Greg Verdino

You really really like me.

 

Like lots of publishers, I'm testing out Facebook's new open graph take on the social web. You can now "like" this blog by clicking the button near the top of the middle column. From what I've gleaned, you're not joining another Facebook Page; simply showing your support, staying connected by letting the blog push updates to your feed, and making it even easier to share posts you like with just one click that sends links scuttling off into your live stream. I hope you'll like me even better now. ;-)

While we're on the subject of staying connected -- be sure to get all the latest book updates by following the new microMARKETING profile on Twitter (@micromktg) and joining the microMARKETING fan community on Facebook. Both hubs are in their infancy, but I'm planning everything from up-to-the-minute book news to special promotions just for followers and fans.

Join up for good stuff.

Your green can pump some life into 'Killer Green'

With social media usage approaching something like ubiquity, it's not surprising to see creative endeavors that are are hatched and nurtured in social find their way into the more traditional mainstream media. To name just a few: Twitter's @shitmydadsays has been optioned for television, countless writers have gone from blog to book including the successful and surprisingly good horror send-up John Dies at the End, more still -- like J.C. Hutchins (who is profiled in my book) -- go from podcast to print.

It's practically harping on yesterday's news to talk about social media projects making the jump into the so-called real world. But I'd like to call your attention to a crossover that is near to my heart and for which I'd love to solicit your support (hey, I don't ask for much - the next time I do, it will be to ask you to buy my book - so indulge me for a few minutes.)

Enter David Niall Wilson: a horror and science fiction novelist turned Twitter fanatic. Early in 2009, a couple of chance remarks made on Twitter got his creative juices flowing and, as often happens with creative types, before long those stray remarks had inspired the basic plot for a horror screenplay that is equal parts slasher movie, serial killer story and ecological thriller. David called his script Killer Green, began publishing it to his blog one scene at a time (the first two scenes are still online), and letting his Twitter followers know when they should tune in for more. 

With the script written, David quietly went about optioning the screenplay to a small indie production house that, in turn, secured commitments from some talent to play key roles. And so the movie sits, awaiting production which -- as you undoubtedly realize -- costs money... More on that in a second but first:

Why am I telling you all of this?

Well, for one thing David is a friend (disclosure: he has also sent Amanda and me some free stuff over the course of the past couple of years and suffered through a very bizarre phone call on Thanksgiving 2008). For another, taking his inspiration from Twitter in more ways than one, David loosely modeled Killer Green's cast of characters after people he had gotten to know 140-characters at a time. One of the film's main protagonists -- Professor Gregory Verdino -- is, well, inspired yours truly; Professor Verdino's love interest is inspired by my love interest; and other social media notables like geekosaurus Chris Brogan feature prominently as well. So hell yeah I'd love to see this thing on the silver screen.

Cut to close-up of you: It's fitting that a movie inspired by the social media community find its funding in the social media community as well. And that's exactly what the Killer Green crew are aiming to do -- which is why I'm writing this post, because I'm hoping you can help.

How?

Most of all, I'd like to encourage you to check out the Killer Green fundraising page on IndieGoGo -- if you're familiar with social fundraising startups like Kickstarter or the music-focused SellaBand, think of IndieGoGo as something similar, with a big focus around helping indie producers get their movies made through small financial contributions from regular people.

You can learn more about the movie and, if you like the idea or just want to support it, you can contribute toward its $50,000 fundraising goal.

Even if you can't contribute money, you can certainly help to build the buzz. I'd love it if you would share this post on Twitter, Facebook or with your friends. Point people to the Killer Green page. Tell David Niall Wilson you love him (ok - I can't ask that much, but it doesn't take much to spread the word and help something social come to life on the screen.)

Professor Gregory Verdino will thank you. I will too.

Sell your car like a pro(sumer)

Confession: I've never bought or sold a used car. Sure, I've traded in a car or two at a local dealership but
I've never had the time, patience or inclination to deal with auto listings (online or offline) as a seller or a buyer. But I know plenty of people have and I'm always interested in the ways companies empower people to do old things in better new ways by offering tools and technologies that improve on traditional means, especially in simple ways.

The folks at used car bible Kelley Blue Book - the gold, umm I mean blue, standard for what that old clunker is really worth - have come up with a way to tap into social and mobile to make it easier for regular people to sell their used cars without coming across like (well) used car dealers. Their new Seller's Toolkit provides sellers with a set of easy-to-use tools that make it simple for anyone looking to unload a car to advertise their vehicle across the social web -- from Craig's List to Facebook to Twitter to their own blogs -- and any interested in learning more to get real-time value info with a click or a call.

