Tom Altman is a a web developer with deep roots in traditional media, including AM radio and newspaper.  His perspective on content distribution and consumption in the digital era sparks great discussion about the demise (resurrection?) of journalism in an era where the ad-supported model no longer applies.  He now works in eCommerce, building sites with online purchase capabilities which feed into an eCRM solution.

Need a straight shooter?  Ask Tom.  He’s your guy.  He’s also quick with a laugh and a hand, if you need one.

Tom’s a smart, incredibly personable and approachable guy.  He spends a lot of time thinking about possibilities, considering new ideas, and being a devoted dad.  Learn more by checking out our recent video below.

Things we wanted to know from Tom:

• So what does it mean to be a web developer?
• How did you start your career? Did you take specialized training or coursework?
• You spent many years of your career at the Gazette. What is it like developing and maintaining systems for such a varied and large group of content contributors?
• Name your top 3 favorite tech toys, gadgets, or apps.
• Do you have any interesting side projects you’d like to talk about?
• I hear you’re a WordPress hack, and can bend the platform in ways that weren’t intended. Tell us about that.
• So part of your career evolution includes being an on-air radio personality. That makes you practically Mass Media Tom. What was that like?
• You have a wicked sense of humor – do you approach all areas of your life with such joy and humor?
• What else should we know about Tom?

Watch Tom’s video below.  You can see other 10 In 10 Vlog videos featuring talented, smart local folks over on the vlog page.  Yeah, we’ll fall short of our goal of 10 interviews this year, but it won’t be for lack of great people in the local market.  Getting those people to sit still long enough can be a bit trying, though!

Know a good candidate for the 10 In 10 interview series?  Let us know!

You Can Create “Good” Quality Video

I’ve worked a lot in the video arena this year and while still a novice, I’ll say that technically good media combined with well-thought content will get you halfway home for most applications.  Lighting, sound quality, ambient noise, smooth panning, etc. are all important technical characteristics, but I’ve found that you can still produce a respectable business video with some tolerance for variance with any of those elements.  I started out with the standard Flip HD and mono external mic and then moved up to a reasonably priced Cannon video camera that allowed for more control over white balance (video had a yellowish cast sometimes).

Windows MovieMaker is decent, and in fact I’ve used it to composite still photos and graphics into a entry-level video by using transition effects.  In my opinion, the overall quality of the graphics you use can mean the difference between the video looking like something a 12 year old did and a respectable step-by-step “how to” video.  MovieMaker is essentially storyboarding with motion, like those flipbooks you made as a child.

If you have some time to devote to experimentation and have ready access to some raw files, royalty-free audio tracks, and Photoshop (pretty much necessary with MovieMaker, too, unless you’re just building a slideshow of the kids photos for Grandma), I think VideoPad by NCH is a low-cost tool with a pretty good array of features.

Pros:  You can combine video, still photos, graphics, and audio together.  The program allows you to set start/stop periods to edit out parts for length or just overall quality. A video source file can be unlinked from its audio mate and replaced with narration or basic background music.  Fade in/fade out, transitions, effects, etc. are all baked in.  The program has a solid array of output formats including .wmv, .avi, mpg, .mov so if you’re using YouTube or TubeMogul, etc. there’s no need to add the separate video converter program (additional cost).

Cons:  It’s been awhile since I signed up so I don’t remember the exact cost (about $90 I think), but beware the free download has a 15-day limitation.  You won’t read that anywhere unless you stumble on a user forum.  It’s not real freeware, kids.  Another con is the interface design and overall lack of intuitive usability.  I was fortunate to have some three-degrees-removed exposure to the mother of all video programs by Adobe, so I recognized a few random bits and fumbled my way through.  Even then I was 3 or 4 videos down the line before I felt like I’d gotten the hang of things.  Also, I’ve read that there are ways to annotate clips or add text to a still within the program, but darned if I’ve learned how.  There are several open source plug-ins, so maybe it’s a matter of digging around.

Screen shot of a project open in VideoPad. A "How To" video comprised of stills, video clips, graphics, and several audio files.

Bottom line: VideoPad is really good enough for most videos intended for business use.  It does take some time to learn the ins/outs and there aren’t any tutorials to speak of, but if you have some files to use as practice assets and aren’t under a tight timeline, you can do it.  And the price tag sure beats Final Cut Pro.

