Beth's Blog: Nonprofits and Social Media

Guest Post by Michael Hoffman: Why Nonprofits Should Be on YouTube

YouTube for Nonprofits

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Note from Beth:  Michael Hoffman recently presented a webinar filled with useful information for nonprofits about how to make the most of their YouTube presence.   I'm honored to republish his post which includes his slide deck.  It's packed with lots of practical information and tips.

Here's my webinar about how nonprofits can use YouTube effectively. This issue has become much more important than it once was. When YouTube first started, all of 4 years ago, the quality of the video was bad, the audience wasn’t so huge and messages about changing the world just seemed totally out of place amid the poor amateur video that was appearing on the site.

My, how the world changes quickly. YouTube has improved so much in the past few years that looking at the early version would be hardly recognizable. The changes are too numerous to mention but the quality has improved, user control has improved and what people expect to find on YouTube and how they interact with it has also changed.

I have pasted my entire 1-hour webinar below. It has both audio and the slidedeck and I was told it was quite packed with useful info.

If I had to choose a few key takeaways, this is what I would tell you:

1. Search is critical. Not only are YouTube videos showing up in Google first-page results, but YouTube itself has become a top destination for searches. So if you don’t have YouTube videos for your key search terms you are missing out. YouTube is now a CENTRAL part of an effective SEO strategy.

2. The YouTube Nonprofit Program is The Bomb. If you are a US or UK registered nonprofit, and you are not religious or political in nature, apply for the YouTube Nonprofit Program, today. Right now. It gives amazing benefits to nonprofits in terms of branding and functionality.

3. The best part of the YouTube Nonprofit Program is linkable annotations—the ability to put links, anywhere in a video, that actually go to your website. “Donate Now”, or “Sign the Petition” become links that really work. Finally, YouTube has the potential to drive engagement. (You can watch how this works here).

4. No excuses. Even if you don’t have a budget and are stressed for time you can create a channel on YouTube and put videos in it. You can use existing video assets, repurposed video assets and make simple videos using a Flip Video camera or other low-cost consumer product.

5. Spend some time browsing nonprofit videos for ideas about what you can do. Most likely you will come across something with a style or tone that you think is perfectly appropriate for your message. Flatter them and copy their approach.

6. Fill your YouTube Channel with Favorites from complimentary organizations. There are great videos already online that speak to your message. Leverage those also. With the new YouTube channel designs, you can use these as a playlist on your channel.

Michael Hoffman is the CEO of See3 Communications and an expert in online video for nonprofits.  Michael is a regular guest blogger.  Recently, he published a piece called "Viral to Whom? Rethinking Nonprofit Video" and "Youtube's Game Changing Annotation Feature for Nonprofits."

Guest Post by Michael Hoffman: YouTube’s Game-Changing New Feature for Nonprofits

Video embed:

Note from Beth:  Michael Hoffman wrote a fantastic guest post over the summer about viral video strategies for nonprofits.  So, invited to guest post again.   Next week, Michael Hoffman will be participating in the WeAreMedia Webinar - you can take a deep dive with him about storytelling in video and get your questions answered.  But, that's not all, we'll have a group of experts and practitioners in the back channel and break out sessions on other topics.  You'll have access to the chat transcripts and the content over at the WeAreMedia wiki.    Amy Sample Ward has a great post about the WeAreMedia Webinar here.

A few months ago YouTube announced that organizations that are in the YouTube Nonprofit Program would be able to use the overlay advertising feature to create donation links. They call the feature “Call To Action” and said that in their first test of this, Charity:Water raised $10,000 in one day.

At the Nonprofit Technology Conference in March while I was conducting a session about online video distribution, I mentioned to Steve Grove and Ramya Ragahvan—who runs the YouTube Nonprofit Program—that while this feature is nice, it is really limiting. In addition to only appearing in a very limited way on the video, it only works on YouTube and not when you embed the video on other sites. While Charity:Water raised a lot of money, I politely suggested that maybe it had as much to do with the video being featured by YouTube (and therefore getting a large amount of traffic) as with the new functionality.

But I knew they could make it much better.

In front of the NTEN crowd I challenged them: “What would be really amazing would be to allow for outside links in the annotations features.” The annotations feature is available to all YouTube video makers and allows for the user to put an overlay box on any part of any video. YouTube allows links to go in these boxes, but only links to other YouTube videos or YouTube channel pages. Ramya said they started with the overlay because the technology already existed and that they would be working on extending the annotations function.

I must admit that the cynic in me thought, “It’s really in YouTube’s interest to keep people on YouTube and not to allow them to leave.” In other words, I wasn’t holding my breath that they would create more ways that nonprofits could get people off of YouTube and on to engagement.

Imagine my surprise when Ramya sent me this email last week:

Hi Michael,

I’ve been meaning to drop you a note, because I remember that you mentioned that you would love the ability to externally link from annotations.