Social media is pervasive and I don't know many people who don't carry mobile phones complete with data plans and (increasingly) the ability to run apps.With Seller's Toolkit it seems KBB understands that its better for everyone -- the buyer, the seller and KBB itself -- if regular people had the tools to sell cars like the pros.

So what exactly is it and what does it let you do?

First, if you're gonna sell a car you're gonna need a window sticker. KBB let's you create a printable page to tack up in your car but (this is the cool part) it includes instructions and the mechanisms to let interested buyers get the current KBB value (something KBB calls LiveValue) with your mobile via text, voice or QR code. It's a nice modern take on the FOR SALE sign.

 

The kit also lets you build out a "digital window sticker" for your blog, site or social network profiles -- essentially a nice widget that allows one-click sharing across your online presences. If you've uploaded images for your listing, those images are presented dynamically so they're always the latest greatest shots of your car. And of course the KBB value is always current too via LiveValue.

 

Next, since so many of us use Facebook as a primary social network, the tool lets sellers quickly and easily turn their listing into a custom tab that they can add to their profile to let all their friends know that their love mobile is available for purchase. Personally, I've seen friends posting 'car for sale' and even 'house for sale' notices to their walls - this take that to the next level and provides potential buyers with a nice, clean tab that offers all the necessary info.

 

And finally, the KBB Seller's Toolkit even takes care of the tiny details like automatically generating Twitter and status update-friendly bit,ly shortened URLs that link buyers directly to Kelley Blue Book pricing reports for the appropriate make, model and year.

You can learn more or try it out for yourself at Kelley Blue Book. But obviously, I'm not an automotive blogger so I'm not here to sell you on the tool itself. Instead, think about why something like this makes so much sense -- it is consistent with KBB"s brand, modernizes their value proposition by taking advantage of common social and mobile technologies, and keeps the interests of its core consumers (both buyers and sellers) squarely in its sites. It's not gimmicky or flashy; instead it answers some simple business questions:

• How can we add more value in what we already do well?
• How can we make customers' lives easier?
• Is there a way technology and tools can empower both our company and our customers to do more, get more and transact more easily (and on their own terms)?

How might you apply some of these same principles to your company's social and mobile initiatives?

Thinking small is a big idea

While I've been eyeballs-deep in a bunch of little edits to my manuscript, Amadeo Plaza has been thinking about "thinking small" (a key theme from the book actually) and some great think small ideas he gleaned from the PSFK Conference. And so without further adieu, here is a second guest post pulled from RockMeAmadeo.com. Good stuff. Feel free to share the link or drop a comment.

The idea of agencies and companies thinking small is no new notion. People have been saying it for years, including Greg, who’s gong to push the point further in his upcoming book, microMarketing. The problem is, very few have actually been practicing it. At the PSFK Conference in New York last week, Andy Spade and Anthony Sperduti of Partners & Spade gave a “Think Small” presentation highlighting the work they did for J.Crew.

Prefacing their lecture, they shared their passion for film, publishing, and product development, which helped guide the work they did for J.Crew. The brand’s menswear had little equity. Partners & Spade felt that regardless of how they tackled the problem, going in waving the J.Crew banner would make their plan fall flat. It was a big brand that everyone already knew, and expressly didn’t care about. They had to develop a strategy that shrunk J.Crew. Something that made the brand more intimate and approachable. Because, like the partners said on stage, “no one likes big.”

An interior shot of the J.Crew Liquor Store in TriBeCa.

To answer the call, the partners decided to open a liquor store. But not your average slipshod speakeasy. It was an abandoned TriBeCa tavern restored and restocked with J.Crew’s menswear instead of booze. The boutique is affectionately named “Liquor Store“. The shop is adorned in a way that gives it a lot of classic male character and makes is very distinctive from a typical J.Crew outlet; to the point that you wouldn’t know it’s a J.Crew store. The partners went so far as to staff the store with their own people, including Tremaine Romeo, the “Storetender”; sell some exclusive clothing and accessories; create specialized products, such as throwing darts and shot glasses; and even published a book, “What A Man Should Know”.

The Liquor Store was deemed a great success by the partners, and was written up in dozens of blogs and magazines who they said wouldn’t have written about the store otherwise if it had been branded as a typical J.Crew location. It was the small, cozy and personalized nature of the boutique that made people especially interested in it. In other words, a big brand acting small made it that much more compelling. The partners believe that the bigger a brand gets, the smaller it needs to act. An idea defended by a quote Spade likes to use: “For every accountant you hire, hire an artist” to maintain the delicate balance of big and small.

