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Tuesday, January 25, 2011
3 Great Links!
Was sent one nice article on How to do a training video the right way, and it lead me to 3 more. So I shall share them here.
Do You Speak Video - by Mary Arnold
Producing Video in an Education Setting - by Megan R. Bell (no relation)
6 Steps to Creating High Quality Video Training - by Jeremy Vest
The common thread is that video should not be boring, but clients need to listen to their producer (and having a decent budget helps) to make a video both educational and attention-holding.
Common threads: Plan plan plan! Rehearse. Keep segments to a set time that is not 1 hour. Be very careful when using "real" people and "real" situations instead of on-camera professionals and scripted situations...at least use a detailed outline.
There's my post for today. Just in case I don't get another up in time, may the Steelers lose badly in the only negative-scoring superbowl in history. May the ground swallow up and crush Big Ben with the force of all the tackles he's broken. And may the countless millions paid to referees by the Steelers over the years all be repurposed to finding a cure for cancer, or ending hunger, or something that is at least less frustrating than watching the GD Steelers win.
Do You Speak Video - by Mary Arnold
Producing Video in an Education Setting - by Megan R. Bell (no relation)
6 Steps to Creating High Quality Video Training - by Jeremy Vest
The common thread is that video should not be boring, but clients need to listen to their producer (and having a decent budget helps) to make a video both educational and attention-holding.
Common threads: Plan plan plan! Rehearse. Keep segments to a set time that is not 1 hour. Be very careful when using "real" people and "real" situations instead of on-camera professionals and scripted situations...at least use a detailed outline.
There's my post for today. Just in case I don't get another up in time, may the Steelers lose badly in the only negative-scoring superbowl in history. May the ground swallow up and crush Big Ben with the force of all the tackles he's broken. And may the countless millions paid to referees by the Steelers over the years all be repurposed to finding a cure for cancer, or ending hunger, or something that is at least less frustrating than watching the GD Steelers win.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
How To: 5 Steps to Making Your Large Event's Video Pieces Personal and Interesting
I'm currently in the process of helping to plan some video segments for a 500-attendee district conference. We are planning to touch and motivate every attendee, and we will be successful. How do I know? Been there done that. By following these steps, you can be successful too:
BUT FIRST - - It is extremely important that you talk to your Event AV Staff, and talk amongst yourselves, before you do anything else.
Questions for the AV Staff, 1) What video format do they prefer...DVD? Beta? Other?, 1.5) If it's DVD, do they want to navigate a menu or have everything clearly labeled on separate disks? 2) Do they want pre-roll and countdowns on the videos?, 3) If you will be providing music, how do they want to play it?...CD?...iPod?....Hard Drive?
Why ask these questions? Because every on-site staff and every operator is different. I've worked with guys in Vegas who wanted video on DVDs that would kick straight to the video the second they pushed play and all the music on 2 iPods. The next year I worked with a very experienced team in New Orleans that preferred Beta tapes with a minimum :05 second countdown and all the music on CDs and their own drive-based playback machine. The easier you make things for your onsite event staff, the better your conference or meeting will be.
How about questions to ask of yourselves, your own committee. 1) How long can video's be?, 2) Do you want music permanently attached to video, or do you want to be able to choose and control a piece of music separately while a video is playing? And of course, 3) What graphic elements need to carry through the signage, the stage, to the video?
OK, now to the steps. I need to credit Rotary District 5030 President John Matthews with the idea and layout behind this...I'm simply working on the execution and production.
STEP 1: All the attendees at your meeting or conference come from their own place somewhere in the world. Whether it's club based, office based, or community based, each has a Leader and each has some kind of place where they gather. Your organization knows how to contact that Leader. Here are the movable parts for the conference I'm currently working on:
A. Create a very brief (no more than 1 page) questionnaire. Send it to the Leaders. Tell them that each group will be featured at the conference in a 1-minute showcase, and that they need to respond to the questionnaire to ensure that they are proudly showcased. Remind them of the conference theme, then ask them to list no more than 3 of their groups proudest - - not necessarily biggest - - achievements from the last year. (proper English not withstanding) Note that the closer the achievements related to the theme, the better. Provide short "blanks" to list the achievements.