Happy to report that for nonprofits that are part of the YT Nonprofit Program, we have this functionality. All they’ll have to do, when creating an annotation, is click the “link” symbol and select “external link”. Then they’ll be able to link to external sites right from the annotation. Better still, these annotations should show up on embedded videos.

Please feel free to share with nonprofits you work with.

Best,

Ramya

Make no mistake, this is a game-changer. If you still aren’t sure what all of this means, it means that nonprofit YouTube videos can have buttons built into the videos that say DONATE NOW or SIGN THE PETITION and these buttons will work—they will link to any site you point them to. You can even go back to all your old videos that are on YouTube and make your logo into a clickable link, add annotations to donate with a link, and otherwise make your video into a center of engagement. This is now, by far, the most important reason to be in the YouTube Nonprofit Program.

People who watch videos on YouTube are very likely to do one thing when they are done…watch another video on YouTube. Not any more. With this new feature, YouTube can become a center for creating effective calls to action and engagement. Major props to Ramya and the entire YouTube team—you rock!

So that you can get see with your own eyes how this all works, we made this video (above) along with our partners at the Case Foundation as part of the Gear Up For Giving program. (Also, thank you to Beth for letting us shout about this news from the rooftop that is Beth’s Blog.)

Michael Hoffman is the CEO of See3 Communications and an expert in online video for nonprofits.

Guest Post by Michael Hoffman: Viral Video for Nonprofits - A Rethinking

Without fail, we get a call at See3 every week asking us to produce a “viral” video. “You know”, they say, “a video that will get a lot of views when we put it on YouTube.”

And every week, without fail, there is a sigh and a deep breath among the staff at See3 as we explain that maybe a viral video isn’t what you really need. Maybe, we say, what you really need is a video strategy.

The Siren Song of Viral

Nonprofit organizations work very hard to get their messages in front of new audiences. They work to get people to join their emails lists, to show up to events and to eventually become donors. Unlike other marketing efforts that take the actual hard work of building relationships, viral video seems like a short-cut to organizational riches.

The viral video story goes like this: A video will be uploaded to YouTube and it will (magically) catch fire. People will send it to each other and it will get so many views that it ends up in the “Most Viewed” rotation at YouTube, which will only bring in more views and next thing you know 1 MILLION PEOPLE have watched our video!

At this point in the story I ask, “And so what does that get you?” Well, they say, when 1 MILLION PEOPLE know about us, many will go to our website, sign up and be compelled to donate because our video was so good [funny] [sad] [moving] [powerful].

It’s a nice story, but unfortunately, it rarely works out that way.

Facts about Viral Video

You cannot predict which videos will be viral hits

We never promise viral hits because very few organizations are interested in being edgy enough, or off-message enough, to make their video a must-see. YouTube is littered with videos that the makers had hoped would be hits. The real viral video hits – the ones that get in everyone’s email — are, with some notable exceptions, videos with cute pets, people saying stupid things, sex appeal, and other qualities that rarely have anything to do with a nonprofit mission. (All of us should envy the animal welfare groups, because they have the unfair advantage of cute furry creatures.)

YouTube views do not translate into website traffic.

The average video length on YouTube is about 1.5 minutes while the average session time on YouTube is about 30 minutes. What this means is that the most likely thing to happen after someone watches a YouTube video is that they will watch another YouTube video, not enter in your URL to check out your website.

You need long-term supporters, not 1-minute sympathizers

A consumer product, such as Blendtec, gets a benefit from having lots of videos watched on YouTube because it helps their branding, which in a retail setting, translates into purchases. Nonprofits, on the other hand, are not sitting on store shelves. Organizations need to have online strategies that follow-up initial interest with real engagement over the long term. One successful YouTube video, even if it moves people while they are watching it, does not facilitate this engagement. It can be part of a strategy toward engagement, but it cannot be an end in and of itself.

You don’t want to be a one-hit wonder.

The people who are most successful on YouTube aren’t focused on making a single viral video. They are making a series of videos with a character or a set-up that is interesting and brings people back for more. In other words, they are building an audience through regular production of videos that tell stories. That’s what you should be thinking about. By investing in many videos over a long period of time, you are also much more likely to hit on one that attracts others to join your long-term audience.

People who like to watch kittens in paper bags may actually not be good donor prospects

The first question we ask about viral is, “Viral to whom?” The unspoken viral video assumption is that random people on YouTube are potential donor prospects. Some of them may be, of course. But it is likely that the people who spend a lot of time watching the viral video hits are teenagers, for example. You are better off identifying and speaking more directly to the audience who is most likely to already care about your core issues.

One of our biggest viral video hits was this video for the Maryland State Teachers Association. It only has about 2000 views. How can it be considered a viral hit? Because the goal of the video was to influence a debate about education funding and the state-level policy-makers and journalists that matter in that debate all heard about it, passed it on, and watched it. It worked.

