Why I do long videos and tell mass audiences to go elsewhere

Uncategorized 1 Minute

Andrew Bourland notices that the way to build an audience is to do short videos. Beet.TV is kicking my a&&.

But, as Kathy Sierra teaches us, it’s not all about size of audience. I used to get that request over at Microsoft all the time.

See, you assume I’m going after a mass audience. If I were I would have posted my “Surfing porn shootout: Firefox 2 vs. IE 7” post already. THAT would have gotten a mass audience. Of course it would earn me a divorce, too. 🙂

Instead I post long videos of Thomas Hawk shooting pumpkins. THAT will NEVER get a mass audience. First of all it’s only going to be interesting to people who care about photography and, even worse, only to those who have digital SLRs.

Same thing when I get a startup or a team from a big company on. How many people REALLY care about RSS readers, for instance? Not many. Probably less than 1% of the overall market.

I’d love to have the passionate ones. That’s who I do my show for.

Published by Robert Scoble

I help entrepreneurs build their technology business' story, help with getting ready for investors, with other launch plans, and many other strategic things that can help your new startup. Call to talk: +1-425-205-1921 (text first).

Published

84 thoughts on “Why I do long videos and tell mass audiences to go elsewhere”

  7. Robert – not true, your assumption that only camera buffs will be interested in your walking photo/video blogs.

    I don’t care about cameras (although I have a number of them) or making videos (although I have made some) – I watch because the human interaction interests me, and I occasionally learn something – and I generally enjoy the accompanying photos on Flickr (or wherever)

    Rob

    Like

  8. Robert – not true, your assumption that only camera buffs will be interested in your walking photo/video blogs.

    I don’t care about cameras (although I have a number of them) or making videos (although I have made some) – I watch because the human interaction interests me, and I occasionally learn something – and I generally enjoy the accompanying photos on Flickr (or wherever)

    Rob

    Like

  9. Hi Robert,

    I hope that my post didn’t come across as any sort of disrespect to your video work. It certainly wasn’t intended that way.

    I’ve watched many of your videos but, to be honest, some have been a bit too long for the time I could reasonably allocate to them (i.e. working hours, family time). Fact is, I love your open, friendly, engaging style with the people you meet, and if I weren’t such a damn introvert, I’d be more successful in emulating your style.

    I am also guilty of lengthy video interviews. Check out this one at http://www.zbiz.tv/category/accolade-prep-crick-houston/
    if you would like to see an example of my own 39 minute interview.

    I’ve been told by a number of people that my interviews are too long for the average attention span on the net. When I point to your site as an example of another interview blog, they reply that they don’t watch yours either. I guess I’m not talking to my audience.

    If one’s long term objective is to attract and retain sponsors, it’s better to have more audience than what you and I share. I’m not Robert Scoble, so it ain’t going to be easy for me to attract a Seagate who wishes to support my work by offering a healthy sponsorship. So unless I ever get to that level of notoriety, I’m going to have to have solid numbers and some sort of qualitative information about my audience before I can attract a good sponsor.

    That’s where I was coming from on that piece. The nerd wars, as you have pointed out on this blog, is really all about ad dollars when you boil it down to its essence, so that’s what it was about.

    If you were Joe Schmoe doing the same interviews, would Seagate have come knocking on your door? I don’t think so.

    Well, I’m Joe Schmoe, and they certainly haven’t knocked on mine. So I am wrestling with how to capture the essence of the entrepreneurs and businesses I profile without overwhelming my audience and taking up too much of their time.

    Beet.TV does a hell of a job taking what is probably 20 minutes or more worth of conversation (I don’t know that for a fact, but you might) and boiling it down to the best 5 minutes. That’s why Plesser’s audience is greater than a multiple of yours and mine combined.

    BTW, I’m going to be in your neck of the woods next Wednesday. I’m attending the Art of the Start event followed by the Launch event that SVASE is putting on. If you are going to be in Mountain View, I’d love to cut away so we could grab a lunch together.

    Again, my apologies if you were offended. It certainly wasn’t my intent.

    Take care,

    Andy

    Like

  10. Hi Robert,

    I hope that my post didn’t come across as any sort of disrespect to your video work. It certainly wasn’t intended that way.

    I’ve watched many of your videos but, to be honest, some have been a bit too long for the time I could reasonably allocate to them (i.e. working hours, family time). Fact is, I love your open, friendly, engaging style with the people you meet, and if I weren’t such a damn introvert, I’d be more successful in emulating your style.

    I am also guilty of lengthy video interviews. Check out this one at http://www.zbiz.tv/category/accolade-prep-crick-houston/
    if you would like to see an example of my own 39 minute interview.

