#BetterCallPaul S03E09 UnoDeuce Blooper Reel Part 1
Sit back and enjoy all the flubs that we make while being creative.
Guest Post: March 14: Lansing’s first monthly Tech Demo Night!
There’s a new tech event in town, and you’re invited.
It’s called Tech Demo Night. Think of it as a show-and-tell for all ages with a technology theme. It’s free and you don’t have to show anything, but you’re more than welcome to.
Already interested? RSVP and we’ll see you there!
Tech Hubbub
Tech Demo Night is a celebration of technology, trying and exploring new things, and of course, the amazing people in Lansing who love both.
Whatever kind of technophile you are—inventor, coder, student, teacher, maker, entrepreneur, designer, fanboy, fangirl, seasoned geek, or newbie—here’s a chance to share that slice of tech you get excited about, meet other like-minded individuals, and discover even more things to get excited about.
It doesn’t matter if you’re creating something that you want to share or you just want to see what’s going on in Lansing’s tech scene: come on out, eat some free pizza, ask someone what they’re doing in tech, and watch some sweet demos. You’ll leave inspired, more knowledgeable, and more aware of Lansing’s great tech community than ever.
We also know that kids are way more in touch with tech than many adults, so this will be a kid-friendly event, too! If your child or some young’n you know is learning or doing something mind-blowing, encourage them to come out and present!
Demos Done Quick
Because this event is open to such a wide variety of tech and ages, we’re hoping for a bigger turnout than other tech meetups in Lansing. In order to make sure as many people can demo as possible, there are a couple of rules for demos:
- Demos must be 5 minutes or less
- Demo material sent to Erik Gillespie (event organizer) goes first
A 5-minute demo will go by fast! If you’ve never given such a short presentation, try it out. You’ll discover that 5 minutes is not enough time to get into the technical details. In fact, it’s just enough time to demo and high-level overview. ????
Sending slides and demo content to the event organizer saves us from all that wasted time disconnecting and reconnecting laptops. We highly recommend putting your material somewhere on the web and providing a link so everything can be ready to demo when it’s your turn. If you have physical props, bring those with you and try them out before the demos start!
An hour of demos, an hour of banter
If you want to talk about something at length, there will be 30 minutes both before and after the demos to do so! You can also sign up to present your idea at one of Lansing’s many other tech meetups.
If you liked a demo, we encourage you to chat with the presenter after all of the demos are done. This is also a great time to learn more about how they discovered that sweet piece of tech they showed off or created, where they work, if they’re looking for help, and how you can get involved.
Pizza and drinks are generously provided by our co-sponsor, Michigan SBDC. You should also ask them about how they’re helping build a better tech scene in Lansing.
Things to Remember
Bring your favorite new project or product, give a quick demo, and finish with some light convo. Anyone who loves tech can present, including kids!
Lansing Tech Demo Nights are held on the second Tuesday of the month, doors open at 7:00 pm, and noms will be provided.
Don’t forget to RSVP. We hope to see you there!
Discover more Lansing tech meetups at Lansing.Codes.
Er
ik Gillespie is a software developer and semi-pro advocate of amazing things. He founded Giving Jar, a blog and upcoming donation platform for Lansing charities, and helps people learn how to create websites and other software at Lansing Code Lab. He’s kind of obsessed with board games, too.
#BetterCallPaul-S03E08 Content Marketing
Paul talks about how video is just one part of the marketing pie. You will want pie after this video…
3 Ways to Extend the Life of Your Video
When you create a video, you are trying to get people to hear and see your story. But with the many different platforms out there attention is diverted away from the initial post. However, your video is just one piece of content that can be used in different ways on different platforms. Here are three things that you can do to extend the life of that video so it isn’t completely lost in the shuffle.
- Thumbnails/Stills. You really should have a dynamic still that helps represent what your video is about. So, take a still and add graphics to it, and use that to illustrate the story of the video. We like to use a program like Canva or Pixelmator to create our
video thumbnails. YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo all recommend and have options to upload thumbnails. The biggest thing with this, is it’s also a picture so you can make it a stand alone Facebook post, tweet or Instagram post as well.
2. Teasers. With video grabbing more and more attention, length of the video becomes more crucial. I wrote about length of video in my post last week. Not only that there are some social media platforms that have limitations on the length as it is. For instance, Twitter and Instagram have 60 second limitations and the Facebook ad platform has limitations on time as well. In this scenario, if your video is slightly longer than the time limitations of the platform, than creating a “teaser” or “trailer” of the main video with a link to it, would be helpful. We use those terms that apply to shorter clips of films that you see to get you interested in it. The same philosophy applies here. It’s just trying to stimulate interest in the longer content. You can also make several and publish o
n the various platforms I just mentioned.
3. GIFS. This is one we have fun with. GIFS are big, visually interesting and very popular. So, similar to thumbnails, you can take a section of your video and publish it to GIF friendly accounts. For instance, Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. We like to use GIF Brewery to create our GIFS, and we use GIPHY to host them. Like I mentioned they are really eye-catching and popular to use in messaging apps as well.
These three ways we use regularly for our clients and for our own promotion of the work we do. They will definitely help you promote and bring attention to the video you worked so hard to create and your very important story won’t get lost in the shuffle.
Paul J Schmidt is owner/production director of UnoDeuce Multimedia, a full service video production company based in Lansing, Michigan that specializes in creative visual storytelling for small businesses and non-profit organizations. You can connect with them at www.unodeuce.com
What’s the Right Length for a Video?
One of the most discussed aspects of video production is the length of a video. How long should it be? If it’s online doesn’t it have to be short? Well, yes and no. When we think of online video we tend to think about Facebook or YouTube, or in some part Instagram. Platforms that lend themselves to the short form video. However, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime are also online distribution platforms, but they are known for their more long form content such as television series, films and documentaries. So, what’s the answer? It actually boils down to your audience and when and where you would like to reach them.
Here’s a little primer that I found online a few years ago and it has really stuck with how we prepare videos for our clients going forward.
30 seconds to 2 minutes: This is for when you are trying to interrupt people’s day with something that’s going on with your business. This is specifically for the Facebook/Instagram/Twitter crowd. If you are trying to connect with your audience on these platforms, the shorter the better. You are interjecting into their social feed to grab their attention they most likely didn’t seek you out.
2 and one half minutes: This is perfect timing for a kickstarter/indigogo/gofundme campaign. Similar to the length of an average movie trailer, people have come to your page specifically to be pitched on the product you want them to invest in, so going a little longer than usual is ok.
5 minutes: This is mostly for our non-profit friends. This is a good length if you have a live captive audience at an event. They will sit through this because you are revealing something specific you want them to donate to or sponsor. However, if you go over 5 minutes, then it wears on. Typically if you have more to say, break the message up into more videos and spread them around during the event. Think in terms of a music video, which averages usually between 4 and 5 minutes.
Those are some really good times to stick by. In the first category, 2 minutes is stretching it. As long as you have a lot of visuals the video will move. However, you do want your audience wanting more, so knowing when and where to place your video will determine how well your video performs. That performance will in turn determine how good the return will be on that investment.
Paul J Schmidt is the Creative Video Strategist of UnoDeuce Multimedia, a full service video production company based in Lansing, Michigan that specializes in creative visual storytelling for small businesses and non-profit organizations. You can connect with them at www.unodeuce.com