whenever we're out in the field...

An institutionalized preventive maintenance program, pre-flight, post-flight checks and SOPs which resulted to ZERO Incident /Zero Accident record for 2009...

Flight Stabilization System

I just got word from my supplier abroad that he will be shipping the component I ordered from him by Monday. I really can't wait to get my hands on this flight stabilization system. This is part of my short term development plan on identifying other niche markets that my aerial business can serve effectively. About three months ago, I am so blessed to receive an email from the Chairman of a company who is into an industry that will be so perfect for my setup to get into. He learned about my company from an article written by my dear friend that was published last year in Philippine Star. He is all out support to get me into the industry that his company is involved in. He is equally excited about the news and can't wait for us to start doing business together.

My Detractors -- Idiots you should avoid working with

Hmmm... instead of naming names, I'll let you in on how they became my detractors.

This aerial business came about as a thesis idea to earn my Masters Degree on Entrepreneurship. It is a result of pure market research. And for those of you aspiring to be Entrepreneurs like me, the best suggestion that I can give is "do not assume", always base your decisions on "facts" and the only right way to do it is through "market research". This is so "common sense" among prominent entrepreneurs.. but in the 10 years of being a consultant, "common sense" is not so common to a lot of people.

After Googling for weeks, I finally ended up with my very first viable aerial platform, --a 5-foot helium balloon, tethered. I was very successful in using this platform for 6 months with my Canon 300D Digital SLR coupled with a Canon Super Wide Angle Lens until my clients started asking if I can do aerial videos as well. Helium supply became a problem as well which led me to consider RC Helicopters.

Detractor#1 - We were introduced through a common friend. He's into gas-powered RC Helis and has successfully created a camera mount that his heli can carry. He claims to be "the very first to do aerial photography in the Philippines" using an RC Helicopter. Our common friend suggested that we put up a company together and split the earnings 50-50. My job is to take care of marketing, provide the camera equipment that we will be using, as well as editing the images and videos. His part is to provide the aerial platform.

To cut the long story short, whenever we have a scheduled shoot, he is either out of the country, busy or his heli has crashed and is still waiting for some parts to arrive. After almost a year of cancellations, I said to myself, this business will never take off. I had to call it quits with the guy and move on.

Detractor #2 - After calling it quits with my now Detractor #1, I moved on and taught myself to fly a RC Heli with the help of one of the Philippine's top F3C pilots. I then realized that all the info that this previous so called business partner of mine (Detractor#1) was feeding me about NITRO-powered RC helicopters were all untrue. Thank God for the internet and for a lot of helpful hobbyists based in the U.S., I learned a lot of things about RC helicopters, about limitations and managing risks. And again, to cut the long story short, I was successful in transforming a NITRO-powered RC Heli into a feasible aerial platform.

Six months of successful shoots later (I had ZERO incidents/ZERO crashes with that NITRO-powered RC helicopter before moving to gassers for economical reasons--cheaper fuel), a group of hobbyists offered to partner with me and set up a corporation together. And when we were discussing about shares, there was this guy (my now Detractor#2) who insisted on a big % share of the corporation and is questioning my % share. His contribution will be purely "industrial", nothing more. His background is RC AIRPLANES and as he claims, he was part of a team of experts whose task was to develop military AUVs. Sensing potential problems with the sharing scheme and that I will still end up doing most of the work, I finally decided to back out. ---"Hello?! Hindi po ako uto-uto."

Detractor #3 - Oh this guy... he texted me and asked if we can meet up to explore the idea of outsourcing his clients' aerial requirements to my company. He is into renting video equipment and his wife is a director. I was so gullible at that time and did not realize that he was actually fishing for info on how I do my business and his real objective was to get into the same aerial business. Lo and behold, after telling him stuffs about my aerial platform, my pricing scheme and what works for clients and how we can make this "outsourcing" game plan work, --I was so surprised to see him at the RC heli shop the following day. Later on it became very obvious what his real agenda was. He told my "kumpare" (the shop owner and the one who manufactures my RC heli) of his plans to buy several helicam units and get into the aerial photography business by renting them out to his existing clients. This guy thinks that a RC helicopter is as easy as operating a video camera.. that a RC helicopter is something that his clients can learn to fly overnight and use for business the following day. Wow, I had an impression that he is a smart guy who researched a lot about this and learned a lot about AP biz from what we call THE INTERNET.

He became my detractor when he realized that PINOYHELICAM.COM points to my web site and confronted me with this and stated that he has RIGHTS to this domain name. Ows??? Now that's STUPID.

POP QUIZ: What's the very first thing that you should do when starting your own business, --something so fundamental that you should accomplish before ever thinking of ADVERTISING your business? Anyone???

