I just ran across this great story from Lawrence Dortch. This guy’s been in the vlogging game longer than me, and he actually inspired me to get started back when I was working at Black Family Channel.
Larry’s site, TodayIFeelLike.com features a mix of tech, tutorials, and random adventures. I have to say, he is on his way to becoming a great storyteller. This is his latest project, “One Punch at a Time,” which shares the story of a young female boxer who has her sights set on the 2012 Olympics.
Larry shot, voiced, and edited the piece. It’s not only a great story, but he shot it like a pro.
This is the time of the year when I turn to my friends, family, and network to support a cause that is near and dear to my family’s heart.
In 2006, our twins boys were born at 20 weeks. They were way too small and underdeveloped to survive, and even if they would have lived, their defects would have been crippling.
My wife and I have turned the tragedy into something positive and we now raise money during the annual March of Dimes, March for Babies.
Our goal this year is to raise $5,500.00 dollars (my personal goal is to raise $1,500), and with your help, we’ll reach our goal.
If you’re one of my Facebook friends or follow me on Twitter, I’m not going to stop talking about this.
We have 33 days to reach our goal, so please donate now, or share this post with a friend or colleague.
So, after weeks of twittering, Facebook messages, articles, planning, and organizing,Video Camp Atlanta came and went.
There have been plenty of social media camps – pod camps, public media camps, product camps, but, from what I could tell, this may have been the first video camp (please let me know if I’m wrong).
Overall, I’d gave the event a strong B grade. About fifty people came out to listen and learn about web video. It was a mix of journalists, media pros, students, and business owners.
Before I go into the details of the event, I’ll talk about how we promoted and marketed it. We primarily used Twitter, Facebook, and used article marketing on Atlanta Daybook. We partnered with a few organizations who helped us spread the word. I created a video, that I shared frequently throughout my networks. We also had some promotional partners who helped spread the word.
Everyone came together to help make this a great event. There were demonstrations and break out sessions that ranged from pocket and DSLR cameras to using video to monetize your content.
We decided to have the break out sessions repeat so that everyone could take in the information and not miss any of the content. People seemed to like this format, but the biggest complaint was that there wasn’t enough time. Since this was a half day event, each break out was 30 minutes which didn’t leave much time for Q&A.
We packed a lot of content into the half-day event, and it was non-stop.
So what’s next? We definitely will organize anotherVideo Camp in the future, and we are talking about taking the show on the road.
I’m just glad it all came together and people seemed to generally enjoy everything.
This event wouldn’t have been possible with my friends, colleagues, and associates who led the breakout discussions, volunteered, and sponsored the event.
I’ve wanted to do this for about two years, and you helped my dream come true.
I have to give a special thanks to my lovely wife Daphne, Siddiq Bello, and my partner Selah. You all ROCK!!
And Menyuan Smith, (Grow Kids Inc.), we’ll be making that donation as promised.
For photos of the event, please visit KimberlyMurray’s page, and please like it.
There’s one thing I enjoy almost as much as producing media, and that’s talking about how to produce it.
I got my first taste of teaching way back in 1991, when I had the opportunity to teach as an adjunct instructor at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, FL.
That was one of the reasons why I pursued a Master’s degree. Little did I know that my online video presence would opened doors in ways that I never could have imagined.
I’ve been able speak and teach across the country. I even landed my current job in part because of a Web video.
My goal for the last two years was to organize a video workshop, and in 2011 one of my resolutions was to finally make it happen.
If you can afford to spend thousands and thousands on professional video production, this may not be for you, but if you have a modest budget to spend on a camera and some accessories, this could be just what you’re looking for.
If you live anywhere in the Southeast, don’t miss this opportunity to be taught by some of the best in the business.
The tickets are super affordable right now, plus, a portion of the proceeds are going to support the non-profit Grow Kids Inc.
Did you know that February is No-Buy month? That’s according to the journo-blogger Natalie McNeal who went from working at the Miami Herald to being a social media practitioner/blogger.
