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Cystic Fibrosis Sufferer’s Vote And Why

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Let’s get one thing straight; real straight. I have avoided anything oriented to politics this election season; you have not seen a blog post about political leanings or who’s getting my vote. I’m not brave enough, but one of my friends is. If anyone so much as disrespects her for her views on this blog, I’m gonna come find you.

Jenn Whinnem and I go way back to about 2009 when we met on Twitter and I got to meet her IRL twice. She informed this community in a guest post here that she has cystic fibrosis, a chronic and fatal disease for which there is no cure. To live beyond mid-life, she likely will require a lung transplant. What that also means is her medical care on a daily basis is exorbitant.

Listen to her story here, and in the spirit that is this community, I beg for your respect for one American’s perspective. It may not be yours, but it’s hers, and whether or not I share her view is my business.

I will always be a member of the Jenn Whinnem fan club. She’s an amazing writer, a strong supporter of anyone on the Interwebz, and she has enough quirkiness to make me shake my head in amazement and say, “Atta girl!”  She speaks her mind, has strong opinions, and is very good at what she does. I consider this house her blog when she wants a forum, as she has no blog of her own.

If you have something positive to share, please do so in the spirit of ‘raderie and support. If you feel like bashing, please go elsewhere…thank you, kindly.

Here’s Jenn…

 

Should Video Be Like A Nude Beach?

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First, let’s get right down to that SEO-filled teaser header…my friend, , is one of the biggest teasers with his blog headlines. He makes all the time or , just to lure folks in. Then, there’s the lament about the folks lured in who mean nothing to his blog or his business. So, let’s see how busy I can make Get Clicky today and tomorrow with “nude beach” in my headline! Gee, does anyone need ? Heh.

Second, let’s get right on down to the crux of the matter – ahem, hi, up here now! Thanks, we’re talking about video production!

😉

Apparently, there are few video producers among us; moi included (you already guessed, right?)  I love my new series I launched at Social Slam called It’s a series of serendipitous (to use a word from my pal, ) and spontaneous (aren’t those words the same?) two-minute spots with peeps from the street. No planning, no advance prep, just click and roll. And, as will tell you; “I’ve got technical issues.”

Nope! It’s just raw, like a nude beach (there’s your tie in.)

Yesterday, I did a (go see if I was naked we’ll wait for two minutes). When I do these, inspired spontaneously, I – you can in early attempts to launch this medium; my camera is merely my iPad and not the iPhone 4S yet; and I am unscripted and unplugged. I jotted an outline yesterday, but what you saw was one take flying by my hair (you need to watch it to understand what that means!).

And, in comments a lovely gentleman, John Murphy, said he liked my au naturel (like a nude beach) video because it says a lot about me. (Thank you, John!) Now, I’m yearning to be less naked and more attired; perhaps the new Big Mac (affectionately so named upon first reference) will help me get there, and I’m learning about iMovie, QuickTime, Photo Booth, and what the heck else?

But, should our be major’ish productions? Or, can they be au naturel like a nude beach?

 

Soulati Media On The Street: Brian Vickery, Mantis Technology

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This snippet makes me laugh every time I see it; maybe the number of views on Soulati Media’s YouTube channel are all mine? See what you think…introducing today Brian Vickery of Mantis Technology in Denver. Brian journeyed a long distance to Social Slam 2012 in Knoxville to meet all of us; including the infamous Margie Clayman of Clayman Advertising. Watch closely, you may get a glimpse of her!

Brian lets us know his company just launched a social media tool called…shoot, the audio stunk right there, Brian. Is it called Pulse Analytics? I hope you come over and clarify more about your new product and let us all know in comments what it does. Meanwhile, I’m heading over to Mantis to provide a few links for anyone who wants to dig deeper.

Please excuse the shameless plugs throughout, but isn’t that what I’m supposed to do? Take it away, Brian!

Producing My First Video With Animoto

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I just got a tip about Animoto from Scott Quillin (am I giving away your trade secrets, Scott?) of New England Multimedia. As part of our package to redo my site and integrate the blog inside, he was going to take all my cool world-travel snapshots from the website and package them into a slide show/video.

I had no expectation what that would look like; in fact, it made me nervous. Late two nights ago, Scott turned me loose on Animoto. I first attempted the free unlimited :30 clips; then I upgraded to Plus and finally took the nosedive to the Pro version (all in 30 minutes) to create this video below — Hire Soulati Media.

I used my own photography to create each screen shot — I’d like Sean McGinnis to watch for some pickle action in this movie!  I added text to tell the story and transition to each image. Where there were too few images, I combed my collection for something else handy, but went off to Fotolia to purchase three extra images. (I also love Fotolia for blog images, website photography and now my first professional video.)

I also owe a huge thanks to eCairn for the image of my cloud tag shared in a blog comment recently by Arthur Huynh. If you haven’t checked these guys out; they’re worth a few visits. eCairn is doing some amazing work in the sector.

With no tutorials or hours spent trying to figure out what to do, I built my minute-long movie in about five hours total (tweaks, embedding code, waiting for software kinks, buying images, writing text, etc.) The initial phase of the project was the most fun – selecting a background template and music to coincide with the images. The Pro version provided the most versatility with these important elements – more templates in high definition and certainly hundreds more songs to choose from.

I had no idea what I was doing; had never done anything remotely similar. It was like making a scrapbook – you look at a blank canvas and start. I’m going to try my hand with a few more of these, and then take a closer look at client needs. Animoto is a wonderful find; I hope you’ll check it out, too.

And, Scott? I think you unleashed a monster.