"In Plain English" - Video Contest (aka What Happens at a "Great Place to Work")

Wednesday, October 24. 2007

We had a great time at our all-staff retreat this recent September at Airlie Center, and had a lot of fun with a video shorts contest among staff teams. And I think these videos work really well online to explain a complex topic or just show how much fun you can have a a place that is a "Great Place to Work!".

We called the contest "In Plain English", inspired in part by the "paperworks" videos of Lee Lefever of Commoncraft. The idea was that each team had to make a two minute video to explain a complex technical topic "In Plain English" to someone who is not very technically savvy.

With no prior preparation, each team of 7-8 folks got a standard handheld video camera, a topic, and about 2 hours of time. We *also* had to squeeze in a sumptuous lunch in that two hour block, so the pressure was on!

Well, it was a lot of fun shooting the videos. And it was also hilarious to view them afterwards in the whole group. I think we were all pretty impressed, if we do say so ourselves, at how good and how funny they all turned out.

The four topics were: what is a CMS, what is an online collaboration tool, what is the LiveInterviewsOnline! Tool, and what is a wireframe. The resulting videos are:

What is an online collaboration tool?

Takeaway - I think the videos show how easy and valuable it can be to use this format online to explain a complex topic, share a story or viewpioint, or just show the personality of an organization. Not bad for a 120-minute exercise.

Which video do you think is best? Leave your vote as a comment below!

Posted by Chris Wolz in Communication, Collaboration at 10:41 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

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Very cool! Thanks for sharing these Chris. The online collaboration one was funny - the "blah blah blah" reminds me a little of the "durka durka" in Team America - World Police.

The other two paperworks-style videos are great too, especially for vids done in two hours. It's so funny whenever we hear people (other than us) do the boos and yays. I think there is a technical hint in that last one: auto-focus doesn't work well.

#1 Lee LeFever (Homepage) on 2007-10-24 11:55 (Reply)

Yay!
Thanks, Lee. Some of the concept for the "blah blah blah" came from my memory of playing the BaFa' BaFa' cross-cultural sensitivity game as a Peace Corps trainee. And then, Team America /WP (!)

So which is your favorite video? Gotta vote.

Chris

#1.1 Chris Wolz (Homepage) on 2007-10-24 13:30 (Reply)

My vote is for #4. Tech issues aside, I like that it describes a problem and then shows the old way/new way and how the new way relieves the pain. Fun stuff!

#1.1.1 Lee LeFever (Homepage) on 2007-10-24 14:13 (Reply)

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Influence covers innovations in communication, Internet technology and strategy to generate influence on important public policy issues. Chris Wolz manages this blog with the help of his colleagues at Forum One Communications, a web strategy/technology firm in the Washington DC area.