Closing out, I’ll state the obvious – I didn’t cover content.  I’m assuming you’ll put forth the due diligence to plan material which will inform your customers, aid their purchase selection, or educate them on relevant broad category topics.

Another really important component is the SEO value of your video, using file names, tags, descriptions, URLs and transcripts to improve your video’s rank for target keywords.  Variants of the final file can be embedded on your own site or accessible through a 3rd party hosted player.  One file for YouTube (face it, it ranks) and another for your own domain.

And I didn’t really cover the pre-production aspects of planning wardrobe, styling, props, rough scripts, etc. That stuff is really situational and subject to a company’s own internal requirements, so I suggest you really take your time planning step by step and pass it through stakeholders multiple times before buckling down to shoot.  Good luck!

David Sturtz is a product manager with Geonetric, a software development company which offers proprietary content management systems for hospitals and health care systems.  A graphic designer, certified Scrum (agile development) master, information architect, and usability professional, David leads the development team at Geonetric.

You know how this goes.  I ask someone really talented (like David) about their skills and interests.  They answer.  You get a peek at some of the best marketing/Web/creative talent east-central Iowa has to offer.  And the pool here is a lot deeper than you might think!

So take a look.  You’ll learn about design thinking, and what your consumers need from your Web site.

Questions for David:

• You hold a BA in Graphic Design and an MA in Library and Information Science. How do those two tracks work to further your career objectives?
• What skills and experiences do you think are must-haves for college graduates and entry-level workers of tomorrow?
• What can you tell us about the terms “visual thinking,” and “ideagraphics?” You use the term “design thinking” on your site.
• Do you think images can play a stronger role in communicating messages than simple aesthetics?
• Name your favorite website – or two – and tell us why you enjoy it.  This can be for practical or aesthetic reasons.
• What areas of Web development do you feel remain largely untapped?
• What can we learn about the library that we most likely forgot (or never learned, considering the computer age)?
• Thinking about your own professional growth, what would you like to learn more about or experiment with?

A few interesting resources:
Boxes and Arrows
Information Architecture Institute
A List Apart
The Usability Professionals’ Association
Interaction Design Association
Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox
Luke W

I hope you enjoy my interview with David.  He’s a smart cookie, spanning the gap between technology, business requirements, and user needs.

Have a suggestion for the next video?  Let me know who I should interview!

Unimpressed?  Well, it’s not rocket science for sure. But I’ve researched enough direct competitors to know that the task doesn’t have to call upon quantum physics to trip you up.  Shooting, editing, and producing video is time-consuming, and you don’t want to have the latest segment all but uploaded when you notice that your narrator’s  youth-inspired tatoo is showing itself every time he points at the screen.  What’s fine for the office may not be desireable on film.

Disclosure:  I’m no pro, nor do I play one on TV.  I’m just a gal with a Canon Vixia and a mono wired mic.  Plus I know a guy who knows his technical lighting, bonus for me. But I’m good at research, building scenarios and empathizing with customers to anticipate their needs.  And I have a knack for details and organization.  This post is about video on the (relative) cheap.

Plan

• In olden days, strategic planning documents called Creative Briefs informed copywriters and art directors on the parameters surrounding a new assignment.  You should approach planning your video series (surely yours isn’t going to be a one-off?!) as you might any other facet of marketing communications.  All stakeholders internal and external need to agree on a plan before you get started.  Later is not the time to find out the video should include a teaser about a new product planned for introduction.
  • Define your goal. Is your product/service well known?  Is it a considered purchase?  Is part of your challenge to educate your audience about a subject in general, before they can intelligently weigh the merits of your specific product?
  • Evaluate layers of your competition.  Scope corporate Web sites, Google, YouTube and more to uncover sanctioned (and unsanctioned) video about your competitors products.  In some cases you may want to see if the original manufacturer has their own sales or promotional video.  Stay open for ideas about what to do (and do better), what not to do, and tangential avenues to explore.
  • Determine desired outcomes.  While a goal may be what you want to achieve in a broad-stroke kind of way, I see outcomes as the secondary and tertiary benefits of  your work, opportunities for cross-merchandising the work product, strategic partnerships that might arise or become possible as a result of the video series, etc.  Essentially, what you want to net.
  • Create specifications.  Do you plan for the series to be exclusive to YouTube and embedded in your Web site?  Or on a CD that’s part of a sell-in kit?  Be sure to consider length, file format and medium.  Four minutes is an eternity for a YouTube video but might be just dandy for an annual report video.

