With the election coming to a close I will be sad to see the comedy end. It has been a huge boon to comedy writers. The Daily Show is better than ever. Saturday Night Live is relevant once again, mostly thanks to the brilliant and beautiful Tina Fey.
Here’s a couple of things I saw in the last day worth watching:
YouTube has introduced a new feature called Annotations, which allows users to spice up their videos with notes, speech bubbles, “spotlights”, and links, creating a higher degree of interactivity with the viewer.
To get an idea of what you can do, check out this high-tech version of a simple card trick.
There are different ways you can add text to your video, either in notes, speech bubbles, or spotlights. While these things can be done with any simple editing software, YouTube makes it easy for beginners. The interesting thing, though, is that Annotations allows you to link these text boxes to other YouTube videos, YouTube channels, or YouTube search results.
We talk a lot about video being a means to an end, and letting your viewers become active participants like this is a step in the right direction. Active viewers are more engaged with the video they are watching and thus more likely to learn about your organization or spend additional time viewing other videos you have to offer.
Annotations is YouTube’s first step to increase the level of engagement in your videos, but users have already started getting creative and making the most out of the limited functions.
Nonprofits could experiment with this if they want to keep viewers watching their videos. At the end of your video, just add buttons linking to other “chapters”, such as “Donate”, “Volunteer, “Outreach”, etc. These buttons would then link to related video about your organization.
We’d love to see the ways nonprofits are using Annotations. There is a lot of potential here, and it’ll be interesting to see what modifications YouTube makes to this feature. Hopefully, organizations will eventually be able to link to their website outside of YouTube.
In the meantime, find out more about how to use Annotations by watching this interactive video: How to use YouTube annotations.
Last week we asked our friends on Twitter, “How often do you check your email per day?” As you can tell by some of their responses below, there are a lot of people who never sign out of their email accounts!
What do you think? Is “always on” email the most efficient way to work? I’ve had friends like David Kadavy tell me that I should accomplish a couple of tasks in the morning before I open my email and then schedule several times a day to check it. That way I can avoid being interrupted in the middle of a task. Ofcourse, it does depend on the type of work because some people really do need updates throughout the day.
Next week’s question: Is a PDA necessary for your work? Why? Just reply @See3 on Twitter.
I read a note on Daily Kos this morning about how popular the Obama campaign logo is among advertising people.
The campaign designed the logo that shows hope and optimism but what interested me was how versatile it is. I was thinking about this a lot because we believe in using sub-sites (microsites) and additional URLs for specific campaigns and we always face the issue of branding — how close does our campaign branding have to connect to our main brand? I don’t think there is one right answer to that question, but the nice thing about the Obama logo is how versatile it is for sub-brands. Here’s the example:
We’ve been talking a lot about online video, so we decided to get it on tape. The result is the See3 Guide to Online Video, a 7-part video series created as an introduction to online video for nonprofits. Below you’ll find video #1, as well as descriptions of the whole series.
For beginners, this is your chance to get started. And for the experts out there, this is an easy tool to share with your less web-centric colleagues to get everyone on the same page.
These videos are for everyone, so please feel free to spread them around—through your blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, email, newsletter, whichever way suits you best.
1. The World We Live In
Today the web fully supports video. And that requires a new paradigm for how you think about video, how you document your work, and how you reach out to your constituents.
2. Why Video Matters
Video breaks through the noise of everything that’s happening on the web. Video is the most compelling content on the web today, and it’s the content people are spending the most time with.
3. Building A Media Library
If your organization doesn’t have a camera, you need to go out and buy one today. Then you need to start capturing the important things you do and build a media library that you can reuse and repurpose.
4. Finding Your Story
There are millions of stories you can tell about your organization. But how do you make it personal to your viewers, and how do you bring passion and energy to the stories you want to tell?
5. Telling Your Story
Start by asking yourself a handful of basic questions. Then consider the best way to communicate this story to your audience. What form will it take? Documentary? Man-on-the-street? PSA?
6. Using Video Effectively
Everyone wants a “viral video”, but random people watching your video may not necessarily become donors or advocates for you. Thinking about video in terms of campaigns will help you retain audience and deepen engagement.
7. Marketing Your Campaign
You have a great campaign, but how do you reach the right people online? Map the community and join the conversations already taking place all over the web. Tell them about your cause and drive them to your microsite to learn more and take action.