Jason Fried, co-founder and CEO of software development company, 37Signals, spoke at the AdAge Digital Conference this week and blasted “full-service” ad agencies, using the same grounds as those used by Partners & Spade: think small. He made the point that agencies are trying to do everything for everyone, instead of focusing on a small number of things that they do very well, championing specialization over full-service end-to-end.

“Companies end up hiring people to do these things they don’t know how to do, they get really big and then they slow down. That’s how you get big and slow and expensive. What’s wrong with doing just a few things really well?,” Fried said. He recently co-authored Rework which reiterated this point.

It’s easy for agencies to think too big. Oftentimes they assume they have to in order to stay competitive, or successfully launch a project. But the Liquor Store, and the story of 37Signals for that matter, act as as testaments that bigger isn’t always better. “Think small” is often looked upon as an idealistic buzz phrase, hardly ever applicable in real world situations. But there are numerous examples where thinking and acting small paid off. It’s about sticking to your guns when you have a good idea, big or small. Big Bang Theory sized strategies are not the best solution most of the time, and tend to be filled with elements that underperform.

Years ago, before giving up “the noble profession of journalism,” as my father puts it, I remember going to the CSPA convention and listening to a New York Times writer who said something that stuck with me to this day, and something I think applies here: It’s not about using big words. It’s about using the right words.

We aren't what we do. We should do what we are.

I sent my colleague Amadeo Plaza to PSFK Conference 2010 last week and he has repaid me by suggesting I bust out my synthesizers and cut some new tracks. Well, sorta... Over on his blog (you should subscribe) he has published a great post inspired by what sounds like a great talk by advertising creative guy Erik Proulx. The theme? Being true to yourself, discovering (or rediscovering) your passions and doing the thing(s) you love (which isn't necessarily the same as loving the thing you do.)

Here's Deo's post in its entirety, cribbed from RockMeAmadeo.com.

At the PSFK Conference 2010, Erik Proulx, creator, executive producer, and writer of the short film Lemonade, as well as the founder of Please Feed the Animals, spoke in front of the large crowd at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. It goes without saying that all of the speakers were inspiring, forcing ideas to spark off in my mind. But after hearing Proulx speak, and watching Lemonade during the lunch break (also available on DVD and through Hulu), a swirl of emotions stirred inside me.

He didn’t speak about a new technological advancement; or acknowledge some growing trend that marketers should heed. He spoke about something so basic in nature, that I think its simplicity has been lost: doing what you love. The film Lemonade is a nice accompaniment to Proulx’s Please Feed the Animals website; a blog for members of the advertising community who have lost their job to vent and look for a new one at the on-site job board.

The film highlights a number of former advertising executives who lost their jobs over the last year or so, and the moment of clarity they had afterwards that convinced them to uncover and take up the things they forgot they loved.

The title of this post is a quote that Proulx shared during his presentation and was something that really stuck with me. I look at my friends and family members’ lives and I wonder if they’re really doing what it is they love. My father wanted to be a marine biologist when he was younger. He affirms to me that he enjoys his job enough, but is “enough” adequate? I think of one of my best friends, who went from dreams about being a music producer to pulling all-nighters at a local Trader Joe’s. I’ve been fortunate enough to land a job, doing more or less exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I couldn’t be happier to be honest.

I wanted to promote Lemonade because it reminded me of something that I think people tend to forget, or think of lightly: do what you love. It wasn’t long ago that Greg (Verdino) told me that he actually wanted to work in the music business. There’s nothing wrong with doing what you’re good at (he happens to be good at marketing), but I challenge him to pick music back up again. Even if it’s something he only does on the weekend. In fact, I challenge you all to do the same.

Dig deep down inside yourself. Write down all the things that make you happy. All the things you’re passionate about. And find a way to fit it into your life. One of the women in the film, Michelle Pfennighaus, made the apt point that you don’t have to quit your job to make a profound change in your life. Whether it’s home-brewing coffee, practicing yoga, or painting, take a step back and do something for yourself. Find out whatever it is that makes you smile, and hold on to it; because it’s easy to lose yourself.

Feel free to comment here or, even better, drop on over to the original post and leave Amadeo a comment there.

What's the opposite of grand, Hyatt?

 

This past Friday, I met a conference organizer at the Grand Hyatt in New York City to shoot a quick, two-minute promo video for his upcoming event. (I'll hold off on saying which organizer and which conference at this point -- not really relevant to the post and he hasn't announced the lineup for his event yet.) He lives out of town and figured the Hyatt is centrally located -- plus he was staying at the hotel as a guest that evening and has a long history of renting Hyatt facilities for his events. A little loyalty goes a long way, but as you'll see in a minute loyalty is a two way street.