Pre-Production

• This part’s a bit like planning a big date back when you were a coltish girl of 17 (I don’t really sound like that, I just wanted to use the word “coltish” in a sentence).
  • Surroundings.  A light colored (choose cream over white if possible) background and good ceiling height is ideal.  On film you can work boundaries that you really can’t in photos, so a hint or partial potted plant in good shape can soften a solid background or hide some unfortunate cables.  Don’t crowd your subject and remember that if they’re referring to a monitor or screen (say, they’re running a PowerPoint), remember that the camera may pick up the monitor as a separate light source and make screen elements bright but turn your subject a dark cast.  The room should be free of foot traffic and background noise.  Consider incorporating branded signage or placards into the video so that it shows on every frame – you’ll be amazed at the lengths others will go to copy or manipulate your video for their own purposes.
  • Subject. You don’t need a former calendar girl in order to make a good video.  As much as anything, you need a well-groomed, believeable subject who’s fairly articulate, knows the subject, and has a pleasant speaking voice.  Consider pairing your subject’s basic persona with the image and voice of your brand.  Matching the product with the gender of the target audience can make sense, too, in terms of how well the target might relate and connect with the subject.  Remember to remove any distracting jewelery, cover any tatoos that might not resonate with viewers, and dress casually (it’s more inviting and personable) but not messy. Do a couple of dry runs before you shoot film, and if possible make one of the run-throughs the day prior to the real thing.  That way the subject has some time to reflect on their tone and delivery, potentially smoothing things out a little.

There’s more, of course.  There always is.  I’m leaving out the editing and production parts of course.  I’m definitely still learning the technical aspects of video capture and editing, but I feel good about the purpose and preparation aspects.  When capturing video content to support brand awareness activities or aid in advancing the buying cycle, I feel that as long as minimum aesthetic points are met (like those above) that maximum reward comes from solid planning and forethought.

Your suggestions are welcome for adding or altering my Planning and Pre-Pro lists above.

This month I interviewed Eric Engelmann, CEO of Geonetric, an innovative software company delivering a proprietary Web-based CMS to healthcare systems nationwide.  Founded in 1999, Geonetric employs 55 talented software engineers, front-end designers, content strategists, project managers, IT staff, and marketing and sales personnel from a fabulous retro office in Cedar Rapids, IA.  I’m also fortunate to call Eric a former employer and appreciate his generosity with granting me this interview (we met at 7:30am on a Saturday!).

Eric’s interview makes the third installment in the video series with previous guests including Lynn Manternach (MindFire Communications) and Nick Bergus (new media professor at the University of Iowa).  Yet again I break my own 10 in 10 series rules thanks to the interesting conversation with a great companion – this time we clock in around 27 minutes.

I welcome you to enjoy the video below or watch it on my MotionBox channel.  You’ll learn a few things about the Web enabling health care from a savvy entrepreneur, software developer, and business leader.  The conversation extends beyond the set of questions shown below, but this is the basic framework.

Interview questions

1)  Have you always known you wanted to own your own business?  Why was it the best fit for you?

2)  When you launched Geonetric, the company wasn’t focused exclusively on health care.  When did that evolve, why, and how did you transition it?

3)  Name one or two persons who have influenced your decision-making over the years.  Why has that person been important to your success or plans for the future?

4)  Describe a couple of ways that the Web will affect the future of consumer health and medical care.

5)  In what ways has the Web evolved to empower patients and impact care delivery?

6)  How have you weighed return/benefit and investment/cost as you’ve worked to grow the business?

7)  What’s the toughest aspect of owning a small business?  Operations?  New business development?  Scaling?  Talent management?

8)  What skills and experiences do you think are must-haves for college graduates and entry-level workers of tomorrow?

