So I’m watching Kirstin Butler‘s videoblog, YouDigest, and she brings up the latest fad.. CrowdSourcing or UGC (User Generated Content):

society and the individual: how much for that idea in the window? from Kirstin Butler on Vimeo.

This is an intelligent and useful concept. I just did it to Kirstin…….. meaning [I just did it] to Kirstin, not I just [did it to Kirstin]…

Anyway…

What I’m saying is.. Instead of wasting my time making my own video about the topic, I just embedded hers and typed about it. That’s crowdsourcing. I used the content that she already generated to make my own post. If I don’t spend my time, I’m not wasting my money, because Time = Money. Not only am I not wasting the money I would have had to pay myself to make the video Kirstin made, but I got to spend that time making money on my own. Double benefit.

What people don’t realize is that your quality decreases along with the amount you’re willing to pay to get something done. Sure, there are the rare cases where someone really talented is trying to get their start in the business, and you can get some stuff for free that’s really good. Other than that, you get amateur garbage that you compile into something that looks like “World’s Funniest Videos” or whatever that show used to be called.

If that’s what you want for your company, to be seen as a collector of GARBAGE, go right ahead. There are really too many people in this “industry” trying to get by by cutting corners. A better idea is to get a group of regular contributors together who create quality content on a regular, scheduled basis. Of course, the problem with this is you’re going to have to shell out some ducats to get them to post to YOUR site instead of their own. If you’re not going to get PAID for something you do, you can AT LEAST get the social cred from it, or google juice or SOMETHING! :D

I suppose the question is whether this situation is going to “turn the corner”. Is providing UGC going to be a benefit to any of the content creators?.. ever?? :D I can understand it for people that have no other means of distributing their content and are trying to “break in”. To me, it seems like something where you want to get in and then get back out ASAP. Make your content, distribute it, make connections and then get on with the REAL business you meant to do.

I don’t have a good perspective on the “Why”s of randomly contributing UGC, because I have my own site, my own shows, my own blog posts, my own hits, my own demographics, etc etc so I’m mentally removed from the “How Can I Be Down?” mentality. It seems to me that some standards need to be developed as far as what UGC is worth. Until that time, there will always be calls for free materials from people that spent their time creating it instead of making money for themselves, thus DONATING to your show by sending you that material.

The reason you can hand out money for the funniest video of the week is because you didn’t have to pay ANY producers to produce your show and you didn’t have to pay ANY editors to make the individual clips that you’re showcasing. As long as the amount you give out in prizes < the amount you would have spent on actual staff, you can demonstrate ROI... so long as ROI can be derived from random entries from random people with no particular skill or concept of quality when it comes to making videos.

If your goal is to be seen as a viable and respected content creator, you might want to rethink the "get it for free" UGC model entirely.....

~ Bill Cammack

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Walt Ribeiro does a new video every single day… Like “Rejected”:

Meanwhile, I have at the very least *100* show ideas, and I’m not doing ANY of them. Not ONE of them. The last video I uploaded was “Social Media Observations”, almost exactly two months ago:

Granted, that was my 315th episode in two years, but still, I didn’t stop because I needed a break. I stopped because something that I couldn’t place my finger on wasn’t making sense.

I met Walt on May 16th, 2008 @ MashBash NYC. He left the afterparty right before we took this picture:

At some point, I became aware that Walt is extremely enthusiastic! hahahaha He really seems INTERESTED in things, and PSYCHED! :D I then found out that he does a show about music, teaching people about music via the internet. Of course, one of my myriad shows was about music, so I watched a few episodes.

This is when I realized that Walt was outputting so much material. Doing a daily show is really amazing. I already knew how to do it, but at least three things were stopping me…

1) I wanted to make shows instead of, let’s call it, “video documentation of events”, which calls for a lot more production and a lot more time spent to output each episode.
2) I didn’t have consistent crew to do an ensemble show with, and didn’t feel like doing a show featuring mainly myself.
3) I didn’t have a reason at the time to do a show about myself.

Meanwhile, my site evolved from a work-based, Emmy Award-Winning Video Editorial site to a documentation of the NYC Videoblogging scene to its current form, which is simply a Bill Cammack fansite.

I used to do videos about stuff that I do, like visiting the World Trade Center (Ground Zero) with my friend Joey in the middle of the night, when we were on our way to the club:

 
… or hanging out with Masami, Masako & Laetitia:

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

So here comes Walt, :) Sitting down in front of his video camera or iSight or whatever, and just KICKIN’ IT. How simple is it? He doesn’t need extra crew. He has a goal (teaching people music). It’s something he’s enthusiastic about and something he does naturally. The show doesn’t revolve around gimmicks or graphics. The show revolves around what Walt has to offer to whomever’s interested in watching.

I named this season of my videoblog “Delusions of Grandeur” because you have to have them to assume that ANYBODY is watching your material. Meanwhile, one of my four (4) videoblogs on blip.tv recently surpassed 45,000 views:

WAY more importantly… I’ve become aware over the season of quite a few people that I know personally or that I’m related to that are subscribed to my blog in one format or another. I’m going to make a separate post about that, but it makes an immense difference when you personally know someone… ANYONE that you’re communicating to through your articles and self-expressions on the net. It makes a MAJOR difference, and now I know to whom I’m speaking when I do my “documentation of events”. I’m also glad when people that I’ve met IRL go back to their home cities, states or countries and “tune in” when I’m doing my thang. It’s cool and all that that people read some of my blogs essentially around the world, but a few of those markers belong to people I know, Like Rox in Hawaii or Phil in the UK or Masami in Japan.

Bill Cammack Recent Visitors Map – August 22, 2008, originally uploaded by Bill Cammack.

August 22, 2008 – Recent Visitor Map for Bill Cammack dot com

So.. What does all this have to do with Being Like Walt? :D He’s found what he wants to do, and he’s doing it. It’s Quick & Dirty and serves his intended purpose. He’s doing what feels good TO HIM and doing what HE wants to do. Would he love to have his own television show? Maybe he would and maybe he wouldn’t. Until that time, he’s doing HIS thing, and I’m gonna do MINE. :D

So what’s the Q&D show going to be about? Nothing. Everything. Whatever. hmmm… I guess that spells “new”. Anyway… Cheers to Walt for his enthusiasm and for leading by example, and let’s get this show on the road! :D

AIIIIITE?

LET ‘EM KNOW!!!

Walt Ribeiro & Bill Cammack

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