    I’ve been told by a number of people that my interviews are too long for the average attention span on the net. When I point to your site as an example of another interview blog, they reply that they don’t watch yours either. I guess I’m not talking to my audience.

    If one’s long term objective is to attract and retain sponsors, it’s better to have more audience than what you and I share. I’m not Robert Scoble, so it ain’t going to be easy for me to attract a Seagate who wishes to support my work by offering a healthy sponsorship. So unless I ever get to that level of notoriety, I’m going to have to have solid numbers and some sort of qualitative information about my audience before I can attract a good sponsor.

    That’s where I was coming from on that piece. The nerd wars, as you have pointed out on this blog, is really all about ad dollars when you boil it down to its essence, so that’s what it was about.

    If you were Joe Schmoe doing the same interviews, would Seagate have come knocking on your door? I don’t think so.

    Well, I’m Joe Schmoe, and they certainly haven’t knocked on mine. So I am wrestling with how to capture the essence of the entrepreneurs and businesses I profile without overwhelming my audience and taking up too much of their time.

    Beet.TV does a hell of a job taking what is probably 20 minutes or more worth of conversation (I don’t know that for a fact, but you might) and boiling it down to the best 5 minutes. That’s why Plesser’s audience is greater than a multiple of yours and mine combined.

    BTW, I’m going to be in your neck of the woods next Wednesday. I’m attending the Art of the Start event followed by the Launch event that SVASE is putting on. If you are going to be in Mountain View, I’d love to cut away so we could grab a lunch together.

    Again, my apologies if you were offended. It certainly wasn’t my intent.

    Take care,

    Andy

    Like

  15. Andrew: on Channel 9 we got to 4.3 million unique visitors a month and I ran long videos there too.

    As to traffic, the metrics you pointed to don’t show my true traffic levels. Alexa is highly inaccurate.

    But, once I get an editor I’ll work on shorter shows and we’ll see if your theory comes true.

    I think longevity matters in audience, which is one reason Rocketboom has more audience than ZeFrank. Also, Beet.TV covers news that’s more topical and up to date than I have so far. Being part of the conversation matters a lot more than anything else, which is why my blog is still up there.

    Like

  16. Andrew: on Channel 9 we got to 4.3 million unique visitors a month and I ran long videos there too.

    As to traffic, the metrics you pointed to don’t show my true traffic levels. Alexa is highly inaccurate.

    But, once I get an editor I’ll work on shorter shows and we’ll see if your theory comes true.

    I think longevity matters in audience, which is one reason Rocketboom has more audience than ZeFrank. Also, Beet.TV covers news that’s more topical and up to date than I have so far. Being part of the conversation matters a lot more than anything else, which is why my blog is still up there.

    Like

  17. The Rqtect: I know some bloggers making thousands of dollars per month. But, it’s not easy to make that kind of money.

    Like

  18. The Rqtect: I know some bloggers making thousands of dollars per month. But, it’s not easy to make that kind of money.

    Like

  23. You know you could post long videos of Thomas shooting half naked models 🙂

    Don’t know about that divorce, but it sure would get some audience…

    Like

  24. You know you could post long videos of Thomas shooting half naked models 🙂

    Don’t know about that divorce, but it sure would get some audience…

    Like

  25. Robert, for goodness sakes, I’m not kicking your ass!

    The Alexa numbers Borland charts are for page views for Beet.TV on Typepad, not views of videos. The views of video clips are counted by Google Video, publisher of my Flash video. As best I can figure, of the visitors to Beet.TV, only about 25% view the video clips.

    Frankly, I am suprised that such a small number actually view clips. I provide a lot of text and links so maybe folks don’t need to view the video. I’m not sure, this is a work in progress.

    Andy

    Like

  26. Robert, for goodness sakes, I’m not kicking your ass!

    The Alexa numbers Borland charts are for page views for Beet.TV on Typepad, not views of videos. The views of video clips are counted by Google Video, publisher of my Flash video. As best I can figure, of the visitors to Beet.TV, only about 25% view the video clips.

    Frankly, I am suprised that such a small number actually view clips. I provide a lot of text and links so maybe folks don’t need to view the video. I’m not sure, this is a work in progress.

    Andy

    Like

  29. How do you eat an elephant? A bit at a time!

    Sometimes I wonder if you have any idea who your audience is? Surely, despite what you say, you are in a commercial venture and you want people to revisit The Scoble Show.

    You already are aware that you aren’t spending enough time editing. So when you have that in place, do give it a go and edit one of your longer 45 minute items up into 5-6 shorter pieces linked together & then track how people prefer it – as a 45 minute one-shot or 6-7 episodes?