B. Ask them to list any assets related to their achievements. Video clips, photos, newspaper write ups, press releases, thank you notes, anything that can be fuel for a story. Provide blanks that begin with "Video" etc to help the group think in these terms.
C. Provide a space for the group to write a paragraph about their proudest achievement, whether they have "assets" listed above or not.
D. Provide a space for the group to enter a Contact Name, Phone, and Email for one person in the group who will be responsible for helping you make their video happen.
E. You need to get a response from each group within 2 weeks. I prefer 2 weeks because it's enough time to think about something but not usually enough time to forget it or go waaaaaay overboard on it. Follow up follow up follow up.
STEP 2: While the questionnaires are out, you have 2 weeks to build the template these 1 minute showcases will "air" in. This is your opportunity to make sure all these videos from who knows where will be in visual sync with the rest of your conference. Build the following:
A. Motion graphic open and close that matches your conference signage
B. Motion graphic transition element to move you from 1 showcase to the next. Example: If you want to play different videos in 5 minute blocks at scheduled times, create the template with this setup - Open>Showcase1>Transition>Showcase2>Transition>3>Trans>4>Trans5>Close.
C. Make sure the Close is 1 or 2 minutes long, minimum. This will give the MC time to get onto the stage and give the AV staff plenty of time to cue up the next visual elements.
D. Make sure you have a universal background element to play nicely behind the videos. Video comes in many shapes and sizes nowadays. A background element will help you quickly mix HD with Standard Def.
STEP 3: Distribute the Template to your editors. Distribute the Questionnaire Responses and Non-Responders to your team for followup to get all the assets. Learn all you can about the groups accomplishments and the assets they will be sending....you don't want anyone digging through 3 hours of handheld footage if you're going to have a quick turnaround, so narrow moments down. If necessary, have the group include a list of exactly what time something great happens on the tape.
Some groups will no doubt want to edit their own 1 minute showcase. Find out what top 3 formats your editors want to receive these completed showcases in, and give the self-producing groups an achievable but early deadline so that nobody is pinned against the wall for completion or troubleshooting.
As the assets ship in, distribute them to your editors and get those Showcases created, and if necessary, approved. Which leads to
STEP 4: Approval. At least 2 sets of eyeballs should review everything. Find 2 people in the organization that can watch the Showcases and make sure everything is good to go. Avoid offering approval to the individual groups unless you have 6-8 months to make revisions.
STEP 5: Put the approved showcases into the Templates. Burn a DVD or 2 and review them one more time. Then make multiple copies in your on-site event staffs preferred format and hand them over.
What will this result in? Happiness, Excitement, and Motivation. Everyone likes to see themselves and people they know on the big screen. And every group, no matter how big or small, does something in the course of a year that they are proud of.
By doing this you're giving every attendee organization-wide recognition that is metric tons more powerful than any plaque could ever be. Metric Tons. You want to see smiling faces, this will do 75% of the work. Making sure the food is tasty and the adult beverages are flowing with do the other 25%
Always appreciate your comments - after all, every event and organization is different!
BUT FIRST - - It is extremely important that you talk to your Event AV Staff, and talk amongst yourselves, before you do anything else.
Questions for the AV Staff, 1) What video format do they prefer...DVD? Beta? Other?, 1.5) If it's DVD, do they want to navigate a menu or have everything clearly labeled on separate disks? 2) Do they want pre-roll and countdowns on the videos?, 3) If you will be providing music, how do they want to play it?...CD?...iPod?....Hard Drive?
Why ask these questions? Because every on-site staff and every operator is different. I've worked with guys in Vegas who wanted video on DVDs that would kick straight to the video the second they pushed play and all the music on 2 iPods. The next year I worked with a very experienced team in New Orleans that preferred Beta tapes with a minimum :05 second countdown and all the music on CDs and their own drive-based playback machine. The easier you make things for your onsite event staff, the better your conference or meeting will be.
How about questions to ask of yourselves, your own committee. 1) How long can video's be?, 2) Do you want music permanently attached to video, or do you want to be able to choose and control a piece of music separately while a video is playing? And of course, 3) What graphic elements need to carry through the signage, the stage, to the video?
OK, now to the steps. I need to credit Rotary District 5030 President John Matthews with the idea and layout behind this...I'm simply working on the execution and production.