ANSWER: Come up with a good businss name that is catchy and unique then check with DTI for the business name availability and reserve it ASAP! If it's available, check if the domain name is available as well and if it is, grab it immediately! Register your trademark or business name ASAP! Once you have the DTI registration document and application approved that's the only time you can claim RIGHTS to a business name.

This Detractor #3, sad to say, did not do his due diligence and blames me for his STUPIDITY. Imagine, he started spending money advertising and using a business name or trademark that he hasn't checked yet with DTI if it's available. He even posted a statement at an online forum attacking me, where he tried (in vain) to rally all my detractors and the whole RC community against me.

Detractor #4 - "Ang pa-importanteng" RC pilot, who's lame excuses include "Sorry I didn't make it, I've been waiting for a taxi for two hours", someone who seems to be a victim of food poisoning once a month, who switches off his cellphone the whole day if he doesn't feel like working, whose stubbornness contributed to a lot of crashes that costs my business to lose our earnings to repairs, and who is such a pea-brain when it comes to doing business. After several months of this kind of bad attitude, I had to call it quits with him. I think he assumed too much that my business will be paralyzed without him. To think that he is already getting 1/3 of whatever I am being paid for each project, he still wanted more. No matter how much I explained my business formula, he simply doesn't get it or refused to understand.

1/3 - pilot, 1/3 my share, 1/3 for the business operation

What this guy does not understand is for the business to prosper, there are costs involved: Cost of operations, cost of marketing, cost of communication, cost of transportation, cost of depreciation, cost of tax, business permits etc. All these things are WAY BEYOND HIS COMPREHENSION. His only responsibility aside from flying the heli is to make sure our aerial platform is in good working condition and do regular checks on all the parts. He has no monetary investment in my company and yet he gets 1/3 of the project cost net of VAT. One of the old folks at our flying field finally opened up as he heard me air my concerns about this guy's bad attitude-- this old folk validated and concurred this idiot's lack of professionalism and etiquette. "Pontoy" is the perfect word to describe this guy.

I really don't know what happened to this guy.. sobrang bait naman nitong taong ito sa field when I first met him, sobrang matulungin sa pag setup ng helis ng mga newbies at kung sino mang may bagong laruan... ewan ko ba... Siguro mas bagay na yun nalang gawin niyang pang habang buhay dahil mahirap siyang katrabaho. I think the statement MONEY CHANGES PEOPLE is so very true! Ibang klase talaga work ethics ng taong ito, --nakaka-stress! Talo pa ang demands ng isang girlfriend or asawa. Kung hindi mo susunduin sa tinitirhan niya, ma-le-late siya ng dating at mapupurnada project schedule ko... at kung hindi mo sasakyan yung kaartehan niya, hindi ko magagawa yung shoot for the client. I will not be surprised if this guy as well as Detractor #2 will stay single for life...

I finally called it quits when I lost another client. This idiot wasn't answering my calls and text messages re his schedule. I really got so pissed when I later found out that he was just at the shop the whole time, just surfing the internet and checking his Friendster account.

Let's talk about crashes.. in a span of just a few months, we had several crashes already. And all these crashes WERE AVOIDABLE had he listened to me!

crash#1 - Main gear failure. Heli crash landed. Ok, nobody's fault. But it could have been prevented if I already knew back then about symptoms of a main gear that is about to fail.

crash#2 - one of my constant reminders to this guy is to follow safety procedures which includes "avoid taking off nose-in, as this may lead to disorientation and crash the heli upon take-off". During our Pinatubo shoot heli fell to its side upon take off damaging main blades. He claimed the cause of the crash was sudden gust of wind. Huhh?! What wind!?Another friend of mine who is a RC heli pilot was there with us and it was obvious to him that it was a clear case of pilot error. Cost of repair: Php 7,000.00

crash#3 - Balamban Cebu shoot for a newly built catamaran. Prior to taking off, I kept reminding this guy to be aware that there is a crane at the dock where the catamaran was parked. Yet, he still managed to hit it with our heli. Cost of repair: Php 30,000.00 for the heli, Php 35,000.00 for a brand new 3CCD mini DV camera with wide angle lens attachment. We got lucky the helicam didn't plunged into the sea and landed on the dock, else it would have been a total loss.