Towards a Video Strategy

Viral is just another way of saying “word of mouth” and at its core it means that people pass the content on to one-another without the need for much intervention from the organization. In this sense, having viral marketing work for your organization is important. If you have really important, interesting things to share – and you share them in creative and interesting ways – then people will pass them on to their friends and increase your marketing effectiveness.

Where you should start with online video is to make a commitment to using this new medium to connect people to your work. You need to think about what the important and interesting things are and ask yourself, “How do we document this work?” You need to ask yourself why do you think what you do is important, and ask your staff as well. You need to then capture – on a regular basis – those important and interesting things. If you can find the funny stories, the creative metaphors, and turn your issue on its head once in a while, so much the better. But please, stop focusing on making a viral video and start focusing on making a viral cause.

Michael Hoffman is the CEO of See3 Communications and an expert in online video for nonprofits.

How To Fly Virgin America with a cello

My only regret is that I didn't get a good shot of the cello going through the x-ray machine!

Beth's on the Move: Moving Day

Video is here

After a year of preparing, moving day has arrived.  We spent the day overseeing the move our belongings from the house into the truck.   All the happy (and sad) memories of living in the house for twenty years flashed before my eyes - it was bittersweet.

For this video, I focused on the advice about not to move the camera, but take shorter clips and do a lot of editing.   To reduce camera shake (until I figure out if I want to spend money on tripod)

• Swiveled my body instead of moving camera
• Held the camera with both hands and tried to keep it still
• Took clips at different angles, and short ones

For this video, I had 72 clips!    I got very agile with the clip tool.   Here's some reflections on the editing process:

• Have a sense of the story you want to tell before you begin shooting.  Delete mistakes as you go along.  I kept previewing my clips in order as the day of unfolded, to delete and re-take.
• When I copied the clips to my computer, I looked at them and copied the ones I wanted to use to another folder.  Once in that folder I named them by scene using a letter and number.  For example, the first sequence had three clips, so these were named a-1, a-2, and a-3.
• I made a rough cut with the movie maker tool in FLIP.  Then I watched it and noted where I wanted to cut, delete a clip entirley, or move the order around.
• Then I went in and did the cuts and trims.  While working the folder, I would do a save as for trimmed clip.  The clip I was replacing, I would rename it x so it was placed at the bottem.   (I used view as name to keep the clips in alphabetical order.

Beth's on the Move: Packing With A Flip Camera

After a couple of days of packing (with some help from the movers who packed up our breakables), we're done! The kids were curious about the FLIP camera - and thought it would be fun for them to make movies of the house to say good bye and perhaps a little theraputic. (And give me a chance to focus on the packing!) So, I got Harry and Sara one of the smaller FLIP cameras.

I shared with them how I plan out my "scenes" and had them watch me shoot and make the movie - answering their questions. I thought it was pretty funny that Harry turned around and interviewed his sister.

Then, I told them to go make a movie. They decided to make one called "Remembering the House" - they made it all by themselves - without any help from me. Then, Harry showed me how to use some of the features in the editing software that I hadn't figured out! 

We watched together and i asked them to reflect on how they could improve their video.   Harry pointed out the camera shake issue.

On the previous video I created about our car leaving for California,  I asked for some tips about how to avoid camera shake.

Steve Garfield suggested a monopod - it's on my list!

Nick Booth offered some great shooting tips:

To steady your hand you can put one hand under the elbow of the arm with the camera. I think a bit of wobble is fine if you're walking - this is rough 'n ready stuff - and flip's don't really have enough heft to them to be wobble free. However there's a couple of things you can do.

1 Don't walk, swivel your body to pan.
2 Dont pan at all. If you're going to edit it is really good to let things leave the frame, because hat give you a natural edit point. To do that you sometimes need to get closer.

On the subject of closer, do you remember the interview tips, shoot wide and then shoot the same thing close, that way you can easily shorten by cutting from the wide to the close and back again.

Close would also be good here - it makes things a bit more interesting. When the car is being driven onto the trailer you might want a wide and then step in quickly and get a really close shot of the car as it moves across frame. If you make those moves quickly and with confidence then you might not even need to edit.

I think it's best not to use the zoom. I would generally recommend just get in closer!

One last thing. I have been using the HD flips for social reporting, now I'm gonna use a standard defintion flip. The files are smaller so uploading is faster and once it's seen on a typical youtube embed there's little difference in quality.

Well, back to cleaning up and making sure the boxes are labels.  The movers come in the morning and then we're off for an adventure - Virgin America to SFO - one husband, two kids, and a cello - and 5 suitcases!

Beth's On The Move: Our Car Leaves for California

Video is here

I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to be blogging very much, but realized that the move provided a good opportunity for me to play around with the FLIP camera I have on loan. The video above shows our car being loaded on the truck to go to California.

