Video + Blog = Vlog = Old White Guys Embarrassing Themselves + Social Change

The Denver Center for Performing Arts (DCPA) takes an…. er… interesting approach to promoting their programs. A friend of mine involved with DCPA told me that the organization has been trying really hard to rejuvinate the aging theater audience with new, and younger theater-goers. While I simply have no words for this particular video, I can say that DCPA's video content, in general, provides a great marketing outlet.

With monthly installments of their 10 Minutes to Curtain series, DCPA offers behind the scenes footage and commentary about their programs. This is a brilliant strategy to achieve their goal of attracting new audience members. They at least managed to attract one new audience member. After watching the teasers and learning the stories behind this season’s shows, I now want to go see every one of them.

Video blogging is especially effective for an organization like DCPA, since the product being promoted is performance, which naturally lends itself to video. This doesn't mean, however, that other kinds of organizations can't use video blogging as an effective method of outreach.

The nationwide organization, NetSquared, also uses video blogging effectively-- but for entirely different reasons. The organization's tagline, "remixing the web for social change" pretty much sums up their mission. They use their vlog to share resources and suggest ways for organizations to use technology to improve their social impact.

The visual interest and production values of this vlog are much, much lower than DCPA's. In my opinion, this isn't a serious issue as long as video content supports the overall purpose of the organization--in this case, to increase access to information. I watched the NetSquared video How Nonprofits Can Create Video Campaigns for Social Networks, which is a simple and straightforward recording of a NetSquared event. Most of the videos on the vlog are either recordings of events or on-the-spot interviews with people who attended events. There is minimal to no editing, and the videos lean heavily towards the educational versus the entertaining. I watched all the way through the end of the video campaigns episode because I was interested in the subject matter, not because of creative production of the video itself.

The main point of NetSquared's vlog appears to be to increase participation and connection among people who are physically distant from each other. On this count, it certainly succeeds and and proves that there is no set standard for what makes a video blog effective.

I would argue that an organizational vlog's success is primarily a result of catering to the target audience and supporting the organization's mission. Working in video can be time-consuming, so an organization should have a clear purpose in mind when setting up a vlog. Done correctly, a good video blog can help multiply the effects of an organization's existing efforts--and in the case of socially minded organizations, increase the social impact as well.