Not using it. The power of video is legendary but a lot of companies still shun this media often unaware that costs have fallen since the high-flying eighties. I also believe that a lot of PR people (who usually make the decisions on corporate videos such as Video News Releases and promotional programs) have a straight print or university background with very few coming from a TV or video production grounding. A pity, as video has incredible power to sway viewers, to educate, inform and entertain.

Calling in the video producer too late. On numerous occasions we’ve been commissioned to shoot a video at, say, a presentation day for a firm but there has been either no time to organise a reconnoitre or budget to do so and we’ve found the venue very video unfriendly – areas designated for interviews are within earshot of noisy entrance foyers or strong sunlight streaming through big curtainless windows. On one occasion a client had a big announcement to make to the media and scheduled this for a garden area just outside their Head Office. Again, we were called in late to record video of the event for staff consumption only to find the sun was creeping over the top of the building and almost obliterating the speakers’ dais. Fortunately we had just enough time to relocate the dais and microphones to a more evenly lit space nearby. We later found out the internal PR department responsible for the event had decided on the venue after an afternoon reconnoitre not realising the sun would be in a different position for the morning session.

Not thinking of video framing when organising events. When a company organises an event that is going to be recorded on video, it pays to think about the framing of such video. Put your speaker in position along with any signage on backgrounds or adjacent pull-up banners and think how the video camera will see all that. Video of people talking is normally shot with the bottom of frame around the 2nd coat button and the top of frame slightly above the top of the person’s head. If you visualise that, can you still see any of the appropriate background or the logo, say, on those vertical banners?

- If you have more than one speaker, is there much height difference and, if so, will that make a difference to the shot composition? We’ve seen examples where logos have been out of shot or, worse, half in shot due to a lack of such thinking before the event.

- We’ve also seen additional problems because the dais has been set up in line with a screen for a PowerPoint presentation. In other words, think where the cameraman might have to set up his camera and make sure the screen from that position will not be directly behind the speaker as that will cause either the screen to blow out (be unreadable) or the speaker’s face to be too dark if the screen is to be seen and the slide recognised. Also tell your presenter not to walk between the projector and the screen as this will blow him/her out as well with that extra light on their body.

Graham Kelly runs The Video Production Group in Australia and if you like those tips, they’re part of a FREE report The Top 10 Mistakes Made With Corporate Video that is available at this site

Article Source

Tags: PR, corporate, video, mistake

Want an easy way to improve the communications at your nonprofit? Take a fresh look at your Website to improve your nonprofit public relations. In fact, have someone else do it, such as a volunteer, an intern, a friend or a board member who has not used the site much before. Better yet, pull together a small group of such “testers” and compile their feedback.

Most nonprofits have had Websites for many years – perhaps a decade or so. That’s a long time. Things change. Web visitors’ expectations change. Technology changes.

For example, today, videos can easily be embedded in your Web page using services from Google Video and YouTube, among others. You needn’t become a video producer; do a little searching and you may find existing videos that would enhance your nonprofit’s Website. In fact, with the exploding popularity of online video, I can almost guarantee it. Recently, for example, my daughter told me about a popular music video dealing with teen car crashes. It was a suitable enhancement to one of our clients’ sites – a teen safe-driving campaign. A few clicks later, this piece of popular culture was embedded as a video on their home page. You can also easily compile your photographs, narrate them in a slideshow, and post it on your home page as a “video.” All the programs to do this are free, and are already on your computer – such as Windows Movie Maker.

A year ago this wouldn’t have been so easy, but as I said, things change – quickly.

You and your staff can review your site yourselves, asking lots of questions. Why is that link there? Why do we still promote such-and-such on our home page? Why is John’s picture still on the bio page, since he retired in June?

But even better, have someone else look at your site. Our summer intern spent time on our site and posed lots of good questions and observations. A Website can easily confuse visitors if the navigation isn’t ultra simple, and an “outsider” can help you find these navigational barriers.

Also, ask yourself how your Website could work harder for you. Are there forms that people ask for regularly that they could download from your site? Do your receptionists get lots of calls with the same types of questions that could be answered on your site? Should you be exchanging links with partner organizations? Are you taking advantage of online fundraising?

One more thing: Consider adding a page to your site that you can change yourself. With a little programming, your Web provider can set up a page that enables you to change the content anytime, anywhere, with no software or technical skill. This means your site will always be current with events, news and updates. And you won’t have to rely on an outside vendor to make every little update. Click here for an example.

