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Why should I join RAM? There are some well-established models who ask that question at a time when the offers are rolling in, but then try to join RAM in a hurry in the lean times. The number of jobs advertised on the website every year has been rising and is set to rise sharply in the future. The work offered is very varied and some interesting media jobs sometimes come in. The number of employers licenced to contact you via the website is also rising steadily. But there are other reasons for joining. Our roots are in the struggle for better pay and conditions for models. Even if your attitude is that you happy to take whatever benefits RAM has achieved over the years without giving anything back, you should still consider the weight that RAM membership gives you when it comes to complaining about the way an employer may have treated you. The RAM Guidelines have acquired official status in many colleges. Then there's security. Nothing is perfect. There's no such thing as a foolproof security system for models, but we have a system of making sure we get the addresses of all our licence-holding employers. We send them a PIN through the post and the PIN is needed to apply online for a password. A password is deactivated if any credible complaint is received against a licence-holder. For beginners in London keen to get into life modelling, there's no better way of getting your first experience than in our Bare Facts workshops. It's certainly far preferable to being thrown in at the deep end with no preparation and an unsympathetic tutor and students who expect you to know the ropes. Beginners elsewhere may not have that advantage, but RAM membership is still the way to build up your circle of employers. Further info: |
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How do I join RAM? Go here to find out. |
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Why Should I have to audition? The fact that we audition applicants who wish to be listed under London and some other places, and ask for two references if you are in a non-auditioning area, is a great plus when it comes to convincing employers that they should only employ RAM members. You may have been modelling for decades and be very popular, but how can we make exceptions to the rule? After all, even the most senior members of RAM had to audition at some time, and some of us were already very well-known on the scene at the time. In any case, most applicants tell us they enjoyed it. |
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I've joined. So what now? Our formmail system is at the heart of our activities. Go here to find the right form for your purpose - but make sure you know your RAM number first. If the RAM number you enter on the form doesn't match your name and email, you'll get an automated acknowledgment alright, but that's the last you'll hear about it! |
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Late renewal of membership. All members have an annual deadline for renewal of membership. You will find your own renewal deadline at the end of your Section 1 profile, but in any case, you should get an emailed invitation to renew a couple of weeks before your deadline. If you don't renew by the deadline your profile disappears. It's the same with your password - it's automatically deactivated if don't renew by the deadline. They are not restored automatically if you renew late. You have to apply again for a profile, listing and password. After three months, you cease to be a 'late renewer' and become simply a non-member. If you rejoin after that you get a new RAM number. Some employers take note of the RAM numbers, because they know that the lower the number, the longer you have been a member without a break. So it's not good to get a new number. |
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What are the rules. Common sense, really. Nobody is perfect, but we are proud of the general high standard of reliability, competence and conduct of our members, so any reasonable complaints from licence-holding employers on any of these counts lead to suspension of membership for at least a year,after which you can apply for readmittance. The application is not always successful - it depends on the seriousness and number of complaints. Very few models have been suspended from membership over the years - there's something about RAM that attracts the more serious models, the ones with a professional attitude. |
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Why should employers/artists join RAM? Well, for a start, it's free to join as an employer!! All London members have had to pass an audition to test basic competence (also attitude). The Bare Facts workshop leaders who do the auditioning are senior members of RAM and very experienced models. Beginners are not turned away, but they may have have to come back several times before being accepted and are given guidance. This constitutes a form of training. Applicants outside London have to audition if there is a Bare Facts workshop in their area,but usually there isn't, so we have to accept a couple of good references from tutors instead. Beginners outside London can only join as 'Associate Members' and their membership numbers are prefixed with an 'A' until such time as they have done a fair bit of work and can provide references. Our disciplinary procedure works well. Models can be suspended from membership for at least one year following reasonable formal complaints from employers concerning competence, conduct or reliability. After that they can apply for reinstatement, but will not necessarily succeed. It depends on the seriousness and number of complaints. In practice very few models have been suspended over the years, because there is something about RAM that attracts the more serious models - those with a more professional attitude. A tutor once 'leaked' a top art college's private register of models to us. We were horrified to see the names of certain individuals who should never be allowed anywhere near a life room. RAM membership is a powerful weapon against these people and the office of the Secretary of State for Education has endorsed RAM membership as being more reliable than a 'police check' in the case of the employment of models in schools. One of several reasons for this view is that we have the addresses of all our members. Further info: |
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How do I get a licence to use RAM models? If you are not already a licence-holder and we can't check your address some other way, we will send you a PIN by post. You will need the PIN to apply for a password. Just follow the instructions in it for obtaining the password. If you are already a RAM licence-holder, we will recognize you from the details you give and will email a password within a few days, without the need of a PIN. We apologize for making it rather more complicated that it used to be to book models from this site, but there is a small minority of people who upset our models with inappropriate messages, so we have been obliged to tighten security. YOUR DETAILS WILL BE TREATED IN THE STRICTEST CONFIDENCE AND WILL NEVER BE PASSED ON TO ANYONE ELSE. Please go here for the form to join and read the info on the form carefully. |
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Why do I need a licence? We always had a licensing system for the printed list and we considered extending it to the website when models started to complain about the nature of some of the messages they were getting. Eventually the police advised us to set up a meaningful password system and that was the deciding factor. Another factor was that we wanted to phase out the printed list, but some members refused to transfer to the website unless their contact info was password protected. Even now, there are a few who decline to appear on the website. |
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What's the difference between the password and the PIN? The PIN is what we send you through the post, if you are NOT an existing or past licence-holder or we can't check your address some other way. You need the PIN to obtain a licence and password online. You don't need a PIN if you are an existing or past licence-holder for the printed model list. |
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Why all that nonsense with the PIN? Unfortunately, the simple password system used by very many websites, whereby you get a password straight away, without anything being sent to your address, is almost meaningless. If your password is deactivated due to complaints, there's nothing to stop you from getting another password by using a different name and email address. Obviously our system is not foolproof - nothing is - but it offers a bit more security (and satisfies the police). It's a shame is has to be rather complicated, but the nature of some of the people who would contact our models if they could demands that we have addresses. Of course, we already have the addresses of existing licence-holders for the printed model list, so the system is a bit simpler for them - no PIN though the post. Also, if we can check your details e.g.on the electoral register, there is no need for a PIN. |
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Can I advertise on the site for models without having a licence? At the moment, yes. However there are a few models - we don't know how many - who will only work for licence-holders. In any case, a licence makes your search for models more flexible, as you can then contact the models listed on the site as well as advertising for them. To advertise go here. |