I used the annotations feature in YouTube to point out places in my shoot that I could improve.  I would really appreciate your shooting tips .. leave them in the comments.

Youtube Video Volunteers Program Launches

At Craigslists Foundation Nonprofit Bootcamp, I ran into Ramya Raghavan, Youtube's Nonprofits and Activism Manager who was speaking on a panel called Future Tech.  She talked about their new initiative Video Volunteers and offered some great tips about effective nonprofit videos. 

Given that I've just a loaner FLIP camera that I've been experimenting with, I couldn't resist making a video. It's one-minute and she explains the new video volunteers program and shares the secret sauce for success for videos on YouTube.  Here's the basic information:

Video Volunteers is YouTube's version of a new platform that Google has launched called All for Good, which helps match citizens with volunteer opportunities in their local communities. Built in partnership with the White House, All for Good is sort of like a Craigslist for community service. But you don't just have to show up at your local soup kitchen or animal shelter to give back -- volunteering in the 21st century can be done entirely online.

Powered by All for Good, the YouTube Video Volunteers platform will help you find a nonprofit organization that needs help creating videos to promote its cause. Starting today, you can sift through video opportunities on www.youtube.com/videovolunteers and connect directly with nonprofits for whom you'd like to make a video. Learn more about the platform from the Vlogbrothers, who've used their audience and talents to champion causes they care about:

Virgin America As Connector

 
Miro Logo

Since March, I've been commuting between Boston and San Francisco.   One of the best things about the commute is Virgin America airlines in flight experience.   The food is decent, the is leg room in economy, it's clean, and there is wifi.   But the wifi isn't the best part, everytime I fly I end up meeting folks who work in social media.

Last night, there was a couple setting next to me who once airborne, opened their laptops and started talking.   I kept on hearing phrases like "facebook," "social return on investment,"  "gift economy," and "social change."   I could not resist striking up a conversation with them, especially since we had so much rough turbulence that it helped distract me.

It turned out that I was sitting next to Eve Penny Cowan who is the founder of Future Leaders Institute that guides and mentors youth to employ social entrepreneurship to solve the world’s most pressing needs and Dan Jacobs who is the founder of EveryWun is a platform where individuals can leverage business donations to causes.   It's an interesting idea - built on the ladder of engagement and the concept of a gift economy.

Behind me was Nicholas Reville, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Miro, a HD open source video player.  It sports a gorgeous interface, built-in content, and the site also has an incredible how-to resource for creating Internet.TV.

I'll certainly be exploring these tools and programs in more depth.

What other airline (and route) offers a great flying experience and offline networking opportunities!

Need Some Inspiration To Video Blog? Look no further ...

Screen capture of video blog

I was an early adopter of video blogging and screencasting.  In the last year or so, I've gotten away from it.  I really miss making videos and screencasts. 

I have a loaner FLIP Camera for a couple of weeks.  It is the camera that many nonprofits are using to tell their story because they're easy to use and inexpensive (they product giveaway program too).  So, since I have a short window to play with this camera, I've been hunting for inspiration and resources to get started exploring its possibilities.

For inspiration, I had to look no further than the "On the Road: Tanzania," a video blog from the UN World Food Programme.  They are using FLIP Cameras and Camtasia editing software to product a series of videos of their deep field work in Africa.  The videos include a visit nutrition centres where school kids show up for their daily meals and get a taste of original Masai goat.  The video bloggers Marcus Prior their spokesperson from East Africa.  

This is just one of the many different ways they are using social media for the fight against global hunger  which has only intensified with the financial crisis.   Take a quick look around their homebase Web site to easily see their creative use of social media, from bloggers campaigns to Wall Against Hunger.

If your nonprofit is exploring the use of the video to tell its story, the technology has gotten so much easier and the cameras a lot less expensive.  Here's a few how-to resources that relate to the camera and software that were used to create the On the Road: Tanzania video blog.

FLIP Camera

• Flip Video Camera:  These are easy to use, inexpensive cameras with a built-USB port.  There's partner program where your can apply for a camera - it's called Flip Video Spotlight.

• Advice about using the FLIP camera:   The Flip Spotlight site has a resource section with lots of tips for using the camera.  For example, storytelling.  There's also a YouTube Channel with some how-to videos and lots of other useful information.

Youtube

• The Art of YouTube: Jammed packed full of tips and best practices, Michael Hoffman's deck and resource post from NTC08 is a classic.
• YouTube Nonprofit Program Here's where you sign up for a Nonprofit YouTube channel if you haven't already, but be sure to check out the tip sheets.  Need more inspiration for nonprofit videos?  Check the blog and highlighted videos.