    I think you really know that shorter is better – river of news and all that – just haven’t got around to it yet!

    Like

  30. How do you eat an elephant? A bit at a time!

    Sometimes I wonder if you have any idea who your audience is? Surely, despite what you say, you are in a commercial venture and you want people to revisit The Scoble Show.

    You already are aware that you aren’t spending enough time editing. So when you have that in place, do give it a go and edit one of your longer 45 minute items up into 5-6 shorter pieces linked together & then track how people prefer it – as a 45 minute one-shot or 6-7 episodes?

    I think you really know that shorter is better – river of news and all that – just haven’t got around to it yet!

    Like

  31. TC: shorter is better, absolutely, but along with short comes a non-passionate, non-engaged audience. I’d rather start with a small, but more engaged audience.

    For instance, do I want the kind of fanboys who are over at Gizmodo today reading their Zune review, which really didn’t tell you a single new thing, or do I want the kinds of comments I had a week ago when I put up my 40 minute interview with someone from the Zune team?

    There’s no comparison. I’d rather have the longer, more in depth, interview and the more engaged, smarter, audience.

    Like

  32. TC: shorter is better, absolutely, but along with short comes a non-passionate, non-engaged audience. I’d rather start with a small, but more engaged audience.

    For instance, do I want the kind of fanboys who are over at Gizmodo today reading their Zune review, which really didn’t tell you a single new thing, or do I want the kinds of comments I had a week ago when I put up my 40 minute interview with someone from the Zune team?

    There’s no comparison. I’d rather have the longer, more in depth, interview and the more engaged, smarter, audience.

    Like

  33. As for enough time editing, the 1:10 photowalking series took me about 12 hours of encoding, editing, compressing time. I’m not sure how much more time you’d like me to spend, but at some point the cost/benefit isn’t there. Especially when shows like Diggnation and TWiT are at the top of iTunes. Those aren’t edited and are also long.

    Like

  34. As for enough time editing, the 1:10 photowalking series took me about 12 hours of encoding, editing, compressing time. I’m not sure how much more time you’d like me to spend, but at some point the cost/benefit isn’t there. Especially when shows like Diggnation and TWiT are at the top of iTunes. Those aren’t edited and are also long.

    Like

  35. I think the big power of podcasting (audio and video) is in the fact that it *is* aimed at a niche (and hence more passionate) audience. I’ll sit through 120min of crappy audio to listen to someone discuss something I’m passionate about. I do it nearly every day during my commutes. Shows (podcast and traditional) aimed at grabbing the largest market are always a lot more boring to me.

    Sure the shows might seem amateurish, but the word amateur originates from ‘love’. People who are doing it for the love of it. It comes across in the work.

    Like

  36. I think the big power of podcasting (audio and video) is in the fact that it *is* aimed at a niche (and hence more passionate) audience. I’ll sit through 120min of crappy audio to listen to someone discuss something I’m passionate about. I do it nearly every day during my commutes. Shows (podcast and traditional) aimed at grabbing the largest market are always a lot more boring to me.

    Sure the shows might seem amateurish, but the word amateur originates from ‘love’. People who are doing it for the love of it. It comes across in the work.

    Like

  37. “There’s no comparison. I’d rather have the longer, more in depth, interview and the more engaged, smarter, audience.”

    Agree. This is why I rather focus on in-depth discussion or presentation on our Web SIG meetings rather than showing product demo. I’d rather have more active and engaged members.

    Video editing is labor intensive. It took me 2 full weeks to edit a 45 min corporate video and insert video with slides, audio, and music following a movie script. Another 2 weeks to make 4 revisions to achieve the release video version. It is considered very fast compared to video professionals. Compressing and DVD burning take another chunk of time usually block of 3-6 hrs.

    My wishful thinking is to train students to do the boring encoding, compressing and dvd burning. Then I can focus on slide images, video transition, audio transition, music selection and editing like a director.

    Robert, you haven’t given me your buying recommendation on professional video camera. I need to get something reasonablely light that I can carry the entire camera, tripod, lighting and stand alone without any help. I need something that I can shoot landscape with low lighting like night scenes, and wide angle like city shot.

    I like to hear your comments.

    Like

  38. “There’s no comparison. I’d rather have the longer, more in depth, interview and the more engaged, smarter, audience.”

    Agree. This is why I rather focus on in-depth discussion or presentation on our Web SIG meetings rather than showing product demo. I’d rather have more active and engaged members.

    Video editing is labor intensive. It took me 2 full weeks to edit a 45 min corporate video and insert video with slides, audio, and music following a movie script. Another 2 weeks to make 4 revisions to achieve the release video version. It is considered very fast compared to video professionals. Compressing and DVD burning take another chunk of time usually block of 3-6 hrs.

