The Process of Learning to Videoblog

It’s getting pretty exciting here in Andover as I prepare for the September 18th launch of ZBIZ.TV — an ongoing series of interviews (two per week) with entrepreneurs from emerging companies.

I’m learning a great deal about videocasting across the web, streaming videos, streaming video services, various video standards, the editing process, etc.

Sometimes I feel like I have continued on the same reckless path I paved when I was four years old and joyfully hopped in to the deep end of a hotel swimming pool without having any idea of how to swim (my Dad had to rescue me).

But that’s what makes life interesting…

I’ve been trying out some new technologies to make the 20 minute interviews a bit more digestible. For example, Veotag makes a product which enables you to tag an outline adjacent to your video. This lets the viewer click on the questions they want to see answers to and skip all the rest. They’re on the bleeding edge, I’m afraid. I’ve got four interviews uploaded into Veotag right now and only one of them streams quick enough for the outline tagging to work — even though they were all prepared in exactly the same way on the same machine and software.

So I may end up bald from pulling my hair out in frustration.

Another learning process I’m going through is properly creating a streamed webcast (they load almost instantly) and then finding a service that will serve them.

I’m afraid I’ll have to go to the Apple Store for another One of One session with their video Genius in order to master the finer points of this process.

… and in spite of their claims to provide “streaming Quicktime servers”, my ISP (Dreamhost), has been a huge disappointment. They serve up Quicktime videos alright, but it won’t come up on a page, only a player, and that’s problematic. So I’m shopping around for some other streaming services that will make the process easier and actually work properly.

All this to say that videoblogging, once you get past a certain level, is far more complex than regular blogging. At least this way, all I have to do is sit here and type, then load it in to Wordpress. But when you’re videoblogging, there’s a bit more to the process.

I know that within a few weeks I’ll have it mastered to a point where it’s second nature, but the learning process leaves a bit to be desired.
It’s a bumpy road indeed.

So just in case you were wondering where I was over the last couple of weeks, I was working feverishly on a video-related proposal for one of my consulting clients while at the same time, doing interviews for ZBIZ.TV, editing and processing the results and learning how to produce a final product that my audience will love.

Which brings up one other issue of a non-technical issue: I have several annoying verbal traits that come through loud and clear on a video that I was never even aware of until I actually heard myself. I hem and haw and uh-huh and repeat myself while asking questions. I say “gotcha, gotcha” when an interviewee has answered the question and I’m busy looking through my list of questions (I do come prepared), trying to buy time before asking the next question. I ask questions that are on my list even though they pretty well answered them in an earlier question just minutes earlier (sticking to my script!)

I also often come away from interviews thinking about some core issues I totally missed out on (like the founder’s background and who his team is) because I stuck so religiously to my script.

The end result is that the first few weeks of ZBIZ.TV will showcase my learning process in the art and skill of interviewing (and listening better, fer god’s sake).
Hopefully, enough viewers will stick around long enough to see me evolve from a bumbling boob behind the mike to a skilled interviewer who truly showcases the subject.

Anyway… I just wanted to share some of what my learning process is on this project so that when you see the actual launch, you’ll know the inside story.

Meanwhile, I’m taking off on a vacation to Cape Cod with my wife and kids tomorrow and won’t be back until Labor Day weekend. So hang in there and visit me around then, as I’m sure I’ll be brimming with new ideas and information. I won’t have any internet access for 10 whole days, so this should be a real adjustment.

Have a nice end of summer yourself, OK?