What I Do: The Floodgates of Self-Promotion

Sometimes this blog goes quiet for awhile, and people might suspect I'm slacking off. While that's often true, sometimes I actually have legitimate(-ish) work to do.

This week, three different videos (that I had varying amounts of involvement with) have hit the web simultaneously. As much as I'd love to promote each of them independently, I happen to be leaving for vacation in Seattle + Portland shortly, so I've decided to group them all together and minimize my own horn-tooting.

Talking Tea with Joe Torre, Phil Simms & Terry Francona



This is a promotional video that the Creative Concepts agency filmed for Bigelow Tea. I happen to record and edit nearly every video that Creative Concepts produces -- including another Bigelow Tea video we filmed this same day, which generated a little buzz over on Chris Brogan's blog.

Something to Be Desired: Episode 6.7 "The Red Scare"



In addition to my corporate media work, I also produce the web's longest-running sitcom, Something to Be Desired (STBD). We've been on hiatus since mid-December, but I finally found the time to edit a new episode for April Fool's Day. (Fun fact: this episode was filmed on Sunday night, then edited and posted on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Torre video above was filmed before Christmas.)

Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto Answers Questions from Lady Elaine



Pittsburgh city councilman (and occasional STBD guest star) Bill Peduto asked me if I could do him a favor: a local blogger named Lady Elaine asked a series of questions to all local electoral candidates, and instead of responding in text, Bill wanted to work the questions into a video. The results are above -- and yes, there are puppets. (And in case you're wondering: no, the puppets were not purchased with city money... but at least one came from eBay...)

Side note: after posting these videos side by side, I realized my camera work and editing style remain fairly consistent from project to project, regardless of who I'm filming or why. Evidently, I've developed a personal method that works (for me, at least).

So, for everyone who follows me on Twitter and occasionally wonders what the hell I actually do, now you know (some of it, at least).

Advertisers Keep Coming SO CLOSE...

... and yet they still haven't found a way to please me.

Or you.

Robert Scoble's post about Nexidia is right: hypercontextual ads in tandem with video content are a great step in the right direction... if you're already looking for THAT information.

For example, If I'm watching a clip about drywall, odds are, I'd love to see an ad for a Home Depot sale. That's the logic that powers TV ad sales, and that's the logic that can now be applied to the web world.

But what about LOST? How many ads for island getaways, Swiss army knives or travel insurance do you see served up by ABC?

So, by comparison, what about Ask a Ninja? Or Dutch West? Or STBD?

What I Want

Is there ever a time in your life when you don't need information about something?

Right now, off the top of your head, you can probably think of 5 things you need a hand with. Maybe you're planning a summer vacation. Maybe you need to buy an anniversary gift. Maybe your old college roommate just asked if you could somehow smuggle a case of Pennsylvania beer to his Houston wedding.

We, as humans, are forever searching for MORE information.

So, if I must watch an ad in order to see a video for free, can't I tell the ad server what I'm actually interested in learning about?

It's not good enough for Google to track my click habits and tell me what my profile is, because all that tells me is who I've BEEN; it doesn't tell me who I AM, who I'm GOING to be or -- most importantly -- who I WANT to be.

Google, please stop thinking you're smarter than me. Instead, all you have to do is ask me: "What do YOU want to learn about today?"

If I could actually obtain useful information THAT I REQUESTED every time I stopped to watch an episode of Tiki Bar TV -- and, hey, it might be about tax preparation, not alcohol or minidresses -- would I not be even more inclined to sit through commercials?