    My wishful thinking is to train students to do the boring encoding, compressing and dvd burning. Then I can focus on slide images, video transition, audio transition, music selection and editing like a director.

    Robert, you haven’t given me your buying recommendation on professional video camera. I need to get something reasonablely light that I can carry the entire camera, tripod, lighting and stand alone without any help. I need something that I can shoot landscape with low lighting like night scenes, and wide angle like city shot.

    I like to hear your comments.

    Like

  39. “Surfing porn shootout: Firefox 2 vs. IE 7″

    http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/07/11/porn-browser-heatseek-launches-yeah-porn-browser/

    This is useful. I have to manage the implementation and execution of running webinars within our saleforce. One of our concerns is how clean the browser on our saleforce’s computers. You can’t stop those guys from watching porn after work hours. You really don’t want to run webinar sharing the desktop and suddenly those porn popup from browser.

    This lead to another interesting area. Does it mean that porn sites are run better in Firefox 2 than IE7? If the porn sites take longer to load in IE7, would you switch to Firefox 2 just because you are frustrated.

    Like

  40. “Surfing porn shootout: Firefox 2 vs. IE 7″

    http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/07/11/porn-browser-heatseek-launches-yeah-porn-browser/

    This is useful. I have to manage the implementation and execution of running webinars within our saleforce. One of our concerns is how clean the browser on our saleforce’s computers. You can’t stop those guys from watching porn after work hours. You really don’t want to run webinar sharing the desktop and suddenly those porn popup from browser.

    This lead to another interesting area. Does it mean that porn sites are run better in Firefox 2 than IE7? If the porn sites take longer to load in IE7, would you switch to Firefox 2 just because you are frustrated.

    Like

  41. For a minute there you sounded like someone’s stodgy old Grandpa: “You dad-gum kids and your short attentions spans! Why back in my day…”

    Like

  42. For a minute there you sounded like someone’s stodgy old Grandpa: “You dad-gum kids and your short attentions spans! Why back in my day…”

    Like

  45. Scoble, you shouldn’t take the Bush approach (either you are with us or against us – in your case, it’s either long interviews or nothing!). That doesn’t work… anywhere!

    People like your videos because of your unique style. Let us see you doing your usual long(ish) videos and let us also see some short videos. Do 5 (or 10) minute clips – Scoble style!

    Like

  46. Scoble, you shouldn’t take the Bush approach (either you are with us or against us – in your case, it’s either long interviews or nothing!). That doesn’t work… anywhere!

    People like your videos because of your unique style. Let us see you doing your usual long(ish) videos and let us also see some short videos. Do 5 (or 10) minute clips – Scoble style!

    Like

  47. Robert,

    4.3 million views! Wow! That’s pretty darn amazing. Your production values on the ScobleShow are a far sight better (must be the $4K camera vs the $300 camera) than what you had at Channel 9.

    Let’s hope ScobleShow grows the same way. I do my own editing, too, and know what a pain in the ass it is.

    Given the simplicity of the format, you might want to shift from Final Cut to iMovie to do your edits. You don’t really need that powerful of an editing system to edit one cut interviews.

    I’ll be watching more ScobleShow today…

    Take care,

    Andrew

    Like

  48. Robert,

    4.3 million views! Wow! That’s pretty darn amazing. Your production values on the ScobleShow are a far sight better (must be the $4K camera vs the $300 camera) than what you had at Channel 9.

    Let’s hope ScobleShow grows the same way. I do my own editing, too, and know what a pain in the ass it is.

    Given the simplicity of the format, you might want to shift from Final Cut to iMovie to do your edits. You don’t really need that powerful of an editing system to edit one cut interviews.

    I’ll be watching more ScobleShow today…

    Take care,

    Andrew

    Like

  49. Of course you know those 4.3 million viewers aren’t going to follow you, right? I doubt you will get anywhere close to that, but that remains to be seen. My point is, and I’m sure you know this, be careful not to think of yourself as the former lead singer of a popular band that thought people bought his records because of him and not the group. Justin Timberlake you’re not ;-). And while some think longer is better, I’m not sure what he attention span is of someone wanting to download and/or stream a video to their monitor. Do you know what the average time a person will stare a video on their monitor is before wanting to tune out? I think that would be an interesting metric to find out.

    Like

  50. Of course you know those 4.3 million viewers aren’t going to follow you, right? I doubt you will get anywhere close to that, but that remains to be seen. My point is, and I’m sure you know this, be careful not to think of yourself as the former lead singer of a popular band that thought people bought his records because of him and not the group. Justin Timberlake you’re not ;-). And while some think longer is better, I’m not sure what he attention span is of someone wanting to download and/or stream a video to their monitor. Do you know what the average time a person will stare a video on their monitor is before wanting to tune out? I think that would be an interesting metric to find out.

