SEANFX

Here’s a must read for any content creator out there. Rebel Alliance by David Kushner at Fast Company. I have to admit I missed this the first time I got my issue of Fast Company. I got caught up in the “Ning” article because I was working on making a few Ning groups. Plus I was reading a few books that centered around “LOST” the very stuff they are talking about in the story! Oh yeah ands some stuff in Heroes, and Battlestar… whatever those shows rock!

A friend of mine mentioned this to me and was surprised I missed it since I pretty much talk his head of about this stuff and he tends to get a glaze over his eyes every time I talk about “transmedia”. I didn’t have a name for it so maybe that’s why he got a glaze… But, that’s what they call it’s just as good as any. Thanks Fast Company!

I think you could do this with just about any show. There’s no need for shows to really go off when the season is over. It’s just more opportunity to dig your fans in deeper. They could have done with Gilmore Girls. Yeah I watched that too. They could have had a website that looked like Stars Hallow Village website and you could go to town meetings and vote on things thing in the town, or tried to vote certain Councilmen off the Village Board, you know who I’m talking about. Anyway I’m getting off track.

This is a tremendous opportunity for show to reach out and find new audiences not to mention bringing up talent that is just chomping at the bit to get the chance to create this kind of stuff. I don’t want to just say “new” talent. Because there are a lot of people in places that don’t fit into the age range of “new”. They are just talent and should still be looked at as a resource.

I suggest though when shows want to make this leap they should reach out to fans of the show that have the production skills to pull this off. Not only would they treat the show with respect but they already know more about the show than most of the writers I bet. And these days it won’t take nearly as many people as you think.

But I’m just going to toss this out there. This works with anything like theme parks and nature preserves as well. I’m picking them because it drive me nuts that they are missing such a great opportunity. But I’ll just stick with a Zoo for example. Last weekend the wife and I were at the St. Louis Zoo. I know they like to sell you over priced food and plush toys for the kids but every time I look around I see plants and trees I think are fantastic. Why don’t they sell those too? I’m sure some of them are grown there or near by. How else do they keep the park beautiful? Just grow a few more and sell them see what happens.

Since I’m not buying the food or the toys, why not the plants? It’s just another great way to spread the Zoo’s message and give me something unique to talk about and share.

If you don’t think you can do it with your show drop me a line. Chances are I’ve seen your show. I’m kind of silly that way. I bet I would have some ideas.

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It’s a simple rule when I find a cord of mine that needs a tie it gets it! No exceptions, yeah even the small USB cables. The great thing about these is they have a built in loop to keep it attached to the cable so you’ll never loose it.

This is a must have in every video makers took kit. I keep them right next to my trusty Swiss Army Knife. I always carry at least one roll of these in my book back and my camera bag. They cost around 5 to 7 dollars but having them on the roll is worth it.

You can find out more the brand here, or try to find them at Lowes. Even on their website they only list these. As you’ll notice you can buy them in a 5 pack for 3 dollars. I personally don’t care about the color codes. I just want my cable to stay wrapped. If you find them in the store buy everything they have because you’ll never see them again there. I mean why would they sell you 50 for 5 bucks when they can sell you 5 pretty colored one for 5 bucks.

Now I just wish the company that makes these would give me a widget to put on my site. So I could get a steady supply of these. Believe me you start getting to the end of the roll fast and you think what am I going to do?

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Well it’s time to start talking about one of my new projects. With a lot of my latest influences like podcasting and filmmaking, which has always been there. I decided I wanted to be more prolific and start making lots of videos. I just feel like I needed to get back to my storytelling roots.

After looking around a bit, I realized the stories were right under my nose. So I decided to start talking about the town I live in, Lombard, IL. I won’t get into it to much here because you can go to Hello Lombard and find out all about it. I’m going to try my hand at doing some documentary videos. Don’t worry; I’m still going to make videos with visual effects in them. The problem is they take so long to produce, their fun but it takes a while.

Hope you like my new channel!

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I think we are already use to the idea, we just didn’t realize it. 

Most good video podcasts last 3 to 7 minutes.  Then the next day or week you get another.  After all how many commercial breaks are there in an hour show?  About 5 or 6 and each show segment is already about 3 to 7 minutes (depending on how popular a show is and where they want to put a cliff-hanger.  Then there might be more breaks.)

But here’s the great thing about podcast and each episode only lasting say 5 minutes.  I could watch 5 or 6 different podcasts and get much more information and entertainment in less time.  Now if they will just make commercials relevant to my needs then advertising would be useful to me and to the advertiser.

When shows aren’t trying to fill an hour or umm 45 minutes because of the commericals.  They put more concise information in the show whether it’s plot or DIY information.  I’m finding myself more bored when a character walks endlessly down a hall, around corner, down stairs, down another hall, just to bump into a cat; I hit the fast forward button.  Oh yeah I feel the same way about DVD menus!  I’ll save that for later.

I know I’ve made this error in my own films, I won’t anymore or I’ll try not too. 

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