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June 27, 2006

Jonny talks about vlogging for teachers, part 2

This is the second part of the interview Dan Karleen did with me at Vloggercon 2006 about videoblogging for teachers.

Posted by Jonny at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2006

Erzsi and Jonny show tonight, June 26 at 10PM on Channel 56 in Manhattan

You can also catch the video stream, live at MNN.org, click on channel 56. And it's a live call-in show, so give us a buzz. We'll be talking about Summer in the city, beer ads, and World Cup culture.

Nice rug, right?

Posted by Jonny at 09:14 PM | Comments (1)

June 23, 2006

Jonny talks about vlogging for teachers

It's my YouTube debut, courtesy of Dan Karleen of Syndication for Higher Ed who interviewed me at Vloggercon 2006. Here's Part 1

Posted by Jonny at 09:11 AM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2006

Bush Sees Iraq Echo in '56 Hungary Revolt: Yikes!

I saw this headline today on the New York Times website: "Bush Sees Iraq Echo in '56 Hungary Revolt." It reported that Bush mentioned the '56 revolt in Hungary that was crushed by the Soviets as a parallel to the situation in Iraq. His point was that it took the Hungarians years to get freedom, and it may take the Iraqis many years to have a free, stable nation too. Bad analogy dude.

Call me crazy, but when I think of the Hungarian revolt of '56, I think of an occupied nation trying to divest itself of a foreign occupier. In the case of Iraq, the United States is the foreign occupier. So it seems to me like Bush is actually sending the insurgents the message that, hey it's a long struggle, but in the end, you'll win. Time for a new speechwriter.

Posted by Jonny at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)

USA in the lower middle class of world soccer

OK, look. Every one is hating on the US soccer team's coach, Bruce Arena because we didn't advance past the first round of the World Cup. I think that's unfair.

I'm bummed the USA didn't move to the next round, but I don't feel terrible about our performance. It's like this: Only the 32 best teams in the world advance to the World Cup Finals, so just getting there was an accomplishment, right? Well, sort of.

The USA's qualifying zone (North and Central America and Caribbean) is fairly lightweight, so that detracts from that triumph a wee bit. That being the case, let's analyze how the USA did once they got to Germany.

They lost to the Czechs 0-3. Then they tied the Italians 1-1. Finally, they lost to Ghana 2-1. Fine, we played lame against the Czechs. Then we toughed it out to tie the formidable Italians, one of the world's more respected soccer teams. Then we played a solid game against Ghana who benefited from a dubious penalty they were awarded. Upshot: We lost badly against a good team, we tied an excellent team, and we barely lost to a good team.

So, we're a lower middle class soccer power. That's OK. A few decades ago we weren't even on the soccer map. Now, I can watch the US team and feel confident that they can challenge if not beat, even the best teams. We're not living in the exquisite villas, occupied by teams like Germany, Brazil, and Argentina. We're not in the McMansions resided in by teams like Italy and England. We're living in an Archie Bunker rowhouse by the freeway. Not a glamorous postion, but respectable. We've got hot water, electricity, and air conditioning. It's not like we're in the shantytowns of soccer like the 130 teams that didn't qualify to go to Germany. We got to the finals. We came close to getting through the first around against tough competition. We'll be back next time ready to move into a little more uppity soccer neighborhood.

Posted by Jonny at 08:46 PM | Comments (1)

June 21, 2006

Jonny Goldstein's Vloggercon 2006 Odyssey

This article is an attempt for me to process some of memories I have of Vloggercon 2006. I ran out of steam linking everyone's name to their sites, but it's not out of disrespect....it's just exhaustion. Anyway, if you were at Vloggercon 2006, you had your own unique adventure. Here's a little bit of mine, with the help of all the people who contributed to the flickr vloggercon photo pool.

It all started in December of 2004 when Shawn Van Every suggested that I swing by Vloggercon 2005 the next month in January.

I went to Vloggercon 2005 as an interested audience member. A lot of the stuff was really technical, but once they got to showing the kind of collaborative work people had done in the vlogging world, I was hooked.

Vloggercon 2005 was held at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, packing a single classroom. That's Chuck Olsen impersonating the terminator onscreen.

After a year of explosive growth in the world of internet video in general, and videoblogging in particular, it was clear that we needed a much bigger venue for Vloggercon 2006. After frustrated attempts to secure a space in New York, Jay Dedman and Ryan Hodson moved to San Francisco, where people like Shlomo Rabinowitz had the necessary connections and experience in organizing conferences to make this next iteration of Vloggercon happen . A group of interested people started meeting up regularly in the Bay Area to start planning Vloggercon 2006. (also pictured Jennifer Myronuk)

A big conference doesn't happen without cash. Dave Toole of Outhink got the sponsorship ball rolling.

Vloggers started getting the word out via the the web and good old fashioned paper flyers.

My company Vision Education and Media Sponsored me to go out to SF so I could let the world know about the amazing teen videobloggers we taught in the Bronx in the BX21 technology education afterschool program.

The day before the conference I spoke at the SF Apple Store about some of my personal vlogging exploits along with a lineup of other media makers. The house was packed. Thanks to Ryan Hodson for organizing this.