Think of your Web site as a garden. Perhaps you are good at adding fresh content, but it also takes pruning and weeding to keep it working properly. The best way to get that done is to get a fresh perspective from a small group of testers.

Steve Cebalt of Bottom Line Public Relations is Founder of the Social Marketing Leadership Roundtable in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He specializes in marketing, advertising and public relations issues of interest to nonprofit communications professionals. Visit this website or this blog.

Article Source

Tags: website, communications, nonprofit, technology, video

Website Updates for Nonprofit Communications- Get an Outsider’s Fresh Perspective on Your Website

Want an easy way to improve the communications at your nonprofit? Take a fresh look at your Website to improve your nonprofit public relations. In fact, have someone else do it, such as a volunteer, an intern, a friend or a board member who has not used the site much before. Better yet, pull together a small group of such “testers” and compile their feedback.

Most nonprofits have had Websites for many years – perhaps a decade or so. That’s a long time. Things change. Web visitors’ expectations change. Technology changes.

For example, today, videos can easily be embedded in your Web page using services from Google Video and YouTube, among others. You needn’t become a video producer; do a little searching and you may find existing videos that would enhance your nonprofit’s Website. In fact, with the exploding popularity of online video, I can almost guarantee it. Recently, for example, my daughter told me about a popular music video dealing with teen car crashes. It was a suitable enhancement to one of our clients’ sites – a teen safe-driving campaign. A few clicks later, this piece of popular culture was embedded as a video on their home page. You can also easily compile your photographs, narrate them in a slideshow, and post it on your home page as a “video.” All the programs to do this are free, and are already on your computer – such as Windows Movie Maker.

A year ago this wouldn’t have been so easy, but as I said, things change – quickly.

You and your staff can review your site yourselves, asking lots of questions. Why is that link there? Why do we still promote such-and-such on our home page? Why is John’s picture still on the bio page, since he retired in June?

But even better, have someone else look at your site. Our summer intern spent time on our site and posed lots of good questions and observations. A Website can easily confuse visitors if the navigation isn’t ultra simple, and an “outsider” can help you find these navigational barriers.

Also, ask yourself how your Website could work harder for you. Are there forms that people ask for regularly that they could download from your site? Do your receptionists get lots of calls with the same types of questions that could be answered on your site? Should you be exchanging links with partner organizations? Are you taking advantage of online fundraising?

One more thing: Consider adding a page to your site that you can change yourself. With a little programming, your Web provider can set up a page that enables you to change the content anytime, anywhere, with no software or technical skill. This means your site will always be current with events, news and updates. And you won’t have to rely on an outside vendor to make every little update. Click here for an example.

Think of your Web site as a garden. Perhaps you are good at adding fresh content, but it also takes pruning and weeding to keep it working properly. The best way to get that done is to get a fresh perspective from a small group of testers.

Steve Cebalt of Bottom Line Public Relations is Founder of the Social Marketing Leadership Roundtable in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He specializes in marketing, advertising and public relations issues of interest to nonprofit communications professionals. Fell free to visit this site .

Please visit this site

Article Source‘

Tags: website, communications, nonprofit, technology, video

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video can be worth a million — especially today, when you can distribute your video online so easily. You may be surprised at how cost-effective a video can be, if you use certain time-tested formats.

Corporate or industrial videos can solve many communications and public relations problems.

Over the years, I’ve learned that the writer of a video script has a great influence on the eventual cost of the project, because the writer is also, in effect, the producer. Knowledge of the production process can be factored in to the way the script is written, which dictates the format and production requirements for the video.

By applying carefully selected production formats, you can produce a premium quality video to be proud of, without taking out a mortgage to do it.

Consider video communications if you are:

– Selling a technical product to a technical audience.

– Communicating a non-profit or healthcare message to the community, and wishing to convey a “human face and voice” on behalf of your institution.

– Conveying complex information, i.e. healthcare clinical information, financial services information, etc.

– Conveying your organization’s capabilities to prospective customers/users.

– Communicating a management message to employees, volunteers, supporters.

– Conveying hands-on training techniques and “how-to” procedures.

– Celebrating a company anniversary, e.g. 50 years in business.

– Promoting a healthcare message that can be communicated effectively in interviews with your in-house subject-matter experts.

– Promoting a complicated business topic that is more easily understood via the spoken word than in writing. (Or a topic that would be boring in print, but which would be of broader interest on video.)

