Two Episodes Left...

... until our next hiatus. (Time flies when you're creating a weekly web series.)

In the interim between 10-episode arcs, we'll still be posting a new video every Monday. But instead of actual episodes, these will be interviews, behind-the-scenes stuff, and the occasional ultra-brief (one minute or less) "microsodes."

In that spirit: what would YOU like to see during our "break"?

Which cast members would like to see interviewed?

What questions would you like answers to?

Which characters would you like deeper, one-minute glimpses into?

Leave suggestions in the comments or email jkownacki [at] somethingtobedesired [dawt] com.

Video Production Snooze Alarm

Glenn (Rick Hertzig) and Dierdre (Lacey Fleming) wonder what took so long...
What happens when you hit "snooze" once, wake up ten minutes later, and realize you can STILL get to work on time?

If you're like most people, you hit snooze twice, sleep for TWENTY more minutes, and find a way to get to work on time.

Then THIRTY minutes.

How This Applies to Web Video:

In 2005, we started filming Season Three of Something to Be Desired in May.

In 2006, we started filming Season Four in June.

In 2007, we started filming Season Five... yesterday.

Call it cavalier disregard for conventional wisdom. Call it execrable time management.

I call it learned behavior from a lifetime of hitting the snooze alarm...

A Week Until VON

Next Monday, I'll be at Video on the Net in San Jose. I've been asked to speak during a segment called "Meet the Producers," which occurs on Wednesday, March 21. I'll be sharing the stage with Steve Garfield and Brian Conley, among others. It's great company for Something to Be Desired to be in.

The last VON conference was in Boston in September. It's hard for me to believe, but that was 6 months ago. Since then, numerous things have changed for me and my fellow new media creators, including:

- Chris Brogan was hired by Jeff Pulver to help launch Network2,

- PodCamps were held in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Toronto and abroad,

- Blip TV became darlings of the new media startup set, and

- Amanda Congdon went "mainstream."

Things have also changed for STBD in that time:

- 20 new episodes were produced.
- WANT was shut down.
- Dierdre was hired at Affogato.
- Lloyd has come and (for the most part) gone.
- Our audience found new favorites in Rich and Tim.
- We created our first Halloween episode.
- We took a 6-week hiatus to better plan for the future.

That future is now.

On March 26, we return with all-new episodes to close out Season Four. After that, who's to say where we'll go next?

We have some ideas. We have some projects in the works.

All we know is, in six months, STBD -- and the new media playing field as we know it -- could look VERY different... Stay tuned!

Creative Treehouse, and Why I'm Not in Toronto Right Now

PodCamp Toronto kicks off tomorrow morning and I'm not going. This makes me immensely frustrated, not just because Toronto is one of my favorite cities OR because most of my colleagues from the first two east coast PodCamps will be in attendance, BUT because my absence is entirely my own fault.

Due to mismanagement of both time and money, I find myself without enough of either to justify making the trip and leaving my other loose ends dangling for three days. So, I'm buckling down to get work done.

In reality, it makes sense, especially because I'll be out of town for Video on the Net (which I'm speaking at) in March AND PodCamp NYC in April. With so much potential travel on the horizon, and a weekly web series to restart, priorities are a must.

But, unfortunately, I could have prioritized much better about 4 weeks ago and had both the time AND the money to cut free for 3 days now.

(I'll also miss SXSW again this year, which continues to be the annual Event I Keep Meaning To Get To...)

HOWEVER...

I WILL be in attendance at ONE event this weekend, at least -- and it's a local one to boot:

Tonight (Friday, Feb 23), Creative Treehouse launches its kickoff event: a 24-hour art extravaganza! Starting @ 8 PM, artists of all types will begin working on all new, original works... Then tomorrow (Saturday, Feb 24) @ 8 PM, those works go on display -- only 24 hours later!

Come down and see the works in progress! Or come celebrate the space's grand opening! Food and drink will be provided @ the opening, along with music from Jon Miller and Sean Atkins

All art created overnight will be available for purchase. Half the proceeds go to the Treehouse!

WHAT: Creative Treehouse's "Creative Marathon"
WHO: Artists from across Pittsburgh -- and you!
WHERE: 517 Lincoln Avenue, Bellevue, PA 15202 (2nd Floor - rear entrance)
WHEN: Marathon begins @ 8 PM Friday, Opening @ 8 PM Saturday

For more information, visit CreativeTreehousePGH.com or their MySpace!

Brainstorming Follow-Up: The Realization

Too many things.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that this is the conclusion I came to during last night's brainstorming session: I'm doing too much.

It's not that I'm overworked. Lord knows I waste enough time in a day to make the dead rise in anger. It's that I'm unfocused. I have too many "must-do"s on my plate, and more "want to do"s waiting to be added. I have a billion things I SHOULD be doing, but I have no real understanding of which ones are vital.

So I'm scaling back.

The amount of time I work per week won't change, but the number of things I'm doing alone needs to decrease, so I can get them done well. Then, as I master the art of focus and dedication, I can get faster at what I do and add more tasks to the list. I can also find reliable collaborators who can help shoulder some of the responsibilities (and influence the direction) of our joint ventures. But if I try to tackle the 800 items on the various texts and stickies littering my desktop all by myself without an order of operations, I'll spin in circles until I collapse.

Which ones are the important ones? I'll let you know as I figure them out.

In the meantime, I have entire episode to film for Monday...

New Year's Resolutions?

I always want to make out New Year's resolutions because I love the idea of starting over with a fresh slate -- even if that slate is chosen by an arbitrary time on the calendar. I also realize that trying to change 180 things about myself all at once is a bit of lunacy because I'd be trying to learn how to do a number of things differently, all at once, and that's a recipe for backsliding.

So, this year, I'm making one new resolution a month.

I figure this way I can have a 30 day trial run to get a new positive habit off the ground. If I stumble, I can pick myself up because I have that entire month to get it right. And then, once I get a handle on one new change in my life, I can move on to another area.

My first resolution will be to improve my time management skills.

For a person who works freelance and, therefore, can work at any hour of the day, you'd think I'd get a lot more work done. Instead, I'm consistently behind schedule in almost every facet of my life because I have SO MUCH time to work with that I let everything go until the last minute. This results in a lot of undue stress and sleepless nights -- literally, because I'm working 'round the clock to make up for all the time I wasted during the day -- and so I realize I need to treat my daily life as though i really do have a 9-5 job in some fictitious office, rather than the office in the front of my apartment that I can wander to and fro all day long.

Here's my theory:

1. Work 5 days a week, from 9-5, preferably from a remote location like a cafe, so I can replicate the process of "going to work".
2. Spend evenings (7-10 PM) filming, writing or editing STBD (or similar projects).
3. Wake up at the same time, even on weekends, so I'm not groggy on Monday.
4. Go out in the evening at least twice a week, so I don't feel as though I'm working nonstop (and so my relationship and my level of inspiration is salvaged by getting out of the house).
5. Spend Friday afternoons catching up on lingering emails and minor tasks that otherwise get delayed indefinitely, and then make a quick list of actions to accomplish next week.

Working in this fashion will also allow me to tackle another desire that's been cruising in the back of my head for awhile now: updating my own person blog, Cafe Witness, which I haven't touched in months (and will starting this week).

Seems sensible to me. If you have any thoughts on the approach, or would like to share your own New Year's resolution, let me know!