Video Guides for Nonprofits

• Quick Video Guide for Nonprofits:  WeAreMedia offers a very simple step-by-step guide and examples.
• Messagae in Box: Video: From Tactical Technology, a good step-by-step guide that covers all aspects of video storytelling for human rights activists.
• See 3 Video Guide: This step-by-by video guide goes from the picture to the techniques of story telling and into editing and marketing.   It's one of the better guides out there for nonprofits.
  
• Witness Training Materials:  Witness focuses on the use of the video for human rights advocacy.  Their how-to and training resources are top notch!

• Get Seen by Steve Garfield;  Steve is a video blogging pioneer and the person who first introduced me to its power back in 2005.   Steve's book is due out in December, 2009, and while it doesn't focus exclusively on nonprofits (or one camera), judging from the sneak peek at the draft - it's a must read.
  
• How To Make Internet TV: From the participatory culture foundation, an step-by-step guide.

Editing Software

• The camera comes with some editing software. I had the HD version and well, it had some glitches.  Then when I heard that the WFP was using Camtasia Suite to edit, the video software I used for many years to create screencasts, I'm going to give Camtasia and FLIP HD video shots a try.  Here some basic information from TechSmith.

Now all I need to find is some additional brilliant examples of nonprofit organizations using FLIP cameras.  Have an example you want to share?  Leave it in the comments.

Smithsonian: Crowdsourcing An Institution's Vision on Youtube

Over the weekend, I took my kids to the movie, Night of Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.  They thoroughly enjoyed watching the exhibits come to life.  (My kids especially liked the Einstein bobbing heads).   Now the Smithsonian Institution, in a flash of cloud like behavior, is coming to life on the social web.

The Smithsonian Institution is in the midst of a huge strategic planning effort, with new media as one of the focal points for its future.  It looks like their strategic planning process is being extended by the social web, going beyond the traditional flip charts and chocolate chip cookies of all-day planning retreats.  While they may be also be doing focus groups and surveys, it looks like they've added a research channel: YouTube. 

Welcome to Smithsonian 2.0!

They're doing some crowdsourcing via their YouTube Channel.  The Smithsonian has opened the conversation up to the world and is inviting people to submit a one-minute video sharing their vision for the Institution's future.   The question they're asking:

Given the news ways of acquiring and sharing knowledge through technology: the internet, social networking, video sharing, and cell phones—where do you see the Smithsonian's museums and websites going in the future? How can we make education more relevant to you in a digital age?

There's a handful of videos already submitted and just gotta love this one with the baby.

The text of the invitation on YouTube is as follows:

We're looking for a few friends and fans from around the world to help us form the future Smithsonian experience. A revolutionary Web and New Media Strategy project is underway, and we invite you to collaborate with us as we envision a rich new media future for the Institution.

They're asking folks to join this YouTube group and submit a one-minute video by June 30th.  I wonder who they are reaching out to, why they selected YouTube (are there other places where people who are interested in the future of the Smithsonian gather?), are they reaching out to new media professionals as well as others?

It will be interesting to see how they summarizing the feedback and illustrate how they plan to incorporate it into their strategic planning. 

Update:  Found some additional materials from Nina Simond at Museum 2.0

Everyone's Smithsonian

View more Microsoft Word documents from Nina Simon.

Video of her lecture here. Conversation about this on the WestMuse Blog
in the comments.   There was a response from someone at the Smithsonian who answered Dave Cormier's query about why they are doing it and how to nurture the conversation.

Mike Edson is really the guy to address this, as the Web & New Media Strategy is his: http://Smithsonian20.si.edu but since I’m here:

The Voice Your Vision Project is just one more facet of the overall info gathering process. Video contribution seemed like a potentially engaging way to gather some public input, and YouTube was an easy place to set it up. This wasn’t a heavily analyzed endeavor, just another little piece of the puzzle.

The process has been designed to be very wide open within the Institution, so this seemed a easy and fun way to gather some input from the outside using New Media.

Nothing cynical, and no worry about losing funding. The Secretary is a Social Media booster. However, getting an institution as large as ours to undertake an integrated approach to New and Social Media is a big task. Building our systems from the ground up to both meet the internal needs of our researchers and other specialists while still filtering up to meet the needs of our constituents via our websites and our presence on an ever widening array of external social sites is going to take a lot of resources. We need begin to get a view from a lot of perspectives, and this is just one more slice of the pie.

So, not only are they opening up a two-way conversation, they are using social media best practices: listening and experimenting. Also being very transparent.

YouTube Community Celebrates Charities on 12/17: Make A Video

On December 17th, the Youtube community will participate in a video making party that celebrates charities. YouTube users are invited to make a video about their favorite charity and why they support it. Here's the how to and you can find the templates here. Here's more about this community effort.

Marking Human Rights Day: The Image That Opened My Eyes To Human Rights Abuses

For 15 years, WITNESS has harnessed the power of video to advance human rights.  In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th, they are asking folks to create a video sharing a story about what image first opened you eyes to human rights abuses.  (You can find the information here.)