    Like

  53. It is considered very fast compared to video professionals.

    Not this one. 🙂 Ultimate S Multicam and slice and dice Vegas 7/Avid MC me, yeehahhhh. And actually ‘talking heads’ longer is far far easier, it’s the 30 second and 60 second spots that can take weeks, imho. But you have to ‘shoot to edit’ really, editing STARTS with the camerawork, people ALWAYS miss that step. If you don’t get the right footage, it might actually take weeks.

    But corporate edits seem to take weeks just based on 500 people offering input, seemingly takes that long just to arrive at an acceptable consensus. 😉 But that’s not the worst, Wedding shoots are horrrrid, 50 differing family members, all wanting a differing take, and never arriving at any level of acceptable agreement. I’d take a complex corporate shoot any day over a simple Wedding. 😉

    boring encoding, compressing and dvd burning.

    It is boring yes, but a bad encode, with horrid compression and a bad DVD authoring can ruin the whole thing, no matter how good the direction and editing. I dunno if I’d sic students on that one, depends on the students I guess. 🙂

    As for the long vs. short, do both, niche audiences like long, mainstream like short. No need for any wars. Ratings are the tell all. I like a Digest, but then I like the the History Channel in-depth too. I guess it depends on personal tastes, something like the Photowalking and Print For Less can go on forever, but some Web 2.0 guy demoing some “killer new hot product” I’d grant 10 minutes tops, if that. So real tech (for me) = long. Web 2.0 fluff = short. Others might not feel the same, but the more selections on the Menu, and the more “channels on the cable”, the better.

    Like

  54. It is considered very fast compared to video professionals.

    Not this one. 🙂 Ultimate S Multicam and slice and dice Vegas 7/Avid MC me, yeehahhhh. And actually ‘talking heads’ longer is far far easier, it’s the 30 second and 60 second spots that can take weeks, imho. But you have to ‘shoot to edit’ really, editing STARTS with the camerawork, people ALWAYS miss that step. If you don’t get the right footage, it might actually take weeks.

    But corporate edits seem to take weeks just based on 500 people offering input, seemingly takes that long just to arrive at an acceptable consensus. 😉 But that’s not the worst, Wedding shoots are horrrrid, 50 differing family members, all wanting a differing take, and never arriving at any level of acceptable agreement. I’d take a complex corporate shoot any day over a simple Wedding. 😉

    boring encoding, compressing and dvd burning.

    It is boring yes, but a bad encode, with horrid compression and a bad DVD authoring can ruin the whole thing, no matter how good the direction and editing. I dunno if I’d sic students on that one, depends on the students I guess. 🙂

    As for the long vs. short, do both, niche audiences like long, mainstream like short. No need for any wars. Ratings are the tell all. I like a Digest, but then I like the the History Channel in-depth too. I guess it depends on personal tastes, something like the Photowalking and Print For Less can go on forever, but some Web 2.0 guy demoing some “killer new hot product” I’d grant 10 minutes tops, if that. So real tech (for me) = long. Web 2.0 fluff = short. Others might not feel the same, but the more selections on the Menu, and the more “channels on the cable”, the better.

    Like

  55. Editing helps, because it trades the producer’s time for the audience’s time. It makes your work more accessible to the audience.

    Deep engagement helps too — if the audience is already convinced you’ll give a better return on their greater investment in time. Summarizing a long interview provides a good entrypoint to the larger work.

    Business presentations have a full plan, an executive summary, and an elevator pitch. It helps audiences determine if they wish to spend more time.

    jd

    Like

  56. Editing helps, because it trades the producer’s time for the audience’s time. It makes your work more accessible to the audience.

    Deep engagement helps too — if the audience is already convinced you’ll give a better return on their greater investment in time. Summarizing a long interview provides a good entrypoint to the larger work.

    Business presentations have a full plan, an executive summary, and an elevator pitch. It helps audiences determine if they wish to spend more time.

    jd

    Like

  57. I say mix it up. Short is good for some projects, long better for others. Obviously content is the key.

    I just heard that Katherine Harris may be possessed by an evil spirit (see her campaign manager’s ringtone). Wouldn’t it be great to video her head spinning with yout cell phone and then share it with your friends and the world? Better yet, wouldn’t it be satisfying to catch that master of election fraud with her hand in the cookie jar? Or recording a Senator dissin’ our friends and family serving in Iraq? If you’ve got a video enabled cell phone, you can document anyone jacking with our votes.

