Oracle has better things to do with its money than send me to Milwaukee for a single interview. And yet I still have to get the story, AND the video. So Todd Sheetz of IOUG’s Linux SIG, was kind enough to take part in an experimental Skype interview for my Up Close column, which Scott Smith filmed and choreographed. You can also read my Oracle Magazine Column about Todd’s experience with the SIG.
Note: One thing I would do differently next time is to plug a microphone into my laptop to improve the sound of Todd's voice. We made the mistake of recording it off the speakers in my laptop.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Gift of Slack
I wanted to expand on Tom Kyte’s short post about SLACK, which takes its cue from this post by Seth Godin.
My addition to Tom’s advice is this: If you find yourself suddenly with extra time on your hands (read laid off), offer your talents and your leadership to an Oracle user group. From what I’ve seen over the last year of writing the Up Close column for Oracle Magazine, the groups are almost always hungry for volunteers to help them with their mission. In return for your time you gain notoriety, make new contacts, and you LEARN.
Imagine the difference between going to an interview as an out of work DBA or developer vs. as an officer of an Oracle user group who is shopping his/her skills and contacts to a few lucky organizations.
Side note: Slack time is when ideas erupt to the surface that have been long bubbling in your subconscious. They’ve been held down by a thick layer of deadlines and near term problem solving that fill the days of fully employed technologist. Take. some. time. to calm the waters of your mind and see what brilliant stuff floats to the top.
My addition to Tom’s advice is this: If you find yourself suddenly with extra time on your hands (read laid off), offer your talents and your leadership to an Oracle user group. From what I’ve seen over the last year of writing the Up Close column for Oracle Magazine, the groups are almost always hungry for volunteers to help them with their mission. In return for your time you gain notoriety, make new contacts, and you LEARN.
Imagine the difference between going to an interview as an out of work DBA or developer vs. as an officer of an Oracle user group who is shopping his/her skills and contacts to a few lucky organizations.
Side note: Slack time is when ideas erupt to the surface that have been long bubbling in your subconscious. They’ve been held down by a thick layer of deadlines and near term problem solving that fill the days of fully employed technologist. Take. some. time. to calm the waters of your mind and see what brilliant stuff floats to the top.
Friday, May 8, 2009
More APEX Fun! Or, Can We Meld Creative Processes with Corporate Video?
It’s been instructive to observe our progress as a creative group at Oracle as we strive to integrate our video department into the creative work process.
For the first time we are producing videos that feature neither talking heads, nor corporate profiles, two things at which our video department excels. Instead we are attempting to use our studio’s skills in lighting, sound, camera work, and editing to tell stories. Sound simple?
It’s not. Instead of turning a camera towards an acknowledged expert and letting him/her speak, we’re crafting a script populated with characters who have motivations. That means we must first decide who those characters are and what their relationship is to each other. We must show that relationship while developing an overall message dictated by Oracle product managers. This requires a creative process whereby we generate ideas, we trash ideas; we write scripts, and then we argue over them and hone them with an eye towards the needs of the camera person, the actors, and eventually the film editor.
It also means we must edit video with a new kind of precision and a new level of feeling. We need to edit film with our senses engaged enough to create tension with a pause or humor with a cut away.
We have a lot of learning to do on all sides, but this silly little video represents a big step in the right direction. Enjoy.
For the first time we are producing videos that feature neither talking heads, nor corporate profiles, two things at which our video department excels. Instead we are attempting to use our studio’s skills in lighting, sound, camera work, and editing to tell stories. Sound simple?
It’s not. Instead of turning a camera towards an acknowledged expert and letting him/her speak, we’re crafting a script populated with characters who have motivations. That means we must first decide who those characters are and what their relationship is to each other. We must show that relationship while developing an overall message dictated by Oracle product managers. This requires a creative process whereby we generate ideas, we trash ideas; we write scripts, and then we argue over them and hone them with an eye towards the needs of the camera person, the actors, and eventually the film editor.
It also means we must edit video with a new kind of precision and a new level of feeling. We need to edit film with our senses engaged enough to create tension with a pause or humor with a cut away.
We have a lot of learning to do on all sides, but this silly little video represents a big step in the right direction. Enjoy.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Looking Forward to Kaleidoscope
Watching this interview with Mike Riley of ODTUG reminds me of how proud he is of his user group’s annual conference, Kaleidoscope. He knows people get a lot out of attending, and he convinced me; I’ll be there. This was Mikes first interview as president of the group and he did a great job for a guy who isn’t used to being peppered with questions on camera. You can also read my column on Mike, "Seriously Practical", in the May/June 2009 issue of Oracle Magazine.
Monday, April 6, 2009
My Video Breakfast Takeaway: Work with a Storyteller
Corporations are beginning to wrap their heads around Web video. Here are my quick impressions from a Web video leadership breakfast last Thursday morning. It was attended mostly by large Bay Area firms and the ad agencies that server them:
Basic take away:
There is nothing better, of course, than having your customers or rank-and-file employees tell the world how great you are. So encourage and display user-generated videos. Or, when you create your own videos, take time up front to work with a writer and story teller to make your content compelling and enjoyable. Regardless of what video you run, put the video where readers can lean more, or better yet, where they can (or must) provide contact information to become a sales lead.
