40 Messe Videos Now Posted in the Theater -- Feedback Wanted!

[Anderton]

Any feedback you have would be GREATLY appreciated as to what types of videos you like best...the hall tours, performances, the narrated ones...we will take this into account when planning the Summer NAMM videos.

[Anderton]

Anyone? Any ones you particularly liked/don't like?

[Phil Degrave]

Kudos:
Great job on the Alesis iMultiMix Video. It should be studied as a reference standard for future trade show videos.
The speaker makes or breaks the video. This speaker knows the product inside and out, he has great communication skills, and he's comfortable with the camera.
Great job on the still-photo editing. I like how the still-photo close-ups emphasize the details and enhance the monologue. Nice zoom and pan work on the still-photos too.

Suggestions and recommendations:
A hand-held cardioid microphone would help reduce the distracting ambient background noise.
It would be handy if each video had a clickable link to the manufacturer's website.
A little Q&A dialogue can add a lot more depth and insight. It can also add some personality and recharge the flow, which is especially valuable with a long monologue.
Overall, you're reallly strong on recording gear coverage, but you're light in a lot of Musikmesse's other product categories.
Ideally, you should have multiple video teams, with each team dedicated to a single product category. And each team should be accompanied by someone who is an up-to-date expert in that product category who will add insight to the demonstrator's rap with some questions and comments (so it doesn't look like a commercial).
To further refine your approach, I'd also suggest studying remote TV news broadcating techniques and practices, as well as talkshow formats and styles.
You're inventing a new format, there are unlimited possibilites. Now's the time to experiment while studying how other video formats have evolved.

[Anderton]

GREAT comments and critiques! THANKS!! I do have video footage for other aspects of the show, they will be posted in the final batch.

[Phil Degrave]

Ideally, you should also have an editing crew who would edit and upload videos while you are on the floor recording. (Same-day reporting.)

The Next Step:
Real-time streaming video is the next step and final frontier for trade show reporting.
I'm talking about a 24/7 Craig Cam (Ander-Cam?). If they want to really see what NAMM is like... Set up, tear down, dinners, parties, everything — while it's happening.

You could even take it a step further by adding an interactive component — let the viewers participate in the process — in real time. The viewers could suggest booths to visit, products to look at, and people to interview. They could direct the action and submit questions via a real-time forum-style link. You could even let them chose what you'll eat from the dinner menu.
Wouldn't that be fun?

An editing team could then archive the highlights into a searchable data base, or you could keep the whole thing and index the sections and access the videos Tivo-style.

Fun stuff.

[Anderton]

Ideally, you should also have an editing crew who would edit and upload videos while you are on the floor recording. (Same-day reporting.)

Actually we had a crew of four at Winter NAMM, and had a lot of stuff posted within 24 hours. I was the only video person at Frankfurt, but still managed to get up daily highlights the first four days...damn near killed me, though :)

The Next Step:
Real-time streaming video is the next step and final frontier for trade show reporting.
I'm talking about a 24/7 Craig Cam (Ander-Cam?). If they want to really see what NAMM is like... Set up, tear down, dinners, parties, everything — while it's happening.

What, you want to get me arrested? Seriously, that's been suggested before...not sure I want to be a "reality show," though...but you're right, it could be fun!

You could even take it a step further by adding an interactive component — let the viewers participate in the process — in real time. The viewers could suggest booths to visit, products to look at, and people to interview. They could direct the action and submit questions via a real-time forum-style link. You could even let them chose what you'll eat from the dinner menu. Wouldn't that be fun?

An editing team could then archive the highlights into a searchable data base, or you could keep the whole thing and index the sections and access the videos Tivo-style.

Fun stuff.

I like the way you think :) I'll talk about it with the rest of the staff and we'll see what's doable, and what's not.

[Gigino]

too much words in those viedeos, few tones. IMO

[Anderton]

So you're saying you want more audio examples, right?

[thunderpuppy]

gotta say, the format doesn't agree with me. My connection is a little sketchy at times, and there's no setting on my macromedia player that doesn't freeze every two seconds while buffering.

I've never encountered this before-- every video posting site I've ever encountered will let me pause the video, and the buffer in the computer will fill. As long as I get a good lead on it, and if I'm patient, I can watch nearly any video hosted (say, on YouTube, MySpace, DevilDucky, etc), however, when I pause the videos hosted here, the feed stops. I press play, and I get the same glitch-ridden playback.

So that's my .02: I've got media format issues.