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Comment by tpmx | Hacker News Reader

You're saying she should have made money from this charity event she volunteered for? Or just avoided it, because she didn't get any meaningful "exposure" out of it?

For the second time in this posting, as a (northern) European I'm quite puzzled about all of this. I think we may have wildly differing thoughts about what concepts like "volunteering" and "charity" mean.

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No - my point is that some posters in this thread overestimate the monetization potential of exposure. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if the project is for profit or pro bono - either way you commit to unpaid work. Volunteering doesn't only have to be about a good cause, it can also be for your own professional benefit. However, you should be sceptical about the exposure potential of such a gig. The main drawbacks are that you are likely not the only volunteer in the project and that it's often pretty clear you weren't hired for exceptional talent (in the case of the Netflix show a potential customer can do a quick web search and learn that the show contacted many photographers and only accepted free offers).

None of those, I believe? Both the parties should be clear on what they are doing and why.

If you are doing volunteering for charity because you want to do good by the society, great! If you think this is an opportunity that will multiply and pay you back tenfold, then no, that's not gonna happen.

Similarly for the organizers, if you are asking for someone's time or expertise for free because you want them to contribute to a cause, great! If you are asking them for a free service because you won't pay / feel this is a great opportunity for them, grow up.

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