Announcing the Strategic Video Awards

The 2010 Strategic Video Awards is a new video awards program, created by Arizona-based marketing agency McMurry’s Center for Professional Excellence, to showcase videos that serve a strategic purpose, judging them not on their technical merits but rather on their ability to move their intended audience in a particular direction. Of course, technical competence in scripting, shooting and editing video helps, but big budgets aren't necessarily needed to get your message across in a strategic and compelling way. With the proliferation of employee generated video created with Flip camera, viewers are more forgiving of production quality. Short interviews or video messages using low cost video tools can be more powerful than a polished PR agency production.

The Strategic Video awards will emphasize overall effectiveness of persuasive power and not judge entrants on lighting, sound and script, but will focus on categories like, leadership communication, employee engagement and organizational history. I've been invited to be a judge for this inaugural video competition, and I'm pleased to present a short interview I did with David Murray, the Strategic Video Awards Program Director, to give some background on the video awards program.



Larry Kless: What started Strategic video awards? Did it grow out of a initiative? How did the idea evolve into what it is today?

David Murray: At McMurry’s Center for Professional Excellence we look for areas of communication that aren’t given their full measure of recognition by big association awards programs. For instance, we have the Cicero Speechwriting Awards, for excellence in speechwriting. We give Magnum Opus Awards to writers, editors and designers who create everything from great articles to great headlines and photo captions.

With video becoming such a huge part of modern communication strategies, it seemed natural to us to create a separate awards program for great video communications.

But what’s most important about the Strategic Video Awards is that they offer a place for communicators who are using video for strategic purposes. As we say on the website, “No matter what the entry category, the only questions our judges ask are: Is it absorbing? Is it persuasive? And most importantly: Did it work?”

LK: Why video? What makes it so compelling and why should businesses use it? Why is the hottest communication medium?

David Murray: You’ll probably have more reasons than we will, Larry. Obviously the technology—from the cameras to streaming ability—has made the making and distributing of videos infinitely easier and cheaper.

This ease of use has changed the very nature of video communications, and made it more spontaneous and ultimately, valuable. The videos that resulted from thousands of corporate dollars and days and weeks and months of production were often too slick by half, and their themes were out of date.

The videos that are produced now are now—they’re authentic, they’re human and they communicate. Which is more than we can say about a lot of corporate communication media, eh?

LK: Isn't making videos too expensive and out of reach for most companies? Where do they start?

David Murray: If I were a communicator, I’d start by getting myself a Flip camera and experimenting with making simple, short videos at home, and around the office. Wait, I am a communicator, and that’s exactly what I have done. And I’ve made some really good stuff.

Eventually, your video storytelling ability grows, and you find you want more and better tools. But by that time, you’ve shown yourself and others what an added dimension video provides, and the budget money’s magically available.

LK: Now, specifically about the competition... Can you describe the submissions process?

David Murray: Submission is as simple as we could make it. Go to the website, type in the URL to your video, select a category and write us a brief description of what the video set out to accomplish, and what you think it did achieve. It’s $149 per entry. That’s it.

https://www.strategicvideoawards.com/EntryForm.php

LK: Who the heck are the judges?

David Murray: We recruited 13 people with lots of experience using video to communicate. Identifying them wasn’t really very easy, because heretofore the video world was: communications people ... and video people. No more. All these judges represent the new video communicator, and they’re excited to see the entries.

LK: What do the award winners win?

David Murray: Virtual Winners Kit, which includes all the tools you need to promote your win
(press release, logos, etc.)
Inclusion in a special Strategic Video Awards highlight issue of the widely read ContentWise
A certificate, ready for framing

LK: Can you talk a little about the Center for Professional Excellence?

David Murray: This is a division of the custom publisher McMurry, CPE offers professional development to people ranging from corporate communication executives to copyeditors, business managers to administrative assistants.