Talk with the script writer about the best format. “Format” means how the information is conveyed. Examples: A “talking head” delivering news into the camera like a TV anchorperson; an interview with one or more subject-matter experts; or even a simple slideshow of still photos with a narration. The choice of format will drive your costs more than anything else. A simple interview requires only one camera, one set, and a person to ask questions of your expert. A dramatic narrative, on the other hand, would be far more costly, because it requires a complex script, actors, a set or perhaps multiple location shots, etc.

So work with the writer on the best format for your situation. If the budget is too high, consider changing to another format. Your resulting video may be just as high quality, for less money.

Steve Cebalt of Bottom Line Public Relations is Founder of the Social Marketing Leadership Roundtable in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He specializes in marketing, advertising and public relations issues of interest to nonprofit communications professionals. Check on this site.

Copyright Steve Cebalt 2007 May be used with author acknowledgement

Article source.

Tags: pr, professional, video, budget, quality

I’m fascinated by the growing list of organizations successfully using You Tube for a new kind of PR. Heard of the tie up between Diet Coke and Mentos, the Sony Bravia phenomenon or the Will it Blend? craze? If not, look them up on You Tube, you’ll find these companies have secured millions of dollars worth of free publicity for the corporations behind them. Well, I say behind them, it usually starts by accident. Someone posts something that is fun to watch, it just happens to have your brand in it and if you’re lucky, it spreads.

It’s successful because the audience believes it’s been made for their amusement, not for your publicity. And they believe this because it’s true.

Engage Audiences on a New Level

This is the challenge for people in business, especially those of us in the communications industry, be they freelance copywriters and marketing consultants like me, to admen, media sales executives or pr consultants. It’s to get brands posted on You Tube using genuinely entertaining, engaging and sincere approaches.

Everyone posting to You Tube is potentially an adman for your brand or business. The catch is, that in a world growing in cynicism, if the audience finds out you intended to get your message on there, the message will fall flat: Bang. You’ve been found out. Get it right, you’re on to a winner. Get it wrong, you could look a bit of a fool; but chances are, it will go completely unnoticed. I can’t answer the question of what to do for you, there’s probably a million or more answers. But if you do decide to get your video camera out and get your brand on You Tube, do it with integrity, sincerity and quality.

Richard Jebb is a Freelance Writer who specializes in writing for business. Copy writing, Marketing literature, Internet Marketing, Public Relations, Award Entry Submissions and Website Content are just some of the business tools he can make work for you. Visit this website to know more about Richard Jebb

Article Source

Tags: business, online, video, public relations, Public Relations on the Internet,

At the core of any successful public relations campaign is effective communication.

Yet in this technological era, there are now more methods than ever to convey important messages to different audiences.

Video production is one area that is constantly changing. Let’s take a look at some of the common applications in public relations.

1. Video News Release (VNR)

An obvious example of how PR and video production can work seamlessly together is the Video New Release. This is basically a press release in video format.

A 90 second video is created which is then distributed to television stations for airing in news programs. When VNR’s are well made, it is extremely difficult to differentiate them from a regular news story.

An example is a publicity stunt for the launch of a new airline on the evening news.

Tip: Include your script with the VNR and any suggested intro to give the network flexibility in putting together your story.

2. CD-ROMs

For clients that have complicated products and need a lot of promotional material, CD-ROM’s can be an effective medium.

CD-ROMs are particularly flexible as they can include video, audio, brochures, documents and website/email links. They are perfect for travellers who wish to reduce the amount of marketing materials they need to carry.

Mini CD-ROMs or CD-ROM business cards also come in a variety of sizes and shapes that can be made to suit your campaign. An example is they can be cut into the shape of a flower for a campaign for a seed producer. The only negative is that because of their small size they are unable to hold lots of content, unlike the regular sized CD-ROMs.

An example of CD-ROM we undertook was for a Professional Society that had a topic that it needed the press to understand and write about. A CD-ROM was used to show video interviews with leaders in the industry and also to display documents, which explained the topic in more detail. It is also contained website and email links to relevant sites and people in the industry.

Tip: Picture quality of a CD-ROM is half that of DVD. Use a high quality broadcast camera at the shoot to ensure clear and professional looking pictures.

3. Trade Shows

Go to any expo and you will nearly always find that all of the large and impressive stands will have video content constantly running.

