Why STBD's Next Episode Will Be Late

Eric Olsen from Feedburner, Rudy Jahchan and Casey McKinnon of Galacticast, Adam Broitman of A Media.Circus, Justin Kownacki (me) of Something to Be Desired and podsafe music pioneer C. C. Chapman catch a break at PodCamp.

So I'm sitting in a basement in New Hampshire.

Long story short: While attending PodCamp this weekend, I obtained a free pass to the upcoming Video on the Net conference this week. When Jeff and Beth Persch of Podsea learned that I needed a place to stay for the next three nights if I was going to be able to attend VON, they offered me the use of their (very nice) basement living room in their New Hampshire home. I accepted, and here I am.

Considering I spent the last three days either on a plane, running PodCamp errands with Chris Brogan, learning and schmoozing at PodCamp or trying to bump my flight and find temporary accomodations, I've had very little time to actually edit anything. Thus, Episode two of STBD's current season will be available later in the day on Monday, September 11th, because I'm still editing it.

Which brings me to an interesting observation.

Steve Garfield is one of the world's best-known vloggers, and he was at PodCamp. He also recorded most of PodCamp, directly through his computer, and uploaded it almost immediately. At one point, he had a panel discussion uploaded before the panel was officially concluded -- that takes skill.

It also makes me realize just how amazing it is that we at STBD can do what we do.

To create a single episode of STBD, I need to:

Write the scenes
Film the scenes
Capture the video
Edit the video
Upload the video
Let the world know.

Simple enough, right?

Now add in all the time we spend:

Coordinating 25 people's schedules (actors, assistants, extras, locations -- all volunteering)
Traveling to and from locations
Rehearsing
Lighting (when we bother)
Cleaning up / tearing down

All of this to achieve 5-10 minutes of weekly video.

By comparison, a vlogger has to do all of the same things -- conceive of an idea, script it, film, edit and upload it -- except they have total control. It's their baby. Even if they interview someone, they still maintain control over the logistics and (wisely) keep them minimal.

In the end, they wind up with something that can be edited in a few hours' time, if not less.

Meanwhile, I have 2 hours' worth of raw footage, including multiple takes of each scene -- some wildly divergent from others due to improvisations and incidental changes (lighting, noise, etc.) -- that take hours to capture and even longer to pare down and finally edit.

Am I complaining? Not at all. I love the show and I take great pride in what we do.

I also respect the dedication and confidence of anyone who decides to commit their voice and image to the podcasting or vlogging world.

All I'm saying is, had I seen the immediate future a little more clearly, perhaps I would have undertaken something I could accomplish on my own, swiftly -- like a vlog -- rather than the elaborate event that constitutes each episode of Something to Be Desired. (Probably not.)

Of course, then I would have missed out on all the collaboration that comes with creating an entity that's larger than any one voice, and that would be a shame.

Onward and upward.

******

PodCamp flashback of the day: Musing with the crew from Scriggity as to the nature of the 6 police vehicles -- three SUVs and three bulletproof limousines -- that pulled up outside our Holiday Inn Express this morning as we were waiting for our shared cab. Either Cheney or Rumsfeld were reportedly in town this weekend, which justified the appearance of the police. It also made each of us wonder if something was "about to happen"...

Or, more accurately, if the government is putting up its dignitaries at a Holiday Inn Express.