    Speaking as a former Regional Field Director for Rock the Vote and a current consultant for Veeker, let’s serve notice to the powers-that-be that on this Election Day and every election in the future, Americans will protect the integrity of our democratic process. We will not sit idly by while reports of voter intimidation and faulty polling machines are talked about but not documented or resolved. Spread the word that anyone with a video enabled cell phone can help protect American democracy by recording short videos of polling place problems and sending them to vote@veeker.com thus publishing them immediately on http://www.veekthevote.com. Activists can also use this technology to talk to voters outside of polling places and document the most pressing motivations for voting.

    Like

  58. I say mix it up. Short is good for some projects, long better for others. Obviously content is the key.

    I just heard that Katherine Harris may be possessed by an evil spirit (see her campaign manager’s ringtone). Wouldn’t it be great to video her head spinning with yout cell phone and then share it with your friends and the world? Better yet, wouldn’t it be satisfying to catch that master of election fraud with her hand in the cookie jar? Or recording a Senator dissin’ our friends and family serving in Iraq? If you’ve got a video enabled cell phone, you can document anyone jacking with our votes.

    Speaking as a former Regional Field Director for Rock the Vote and a current consultant for Veeker, let’s serve notice to the powers-that-be that on this Election Day and every election in the future, Americans will protect the integrity of our democratic process. We will not sit idly by while reports of voter intimidation and faulty polling machines are talked about but not documented or resolved. Spread the word that anyone with a video enabled cell phone can help protect American democracy by recording short videos of polling place problems and sending them to vote@veeker.com thus publishing them immediately on http://www.veekthevote.com. Activists can also use this technology to talk to voters outside of polling places and document the most pressing motivations for voting.

    Like

  59. >>Of course you know those 4.3 million viewers aren’t going to follow you, right? I doubt you will get anywhere close to that, but that remains to be seen.

    Of course I know that.

    I had exclusive access to something interesting that no one else had access to. I also did it at a time when there was far less competition than there is now for your viewing time.

    It all depends on the quality of the stuff I get.

    Like

  60. >>Of course you know those 4.3 million viewers aren’t going to follow you, right? I doubt you will get anywhere close to that, but that remains to be seen.

    Of course I know that.

    I had exclusive access to something interesting that no one else had access to. I also did it at a time when there was far less competition than there is now for your viewing time.

    It all depends on the quality of the stuff I get.

    Like

  61. @29. It would also be great to capture that elitist Kerry thinking he’s still running for President and thinking this is the the late ’60’s and early ’70’s, talking about the evil military machine and attempting to undermine the morale of the military.

    I also agree it would be great to document voter fraud. For example it would have been great to document:

    Paid Democrat operatives charged with slashing tires of 25 Republican get-out-the-vote vans in Milwaukee on the morning of Election Day 2004 .

    * Misleading telephone calls made by Democrat operatives targeting Republican voters in Ohio with the wrong date for the election and faulty polling place information.

    * Intimidating and deceiving mailings and telephone calls paid for by the DNC threatening Republican volunteers in Florida with legal action.

    * Union-coordinated intimidation and violence campaign targeting Republican campaign offices and volunteers resulting in a broken arm for a GOP volunteer in Florida.

    * That task forces in Wisconsin found “clear evidence of fraud in the Nov. 2 election in Milwaukee,” including more than 200 felon voters, more than 100 double voters and thousands more ballots cast than voters recorded as having voted in the city.

    * NAACP National Voter Fund worker in Ohio paid crack cocaine in exchange for a large number of fraudulent voter registration cards in names of Dick Tracy, Mary Poppins and other fictional characters.

    * Former ACORN worker said there was “a lot of fraud committed” by group in Florida, as ACORN workers submitted thousands of fraudulent registrations in a dozen states across the country, resulting in a statewide investigation of the group in Florida and multiple indictments and convictions of ACORN/Project Vote workers for voter registration fraud in several states.

    Also there for a while I was using Howard Dean’s scream as my ring tone.

    But, we both digress 😉

    Like

  62. @29. It would also be great to capture that elitist Kerry thinking he’s still running for President and thinking this is the the late ’60’s and early ’70’s, talking about the evil military machine and attempting to undermine the morale of the military.

    I also agree it would be great to document voter fraud. For example it would have been great to document:

    Paid Democrat operatives charged with slashing tires of 25 Republican get-out-the-vote vans in Milwaukee on the morning of Election Day 2004 .

    * Misleading telephone calls made by Democrat operatives targeting Republican voters in Ohio with the wrong date for the election and faulty polling place information.

    * Intimidating and deceiving mailings and telephone calls paid for by the DNC threatening Republican volunteers in Florida with legal action.

