Making a YouTube video that's worth watching

Here are a few additional guidelines for your upcoming video project :-)


YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A 'Good' Video

Gov. Perry launches YouTube Channel to spread Hurricane Relief Message

Looks like the governor's office created a YouTube channel today to appeal to people to donate to the Texas disaster relief fund - a fund intended to help communities affected by disasters such as Hurricane Ike. Gov. Perry's YouTube channel currently contains a single video - an emotional PSA developed by Idea City. The 30-second spot is also expected to air on cable and broadcast stations across Texas.

PRSA refutes CBS' derogatory remarks about the PR industry on YouTube

Last Sunday, CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen challenged the integrity of the public relations profession while commenting on former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's controversial new book about his work as part of the Bush Administration. The CBS story, entitled, The Flak Over Flacks: In The Wake Of Scott McClellan's New Book, Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen Says PR People Are Aghast At The Truth charges that the very essence of the PR industry is based on lies. Cohen also pokes fun at the PRSA code of ethics, claiming that the PRSA principle to adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth was akin to the Burglars Association of America adopting the rule "Thou Shalt Not Steal" as its creed.

It goes without saying that PRSA was less than amused by Cohen's comments and that the organization has launched a series of responses to Cohen's attack. The first response came in form of a a letter to CBS submitted by Julin on behalf of PRSA and its Board of Directors. Three days after issuing its intial response, PRSA took the fight to Youtube by releasing a video response to Cohen.



Interesting to note that PRSA did not have a YouTube channel prior to this incident. The PRSA channel was created on June 2nd - a day after Cohen made his derogatory remarks about the PR industry. Seems like sometimes it takes a crisis to get businesses and organizations to adopt social media as a communication vehicle.

Follow the British Prime Minister on Twitter, Flickr & YouTube

After the Queen started her own YouTube channel last Christmas, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown followed suit yesterday by creating a DowningStreet Twitter stream and Flickr account. He already has his own YouTube channel. All he needs now is a blog... 

Leave it to the Brits to pioneer social media uses for Heads of State!

Viral Marketing & Viral Video Slides

Here's the slideshow for our discussion of viral video. Click on each slide to navigate to the next. It's a big file, so it may take a second to load.

Web Video Assignment

Since we didn't have time to go over the upcoming web video assignment in class, I am posting it below. Please read over it and let me know if you need clarifications.

For this project, you will produce a 30 or 60 second YouTube video for The United Nations World Food Programme that strives to raise awareness about world hunger. 
According to the Hunger Bytes competition website: “This is your chance to be controversial, provocative and shocking - whatever it takes - to make a video that will grab the attention of the on-line community and get them thinking about world hunger. The goal is to make a top rated viral video that creates a real buzz and gets people thinking about hunger.”

The detailed call for entries can be found on the Hunger Bytes YouTube page. Your job will be to develop a creative idea, obtain footage (pics and/or video), edit the video, add sound and text, and format it for web distribution.

Requirements:
• Create a 30 or 60 second video entry for the Hunger Bytes Youtube competition
• Create a blog post about your video which embeds the video, describes your creative idea, and is tagged for effective search engine exposure

Grading Criteria:
1. Video is well edited (smooth & appropriate transitions, synchronized audio track & text)
2. Video quality is good (not too grainy)
3. Audio quality is good (edited correctly, proper volume)
4. Video is uploaded to Youtube and embedded on the blog with proper tags

British Monarchy launches Youtube Channel

Just in time for the Queen's yearly televised Christmas message, Buckingham Palace today launched its own Youtube channel to broadcast this year's royal Christmas wishes. The Queen is hopeful that the new medium will make her Christmas message "more personal and direct" and reach younger audiences.

A nice PR move to make the royal family more attractive in the eyes of the younger generation.

NATO takes the war against the Taliban to YouTube

I caught a story on the news yesterday about NATO realizing that it needed to take the war against the Taliban to YouTube. In a speech delivered last month, NATO's Secretary General explained the problem: "When there is an incident in Afghanistan, the Taliban are quick to say there have been high numbers of civilian casualties. The wires pick it up, then the TV stations, then the Web. Our response comes days later – if we are lucky. By that time, we have totally lost the media battle." According to a NATO spokesperson the Taliban is "doing better than we are on key battleground -- and that's video".

In an effort to counter Taliban propaganda, NATO has declassified some videos showing Taliban fighters disguising as women and using little children as human shields. The Record, a daily local Ontario newspaper, ran an interesting story describing how NATO came to change its position on releasing these videos.

In response (?) to NATO's move, al Qaeda's TV production unit today released a new Bin Laden tape accusing NATO of having disrepsected the rules of war and having attacked and killed women and children on purpose.

That just goes to show that fighting a war is about much more than just the physical combat on the ground. The real war is fought in the court of public opinion with YouTube videos as the new weapon of choice.

Analysis of Viral Video Trends

Considering our latest discussions of viral video, you might be interested in the following article series on YouTube trends from the No Man's Blog.

This series of 5 reports examines the most viewed videos (all time, monthly, & weekly) on YouTube and provides some interesting insights into what goes viral.