STEP 1: All the attendees at your meeting or conference come from their own place somewhere in the world. Whether it's club based, office based, or community based, each has a Leader and each has some kind of place where they gather. Your organization knows how to contact that Leader. Here are the movable parts for the conference I'm currently working on:
A. Create a very brief (no more than 1 page) questionnaire. Send it to the Leaders. Tell them that each group will be featured at the conference in a 1-minute showcase, and that they need to respond to the questionnaire to ensure that they are proudly showcased. Remind them of the conference theme, then ask them to list no more than 3 of their groups proudest - - not necessarily biggest - - achievements from the last year. (proper English not withstanding) Note that the closer the achievements related to the theme, the better. Provide short "blanks" to list the achievements.
B. Ask them to list any assets related to their achievements. Video clips, photos, newspaper write ups, press releases, thank you notes, anything that can be fuel for a story. Provide blanks that begin with "Video" etc to help the group think in these terms.
C. Provide a space for the group to write a paragraph about their proudest achievement, whether they have "assets" listed above or not.
D. Provide a space for the group to enter a Contact Name, Phone, and Email for one person in the group who will be responsible for helping you make their video happen.
E. You need to get a response from each group within 2 weeks. I prefer 2 weeks because it's enough time to think about something but not usually enough time to forget it or go waaaaaay overboard on it. Follow up follow up follow up.
STEP 2: While the questionnaires are out, you have 2 weeks to build the template these 1 minute showcases will "air" in. This is your opportunity to make sure all these videos from who knows where will be in visual sync with the rest of your conference. Build the following:
A. Motion graphic open and close that matches your conference signage
B. Motion graphic transition element to move you from 1 showcase to the next. Example: If you want to play different videos in 5 minute blocks at scheduled times, create the template with this setup - Open>Showcase1>Transition>Showcase2>Transition>3>Trans>4>Trans5>Close.
C. Make sure the Close is 1 or 2 minutes long, minimum. This will give the MC time to get onto the stage and give the AV staff plenty of time to cue up the next visual elements.
D. Make sure you have a universal background element to play nicely behind the videos. Video comes in many shapes and sizes nowadays. A background element will help you quickly mix HD with Standard Def.
STEP 3: Distribute the Template to your editors. Distribute the Questionnaire Responses and Non-Responders to your team for followup to get all the assets. Learn all you can about the groups accomplishments and the assets they will be sending....you don't want anyone digging through 3 hours of handheld footage if you're going to have a quick turnaround, so narrow moments down. If necessary, have the group include a list of exactly what time something great happens on the tape.
Some groups will no doubt want to edit their own 1 minute showcase. Find out what top 3 formats your editors want to receive these completed showcases in, and give the self-producing groups an achievable but early deadline so that nobody is pinned against the wall for completion or troubleshooting.
As the assets ship in, distribute them to your editors and get those Showcases created, and if necessary, approved. Which leads to
STEP 4: Approval. At least 2 sets of eyeballs should review everything. Find 2 people in the organization that can watch the Showcases and make sure everything is good to go. Avoid offering approval to the individual groups unless you have 6-8 months to make revisions.
STEP 5: Put the approved showcases into the Templates. Burn a DVD or 2 and review them one more time. Then make multiple copies in your on-site event staffs preferred format and hand them over.
What will this result in? Happiness, Excitement, and Motivation. Everyone likes to see themselves and people they know on the big screen. And every group, no matter how big or small, does something in the course of a year that they are proud of.
By doing this you're giving every attendee organization-wide recognition that is metric tons more powerful than any plaque could ever be. Metric Tons. You want to see smiling faces, this will do 75% of the work. Making sure the food is tasty and the adult beverages are flowing with do the other 25%
Always appreciate your comments - after all, every event and organization is different!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Quick and No Substance
Goldfish Crackers - Now made with Real Goldfish!
So the new Miss America was announced on Friday, was it? Teresa Scanlan, Miss America, and the first Miss Nebraska to win the title bout. And she just happens to be from my home town of Gering, NE. How bout that. And she was born the year before I graduated from high school. Time to check for grey hairs. All that said, even I can admit that it's kinda cool. Nice hometown pride moment.
Oh - and I saw yesterday that....wait for it..... JUSTIN BEIBER CUT HIS HAIR!!!!! Thank you (unfortunately named) Hope Carson.