The entry deadline is October 15, 2010.
For more information, visit the website: Strategic Video Awards

Jeffrey Hayzlett, Kodak CMO at Streaming Media East 2010, "How Video and Social Media Helped Kodak Get Its Mojo Back"

I caught up Jeffrey Hayzlett, two weeks before his departure as Eastman Kodak Company's energetic and boisterous, celebrity CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), at Streaming Media East 2010, where gave an opening keynote address. He discussed Kodak's innovation in video with it's popular pocket cameras and why companies should engage in social media and video. In his role at Kodak, he helped Eastman Kodak Company get its mojo back by using streaming media, video technology and emotional technology to connect with its customers. Hayzlett had joined Kodak in 2006 and has ran all their marketing efforts since 2009. He launched a social media team with the roles of Chief Listener and Chief Blogger, and also landed the company a starring role on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice.

Hayzlett says that in today's media landscape, it's vitally important to be where your customers are and that's why Kodak has immersed itself in social media - to engage in a two-way conversation with customers. Kodak's social media activity includes a Facebook page, four blogs, free podcasts on iTunes, videos on YouTube ad Kodak.com and very active participation on Twitter. The company turned to the wisdom of the crowd for a Twitter contest to help name their latest pocket video camera, the new PlaySport. Kodak has produced two guides with Social Media Tips and Mobile Marketing Tips to share their experiences of how social media helped grow their business, available for free at kodak.com/go/followus.



Hayzlett kicked off Streaming Media East a few weeks ago, with a spirited presentation on how social media has redefined Kodak's tactics of product development and customer engagement, and built communities around their brand. It's no longer just eyeballs and ears, but now it's the hearts and minds.

Hayzlett says:

"These conversation go on with you or without you. So you want to engage, educate, excite people and they become evangelists, or Kodak ambassadors is what we call them. That's what we call the "4 E's" So, it's very important for businesses or individuals, but especially for businesses to get out there and engage with their communities."

How do companies get started in social media?

In their Social Media Tips guide, Kodak advises that before you jump in think about some basic questions:

• Why do I want to participate in social media?
• How can social media improve my business?
• How will social media be incorporated into my overall customer experience?

A checklist of social network profiles should include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. Download TweetDeck and Seesmic to monitor your social media streams, listen and add value to the conversations that are going on. Kodak believes that on some some level all companies are publishers. "Content Creation, Distribution, Engagement, and Measures should be key areas of focus."

Why Video?

According to Hayzlett:

"If I picture is worth a thousand words, then video is worth ten thousand words... People are very visual in terms of their activity, so they want to see things, and when they can see with their own eyes as they say, they believe it more. So we think video is a big important part of that."

Coincidentally, this interview was recorded with a Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera that has a built-in microphone jack, which the idea as Hayzlett points out, also came from Twitter:

"For the older Zi6, which lacked a microphone jack, we saw a Tweet that said we should add it.We did add it and the product is outselling the competition 10:1, and the competitor's newer product is lacking the microphone jack."

Hayzlett says that capturing that rare "Kodak Moment" and "Keep it Forever" is as simple push of the button. It doesn't have to be a Hollywood production either, as he emphasizes, you can make mistakes and start over. Nobody cares, just get the content out there, that's the most important thing. Hayzlett says that you'll see more and more technology shoved into the Kodak pocket cameras.

Two days after my interview with him at Streaming Media East, he announced his resignation as Kodak's CMO, on May 14th 2010 , to pursue personal projects. His new book, "Mirror Test: Is Your Business Really Breathing," is climbing the best seller list and is demanding more and more of his time along with a packed speaking event schedule. He's working on a second book with "Mirror Test" co-author Tim Eber, and headed next to New York City, to start his next chapter.

He had this to say about leaving Kodak:

"Everybody knows I've been on borrowed time. The average tenure of a CMO is 18 months. It's because of my love of Kodak I've stayed as long as I have. We have our mojo back. We've certainly raised the profile of the company."

Yesterday was his last day at Kodak, and he wrote this on Twitter:
Ever had one of those days when you are sad but happy at the same time? Got one today. :)about 17 hours ago via txt@eeUS rt yes... leaving Kodak. My last day. Time to go to the big city and start a new chapter. :)about 16 hours ago via web in reply to eeUS

Look for him sometime soon on television, or join his army of Twitter followers at @JeffreyHayzlett or at http://hayzlett.com/

Congratulations Jeffrey Hayzlett!