Nick believes that multimedia tells a story, appealing to a consumer’s multiple facets through sound, visuals, intonation, and context simply not available in traditional, static print media.

Watch our interview here (admittedly, it’s longer than the advertised 10 minutes by double.  But he’s worth it.) or watch it on my Motionbox channel here.

As always, your comments and observations are appreciated.  Next month I’ll interview entrepreneur and Web-based software developer Eric Engelmann of Geonetric.

Nick Bergus – Adjunct Instructor, Multimedia at U of I and Production Coordinator, NLTV

1. You hold a BA in Religious Studies and an MA in Journalism and Mass Communication. How do those two tracks work to further your career objectives?
2. How well do you feel academic institutions are preparing communication students for today’s work force?
3. What skills and experiences do you think are must-haves for college graduates and entry-level workers of tomorrow?
4. What’s it going to take to turn the publishing industry and journalism craft around?  From a financial standpoint?  From a consumer consumption standpoint?
5. Do you think the adoption of social media on a business level can help or hurt tomorrow’s media industry?
6. Tell me about multimedia content and journalism.  Can they truly combine in a meaningful way that drives value through experience? Beyond simple execution?
7. You’ve won several scholarships and awards.  Would you describe yourself as a competitive person?  And you believe those types of pursuits are critical for an aspiring communicator in today’s market?
8. Define ‘convergence journalism’ and ‘nonlinear multimedia stories.’
9. From my perspective, you seem to have a strong creative/expressive side to your personality as well as a strong intellectual side.  Has this always been true?  And how might your two careers advance those needs?
10. Tell me about your affection for food.  Certainly the blog title “Death of a Pig” is intriguing. An Iowa transplant myself, I’m still trying to understand this ag-focused culture even after years of living here.

For awhile now, I’ve been mulling over this idea about featuring video interviews of interesting local folk with backgrounds in journalism, new media, marketing communications, and the arts. I’ve been fortunate to come to know (or know of) so many talented people in the east-central Iowa (Waterloo-Cedar Rapids-Iowa City) area and love the idea of introducing my readers to the passion and skills these people have to offer their community and employers.

My goal for 2010:  Ask ten unique talents a set of ten questions (and get their responses) within ten minutes.

First Up:  Research and Brand Development

Lynn Manternach, Ph.D, President of MindFire Communications was kind enough to visit with me in her home recently.  I’ve known Lynn for about a year now and was ecstatic she agreed to help me pilot this series.

Watch my interview with Lynn below.  Or view the video directly on Motionbox.  A written list of my questions follow. My interview actually lasted a smidge over 11 minutes, but that’s not bad for a first installment, eh?

Interview Questions

1. You hold a Ph.D. That means you’re likely good with data, statistics, and analyzing information. How do those skills benefit you and your clients?
2. Where do you think MindFire’s growth will come from (verticals and service areas) in the next 1-3 years?
3. The inevitable economy question – how has MindFire fared in the last year? How do you feel your company compares to its agency peers?
4. MindFire is a little over two y ears old. In small business terms, the start-up and incubation periods can be grueling. How would you characterize or compare Year One and Year Two? How might Year Three evolve?
5. There are behemoth, publicly-owned communications agencies with signature roster clients, and there are a huge number of boutique shops and specialty firms. What did you and your partners (Mike Smith and Erik Meade) strike out to create with MindFire Communications?
6. What’s the toughest (or most demanding) aspect of owning a small business?  Operations? New business development? Scale? Talent management?
7. I’ve read the official MindFire post covering reccommendations for businesses in 2010. Do you have any professional predictions or goals you’d care to share?
8. Do you think your early career days in broadcast have provided you with an advantage in new business development, public speaking, and client relationship development?
9. You are personally involved in a number of public speaking and business writing engagements. How do those projects fit in with MindFire’s marketing and promotion initiatives?
10. Describe MindFire’s brand, and the concept of Personal Brand as it applies to you.

What do you think?

My apologies for the unsteady hand and lackluster video enhancements. I hope to twist the arms of other local luminaries soon, and commit to improving my video game as the series evolves.

Meanwhile, please let me know your thoughts in general. What do you think about questions specifically tailored for the interviewee (like Lynn, above)? Or do you think an interview centered around a predefined, single topic is more interesting? Let me know!