Original Video Bloggers Reunion, 4/18/2020

The coronavirus global pandemic of 2020 has had a worldwide affect on video communications and entertainment that harkens back to the early days of video blogging. Newsrooms, TV talk shows and other entertainment outlets have stayed on the air through makeshift DIY production sets outside their regular broadcast television studios using laptops with webcams, mobile devices and videoconferencing applications like Zoom , WebEx, Skype and other platforms that have powered business communications for years. The production quality mirrors the early days of video blogging with low-cost production tools and genuine and honest delivery on camera. Viewers have excepted lower quality audio visual standards for the immediacy and need for normalcy during these challenging times with millions ordered to stay at home to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Pioneer video blogger Steve Garfield organized an original video bloggers reunion on Zoom today to catch up with other "OG" video bloggers who helped shape the online video industry, including Dina Kaplan, Enric Teller, Drew Olanoff, Niko Rantala, Chuck Olsen, Bill Streeter, Josh Wolf, Rupert Howe, just to name a few.

Watch the conversation here:



Starting in 2004, Garfield was one of the first video bloggers. He helped spark a revolution of user-generated content (UGC) on the Internet which still influences television today. Reflecting back on that time, he says that 2020 is the Year of Live Videoblogging,

"16 years ago I was one of the first video bloggers. I figured out how to combine the ease of use of blogging with the power of video, to help people easily share stories. Now, when many people are self-quarantined at home, to help flatten the spread of COVID-19, they are looking towards video to feel connected. It makes sense. Video has the power to help people connect through storytelling. A lot has changed since 2005, when I made my first videoblog post. Five years later, I wrote the book on videoblogging for Wiley, Get Seen. Now, a good portion of that book is history. It's a history book. ;-) Containing many cameras, video making tools, and software that aren't around any more."