Ever since Veronica Belmont announced that she’s leaving Mahalo Daily, competition for her spot has been raging. There are a host of nominees, and it looks like Calacanis is taking his queues from the fans while out scouting new talent.
Who’d make the best new Mahalo Daily host? There is no question, Christina Warren (@film_girl), my co-host from The Squadcast. We don’t want to lose her, far from it, and we’d fight hard to keep her at Download Squad where she beongs if an offer were made. That being said, Mahalo Daily would be a huge opportunity for Christina, and if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. So, in an effort to help rally her 1000 plus Twitter followers and fans of The Squadcast, I’ve created http://jasonstealmycohost.com/
The picture above is from SXSW, and I think it speaks volumes. Who needs to rank amongst the biggest and brightest in web video? film_girl, plain and simple. Really, it’s a no brainer.
This video explains so much of why Vaynerchuk is kicking your ass. I only hope that one day, I’ve got this much energy and clarity to hit my own goals. Thanks, Gary, for totally rockin it and for sharing that infectious energy.
Gary Vaynerchuk. Arguably the nicest guy on the web. His web show WineLibrary has skyrocketed to the top of the heap. Part of that has to do with the quality of his show but, a large portion of his fame is due to his ability to convert viewers into true fans by taking the initiative to connect to nearly everyone in a very personal way. He answers every email. He responds to every @ tweet.
Loren Feldman. He’s the curmudgeon of the web video world. He takes pot shots, he stirs things up. He’s made a name for himself by taking on some of the top players in the social web and cutting them down to size with wit and a total lack of fear. He’s really a big softie, but don’t tell anyone.
Much to my surprise, when I caught the two of them in the hallway shaking hands at SXSW, the internet universe did not implode upon itself. Two rockstars of the video web, two very different strategies. Viva la variety!
Promoting yourself at conferences is hard. SXSW is an especially tough field to compete within, as it’s crowded and full of the best and brightest among the blogosphere.
I nearly blew it. I forgot to order slick cards in time for the show, and I went into panic mode. Sometimes, panic brings the best inspiration to the table. Laying in bed two days before I left, I realized I had a perfect opportunity to stand out. Everyone — and I do mean everyone — would have amazing cards with pretty graphics, slick logos and clean cut edges. So, why not go the other way?
This passage from William Gibson’s short story Johnny Mnemonic was the inspiration I needed:
I put the shotgun in an Adidas bag and padded it out with four pairs of tennis socks, not my style at all, but that was what I was aiming for: If they think you’re crude, go technical; if they think you’re technical, go crude. I’m a very technical boy. So I decided to get as crude as possible. These days, though, you have to be pretty technical before you can even aspire to crudeness. I’d had to turn both those twelve-gauge shells from brass stock, on the lathe, and then load then myself; I’d had to dig up an old microfiche with instructions for hand- loading cartidges; I’d had to build a lever-action press to seat the primers -all very tricky. But I knew they’d work.
So what did I load my shotgun with? Humor. I decided to tell the story of how I’d fucked up, forgotten to print cards, and beg for forgiveness; all in one paragraph. And hey, it couldn’t hurt to take a shot at Robert Scoble while I was at it, right?
This is my, “Oh, crap! I forgot to print cards for SXSW!” card. Laid out in romantic old-school fashion using tape and a Xerox machine, this card was forged on paper crafted from only the finest pelts of the most adorable baby seals and printed with ink containing the blood of Robert Scoble, god of first person pronouns. It may or may not possess magic powers. Please hold this card dear as a souvenir of my absentmindedness and an invitation to stay in touch with Download Squad”
It was pithy, reasonably short, and gave a bit of insight to my personality. I had no idea how it would be received, but I love to experiment.
The verdict? It worked. In a sea of slick business cards, my crudely crafted calling card stood out, stopped people in their tracks, and made them pay attention. I got more compliments on my card over the week than I ever could have hoped for.
Yesterday I found that Darren Rowse of Problogger had even given my card a shout out in his “How to Promote Yourself (and Your Blog) at a Conference” video, which was a huge honor. Weeks after the SXSW glory has faded, my cheap and easy business card still has legs.
The moral, “If they think you’re crude, go technical; if they think you’re technical, go crude.” I can’t wait till next year. I won’t do it exactly the same way, but I’ll certainly take a lesson from this victory pulled from the steely jaws of defeat.
Although I feel Blogging Heroes tagline is total hyperbole, “Interviews with 30 of the world’s top bloggers”, it’s prudent to point out that it’ll be available on December 10th. How I ended up on that list, I have no idea.
I’m definitely looking forward to reading the interviews with Gina Trapani, Mark Fraudenfelder, Chris Anderson and Mary Jo Foley.
Oh, and having seen the draft of my interview already, I’m going to go ahead and apologize to Ray Beckerman. I mentioned you correctly, but they misspelled your name. Hey, at least they got your link correct.
The book’s publisher, Wiley, has been incredibly cool in allowing each blogger featured to freely share a pdf of their chapter. Here’s mine.
If you ever need to be reminded that it’s all about the hustle, follow the Pirillo. I’m not going to pretend I’m not jealous of his amazing new 30″ x2 array of screen real estate but, the bottom line is; Chris hustles for every sponsor he gets. When I say hustle, I don’t mean it in the grifter sense, but in the “work hard and keep moving, things will come” sense of the words.
Speaking of totally rockin’ it, check out Scott McNulty’s Fork You. If you look at the resources you have and wonder if you can make great web TV, Scott should serve as a stark reminder that you can, and you only don’t because you’re lazy.
I’ve written Governor Rell, asking that she speak independently with any number of the available experts and then use that information to make the right decision; Issue a pardon of Julie Amero. Now it’s your turn. Take 5 minutes out of your day and do what you can to keep Julie Amero from serving jail-time for falling victim to malware!
Attendees of The White House Correspondent’s Dinner last year were treated to Steven Colbert who roasted the President, his staff and even the First Lady with the razor sharp wit for which he’s famous. This year’s attendees won’t be so lucky.
According to Jeffrey Goldberg, writing in New Yorker, Steve Scully, a senior executive producer of C-SPAN, and the president of the White House Correspondent’s Association (and the man who booked Stephen Colbert into last year’s dinner), has decided on Rich Little as this year’s entertainment
Rich Little couldn’t find funny with a map. Fortunately he’ll never read this, they don’t have the internet in 1987 where he’s living. According to the article, Little’s website contains a list of 169 impressions of which 115 are dead; The remaining 54 are on life support. Word to the reporters who’ll be attending, bring coffee and no-doze, you’ll need it.
Parts one, two and three from last year are available on YouTube.
I produced another video for The Digital Music Weblog. I’ve still got a long way to go but, I’m getting better at the whole write/perform/edit/compress process. It still took way-too-long to make but, it took less way-too-long than the last video. I guess that’s progress.
