dispatches

Report from the Content Marketing Retreat

I'm spending two days this week at the Content Marketing Retreat on Whidbey Island, put on by the Langley Center for New Media. This event has industry leaders talking to a small group of professionals, split roughly evenly between marketing and production people, about the latest trends in video storytelling and their application. Rather than link to individual bios, the comprehensive list of presenters is here. The quickie summaries.

From Scott Abel (by far my favorite presenter of the day). There are story archetypes that all videos fall in. Some examples:

• Overcoming the Monster: Terrible forces are out there, but we can help. American Express Small Business Saturday

• Rebirth: We're changing how things are. Cipolte Back To The Start.

• Journey and Return: Literally, a voyage, a trip. Expedia's Find Your Understanding (my reaction to this one—WOW)

• Tragedy: The consequences of a tragic flaw. St John's Ambulance

• Comedy: The ones that make Facebook, et. al. Kotex GenerationKnow

Russell Sparkman made the crucial point that video is about the customer journey, and the tests of that alignment include:

• Does it touch an emotion?

• Are the targets who you need to connect with, (which is not the same as how many you reach)?

• Is the deployment properly managed?

• Is the piece worthwhile and engaging?

• Is it part of a series of videos, all of which can have a long life?

• Are they shareable?

From Chris Donaldson. Videos have 3 requirements: find your story (what is the conflict, what is the problem to solve), find the metaphor (the larger meaning), and find your heart (connect emotionally).

Jon Wuebben gave a distressing, and misleading factoid about video budgets, for which I called him on later. He maintained a high production value video should cost between $2000-$5000. Given that I couldn't hire crew or stay in business at the high end of that range (and I'm a seriously low overhead operation), this is not an encouraging trend if this becomes accepted fact.

Kim Barnes, on the basics of rights and assignments, used three very bad words: Work For Hire. That all clients need to hire their video production on that basis. Two words. I don't. (Yes, I know RTW is the generally accepted practice in film work, and I won't say I'd never sign one, but as a producer I've maintained the licensing model I've applied my entire career as a still photographer for all my projects up to now.)

Pamela Muldoon made my head spin with where video deployment on social media is headed. YouTube Facebook channel apps, Twitter profiles for video, Pinterest boards for video, LinkedIn as the new hot place for video and promotion. Man, it's busy out there.

Nate Riggs outlined the common elements that make a video go viral (from the awful to the transcendent). Colin Christianson talked about live video, which I hope I never have to do. Bryan Zug went all animation graphics on us, pitching it as the budget alternative to real humans in front of or behind the camera. Scott Pierce talked about data and analytics, and I couldn't understand a single word he said.

Tomorrow we break into small groups, and work on a plan for a strategic video initiative, which we'll sell to the larger group in the afternoon. Stay tuned.  

Palm Springs Photo Festival: The Outcome

“You're absolutely right,” said Kristi, the one Photo Review buddy I made here. “I've never been to a conference where it's so hard to make friends.” It was nice to know it's not me. Something about the tone of this event makes it really hard to connect. I spent five days here and ate every single meal alone.

I'm remembering why I stopped doing review events 6 years ago. These things are brutal. They are crucial events for a photographer, particularly fine art folks, but man are they grueling.

 What I learned this week at the Palm Springs Photo Reviews.

• I'm a mediocre printer. It affects how people respond to the work. Since I closed down my darkroom, photography has ceased to be about the artifact. It has affected my ability to create one when I need to.

• It's about my marketing, not my work. Again and again I heard this—the work is there. My client base is not. My marketing doesn't work. It never has. A big part of me believes it never will. I suck at that part of it. I gotta pinpoint who I want my clients to be, to the person, and target them like a laser. I'm going to need a ton of outside consulting, and maybe therapy, to get through that block.

• The first thing I say at a review determines where the next 20 minutes will go. If I say, well, I need more clients, I get a basic lecture on marketing. If I come across as confident about my stance toward my work, it sets the discussion at a higher level.

• Video appears to be my strong suit. Somehow, I'm doing something unique. Big time, big agency art buyers were impressed.

• There is no way to keep an emotional even keel at these things. I have been from my-career-is-hopeless to I'm-going-to-be-a-star and back, and then back, and then back again. Within 2 hours.

• The friendliest, most helpful, able-to-connect people here have been the front line volunteers. They're working 8 hour days for the chance to get a leftover review at the end of it, and they somehow aren't resentful at us entitled, ambitious, self-centered photographers. They're amazing.

• At this moment, I hope to never go to another review event, ever. Unless I'm a panelist.

 

 

Back on track

On top of recent debacles, a review with an art rep that I had on my calendar for this morning was, in fact, really supposed to be yesterday morning. I was a no show. A PSPF volunteer, Megan Miller, miraculously rearranged my schedule and rebooked me with another art rep this afternoon. They've been great making up for my cluelessness.

Fortunately, the stars has realigned. “You did the edit on this reel too? Highlight that, it's really good. This is all fabulous work, it's real, it's authentic.” This one and yesterday's art buyer (the one who sent me into the my-career-is-over tailspin depression) work for the same ad agency. After today's reviews I can mark that other one as a bad data point.

I've heard this before and resisted, but an art rep says to get an intern. Use them to ferret out the corporate direct and more hidden markets for my promotion. Another art rep suggested ways to use LinkedIn and my current clients to get more work. The magazine people have been kind and supportive, but I haven't been sensing gobs of opportunity there.

The weather has cooled off to almost tolerable levels, and I finally had the first decent meal of my time here (TripAdvisor, you've been leading me astray all week). I've had an odd relationship with this event compared to prior reviews I've done. I've been way less social than usual, and doing no activities other than the reviews. Somehow the structure of this event, or maybe the geography of the physical space, isn't as encouraging to a feeling of being part of a group endeavor in ways I can't put my finger on. Maybe I'm removed from the communal Pacific NW mindset and experiencing California über-individualism. I'm spending a little too much time alone, even for me. Maybe I'm just not getting enough sleep—there is that AC roaring in my ear all night. Tomorrow is a huge day—7 reviews. Night.