Related:

• "The Mirror Test" | hayzlett
• Q&A: Kodak CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett
• How Kodak's Jeff Hayzlett Put the Chief in Chief Marketing Officer | Fast Company
• 2nd UPDATE: Kodak Marketing Chief Hayzlett Resigns - WSJ.com
• Jeffrey Hayzlett, Kodak marketing chief, is resigning | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle
• Kodak CMO Resigns, Known for Digital Savvy - ClickZ
• Kodak CMO Jeffrey W. Hayzlett Resigns to Pursue Personal Projects - MarketWatch

Update 6/4/2010: See Jeffrey Hayzlett’s last on-camera interview before announcing his departure from Kodak at Streaming Media East - Marketers Are Like Farmers - ScribeMedia.org

The 2nd Annual Streamy Awards Highlights: The Gregory Brothers (Auto-Tune the News) Performs "Magical Streamys Remix" Live

This is the first of several videos I'll be featuring from the 2nd Annual Streamy Awards from my view in the front row at the Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles, California. This video captures Auto-Tune the News performing "Magical Streamys Remix" live on April 11, 2010. You'll see Shaycarl and his wife Katilette OlgaKay dance on stage for a cameo.

See the original full version at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQmLnir2ho



Auto-Tune the News won three Streamy Awards for Best Experimental Web Series  Best News or Politics Web Series, Best Experimental Web Series and Best Original Music in a Web Series,and is nominated for 2 Webby Awards. Vote for them here: http://nxtnw.tv/goATTN and here: http://nxtnw.tv/voteATTN . If you're a fan, spread the word and get out the vote!

This video was shot with a Kodak Zi8 video camera. Many thanks to my friends at Kodak for hooking me up!

Also a big thanks Glenn Gutierrez and all my friends at Popscreen including Kevin Nguyen, Nick Palacios, Kenneth Sok and Vance Lawrence, for getting me into the Streamys!

Look for more Streamy Awards videos coming soon!

Web Video Pick of the Week, "The Spark Series: Part 1, The New Dial Tone"

According to Trust Agents author Chris Brogan, “Social media… is the new dial tone,” a concept that is the subject and title of a new short documentary by Marc Ostrick, CEO and Co-founder of eGuiders and Michael Sean Wright, founder of nicefishfilms. The video, which documents their day at the Blog World Expo and the conversations with noted bloggers and reporters who describe the growing shift in media production and consumption through social media networks. This is the first in their Spark Series which explores the documentary style of filmmaking using consumer grade new media tools.

By shooting with Kodak Zi8 and Flip Ultra HD cameras they wanted to see how far they could push the limits of the technology by bringing a filmmaking sensibility to amateur event coverage video. They also used a few other accessories to increase the production value, like a Sennheiser ME 66 shotgun microphone and a Frezzi Micro-fill light, all of which all could fit into a bag. The soundtrack of the video was composed in Garageband.

The video discusses how the disrupters are becoming mainstream and as eGuider Brian Rothe says:

"The new dial tone is a dialog among media producers, technologists and bloggers who are looking to express their ideas in the stream of the real-time web."

Appearances in the new dial tone include:

Robert Scoble - Tech Blogger, @scobleizer
Don Lemon - CNN Anchor, @donlemoncnn
Hugh Hewitt - National Talk Radio Host, @hughhewit
Leo Laporte - Chief Twit, @leolaporte
Chris Brogan - Author, @chrisbrogan
Chris Morrow - CNN iReporter, @morrowchris
Ben Parr - Co-Editor, Mashable, @benparr

The next Spark Series will focus on Jeff Pulver's 140 Character Conference that will be taking place the next two days on October 27 and 28 in Los Angeles.

Follow the Filmmakers:

Marc Ostrick (OSTRICK) on Twitter

Michael Sean Wright (nicefishfilms) on Twitter