Presenters:
Autodesk does a good job of incorporating video from their users. As a company who’s software enables 3D design, they get cool videos from users. Note that if you try to watch several videos, they will ask you to register; an example of turning video into lead generation.
Autodesk’s presenter used an acronym I like: SPLAP. It’s used by the creative underclass at Autodesk when dealing with company marketing people and executives. It means “Speak Like a Person”.
Cisco discussed, among other things, how they bring video into their internal corporate communication. Their advice in a nutshell:
Sun presented what they’ve learned on Channel Sun. Because they were early adopters of Web video there is a lot of stuff here that doesn’t work. What I think works best are the round table discussions where you get the opinions of several different people guided by a moderator.
PR Newswire showed their video enabled, multimedia press releases.
I was unaware that Oracle would be presenting and found the most interesting part of our presentation to be the company’s attempts to host virtual events and virtual trade shows. But those are mostly behind the firewall, so no links here.
I managed to ask one question during the panel session. I asked whether solid script writing and storytelling was something these people valued. I got a pretty honest response. The said that they valued it, but that it was hard to come by. Often they just had to shoot, edit, and post a video with no storytelling oversight. That, they agreed, was regrettable.
Basic take away:
There is nothing better, of course, than having your customers or rank-and-file employees tell the world how great you are. So encourage and display user-generated videos. Or, when you create your own videos, take time up front to work with a writer and story teller to make your content compelling and enjoyable. Regardless of what video you run, put the video where readers can lean more, or better yet, where they can (or must) provide contact information to become a sales lead.
Presenters:
Autodesk does a good job of incorporating video from their users. As a company who’s software enables 3D design, they get cool videos from users. Note that if you try to watch several videos, they will ask you to register; an example of turning video into lead generation.
Autodesk’s presenter used an acronym I like: SPLAP. It’s used by the creative underclass at Autodesk when dealing with company marketing people and executives. It means “Speak Like a Person”.
Cisco discussed, among other things, how they bring video into their internal corporate communication. Their advice in a nutshell:
- Keep it short (60 seconds, 90 seconds are best.)
- Keep it human
- Integrate your brand look and feel
- Invest in communication (drive people to the video, give them somewhere to go after)
Sun presented what they’ve learned on Channel Sun. Because they were early adopters of Web video there is a lot of stuff here that doesn’t work. What I think works best are the round table discussions where you get the opinions of several different people guided by a moderator.
PR Newswire showed their video enabled, multimedia press releases.
I was unaware that Oracle would be presenting and found the most interesting part of our presentation to be the company’s attempts to host virtual events and virtual trade shows. But those are mostly behind the firewall, so no links here.
I managed to ask one question during the panel session. I asked whether solid script writing and storytelling was something these people valued. I got a pretty honest response. The said that they valued it, but that it was hard to come by. Often they just had to shoot, edit, and post a video with no storytelling oversight. That, they agreed, was regrettable.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Video Fun with Oracle APEX 3.2
I ran into David Peake several months back at a small OTN event and we had the following conversation while waiting for an elevator:
David: I have a cool new release coming up but not enough dough for a full-blown demo project.
Jeff: I have an idea for a short video show that could work for you.
Dave and Jeff together: Let’s do it!
The result is the video below. This is the first One-Minute Oracle show, so I am anxious for feedback. Caveat: This is an awareness tool, not, obviously, a technical how-to video (I’m working on those, too).
Caveat #2: This is a marketing piece for one technical approach that is not necessarily recommended by Oracle. Oracle offers other approaches you should explore.
David: I have a cool new release coming up but not enough dough for a full-blown demo project.
Jeff: I have an idea for a short video show that could work for you.
Dave and Jeff together: Let’s do it!
The result is the video below. This is the first One-Minute Oracle show, so I am anxious for feedback. Caveat: This is an awareness tool, not, obviously, a technical how-to video (I’m working on those, too).
Caveat #2: This is a marketing piece for one technical approach that is not necessarily recommended by Oracle. Oracle offers other approaches you should explore.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
LA Story: Being vs Doing at Oracle?
The most important thing to take from Bob McKee’s story seminar is not a set of techniques, but an understanding of motivations. Why do people do what they do and how do they react when things go wrong?
Part of the weekend is given over to watching and analyzing Casablanca. The main character’s battle is best characterized not as a quest for love, but as a battle between Being and Doing. Being is pure love, constant and always, and Doing is duty and social demands. The hero must find in himself a way to reconcile the two.
When a writer can look more deeply and clearly at his or her characters' motivations they can rest a more solid story on their shoulders. I don’t see my columns and stories for Oracle taking on the weight or Being vs Doing. But I can think more clearly about the motivations of each actor in them and build a stronger narrative. The weekend was well worth it.
Warning if you go: Don’t let your phone or computer make any noise or he’ll charge you $10. My iPhone chirped with a meeting notice and I had to walk to the stage and hand him the money while the audience laughed. If you have an iPhone, clicking the silent mode isn’t enough, you must disable sound for meeting notices in the preferences.
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