Final VideoCamp Austin madness….

Whew! It took a ton of volunteers and hard work to get to this point but we are ready for VideoCamp Austin in less than 24 hours! Here is the final roundup and how to get there tomm. Please Note: We are completly Sold Out at 250 people.

Hey Campers,

I just wanted to make sure you had these details in case you haven’t been following the blog, twitter, or facebook feeds. If you have any questions, please ping me at tal.boyd@gmail.com or me at david@lightscamerahelp.org

VideoCamp depends on your participation:

We want you to speak. Video people talk about video, marketing people share your marketing knowledge…. If you decide to speak at VideoCamp, please arrive a little early and put your name and topic on the big board. Did I mention we want to hear what you have to say?

We start at 10:00 AM. Sessions begin at 10:30 and run 50 minutes each. Bring your laptop or presentation on a USB. Prizes and wrap up begin at 3:30. We’re done at 4pm.

We have wireless:

But please do not download bittorrents or music – the university will pull the plug. The University has strict rules on downloading content and we want to respect them.

Directions:

Jesse H. Jones Communication Center – Building B – CMB
2504 Whitis Avenue
Austin, TX 78705
Studio 4B

Parking:

On a Saturday, parking at all the standard city meters will be free, however Orange meters on campus are owned by UT and require payment 24/7, so avoid those at all costs. They also only allow for 45 minute parking.

Past that, there is a pay lot and several pay garages around, they will be 10 dollars for a whole day, and West Campus surface street parking as well is available.

Big Prizes:

We’ll be giving away some really cool stuff. You’ve got to stick around till 3:30 to get it.

- 5 copies of Get Seen by Steve Garfield

- 3 Kodak Zx1’s

- 400 feet of Kodak 7201 film.

- The Acton MBA will have loads of schwag for you too.

Volunteer for a ticket:

Got a friend who wants to come but missed the deadline? Have them volunteer. We’d love to have you help out with video and general administrative work. Shoot Weston a line at bigmanweston@reelsocialmedia.com

Social Video and Public Relations : Your new required Skill Set

I taught two classes this week at the University of Texas in Austin. Here is my lecture presentation for the Monday class around shooting social video along with using video for crisis communications. This will all be on Friday’s exam so please let me know if you have any questions in the comments section.

If you are not a student, feel free to enjoy the presentation as well!

I’m speaking at the Texas Leadership Institute. Would you like to go?

Back by popular demand! Mark your calendars for a great Texas Leadership Institute seminar about how to use this new way of marketing to promote your community, your destination, or your non-profit organization.  This seminar will be held on November 17th at the LCRA Riverside Conference Center in Bastrop.

** This seminar will be hands-on and very interactive.  Please bring your laptops and apply what you’re learning on site!

Topics include:

• An introduction to social media – what it is and how to use it
• Facebook, Twitter, & Blogs: Tools to Try
• Live web site critiques
• Social media case studies/best practices

1.       how non-profits can use social media to create awareness, attract volunteers, and raise money

2.       how cities and towns can use social media to engage and inform residents

3.       how tourism organizations can use social media to market a destination

Our four great speakers include Carla Pendergraft with the Waco Convention & Visitors Bureau and  Carla Pendergraft Associates; David Neff with the American Cancer Society and New Media Marketing; Will Hampton from the City of Round Rock; and Sarah Page with LCRA’s Colorado River Trail.

The seminar is only $99 and includes a tasty lunch and dessert.  To register for course # 1382 online, please click here and follow the prompts.

User Generated Content – CASE STUDY

Over here at the American Cancer Society we are big fans of User Generated Content (esp around Videos) but this year we really tested that idea around one of our biggest programs: The Relay For Life Heroes of Hope. This is a program where we honor cancer survivors who have stepped up and provided a highly visible symbol of personal victory over cancer. They also encourage support and participation in the programs of the American Cancer Society. Each year we honor them in front of thousands of people at our Relay For Life Summit in Dallas, TX.

This year the Summit folks wanted something a little different so they asked us to film a welcome message from each of the Heroes. However due to budget cutbacks we could not do that. So instead we said “What if they film themselves?”.

So take 28 people, send them 4 cameras (dv +flips), add in people who had their own cameras and throw in some great editing in Motion and Final Cut Pro and here is what you get: (with phones ringing and all!)