#168 Summer Vacation

Here's a short explanation of the past three months

Projects

• I finished a corporate promotional video for an integrated circuit manufacturer in Massachusetts. I partnered with Lou Goodman and we worked together shooting and editing the video. And I completed a 30 second commercial for the living history museum, Plimoth Plantation.
• Even as I continue to look for a full time video gig I'm still volunteering my time to shoot and edit video for my former school, Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts

Plans
Everything always takes more time that you think

• but I'm committed to learning how to maximize Worpress so I can transfer the Video StudentGuy site over to a self hosted Wordpress site with it's own domain. I want to develop a daily blog, add a number of interactive features and introduce video and still images.
• Once I've got that nailed, I'll move on to producing a portfolio site
• I continue to do audio production for another Podcast - The Post Movie Show
• I'm working on a series of screencasts demonstrating how to edit in FCP using mostly keyboard commands.
• I hope to turn my experiences into a presentation at some of the podcamps I've listed below.

Events

• PAB10 Ottawa - great show and great people. What can you say about those Canadians except they're so nice!
• DSLR video events through Avid, Rule and FCPUG. Lots of buzz about that I need to spend a show talking about that.

Podcamps Boston, NH, CT and Montreal in September and October

• Montreal - Sept 11 & 12

• Boston - Sept 25 & 26

• Connecticut - October 16

• New Hampshire - October 23 & 24

I'll be attending an introduction to Wordpress workshop at the Microsoft NERD Center in Boston Monday August 30.

• It's closed, but there's a presentation later that evening also at the NERD, courtesy of the Boston Wordpress Meetup Group on how to insert video into Wordpress

#157 The price of free

On my way home in the rain on Thanksgiving eve I stopped in at the local turnpike service center and spoke my mind.

You get what you pay for and tnstaafl (there's no such thing as a free lunch)

#155 It's a Wordpress World

If you want to put your video on the web and you don't know a lick about website creation, look into Wordpress.

Producing media and distributing it online requires a platform that provides a base from you can attract interest and develop a community. I think its fair to say that self promotion on the internet is not a common skill set of most production oriented media producers. One of the best ways to step into this critical space and feel as though you have some control over the process is to produce a blog using Wordpress.

Wordpress is one of many different blogging software platforms, such as Typepad, Blogger and Drupal, however I think it is the best combination of flexibility, power and accessibility for non web developers. There's a tremendous amount of learning resources for the uninitiated, with tutorials for the beginner at Wordpress.org and online in general. Even easier, you can go to Wordpress.com, create an account and start blogging in 10 minutes. There is even a video channel, Wordpress.TV that offers up a hefty dose of information for newbies.

There are meetups that take place all over the country, all over the world! I just found a Wordpress meetup in Boston that I'll be attending next month. Last month there was presentation by Adam Wood on how to customize a theme called Atahualpa which you can follow here. I found an interesting review of Thesis, another popular theme, containing lots of information about how a good theme simplifies blogging.

The really valuable thing about Wordpress is that is is more than just a blogging tool. It's a content management system (CMS) the organizes your content, tracks your marketing efforts and does other things CMS software does.

Finally you can attend, for next to nothing, Wordpress Camps all over the country. I just found one will be in Boston, close to where I live, in January. Even if you can't attend one, or you want to know what kind of sessions occur you can check out past unconferences online. A recent Wordpress Camp in Phoenix has some video of some their sessions, including how to put video online. Last week, about 700 attended WP Camp New York City and going by the list of sessions it must have been amazing.

#142 Podcamp NH09 Day 2

Podcamp New Hampshire 09
"Conversations That Matter"

Handmade in America

Session:

• Wordpress
• Boston Wordpress Meetup Group
• Boston Wordcamp January 2010

Session:
Social Media Levels the Media Distribution Field

Presenters:

• Amy Greenlaw
• Leslie Poston
• FilmPop

Example of artist who has successfully promoted herself through social media:

• Imogene Heap

Social Media resources for independent filmmakers:

• KickStarter
• Chip in
• Indie GoGo
• openIndie.com

Podcamp NH 2010 June or July