Just had a really lame chat with someone at Adobe who took twenty minutes to even respond with huge delays between each question and then who just ended the chat. Over an hour wasted and I found nothing out that wasn't on the website. So can anyone here help?
I'm an individual who works with SEND kids on creative projects and I was looking at how to get an educational licence for CC so I can use it in my sessions for design, video and web work. As I work for myself I have no educational email address or any paperwork. The sessions with the students are 1:1 and can sometimes only be for a few days and at different locations and organisations. The best they could offer me was two CC licences for myself on the usual business rate which is almost £150 per month (which is just the standard option that's on the website anyway), which would be completely unaffordable for me. Or to get each individual student to sign up themselves with their school email address (not really feasible because of the short times and their needs).
Has anyone else in a similar position managed to get a better deal? Or have I missed something? I didn't even get the chance to ask about sponsorship or other ideas. It looks like I might be going down the route of looking at crappy free software as an alternative, which I really don't want to do.
Thanks in advance.
Stop reading here if you don't want to hear me sounding off!
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I've used Adobe products for over 30 years (right from the start) and have spent literally thousands of pounds on their products as well as installing, promoting, supporting and training other people in their software. Pretty much all of my work has been done in Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamwaver and InDesign (even Flash in the old days!). The attitude I got just now was basically, "what can I sell you?" without looking at my needs, and then the chat suddenly ended when it became clear I wasn't going to be a big spender. I was pretty disappointed. Adobe used to be cool. I felt like I was talking to Microsoft here. My students have found creative projects to be lifesavers and ways of getting into careers when others thought there was no hope, so was surprised by this soulless chat (I was assured it was with a human) which had no understanding of how creativity in young people (especially the ones I teach) can be lifechanging if taken advantage of. Plus they'd be spending thousands on Adobe software themselves if they get into the creative sector! This quote on their Diversity and Inclusion / "Adobe For All" page seems hollow.
"Adobe’s unwavering focus on people, purpose, and community has guided our evolution and growth over the past four decades and inspires our employees to make an impact and invent the future. We are committed to using our resources and unique strengths to help build a more diverse and inclusive world that represents and celebrates different perspectives for our employees, customers, and communities.”
— Shantanu Narayen, Chairman, President, and CEO, Adobe"
It felt more like
"We are committed to using our monopoly to screw as much out of creatives as we can in order to grow our business, without even a nod to our real end users' needs".
Even if this is just a case of being unlucky with an operator who doesn't care, I've left with a much lower opinion of the company than I had before.
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