Obviously, the Internet is one place to find media production professionals. The larger search engines like Yahoo, maintain vendor search capabilities that are localized for major cities and regions, allowing you to target, "DesMoines" as a filter when searching for a vendor. Some vendors, however, like print designers, translators and meeting planners do not aggressively list on the Internet. Maintaining a presence on the Internet is also tricky, sometimes taking a vendor repeated efforts during the year. Good, busy vendors may simply not appear in your search. Many clients use the hardcopy form of their local Yellow Pages, but what classification word would you use? "Video" oftenpoints to video stores and videocassette manufacturers.

"Meeting Planners" is rarely a featured category, same with "CDROM" and "Website Designers" is only slightly more productive. "Translation Services" works well as does "Printing," but printing will list the factories that do the printing, not the designers who drive the work. Dealing directly with printers can be a path full of costly mistakes. Finally, "Animators," will produce some good results in major cities. Video producers, by the way, are found under "Motion Picture Producers."

A good place to locate creative talent throughout the motion picture arts is your state or city's Office Of Motion Picture Production, sometimes under the Mayor's or Governor's office. While these offices are mostly looking to promote theatrical feature films, they usually maintain a list of qualified professionals with experience in a wide range of services, from Photographers to Print Designers.

Since most producers will eventually head for the watering hole of a major duplicator, try contacting the companies who duplicate video and mass produce CD-ROMs, inquiring who are the best of their customers. The same applies to printing companies (for print designers) and major hotels (for meeting planners).

Major organizations exist for each of the media categories. Business video producers often belong to the Independent Television Association (ITVA). Meeting Planners congregate in the Meeting Planners International (MPI), CDROM creators, digital artists and animators are enthusiastic supporters of the Special Interest Group Graphics, or SIGGRAPH and traditional graphic artists and typographers break bread at the Art Directors Club of America. Translators? We don't know of any association of translators, but your local court house is not a bad place to start.

Obviously, the Internet is an excellent place to build a list of vendors, with many maintaining the most elaborate websites. But websites can be misleading. First, it isn't hard to make a one-man operation look like a Fortune 500 firm (which isn't a bad thing, really, since many clients seeking website designers are looking to do the same thing!). Secondly, the old addage that "the best plumber always has leaky pipes," often holds true. Successful media professionals put their own websites well after the paying customers in priority and the busiest often have the most outdated sites. The best bet when evaluating the results of a web vendor search is to pay the vendor an onsite visit.

However you find your vendors, build a list of about six or seven and then proceed to "qualify" the list down to the vendors to whom you will send a Request for Proposal, or RFP. Click on "Qualify Vendors" to continue.