A great example of Nonprofits and VideoBlogging: Ami Dar on YouTube

There are many nonprofit videos floating around video sharing sites, but  I've been prowling for excellent examples of nonprofit video blogging for the Video Blogging Geekout Session I'm designing for NTC in April.  We'll have some of the rock stars of the video blogging community leading it - Jay Dedman, Ryan Hodson, Jonny Goldstein,  Andy Carvin, and Robyn Tippins.

So, I was delighted to find another good example of a nonprofit organization using video blogging.  This example is from Amir Dar of the Idealist kicking off this week's meetings taking place during Imagine a Better World initiative.   

As an nonprofit leader, it probably takes enormous courage put yourself in front of the video camera, hit the record button, and then set it free on the Internet.  Believe me, I know what that is like.  This particular video illustrates how powerful it is to hear a personalized and authentic message from an organization's leader in their own words.   This isn't a glitzy over-produced organizational video show, it's speaking from the heart and it works!  Or at least, I think.

I'd love to know:

• How long did it take shoot, edit, and post this?
• How many takes?
• What has been the result?  (there are  2,263 views)
• What did you learn from incorporating video blogging into your campaign messaging/tools?
• What would you do differently?

In the comments to an earlier post about using video blogging for rich media capture, training, and authentic messaging, Jonny Goldstein points to this video from SEIU.   This is a slightly more produced, but still authentic.

Comments

[Ami Dar]

Hi Beth,

Thanks! The shooting took an hour (in our office) because I did several takes and wasn't reading, so I stumbled a few times. But once it felt right, there was no editing, and it was online within 10 minutes.

I think the medium has huge potential, but it's HARD to be relaxed and focussed at the same time.

But we'll definitely do more of this, and learn as we go.

Thank you!

Ami

[Jonny Goldstein]

Beth,

It's great that you are doing the legwork to find powerful examples of not-for-profits using online video.

I really like this clip with Ami, because I think it would be clear to most people that a)This video is useful, and b Anyone could do something like this. It doesn't have to be slick and highly produced to have tremendous value.

The application of this particular video is great---to kick off simultaneous geographically dispersed meetings with an inspirational and informational message.

I found this same technique extremely effective when I was running an educational program where we would have multiple sections of the same class meeting at the same time. A challenge we had was how to build shared culture among all the classes, and how to give some standardization to what they were learning. And it worked. Videos like these not only transmit useful information; they also help build shared culture and build common purpose for far flung groups of people.

So great move, Ami, for making the video, and Beth for finding and sharing it.