The first image that opened my eyes to human rights abuses was when I was 8 years old and my great aunt took me to a movie called "The Shop On Main Street."  Here's a synopsis of the screenplay from wikipedia:

During World War II, a mild-mannered Slovak carpenter Tono Brtko (Jozef Kroner) is offered the chance to take over the sewing notions store of an old, near-deaf Jewish woman Rozália Lautmannová (Ida Kamińska) as a part of the enactment of an Aryanization regulation in the town. As Tono attempts to explain to Mrs. Lautmannová, who is oblivious of the world outside and generally confused, that he has come to be her supervisor and owner of the store, Imrich Kuchár (Martin Hollý, Sr.), a Slovak opponent of Aryanization, steps in and reveals to Brtko that the business itself is less than profitable, as Lautmannová herself relies on donations. The Jewish community then offers the amiable Brtko a weekly payment if he does not give up the store, which would otherwise be given to a new, possibly ruthless Aryanizer. Tono accepts and lets Mrs. Lautmannová believe he is her nephew who has come to help in the store. Their relationship grows, until the authorities round up the town's entire Jewish population for transport, and Tono finds himself conflicted as to whether he should turn in the senile Mrs. Lautmannová, or hide her. When the woman finally becomes aware of the "pogrom" all around her, she panics, and in attempting to silence her, Tono accidentally kills her. The realization devastates him, and he hangs himself.

If you view the clips on YouTube, you'll see some graphic images of the holocaust.  It was the first time I had seen images like that and became aware of genocide.  

The other day, I shared this memory with Geoff Livingston who was also planning to blog about his first experience.  His was not mediated through technology:

My first memory of human rights was not a good one, a prolonged period of time in which my Jewish family was harassed and attacked by anti-semites for a period of years. I do not like talking about that time, so instead I’ve decided to blog about the thing that had the most impact on me from a human rights perspective this year. By far, reading Amy Chua’s World On Fire had the most weight.

What image opened your eyes to human rights?

Warning:  This video creates some graphic and powerful images that may not be suitable for younger children.

For 15 years, WITNESS has harnessed the power of video to advance human rights.  In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th, they created this short video with different WITNESS staff talking about images that opened their eyes to human rights abuses around the world.  (To learn more about the images mentioned in this video, click here. )

They're asking folks to create a video answering the above question and uploading it to the Witness Hub or YouTube.   If you don't have a camera or if you're not comfortable creating video content, there are other ways to raise awareness about this important issue.   You can find the information here.  

I'll be posting on Wednesday.  Will you?

This is an excellent example of social media - getting others to tell your story or user generated content.   If you're looking for tips on how to do this, 50 Tips for Implementing User-Generated Content In Your Library is an excellent resource.    Here's a couple of the tips that Witness is using to power this campaign:

• Specifically ask users to contribute: Make sure that library patrons know that your user generated content exists, and ask them to contribute.
• Get all of your staff involved: In the early stages, it’s important to get started with a strong community, so encourage interaction by asking nonprofit staff to participate in creating content.
• Create tags and encourage users to adopt them: If you’re creating a class tag, for example, make sure that the students in that class know how to use them.
• Create a question and answer section: Encourage participation by designing an area where users can ask for specific help and information.
• Make things personal: Don’t just offer information, offer personal service, too. Give feedback and offer conversation to the users who are creating content for you.

When Matisse Bustos Hawkes, Outreach Coordinator, WITNESS - asked me to participate.  My first reaction was, I need to create a video like I need a hole in the head.   But then I watched their video - storytelling at its best.  I also thought about the fantastic work that they are doing in Cambodia  ... so looks like I'm making a video for Wednesday.  

Care 2 Lauchnes Video Blog at Democractic Convention

Net2 ThinkTank: How Can Nonprofits Use Online Video To Raise Money?

| View | Upload your own

Britt Bravo at NetSquared is asking for your best thoughts about this question:  How can nonprofits use online video to raise money online?

I don't have many good thoughts on this topic, but at the Making Media Connections conference in Chicago, Michael Hoffman did a workshop on incorporating video into nonprofits messaging.  He was presenting the same time as me, so didn't attend.  However, his post summarizing the resources and presentation are an excellent resource. 

I'd also point to Katya Andresen's "Constructing Your Call to Action" and while it isn't video specific, these are important guidelines about your ask.   

Share your thoughts in a blog post , or  over at the NetSquared Community Blog. Any registered user can post, here's how to post on the NetSquared Blog.

net2thinktank

Excellent Collection of Social Media How To Screencasts

How To Download YouTube Videos

VideoJug - Life Explained on Film is an excellent site for instructional videos and screencasts on a wide range of topics, including some fantastic how-to content for social networks and other tools.   The example above is one that plucked from the socialnetworking tagged videos.  This site is going to be an excellent resource for hunting and gathering of resources as part of the BeTheMedia project ...