I showed off the BX21.org website, home to the works of the Bronx students we taught to vlog this year.

It was good to meet up with old (one month=1 year in vlogger years) vlogging friends such as Make Magazine vlogger, Bre Pettis. In the less than one year I've known Bre, we've started collaborating on wearethemedia.com, and he and Jennifer Rundle visited us in NYC. That's the power o' vlogging folks!

Peter Van Dijck. In his thoughtful keynote, urged us to make our voices heard to influence the path of web enabled media. before that path hardens into a toll-choked, billboard-strewn. one way street into the pockets of mega corporations.

That afternoon Bre Pettis, Jen Simmons, and moi led the educators session. The hall was big and bursting with people.

Here I am waxing educational as I talk about BX21, the program in which we taught over 100 teens to videoblog in the Bronx. I created the curriculum and managed the program which had ten expert mentors working with students from several public high schools at the Evander Childs and Morris campuses. I'm so proud of our students and so grateful for the hard work of our mentors. Despite the craziness of starting something this big, we had a good year, and the kids got a lot out of it.

Jen Simmons discussed her experiences teaching college level students to videoblog at Temple University.

And Bre Pettis recounted what it was like incorporating vlogging into his elementary and middle school classes. I don't have a picture of Bre from the session, so here's pic of Bre doing what vloggers do best--video themselves!

This is what it looked like from the stage. The woman in the red shirt, Irina Slutsky of Geek Entertainment TV introduced us. Thanks Irina!

After a hard day of preparation, discussion, presentation, and schmoozing, a huge horde of vloggers descended upon Potrero Hill for a poolside party sponsored by Click.TV. Here is a crazy slow exposure picture of Lyle and myself.

More poolside good times:

The party was a great opportunity to connect with vloggers the work of whom I had seen online, in person. Pictured are Phillip Clark of Swordfight and Lyle. Lyle is hoisting a cup of beverage which was provided by a group blog about vlogging to which I contribute, wearethemedia.com. I am sporting my "Oh no, the paparazzi have caught up with me again!" face.

The next day I had the honor of moderating a bunch panels on the following topics: creating strong characters, oral history, interactvity in vlogging, remixing, and Node 101 and the digital divide.

Node 101 and dig divide w/jonny

Leslye asks a question

Here are the guys from the interactivity panel.

Here I am moderating the character panel. Whover put this one together was either a lunatic or a genius, with aesthetic opposites the PAN (Public Address Network) and French Maid TV on the same panel, with Ask a Ninja somewhere in the middle.

Tim Streeter of French Maid TV unapologetically characterized his show as "Spectacle."

Chris Weagel cut into Tim Street's French Maid TV denouncing it as base, soulless, and mercenary.

Michael Verdi denounced French Maid TV as being T&A pure and simple, with no serious use of character, an example of the worst aspects of broadcast TV, migrating to the vlogosphere.

And last, but not least, Kent Nichols of Ask a Ninja was there, giving away free Ask a Ninja T-shirts. I grabbed one for my friend and AAN fan Mikey Sklar, but I lost it later in the day. Sorry Mikey.

Kent Phillips and I trying to get the sound right for the digital storytelling & oral history panel.

Here is the panel in all its glory from left to right: Susan Kitchens, Denise Atchley, Jennifer Myronuk, and JD Lasica.

Camerawoman Susan Kirkpatrick chimes in with her take on oral history

And I moderated one session in the big hall, the remix event. Here's Josh Leo rockin' the remix.

Casey McKinnon and Ted Tagami

Kenyatta

View from mainstage

Jan at work

Carl Weaver on Community Vlogging

Eric Rice and Eve

Zadi and Casey

The hallways were packed with shmoozing, posing, and videoing vloggers. Former Microsoft uberblogger Robert Scoble was swarmed with people interviewing him. I found out later in the day that he had announced he was leaving Microsoft, which accounted for the video frenzy around him.

Raymond, Brett Gaylor, Kent Bye, Josh Wolf

Digital Bicycle

Pool Party

Anthony and Aaron. The Anthony took tons of pics, many of which I'm using in this article. Aaron Flores is a guy that I can't believe I didn't meet at the conference, since I've been reading and viewing his stuff since I started vlogging.

Dave and Lyle

Jenn and Raymond

I met Marjorie Kase at the pool party. As our conversation wound down, she whipped out her business card, which I was totally oblivious to. Finally she thrust propelled it in my face and said---here take it! Then she moved on. Yikes. I gotta sharpen my shmooz chops.

I didn't meet Bonny, but she "meat"-ed many vloggers in the funniest video I've seen to come out of Vloggercon 2006.

Verdi and Kent

Mary Hodder of Dabble at Vloggercon

Andrew in the hallway

Nadav and Dutch crew. I met Nadav the day after Vloggercon 2006 at the Node 101 temporary HQ. We chatted a little in Hebrew, which I really enjoyed.

One crazy thing about Vloggercon is you get to see all these people who you
have already met online...or at least observed. I wish I would have gone up to each of those people and told them how much I appreciated their work. I did do this with Lukas though, and I'm glad I did.