There. Like I said, quick and no substance. My next two entries are probably going to have a lot of substance...sorry in advance.
Comments welcome. I think they're enabled. Maybe.
So the new Miss America was announced on Friday, was it? Teresa Scanlan, Miss America, and the first Miss Nebraska to win the title bout. And she just happens to be from my home town of Gering, NE. How bout that. And she was born the year before I graduated from high school. Time to check for grey hairs. All that said, even I can admit that it's kinda cool. Nice hometown pride moment.
Oh - and I saw yesterday that....wait for it..... JUSTIN BEIBER CUT HIS HAIR!!!!! Thank you (unfortunately named) Hope Carson.
There. Like I said, quick and no substance. My next two entries are probably going to have a lot of substance...sorry in advance.
Comments welcome. I think they're enabled. Maybe.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Personal Service
Who puts Regence Blue Cross and Great Personal Service in the same sentence? I do now. Last Friday was my birthday, and I spent about a half hour on hold with Regence to make sure some plan changes had gone into effect. A painless half hour, on speakerphone, of course.
A couple of days later I received a hand-written birthday card from my operator, Nicole. Hand-written! Completely changes how I feel about the insurance machine...because now it's not a disembodied voice.
What are some of your rewarding personal service stories?
A couple of days later I received a hand-written birthday card from my operator, Nicole. Hand-written! Completely changes how I feel about the insurance machine...because now it's not a disembodied voice.
What are some of your rewarding personal service stories?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Voices In Your Head
A topic at our most recent (wonderful) Tuesday Reticent Bloggers Support Group was, “How much of yourself do you expose online?” Of course, that depends on the website, haha. For blogging it came down to choosing the voice with which you write. Example: Is this blog Personal Scott, Business Scott, or a hybrid?
I’m going to tend to go with hybrid, and not just for just blog, but for all the writing I’ve done over the last…20+ years. The truth is that I have done very little personal writing; my writing has always been for a client or a performance. But that doesn’t mean that I am not “in” my writing. We all lend our own voice to our writing. I would venture to say that even those who are ghost writers, and I have not officially done that, put something of ourselves into our text….ghost writers by ingesting enough of their client into themselves to be able to speak with their clients voice.
I’m going to tend to go with hybrid, and not just for just blog, but for all the writing I’ve done over the last…20+ years. The truth is that I have done very little personal writing; my writing has always been for a client or a performance. But that doesn’t mean that I am not “in” my writing. We all lend our own voice to our writing. I would venture to say that even those who are ghost writers, and I have not officially done that, put something of ourselves into our text….ghost writers by ingesting enough of their client into themselves to be able to speak with their clients voice.
Anyway, in this blog posting, as I enjoy a which chocolate latte at Tully’s and crank this out before an approaching afternoon of Nerf swording (sword fighting, for long), I want to talk about the various voices I’ve written with. Go ego.
CLIENT: I have written thousands of local tv ad scripts, ranging from baby supply stores (Git Yer Fresh Babies, Fresh Babies on a Spit!) to screaming car lots to retirement communities to environmental concerns to restaurants to on-screen-graphics-only….you get the point. Typically I receive approximately 1 short paragraph of copy points. Any information I glean beyond that comes through appointments with the client or doing my own research on the client. From this I have to craft at least 1 script for a thirty or sixty second commercial. This has always been no problem for me, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that anyone with some writing experience can easily write 30 seconds worth of words on HVAC if they have a trifold brochure to base everything from. The interesting part comes when you inject your own imagination into the copy. Why not have a mosquito sell BBQ? So a guy wears a Ram costume to sell trucks; what’s his day to day life like? What’s his motivation and passion? You start with that foundation of the client’s own words, then you build a beautiful structure on top of that foundation. Or at least a structure that gets approved and makes the client some money.