crash#4 - At our flying field in Cavite, after fixing the heli, another constant safety procedure reminder of mine to this guy is avoid chopping the throttle, --the engine might unexpectedly quit. Never do FORCED AUTO-ROTATIONS with my helicopter unless it's a real emergency situation. There is no sense of risking the heli. As he was doing another test flight, he still went on defied my safety reminder and chopped the throttle to show-off his AUTO-ROTATION skills, it went bad and needless to say, the heli crashed. Cost of repair: Php 17,000.00

crash#5 - engine was sounding lean already, and no matter how much he adjusted the needles, he couldn't get the tuning right. I told him to abort the shoot and land the heli immediately. He stubbornly continued flying and yelled at me to keep on shooting, "Ayoko nang bumalik dito! Sige na magshoot ka nalang ng magshoot!". As I had feered, the engine flamed-out, the heli crashed, the new 3CCD camera got damaged (purchased recently as the replacement for the previous one which got destroyed in another crash), camera mount got twisted and damaged as well. Cost of repair: Php 20,000.00 plus cost of repair of the new 3CCD camera and wide angle attachment!

crash#6 - It was during a shoot in Bacolod, Helicam#1 was out of commission due to a bad thrust bearing so we resorted on using the backup heli (heli sponsored by manufacturer). The previous day as we conducted a test flight, the backup heli sounded strange. There's this humming sound emanating from the center of the heli. He told me that it's nothing, it's just the main gear that needs replacing, --he has the replacement part with him already and all he needed to do was replace the gear that night. Come morning the next day, as he hovered the heli, it was still sounding weird. He admitted that he failed to replace the main gear the previous night but it will hold.. when we were about to start shooting I wasn't getting any trigger response on the camera so I requested him to land the heli for me to be able to fix the problem. As he was about to land, the main gear suddenly gave-up, heli landed hard and crashed! Imagine what could have happened if the main gear gave-up during mid flight! The heli can be repaired, but if it landed on people, wow, that will be a total disaster!

TOTAL DISREGARD TO SAFETY. This guy (Detractor #4) has total disregard to safety. Doing stunt flying at a project site after a shoot just to show off to clients also attests to this. Given his track record on heli maintenance and crashes, what if something goes wrong with the heli and hits someone at the project site? It's my business reputation that he is putting at risk!

After FOUR failed business partnerships, I started to question myself "teka, baka nasa akin ang diperensiya?"... You tell me... How about you? What would you do if your business partner is immature, unreliable, stubborn, has a pea-brain and doesn't understand words like "SUSTAINABILITY", "depreciation", "COSTS", "SAFETY" or if your partner is someone who has his own agenda and whose obvious goal is to make a quick buck /easy money and piggyback???

I'm a marketing person, an I.T. guy, a video editor, a web developer, a SEO consultant, a solutions provider and a proud entrepreneur. All of which I owe to my loving parents who invested heavily on my education... I am really puzzled why my detractors are crying out "Unfair Business Practices and Advantage"... What the @#$* are they talking about?! If you can't keep up to match my business, then switch industries and go find another niche!

These creatures, who are now my detractors, are THE creatures that you should AVOID working with! These are the idiots who will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. So BEWARE. Huwag kang maging UTO-UTO! Always consult with a lawyer before signing into something.

A little bit of history...

I've been a subject of so much controversy with some members of the RC community (Philippines)... maybe because I have succeeded in such a short time where my so called detractors have failed..

Now that those people who detest me so much are finding it difficult to match our capabilities, they have resorted to dirty tactics such as character assassinations, negative publicity and blogs containing fabricated content to the extent of impersonating my wife and stating that she is into the escort service industry.

What I am realizing right now is that (unknown to them) the more they attack me, --the more blessings come my way. I am happy to report that I have 5 contracts for this month alone (January 2010), I'm debt-free, in good health, still happily married, blessed with a super cute and smart kid, and about to start with the construction of a new house. :)

My secret?

I always aim to be a solutions provider.

I live by the following principles:

"Keep Moving Forward" -- Walt Disney

"Knowing is Half the Battle" -- G.I. Joe

"DO GOOD, LOOK GOOD, FEEL GOOD" -- CPM

"Always strive to make your business obsolete, else others will." -- AJF

"You have to see beyond your nose." -- TL

"Staying Focused"

"Exceed Our Client's Expectations, Commitment to Quality and Safety Above All"

Tags: Jojo Mariano, AeroEye Asia, Bubut Lujero Mariano

Conquer 2010!

Finally decided to create a blog about my aerial shoots for 2010 and document how this year will be like for my business and personal success. So far there are so many exciting things in stored for us as we move to professionalize the business even further, explore new industries and identify and conquer another niche market.

Targets for 2010:

1. 36 Aerial shoots (minimum of 3 contracts per month)

2. 12 AVP contracts (minimum of 1 per month)

Total Gross Revenue Target: Php x,xxx,xxx.xx

My ultimate goal: To double the figures year after year based on my 5-year development plan; To be number ONE.