Enric channelled Bob Dylan at Karaoke.

Randy Mann

Daniel and Ryan

Bill Streeter and Jonny

Markus @ NODE101 pad

Cam Vs. Cam. Steve Garfield and his couch mate get caught in a vlogtronic feedback loop.

Scary Jonny

Sean Gilligan

Anthony and Jonny. If you go through the Vloggercon photo pool at flickr, you'll notice a few people who went around and photographed themeselves with everyone they could get to sit still for 10 seconds. Anthony is one of those people. I think it's great. They are kind of like the glue that holds the whole thing together when I go through the pics.

Jonny and Eli Chapman

This is a pic Bre took of himself right after Vloggercon 2006. I can relate to his sense of exhaustion. A week and half later, and I'm almost recovered.

Jay Dedman closed out Vloggercon 2006 by saying how much he hated goodbyes. The crowd broke into spontaneous applause for the work he and Ryanne did in catalyzing this event. The weekend was a powerful one for me, too big too grasp in its entirety, too important to miss.

Posted by Jonny at 01:29 AM | Comments (7)

June 19, 2006

Walking to Werner, feasting with Phillips

My wife and I popped in to see Walking to Werner at the Silverdocs Festival in Silver Spring, Maryland, on a whim and were blown away. In the film, Linas Phillips documents his his quest to walk from Seattle to director Werner Herzog's house in L.A. Along the way, Phillips meets an assortment of people with amazing stories---One man is a killer who still can't forgive himself, another man's family was murdered and still can't forgive the killer. It's a beautiful, sad, funny movie, a testament to what one man with a camera, editing chops, good idea, and a high endurance for dodging semi trucks, can create.

After the movie, Phillips popped out from behind the screen and answered questions, peppering his answers with a dead-on Werner Herzog impersonation. My wife decided we should have drinks with him and invited us along to hang out with him after the screening. We ended up going to an obscenely loud Mexican karaoke restaurant with Phillips and his friendly entourage. Phillips, turned out to be as friendly and fun in person as on camera. He's currently hopping from city to city showing Walking to Werner, with impending screenings in Scotland and Israel. I wish him luck and hope he succeeds in getting the movie picked up by a distributor. In the meantime, if it comes to your town, take a walk to the theater to check it out. Just watch out for the semis.

Posted by Jonny at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2006

Scoble being scoble at Vloggercon 2006

OK, I know that Vloggercon is all about the little guy, but sometimes I get sucked into geek celebrity---And they don't get more celebrated than Robert Scoble who was working the hallways hard as he announced that he's leaving his uberblogging postition at Microsoft to work at Podtech. Smart move announcing at Vloggercon where he was bound to get tons of press from the assembled camera wielding hordes.

Posted by Jonny at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)

Power networking at vloggercon

Every square inch of the Swedish American Hall was fair game in the quest to connect with the hordes at Vloggercon 2006.

Posted by Jonny at 03:57 PM | Comments (1)

June 08, 2006

I'm going to Vloggercon 2006 in 11 hours

I still need to pack, clean, sleep, wake up and write an equipment purchasing request, and get to the Newark airport in those 11 hours. Then it'll be off to San Francisco where I am:

Uno: Speaking at the Apple Store about the wonderful world of videoblogging
Dos: Showing videos made by the teen videobloggers in the program I manage in the Bronx
Tres: Emceeing part of the 2nd day of Vloggercon. Question: Tux or no tux?

Then decompressing in SF for a couple of days before red eying it back to the city of high rise bliss.

Posted by Jonny at 09:43 PM | Comments (1)

KityKity in NYC

KityKity, Randy, Monika, Melenie, and Clark at a pre-Vloggercon get together. Kity's NYC visit was our excuse to hang out. Kitykity, AKA Susan Kirkpatrick, is one of my favorite vloggers.

Posted by Jonny at 10:10 AM | Comments (1)

June 06, 2006

Facedown in an alley---The true story

Watch the video

We're being introduced by Jay Stern and Victor Varnado who produce First Sundays.

Posted by Jonny at 12:30 PM | Comments (1)

June 02, 2006

The Long, Long, Long, Long Pants Premieres at First Sundays Film Fest

I'm starring in the short flim "The Long, Long, Long, Long Pants," at the First Sundays Film Festival at the Pioneer Two Boots Theater. 7PM, this Sunday, June 4. In the story, the relationship between me and my talking trousers ends in tragedy, a la Romeo and Juliet. This piece also features Erzsi Pongo, Corey Boutilier (Who also wrote, directed, and produced the piece), Lance Werth, Livia Scott, Jeremy Carr and Kevin Maher. An awesome cast, and a lovely story which ends with me face down and pantless in an alley. I still have my boxers on, so don't get TOO excited. Anyway, come check it out. Pants, skirt, dress, or shorts recommended.

SUNDAY, JUNE 4th, at 7:15pm.
Two Boots Pioneer Theater
155 East 3rd Street (Between Ave "A" and "B")
First Sundays Film Festival

Posted by Jonny at 09:12 AM | Comments (1)