The key to any successful trade show DVD is lots of exciting pictures with informative titles and music.

Trade show videos suit companies that have complicated products where people need to see to see how it works and in what situations.

Tip: Make sure that your trade show video conveys your messages without the use of a voiceover. Voiceovers must be avoided as they will not be heard at a trade show. Instead, use titles to tell your story.

4. Special Events

An effective way to launch award ceremonies, conferences, and corporate roadshows is by using a powerful video opener.

When planning an event, use video to set the mood. Use it to educate, inspire, motivate or excite.

If the event has a large audience, filming the event live and displaying the content on large projector screens dispersed around the room will ensure that attendees can all see the action.

At the recent Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Sustainable Cities Awards, we created a relaxing and picturesque video that showed lots of different shots of trees with autumn leaves. The theme for the night was autumn and the video was played while people enjoyed their cocktails. Autumn decoration were also used throughout the venue, as well as lighting that was created to splash autumn leaves over the walls and ceilings. It was an appealing way to set the mood for the night and it proved to be a great success.

Tip: Work out your objective and theme for the event and get your video production to reflect your theme.

For your next PR project, think about how you can harness the power of video to get the right message across to your audience.

(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast Productions. Digicast Productions works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow. The website is at here.

Article Source

Tags: pr, video, public, relations, communications

At the core of any successful public relations campaign is effective communication.

Yet in this technological era, there are now more methods than ever to convey important messages to different audiences.

Video production is one area that is constantly changing. Let’s take a look at some of the common applications in public relations.

1. Video News Release (VNR)

An obvious example of how PR and video production can work seamlessly together is the Video New Release. This is basically a press release in video format.

A 90 second video is created which is then distributed to television stations for airing in news programs. When VNR’s are well made, it is extremely difficult to differentiate them from a regular news story.

An example is a publicity stunt for the launch of a new airline on the evening news.

Tip: Include your script with the VNR and any suggested intro to give the network flexibility in putting together your story.

2. CD-ROMs

For clients that have complicated products and need a lot of promotional material, CD-ROM’s can be an effective medium.

CD-ROMs are particularly flexible as they can include video, audio, brochures, documents and website/email links. They are perfect for travellers who wish to reduce the amount of marketing materials they need to carry.

Mini CD-ROMs or CD-ROM business cards also come in a variety of sizes and shapes that can be made to suit your campaign. An example is they can be cut into the shape of a flower for a campaign for a seed producer. The only negative is that because of their small size they are unable to hold lots of content, unlike the regular sized CD-ROMs.

An example of CD-ROM we undertook was for a Professional Society that had a topic that it needed the press to understand and write about. A CD-ROM was used to show video interviews with leaders in the industry and also to display documents, which explained the topic in more detail. It is also contained website and email links to relevant sites and people in the industry.

Tip: Picture quality of a CD-ROM is half that of DVD. Use a high quality broadcast camera at the shoot to ensure clear and professional looking pictures.

3. Trade Shows

Go to any expo and you will nearly always find that all of the large and impressive stands will have video content constantly running.

The key to any successful trade show DVD is lots of exciting pictures with informative titles and music.

Trade show videos suit companies that have complicated products where people need to see to see how it works and in what situations.

Tip: Make sure that your trade show video conveys your messages without the use of a voiceover. Voiceovers must be avoided as they will not be heard at a trade show. Instead, use titles to tell your story.

4. Special Events

An effective way to launch award ceremonies, conferences, and corporate roadshows is by using a powerful video opener.

When planning an event, use video to set the mood. Use it to educate, inspire, motivate or excite.

If the event has a large audience, filming the event live and displaying the content on large projector screens dispersed around the room will ensure that attendees can all see the action.

At the recent Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Sustainable Cities Awards, we created a relaxing and picturesque video that showed lots of different shots of trees with autumn leaves. The theme for the night was autumn and the video was played while people enjoyed their cocktails. Autumn decoration were also used throughout the venue, as well as lighting that was created to splash autumn leaves over the walls and ceilings. It was an appealing way to set the mood for the night and it proved to be a great success.

Tip: Work out your objective and theme for the event and get your video production to reflect your theme.

For your next PR project, think about how you can harness the power of video to get the right message across to your audience.

Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast Productions. Digicast Productions works with organisations who are not satisfied that their marketing and training materials are helping their business grow.

Article Source: Source

Tag:pr, video, public, relations, communications