STBD as Case Study

I met Kfir Pravda, a bright young guy from Israel (who happens to also be a huge STBD fan), at Video on the Net last month. He has a lot of great ideas about the future of web video. As a marketer, he also understands that ensuring content creators get paid for their efforts is integral to the sustainability and growth of the field.

He references STBD in his most recent blog post regarding the differences in production and cost between old media and new media. Is the ability to create sustainable content on the fly a positive or a negative? Definitely worth a read, even from a non-STBD point of view.

Justin Kownacki Ego Trip

Evidently, some people were more impressed with my speech from VON than others.

Squarely in the fan corner is media executive David Eckoff, who writes:

"I have seen the future of online video and his name is Justin Kownacki."

A more inclusive quote might end, "and his cast of 25 extremely talented and unpaid volunteers," but here at STBD, we take whatever positive press we can get...

Justin Kownacki (STBD) Speaks @ Video on the Net

Justin Kownacki speaks at VON 2007 San Jose. Photo by Cirne.
My VON speech, in which I tout the merits of Something to Be Desired in specifc, and sustainable episodic web content in general, is now available in streaming WMV format.

Egad.

Never before has so thin and pale a man been so riveting for 7 minutes...

(You can see all the other speeches from VON at that site as well.)

STBD / VON Interview on Geek Riot

On Sunday night, Shawn and Justine at Geek Riot invited me to talk about the STBD relaunch and my experiences at VON.

Joining us for the first hour of the show is Jeff Pulver, VON creator, who also talks about his Video on the Net Alliance and its impending battle to preserve web video from the prying eyes of the FCC.

It's a good all-around show, and features a healthy mix of STBD and VON topics. The whole enchilada clocks in around 2 hours (!), but you can stream and skim if you so desire.

What VON Means for STBD

My head is still spinning from the VON experience. After three straight days of conference interaction, it can be tough to articulate every observation and event that's worth noting. I'll be breaking my thoughts down to bite-sized highlights over the coming days, starting here with:

STBD @ VON

I was invited to the VON conference to speak as the creator of Something to Be Desired, which is one of the web's longest-running video series. In addition to the general schmoozing and information-gathering, I had a seven minute speaking slot in which to wow the audience with whatever nuggets of wisdom I'd gathered in the past four years.

My speech doesn't exist on paper -- it was almost entirely improvised because I could never whittle it down to the 7 minutes I'd been alotted -- but the gist of my message was this:

Engaging Sustainable Episodic content.

That's what will help web video emerge from its current haze as the bright, shiny object people are still wrapping their heads around and allow us to move forward into a space where the average web user begins to realize that:

- there's more to web video than lip-synching videos and guys getting kicked in the crotch on YouTube,

- there's content being created that asks for (and is actually worth) more of your time and effort than the snack-based culture we're currently experiencing,

- this sustainable content is what active communities are built around, and

- this type of content is increasingly inexpensive to produce.

Anti-Snack?

I have nothing against snacking. I do it all the time. Our attention spans continue to evolve, meaning we can absorb more information in shorter amounts of time. This renders the old "meat and potatoes" theory inert.

If you're going to provide more than a snack, the time invested (on both sides: creator AND audience) had better be worth spending.

With STBD, we've created a show with a very long tail. It's sticky. It also requires more time and effort on the part of the audience to fully grasp what it is we're doing.

This means our core audience still hasn't arrived on the space yet because nowhere else have they seen any reason to invest more than a passing glance at a video whose elements never change over time.

Both the audiences AND the creators need to realize that this space enables us to do much more than just spoofs, skits and one-shots. Web video can be the new TV, the new film school and a whole new way of communicating, all in one.

And Now for the Big Surprise

Two elements I included in the speech generated the most buzz afterward, which makes sense because they were designed to stand out:

1. STBD will be franchising.

As I'd alluded to months ago on this blog, the time is ripe to branch STBD out beyond the borders of Pittsburgh. There's nothing stopping us from creating an STBD New York, and STBD Los Angeles and an STBD London (etc.) tomorrow, except for time and talent.

This concept really caught on with a few of the attendees, and many of them approached me afterwards with questions about how such a thing might be possible. One person in particular is quite interested in branching us out to one of the cities mentioned above. Obviously, all talk of this nature is just discussion until decisions are made and events are put into motion, but the opportunity for growth is certainly an embraceable one.

2. STBD is going open-source.

In the old media empire, the creators and studios talked AT the audience, and then hoped the audience talked amongst themselves ABOUT the finished product.

In the new media revolution, everyone is on even footing. This means the opportunities for audience interaction and creative input are immeasurable. Why not take advantage of that interest and empower the audience to take part in the ongoing creation of STBD?