I had the chance to speak on a panel with her virtually during last year’s NABJ conference. I admire her for several reasons: she’s a journalist who walked away from the biz to pursue her passions; she’s not afraid of technology or social media, and she has a new title to add to her resume, author.
Despite the bright pink cover which to me implies that the book is being marketed primarily to women, I found it to be an enjoyable read.
I’m working to eliminate my family’s debt, and though I found the book inspiring on that level, what I especially enjoyed was McNeal’s story of how she managed to escape the newsroom, and find success through her blog.
I had the chance to speak with her via Skype and she gives some sound advice for journalists.
Please visit www.thefrugalista.com to learn more about how you can be a frugalisa, or frugalisto (if you’re a dude).
With Former President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday fast approaching there has been much fervor on the American political Right to rewrite history and place the “Gipper” into the Pantheon of great American statesmen. Scant a day passes where a member of the Republican Party or Tea Party does not wax poetically of the utopia which existed in the 1980’s under Reagan’s watch. In this articulation of history taxes were low, the military was strong and the American Dream was in reach for all as freedom and equality rained down in a mighty torrent washing away the excesses of the liberal oppression of the past.
At the forefront of this effort to revise history, for obvious reasons, is Ronald Reagan’s son Michael Reagan who recently penned an article “Ronald Reagan — More of a Friend to Blacks Than Obama?” He is not alone. Many on the political Right now run all decisions through a pseudo “Reagan Rubric” to determine if the policy fits into the Dream of Gipper. To the Right, Reagan is a figure on par with the most towering figures of American history and deserves nothing less than enshrinement upon Mount Rushmore and a National Monument. This Reagan Fetish has resulted in the twisting and bastardization of Reagan’s true legacy.
There is a reason that Reagan is held as such a shining beacon of conservative values. That is because he is the only decent conservative President in U.S. History. Think about it, both Presidents Bush were national embarrassments, Ford was shunned by his own party, Nixon was forced to resign and Eisenhower was so liberal that Martin Luther King, Jr. and many other Civil Rights activist supported him because of his social policies. Hoover, Coolidge and Harding sank the World into the Great Depression. Taft was incompetent. Teddy Roosevelt was a social and economic Liberal. McKinley died from being stubborn. And the rest, stretching back to Lincoln were incompetent, ineffective, corrupt or simply lost to history. Even Lincoln himself would not be a member of the modern political Right (do you really think the Confederate flag waving, anti-government factions of the Tea Party would embrace the “Great Emancipator?”).
So Reagan is all that the Right has in the entirety of American history. Thus you cannot really blame them for attempting to turn lemons into lemonade, or in this case lemon jelly beans, with Reagan. In truth, Reagan was the first in a now long line of intellectually dank politicians on the Right. Similar to the “Know Nothing” Party of the Mid-19th century, the modern Right prides itself on nativism, conservative core-values, a lack of compromise and pedantic political machinations with no foresight as to any long term impact. The Right lauds Reagan’s record of cutting taxes and “winning” the Cold War and criticizes the current President for the massive deficits that the country currently faces. However, they do not seem able to make the casual connection that decreasing revenue while massively increasing spending will leave you in debt. And further that if you continue this policy for several decades you will be in a lot of debt. And that the guy that shows up at the end to clean up after your 30 year spending rager cannot really be blamed for excesses of the past.
These conservative Know Nothings have fundamentally distorted Reagan’s record. In truth, Reagan ran massive Federal deficits, almost bankrupted American with the “Star Wars” program, propped up brutal dictators, ran one of the most corrupt administrations since Ulysses S. Grant, failed to address AIDS, failed to address Crack and the American drug problem, locked up and entire generation to appear tough on crime, his laissez faire economic policy caused massive future debt and he was more than likely fully senile during the latter stages of his term in office.
That is all to say that this current Reagan fetish is not unlike other fetishes. It is based upon living out a fantasy. In this case, the fantasy that things were somehow better way back when.
Robert Patillo is an Attorney and commentator at The Patillo Law Group, LLC in Atlanta, Ga. He can be reached at 706-464-9839 or via email: rpatillo@robertpatillo.com. www.robertpatillo.com