Video Blogging in Rural Cambodian Province

Photo by MeanLux

Last August, I was invited organizers of the Cambodian Bloggers Summit to give a keynote and teach Web2.0 and video blogging workshops in Cambodia.   I launched a personal fundraising campaign so I could help be a sponsor for the conference and get over there with video cameras, shwag (t-shirts and stickers donated by nonprofits and tech companies) and teaching resources.   Folks from the video blogging community - like Jay Dedman, Ryanne Hodson and Coffee With Doug came up with the idea of video blogging kits and donated some cameras.

Mean Lux emailed to let me know that they had taken the cameras up to a Youth Festival and Training in a remote corner of Cambodia called Pursat!   Viirak (the guy behind the stickered laptop) and Be Chantra were there to help.  Mean Lux wrote a blog post, but it is in Khmer can't translate fully.  May Mean Lux will drop a comment in english?

Videos to come shortly!  Meanwhile, enjoy these photos.   I am thinking now that Flickr 90 second video would be awesome, although I'm sure the Internet access in that remote province is definitely cell and slow ..

Jayne Craven's YouTube Channel - Video Volunteering!

 

In a comment to an earlier blog post, I discovered that my friend Jayne Cravens is long back from her stint in Kabul.  I must have been really overwhelmed back August (that's when I was Cambodia) .. so to avoid feeling overwhelmed I sometimes use mark read all on all feeds -- I read too many blogs.

Anyway, she has started a YouTube Channel.    I love it!  Go subscribe.

I've started my own YouTube channel (but then, hasn't everyone?), and my first video is on "Using VIdeo to Support Online Volunteers/Remote Volunteers." It's just nine minutes long. Goes well with my first podcast, "For Nonprofits Considering Their Own Podcasts: Why It's Worth Exploring, and Content Considerations." These are really simple products; the video was done in less than 30 minutes, not counting the time it took to write the script and upload it to YouTube. The podcast was made using my iBook running OS 9, to show that such can be done with even old technology. And the lesson from both, I hope, is that truly, anyone with a decent computer can do this. Also see these suggestions for using real-time tools with volunteers (VoIP, chat, instant messaging, etc.).

My OoVoo Day With ...

Oovoo is a new desktop video service.  (Marshall Kirkpatrick has a review here).  What caught my eye was the special event that is taking place called "My ooVoo Day With" where you can sign up for a video chat with a well-known blogger.   The company is sponsoring the Frozen Pea Fund as a way to thank the bloggers, although a couple are using their appearances to raise money for other charities.  For example, Irina Slutsky is supporting Pie Ranch and David Meerman Scott is supporting the  Massachusetts Air & Space Museum.  (I signed up for a slot with Pistachio who will be offering some tips for improving your presentations.

Creative Commons Licensed Music for Your Videos

Nathan Ketsdever dropped a comment in the Tips for YouTube and Viral Video with lots of examples from e-politics.  (see  his live blogging of last night's YouTube debates).  He made a good point about adding music.  He mentioned using Creative Commons licensed music. 

This made me think of some recommendations for music that Ivan Boothe mentioned recently (can't remember exactly which nonprofit tech list serv)

Here are some resources I've found for music.

http://www.archive.org/details/opensource_audio

http://www.archive.org/details/netlabels

http://www.archive.org/details/78rpm

http://www.jamendo.com/en/

http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/

 

Some of those are public domain, some are free, some are CC. Depending on the CC license, you should be able to use them without too much trouble. Generally CC licenses allow for use as long as it's noncommercial, you credit the source, and the license on the thing you are making with the music is also CC.

Our promo video, for instance, uses CC music: Any work produced by the federal government is also by definition in the public domain (with the exception of classified works, of course), although there are a few things in which they were contracted out that may not be covered. But that's not usually a good resource for music anyway.

Also, check out the podsafe music sites on Steve Garfield's Learn about Videoblogging.

And if you’re lurking and reading, join MY network by subscribing for free to receive this information rapidly in an easy-to-consume and share format

 

Tips for YouTube and Viral Videos

Right after Thanksgiving, TechCrunch published a guest post called "The Secret Strategies Behind Many Viral Videos" which unleashed a record 491 comments because it described some unethical practices.  There was also a follow up post here.   

This week there are two more articles with advice that isn't sleezy, one from a for-profit perspective and the other an nonprofit perspective.

