Here’s a surprise: my biggest challenge last year wasn’t Covid. Not by a mile. Exactly one year ago, I broke my right wrist. So badly that I needed surgery. One 3” titanium plate and 10 screws later, loaded up on painkillers and still unable to feel my entire right arm due to a surgical nerve […]
“We should do more with our brand” is the lament of a lot of busy nonprofit, corporate and association communication professionals. Here are three ways to boost your brand engagement this year. Engage Stakeholders in Social It’s not enough to have staff schedule regular social media posts. Build ways for your donors, your customers, your […]
You need to explain an issue, product or service to an audience through video. Where do you start? Begin with these three keys. Know Your Target Audience When creating branded content, you naturally want to start with “what”. What work does our nonprofit do? What benefits does our association offer? What product or service does […]
Think Big Picture First If video is part of your content plan this year, it will be important to start by stepping back and think big-picture as you budget. Why? Because budgeting project-by-project is inefficient in terms of time, audio/visual “assets” and money. You’ll want to consider all the assets you collect for any project […]
Each year, my team has a project that begins something like this: “Yeah, we have photos/videos of that. But we don’t exactly know how to find them.” We are all awash in content. Every time you hire an event photographer you end up with thousands of photos. Every time you produce a video, you end […]
It’s that time of the year. So what gift do you get for your favorite media-maker? Here are some of my favorite things (hint, hint, family!). Low Cost, Small Cameras and Rigs These days, content creatives are really multi-platform producers. We are simultaneously creating content for social platforms, live and virtual events, the web, streaming […]
For all of us, it’s been a challenging 20 months. But I’m so thankful for intersecting with so many wonderful people, causes and communities through my work. I thought I’d take a moment here to shout them out. CREATIVE PARTNERS In the storytelling business, clients are not so much customers as partners. I’ve been lucky […]
Have you heard the new buzzword? It’s Hybrid events. And yet, hybrid experiences have been around for more than 100 years. Now we have new tools to add impact and engagement. So no need to panic. Let’s break it down into what works. What’s Old is New Again My grandfather was a great lover of […]
A few days ago a colleague asked me for my origin story—namely, how did I get into nonfiction video production? I told him this story, and he said “I can’t believe I never knew that about you! You should share that.” OK, here goes. Back when I was a young production assistant, I was working […]
What is “B-roll?” B-roll is the footage essential to visually accompany the story that may be told through audio on the “A-roll,” which is traditionally interviews. If you want a good laugh, this ancient YouTube video “We Got That B-roll” still resonates throughout the industry. (You gotta get all the way to the famous section […]