    * Union-coordinated intimidation and violence campaign targeting Republican campaign offices and volunteers resulting in a broken arm for a GOP volunteer in Florida.

    * That task forces in Wisconsin found “clear evidence of fraud in the Nov. 2 election in Milwaukee,” including more than 200 felon voters, more than 100 double voters and thousands more ballots cast than voters recorded as having voted in the city.

    * NAACP National Voter Fund worker in Ohio paid crack cocaine in exchange for a large number of fraudulent voter registration cards in names of Dick Tracy, Mary Poppins and other fictional characters.

    * Former ACORN worker said there was “a lot of fraud committed” by group in Florida, as ACORN workers submitted thousands of fraudulent registrations in a dozen states across the country, resulting in a statewide investigation of the group in Florida and multiple indictments and convictions of ACORN/Project Vote workers for voter registration fraud in several states.

    Also there for a while I was using Howard Dean’s scream as my ring tone.

    But, we both digress 😉

    Like

  63. @30. So you concede that the fact that Channel 9 has 4.3MM unique visitors (but we don’t know how many stayed and for how long and what content they viewed, if any, while they were there) is not really relevant to your work at PodTech?

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  64. @30. So you concede that the fact that Channel 9 has 4.3MM unique visitors (but we don’t know how many stayed and for how long and what content they viewed, if any, while they were there) is not really relevant to your work at PodTech?

    Like

  65. Regarding camera choice. Mine is NOT light and NOT cheap. I use a $4,000 Sony HD camera with a $700 Bogen tripod with a $500 Sony wireless microphone.

    Really great stuff, if you can afford it and carry it around.

    I think the real sweet spot, for most people, though, is the $1,500 Sony HD camera range, with a $300 Bogen tripod, and a wireless microphone.

    Like

  66. Regarding camera choice. Mine is NOT light and NOT cheap. I use a $4,000 Sony HD camera with a $700 Bogen tripod with a $500 Sony wireless microphone.

    Really great stuff, if you can afford it and carry it around.

    I think the real sweet spot, for most people, though, is the $1,500 Sony HD camera range, with a $300 Bogen tripod, and a wireless microphone.

    Like

  69. Robert, you said: “As for enough time editing, the 1:10 photowalking series took me about 12 hours of encoding, editing, compressing time. I’m not sure how much more time you’d like me to spend, but at some point the cost/benefit isn’t there.”

    My point is about the editing bit of all that. The rest is machine time. Any number of people have talked about being willing to unfocus during the boring bits to get to the nuggets. Editing out at least some of the boring stuff wouldn’t be so tough, would it?

    I wasn’t arguing for short videos in preference to long ones. I’m arguing in favour of sectionalised videos, each section of shorter length. Clearly you aren’t going to be uploading a 10 hour photowalking video – no one would stick with this. Similarly you are underestimating in my view the numbers who would watch your 45 minute videos if edited down to remove much of the dross, and/or segmented these into digestible units – but it does require more editing time.

    I’ve stuck with a number of Scoble Show videos because I wanted to find out if the topic was worth spending more time on. But more than a few others I gave up on out of boredom because I couldn’t see what the bottom line was going to be.

    So trying to be practical – what about a short 60 sec Scoble to camera intro to each video, produced after the video has been shot, that sets out what the key points in the video will be? Better than the 50 word description on the web page?

    Like

  70. Robert, you said: “As for enough time editing, the 1:10 photowalking series took me about 12 hours of encoding, editing, compressing time. I’m not sure how much more time you’d like me to spend, but at some point the cost/benefit isn’t there.”

    My point is about the editing bit of all that. The rest is machine time. Any number of people have talked about being willing to unfocus during the boring bits to get to the nuggets. Editing out at least some of the boring stuff wouldn’t be so tough, would it?

    I wasn’t arguing for short videos in preference to long ones. I’m arguing in favour of sectionalised videos, each section of shorter length. Clearly you aren’t going to be uploading a 10 hour photowalking video – no one would stick with this. Similarly you are underestimating in my view the numbers who would watch your 45 minute videos if edited down to remove much of the dross, and/or segmented these into digestible units – but it does require more editing time.

    I’ve stuck with a number of Scoble Show videos because I wanted to find out if the topic was worth spending more time on. But more than a few others I gave up on out of boredom because I couldn’t see what the bottom line was going to be.

    So trying to be practical – what about a short 60 sec Scoble to camera intro to each video, produced after the video has been shot, that sets out what the key points in the video will be? Better than the 50 word description on the web page?

    Like

  71. TC: I’ll work on that, but after I get an editor.

    Part of this problem is I’m trying to do the entire show by myself. That’ll change this week.