How we do this will be seen over the coming months, but early elements include:

- Leaving certain elements of each episode open for public creation -- scenes, scripts, plotlines, etc.

- Empowering the audience to submit music, scout locations and rally extras for STBD shoots

- Offering audience interaction tools that will enable viewers to reinterpret our story from their own POV

Sound interesting? It is. And it definitely struck a chord with the audience at VON, who are VERY interested in seeing what STBD can accomplish by opening the doors and ceding certain areas of creative control to our fans -- which will, in turn, grant everyone who works with / on / around the show a greater sense of belonging within the community, and generate new reasons for each of them to spread the word.

Hush-Hush

In business, as in life, nothing is ever final until the last guest leaves the party. However, early indications from conversations that occurred at VON lead me to believe that at least one, if not several, of the following events will occur in the very near future:

- STBD will become a production umbrella, rather than a single show

- STBD will develop working partnerships with individual advertisers and ad networks

- STBD may be moving to a new online home

- STBD may no longer be my only "web job"

Of course, none of these events may happen as well. But the odds are that in seven months, when I'm at VON Boston in October, it may be under a very different set of circumstances...

To hear more about my POV @ VON, call in to Geek Riot this Sunday (March 25) @ 10 PM EST. Hosts Shawn Smith and iJustine have a big show lined up, including yours truly, who'll be talking about the VON experience AND the STBD relaunch beginning Monday!

Home from VON 2007 San Jose

Still recovering from the red-eye flight, followed by the layover in New York, followed by driving home with a car whose brakes could use a little extra oomph (or de-oomph, if you prefer).

VON was a blast. So much to summarize, so little time. I'll let the ideas continue to ferment and classify themselves in my head, and I'll update more thoroughly tomorrow.

In a nutshell? Web video is no longer an unknown quantity: it's now a non-understood quantity.

Instead of everyone being vaguely aware that video on the web is possible (like at VON Boston 2006 last September), everyone here is VERY aware that web video exists... they're just not sure what to do with it.

Yet.

And, in the meantime, we just keep on making it...

VON San Jose 2007: Day One Wrap-Up

I would have updated much more throughout the day yesterday from VON, but a combination of zero laptop battery, too many people to talk to and a somewhat shaky internet connection (or Twitter support) stymied my efforts. So, a highlight reel:

- Jeff Pulver led the keynote with an interesting statement: there's no more "IP Communications" anymore. From here on out, we who create and communicate in this space are merely "Communications." The good news is, we're now legitimate. The bad news is, we're now mainstream, and we're ripe for the disruption.

- Niklas Zennstrom from Skype unveiled their plans for world domination. I'm not kidding. Within a year, Skype will be a lifestyle.

- Many interesting speakers during the pre-lunch inundation of video information. I took 7 pages of notes -- many of them future talking points, inspiration or rebuttals to what's been said thus far. Best takeaway: Todd Herman from MSN asked, "Is anyone here interested in telling NEW KINDS of stories?" It seems some folks are starting to realize that we should be able to do more than old things in new media.

- Missed the Jeff Jarvis speech because I was recharging my battery, which led to meeting Kfir Pravda, who's evidently a huge STBD fan. (I understand Jarvis ruffled traditional media feathers AND new media feathers alike, as always.) We were then joined by the affably discombobulated Scottish comedian Mark Day, who had no idea why the hell he was here. ("What I really need is for someone to build be a website...")

- Jim Kirks, Sarah Atwood and I learned about VideoEgg, which may or may not be incredibly useful as an embeddable advertising app for web video. Uncertain about its impact on our futures, we instead led a group of podcasters to local restaurant Original Joe's, where Pulver proceeded to buy about 20 of us dinner and get us all drunk. Schlomo Rabinowitz also bought 5 of us gigantic shots of Jameson, which fueled the fire.

- After-party at the Fairmont Hotel. By then, I'd switched to water. Dozens of great conversations and interesting people. Plus, more suits than you've ever seen before playing Guitar Hero...

Today: I'm breakfasting instead of catching the opening keynotes because I'm still recovering from yesterday. I speak onstage in about an hour, and I have yet to trim my 15-minute speech to the prescribed 7 minute length. Asking a hungover man not to ramble should be interesting...

More updates as my battery and availability allow.

Safely at VON

That headline is not an overstatement. Considering I experienced the worst turbulence I've encountered in all my years of flying, while directly over Detroit yesterday, I'm quite glad to be here in one piece.

VON has yet to begin today, so we're all milling about in the breakfast area. I'm rooming with Clintus McGintus, whose penchant for taking dares is legendary. If anyone would like to dare him via me, feel free to comment. He may take you up on it -- and since everything here is recorded, vlogging it won't be an issue.

More later, after the keynote.