Advertising Article:
Video blogger Steve Garfield recently shared an article with me called "Ten Lessons for Marketers About Viral Video."  Here are the lessons:

Lesson one: Tap into the video community
Lesson two: Quality of the video is not what determines its popularity
Lesson three: A video of a dog skateboarding can get 3 million views, but that doesn't mean your commercial will
Lesson four: Online-video marketing is not just about contests
Lesson five: "Tagging" your video with keywords doesn't get them seen
Lesson six: Consumers might see your video, but that doesn't mean they'll visit your site and buy
(or donate or sign a petition)
Lesson seven: Paying for a well-produced video won't necessarily increase your brand's ROI
Lesson eight: Not all video portals are created equal
Lesson nine: You may be a conservative organization, but don't let that keep you from this medium
Lesson 10: This medium will become measurable

The other is a blog post from Collactive called Ten Tips To Spice Up Your YouTube Video

   1. Create a Relevant, Informative Video
   2. Keep the Video Short
   3. Select a Catchy Title and Thumbnail
   4. Embed Wisely
   5. Promote “Fresh” Videos
   6. Choose Your Video Category Wisely
   7. Target the “Most Viewed” Lists
   8. Ask Your Community to View Your Video
   9. Ask Your Community to Promote Your Video
  10. Ask Your Community to Promote Your Video on Social Media Sites

Some other blog posts about viral videos can be found here:

Will Video for Food:  How To Promote Your Video
Tube Mogul:  Video Marketing Best Practices
Robin Good:  Ten Ways You Can Promote Your Content on YouTube
Marketing Profs:  Case Study - Will it Blend?
E-Politics Video Blog Posts
Heather Diosa's Best Practices for YouTube

See3 Article About Video The Chronicle - article about video and nonprofits.

Par-Tay with Jonny Goldstein and Steve Garfield on Wed, Nov 21st 9 PM EST

Photo by Jonny Goldstein

    Some rights reserved.

Here's two of my favorite video bloggers!    Jonny Goldstein has been exploring the medium of social media talk shows and Steve Garfield will his guest.  Here's the description:

Come chat with Steve Garfield, emerging auteur filmmaker, the Paul Revere of Videoblogging, founder of Boston Media Makers, nation trotting evangelist of DIY media this Wednesday on Jonny’s Par-tay.

If you have not heard of Steve, than you live under a rock.

Here are a few of Steve’s current projects:

Cup O Politics-A new political comedy video podcast

Vlog Soup-Steve’s weekly sampling of the best of the web videosphere

Spices of Life-Mr Garfield works behind the camera to capture acclaimed food writer Nina Simonds as she interviews the likes of “Iron Chef” Morimoto in this sponsored web video series.

Videoblog for John Tobin, Boston City Councillor. Tobin is farsighted enough to realize the power of online video to connect with his constituents, and lucky enough to have Steve producing these video messages.

Besides all these projects, Steve continues to lead Boston Media Makers, a group which meets every month to share media projects.

And Steve has relentlessly kept spreading the word about DIY media with his frequent outings to conferences and confabs around the nation.

The icing on the cake: Steve is one of the friendliest, most constructive, level headed guys out there. Come Par-tay with us.

What: Jonny’s Par-tay, the live interactive web video talk show
Who: Steve Garfield, Jonny Goldstein, and you
How to watch: Just go to jonnygoldstein.com
Interactivity: Interact via the live chatroom and if you have a webcam and an operator11.com account, we can even put you on via video.
When: 9PM EST, Weds, Nov 21
 

Witness: Hub for Human Rights Media

The Hub for human rights media and action has launched.  Here's the description:

The Hub is the first online, multi-lingual global platform for human rights-related videos and media…think of it as a YouTube for human rights with many more bonus features. The Hub is a free service designed to serve, connect and mobilize individuals, groups and organizations working to protect and promote human rights (we are defining human rights quite broadly, so I think it will be inclusive of all if not most of the social justice causes that people are involved with on this list) worldwide.  The Hub allows users to use each media item they upload to encourage individuals to learn more and to get involved through direct links to resources, advocacy groups, campaigns and actions that they can take to make a real difference.

The Hub will enter its public beta phase on December 10th, International Human Rights Day. However, we invite you to start exploring the Hub now and begin to feature your work on the Hub today. It only takes a few minutes to get started and by doing so, you will ensure that the Hub's rapidly expanding community of users will be able to quickly find your organization's work, campaigns, resources and any media you would like to highlight.

** 3 Things You Can Do NOW **

1) Register and join the Hub Community

2) Create a group page for your organization on the Hub

3) Upload and embed your human rights-related videos, images and audio:

By creating a group page on the Hub you can feature your organization's media, resources, events and calls to action.  Once you have created a group page, you can also add your campaigns to the Hub, to raise awareness and encourage Hub users to take action in support of your work. Learn more here.

The 1 Second Film: Amazing Collaborative Art Project, Micro Fundraiser, and Micro Video Blogging Project Ever!

The One Second Film is The World's Biggest Shortest Film is several things rolled into one.  It's a collaborative art project reminding me of the early Internet projects like Douglas Davis's "The World's First Collaborative Sentence."  It's a micro-fundraising project - donate a dollar and participate.  And, its another example of micro video blogging.

Hat tip Michael Hoffman.