    Like

  72. TC: I’ll work on that, but after I get an editor.

    Part of this problem is I’m trying to do the entire show by myself. That’ll change this week.

    Like

  73. @34. Fair enough. Although it would be interesting to see if there are metrics related to how long a video some will tolerate watching on a not made for video device.

    Like

  74. @34. Fair enough. Although it would be interesting to see if there are metrics related to how long a video some will tolerate watching on a not made for video device.

    Like

  75. Canon XL-2 7.72 lbs
    3CMOS 1080p HDV Camcorder 3 lbs., 6 oz

    Both are good recommendations. What about tripod? Any recommendation on the tripod type that you can roll around with wheels. You can effortlessly change the filming angle.

    May be Video Technician is a better title for those handle those boring decoding, compression and dvd burning. Training and skill are more essential than age and educational background.

    Like

  76. Canon XL-2 7.72 lbs
    3CMOS 1080p HDV Camcorder 3 lbs., 6 oz

    Both are good recommendations. What about tripod? Any recommendation on the tripod type that you can roll around with wheels. You can effortlessly change the filming angle.

    May be Video Technician is a better title for those handle those boring decoding, compression and dvd burning. Training and skill are more essential than age and educational background.

    Like

  77. ScobleShow interview is a more simple editing. It is filming the speaker one way, not including interviewer Robert himself. The corporate video took 2 weeks long because the editing must follow a very strict movie script guideline. Just the movie script is 20 pages long not including the non-script scenes. It composites hundreds of individual sequences of 5 sec to 20 sec video clips. I have to edit frame by frame to get the best cut of each sequence before combining hundreds of sequences.

    I’ll ask our chairman in his good mood day to see if I can share the video in public. There may be some sensitive information we don’t want our competitors to see.

    Like

  78. ScobleShow interview is a more simple editing. It is filming the speaker one way, not including interviewer Robert himself. The corporate video took 2 weeks long because the editing must follow a very strict movie script guideline. Just the movie script is 20 pages long not including the non-script scenes. It composites hundreds of individual sequences of 5 sec to 20 sec video clips. I have to edit frame by frame to get the best cut of each sequence before combining hundreds of sequences.

    I’ll ask our chairman in his good mood day to see if I can share the video in public. There may be some sensitive information we don’t want our competitors to see.

    Like

  79. to see if I can share the video in public

    Yeah, I’d be very interested. “Strict movie script guidelines” actually make it easier, over open-ended, imho. But yeah, if hundred of clips, short bursts, frame by frame timing, well…2 weeks easy. 🙂

    Like

  80. to see if I can share the video in public

    Yeah, I’d be very interested. “Strict movie script guidelines” actually make it easier, over open-ended, imho. But yeah, if hundred of clips, short bursts, frame by frame timing, well…2 weeks easy. 🙂

    Like

  81. Dude, IMHO: You are an awesome, straightforward, candid, tough, etc. interviewer but you need a partner on the video production side. Your videos don’t need to be shorter necessarily but they do need to be edited. There’s no point to encoding in H.264 and shooting on a great DV camera if that’s the only aspect of the video with high production value. Otherwise you might as well be doing an audio podcast.

    Like

  82. Dude, IMHO: You are an awesome, straightforward, candid, tough, etc. interviewer but you need a partner on the video production side. Your videos don’t need to be shorter necessarily but they do need to be edited. There’s no point to encoding in H.264 and shooting on a great DV camera if that’s the only aspect of the video with high production value. Otherwise you might as well be doing an audio podcast.

    Like

  83. Do I need to buy additional lens for video camera? Can the original lens handle low light situation like night scenes and inside conference? What other len filters should I get to cover different situation?

    Would you use a soft camera bag or hardcase for transport?

    Any good suggestion on those 4 leg tripod with wheels?

    Vloggies can get away by using unediting video footage. For TV Show editing is important to show the best footage to achieve the optimal viewing experience. Audience time is precious. No one want to waste time to watch even 10 or 30 sec advertsiing spot.

    I wonder if Vloggies can include corporate and business, and the talent side like slide design, editing, sound.

    Like

  84. Do I need to buy additional lens for video camera? Can the original lens handle low light situation like night scenes and inside conference? What other len filters should I get to cover different situation?

    Would you use a soft camera bag or hardcase for transport?

    Any good suggestion on those 4 leg tripod with wheels?

    Vloggies can get away by using unediting video footage. For TV Show editing is important to show the best footage to achieve the optimal viewing experience. Audience time is precious. No one want to waste time to watch even 10 or 30 sec advertsiing spot.

    I wonder if Vloggies can include corporate and business, and the talent side like slide design, editing, sound.

    Like

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