CLIENT: I have written thousands of local tv ad scripts, ranging from baby supply stores (Git Yer Fresh Babies, Fresh Babies on a Spit!) to screaming car lots to retirement communities to environmental concerns to restaurants to on-screen-graphics-only….you get the point. Typically I receive approximately 1 short paragraph of copy points. Any information I glean beyond that comes through appointments with the client or doing my own research on the client. From this I have to craft at least 1 script for a thirty or sixty second commercial. This has always been no problem for me, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that anyone with some writing experience can easily write 30 seconds worth of words on HVAC if they have a trifold brochure to base everything from. The interesting part comes when you inject your own imagination into the copy. Why not have a mosquito sell BBQ? So a guy wears a Ram costume to sell trucks; what’s his day to day life like? What’s his motivation and passion? You start with that foundation of the client’s own words, then you build a beautiful structure on top of that foundation. Or at least a structure that gets approved and makes the client some money.
Another side of client writing is press releases, emails, flyers, speeches. For one employer, I had to write everything in a very specific way. Many companies do this, and I think it is a good thing for synchronicity in communications. But I think that the communications overall suffer because the writers imagination can end up being removed. The result is a series of dry, unmotivational blasts that serve to inform but don’t necessarily move to action.
Maybe I can illustrate this point by comparing 2 services. The headlines on Yahoo’s homepage vs the daily coupons that Groupon serves to your email account. Yahoo’s headlines are recycled product. Looking on any given day you will see a thumbnail with text along the lines of “Celebrity embarrasses herself.” “Politician apologizes for ______.” “NFL player makes worst play ever.” How about I just go online and copy some direct samples from 1-11-11:
Maybe I can illustrate this point by comparing 2 services. The headlines on Yahoo’s homepage vs the daily coupons that Groupon serves to your email account. Yahoo’s headlines are recycled product. Looking on any given day you will see a thumbnail with text along the lines of “Celebrity embarrasses herself.” “Politician apologizes for ______.” “NFL player makes worst play ever.” How about I just go online and copy some direct samples from 1-11-11:
“NBA Teams Play To Puny Crowd” “Player Punished For Photo Tweet” “Official Warns of N. Korea Threat” “Improve Those Job Skills in 2011”
These catch my eye because they are so generic. Groupon, however, is always unique and often hilarious. Here’s Jan 11th’s Groupon example:
“What ratio of schmucks to smarts should I invite to my next function?”
SCREENPLAYS: How much of yourself can you put into each character in a movie without feeling schizophrentic? I guess that’s the fun part, and I guess it depends on how much you care about reality. I believe I’ve written or adapted around 10 screenplays in the last 10 years. Two were optioned as master’s thesis projects to students in USC’s Peter Stark producing program. I have always have a lot of fun creating the characters and the way they interact in their world, though of course sometimes it’s harder than others. How do these voices start? Sometimes with my own original idea, sometimes with a brainstormed idea from a group, and once or twice it’s been a suggestion given by a friend.
The hardest process for me is the suggestion from a friend. It takes a lot of work to ingest a world that someone else has envisioned, and I have not always found success in doing so. Even when I have been successful ingesting the world, thinking of the characters and creating their own voices is still another challenge. Why? Because for me it is easiest to inject myself into the characters, but the project may not always call for that.
Can you think of fictional characters that you create as an extension of your own personality? I believe that you have to do so. Is it a bit frightening to think that we all have an axe murderer living somewhere inside of us? Well….1) not everybody writes an axe murderer. I’ve killed characters in plenty of other ways! 2) It’s part of the art of words. Just because you ingest a world doesn’t mean you become that world, it just means you get to play in it. Playing Grand Theft Auto doesn’t make you steal cars and do all those other enormously fun, consequent-free, virtual things. You’re not giving up your choice by writing with a different voice, you’re exploring a different world where you can craft any kind of imaginary reality that you see fit. Anybody read Chuck Palahniuk?
PERSONAL: Truly personal writing takes me the longest. It’s not a difficult exercise, it’s just a different though process, because I have to consider me and only me, no real external input. This can be very therapeutic, intensely deep and emotional, or purely stream of consciousness. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s awful. Sometimes it’s wordy as all hell just like this posting that you’re finally nearing the end of. I don’t do it often, because I’m not sure where the revenue is. How is that for personal? Practically all of the writing I have done has had a paycheck attached to it, or hopes for a paycheck. So why write anything personal if the paycheck is my gratification? That’s something I had better think about and save for another posting!
So, I think that covers what I wanted to cover. The hybrid business/personal Scott voice, injected into all, and a little bit about it. If any of this has been understandable, I’d love to see your comments!
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