Rather than set up in his actual hotel room (which would have been weird and creepy) we found an empty conference room where we thought we could do our quick shoot without disturbing anyone. It clearly wasn't rented for the day;  for that matter it didn't seem any of the conference rooms were rented for the day. No harm, no foul. Right?

Wrong -- while we were checking sound and lighting, the hotel's Director of Security entered the room and began giving us the third degree, in much the manner you might expect from a C student who has been dressed in a shark skin suit and vested with a bit of authority.

Who were we? What were we doing? Why were we in the room? Was one of us really staying at the hotel that night?So hey you've booked events at Hyatt before, so who's your contact? I'll call him to check out your story.

Simple enough questions -- with simple enough answers, which we delivered calmly and professionally while asking the security guy to (quite simply) consider that my cohort was (1) a guest and (2) a professional meeting planner who has done business with Hyatt, then grant us the favor of five minutes in the meeting room. His manner: an obnoxious mix of confrontation and condescension. His response: only if we wanted to rent the room for the day... Barring that, he asked us to leave and shoot our video elsewhere.

Don't get me wrong. I understand that the man was simply doing his job and he was well within his rights to ask us to leave the room. But he was well outside his comfort zone when it came to creative problem solving -- and ignorant of the fact that even the security guy creates a brand impression (a bad one in this case) and that even the security guy must work to serve the customer (maybe even more so than to serve the hotel.)

Nonetheless, we left the room without any more fuss and found a quiet spot in the Grand Hyatt's open space. Just as we were ready to roll, the Director of Security rolled up and, while he didn't quite drop the f-bomb, essentially asked "what the fuck do you think you're doing now?" (yep, with the f-bomb clearly implied by his tone of voice and body language.) He then went on to tell us we couldn't shoot video anywhere on the hotel property - that it quite simply is not permitted, period. Now, I've stayed in plenty of hotels and if it is forbidden to shoot video in a hotel's public space I've certainly never heard it before. No more vacation memories? Bah. I should point out we were shooting with a decidedly consumer- grade camera (a Kodak Zi8) and not some fancy professional rig. (In other words, he can't have mistaken us for a pro crew shooting for tv or theaters...) We might have tried to argue with him, but it was clear he wasn't about to budge.

So we took our gear and shot our video outside, across the street from the Grand Hyatt but facing so that neither the property nor its logo appeared in the shot - after all, if Hyatt (and yes, I mean "Hyatt" not "some guy who works for Hyatt" because at the end of the day that Director of Security is nothing more than an ambassador for the brand) couldn't extend us the simple courtesy of a few minutes in a quiet room, we certainly weren't going to extend the courtesy of promoting their hotel with free product placement in a video with will most likely be viewed by several thousand senior business executives (read: frequent business travelers.)

I haven't seen the finished video yet but I think the raw footage turned out pretty well. We took an awkward situation, overcame it by going with the flow and doing things differently than we thought we would do them when we started. 

As for Hyatt - well, at the deft hands of their security director (I asked his name but would you be surprised to learn he declined to tell me?) took what could have been a positive situation -- just one more micro-interaction that would make two business travelers feel good about doing business with their company -- and turned it into something awkward and negative by sticking with a "this is how we do things" attitude and an "our property, our rules" mindset.

I'm not exactly looking to blow this out of proportion a la Dell Hell or Delta Skelter. Besides, I can't think of a good rhyme for Hyatt. But if nothing else, I think that my recent experience at the Grand Hyatt hints at the importance of infusing new thinking throughout an organization. It's not enough that the marketing department secured some funds for a Facebook page or got corporate buy-in for Twitter if the people who interact with customers day-to-day and face-to-face aren't prepared to help.

So after that long set-up, I'd like to hand it over to you. If you were Hyatt -- the company, the corporate communications team, or even the security director in New York -- what would you have done differently?

PSFK Conference NY: are you attending? You should be.

PSFK and me -- we go way back, yo. I attended the trend site's first NY Conference a couple of years ago and walked out with more good ideas than I usually come across in a month. The following year, I got to give people some good ideas when I moderated a panel about collaboration and coworking.

This year marks Piers Fawkes' third time around. The PSFK 2010 Conference happens at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in downtown Manhattan on Friday, April 9th.

I'm happy to offer you a 10% discount off the ticket price - just follow any of this post's links to the Eventbrite order form and you're golden.

I won't be able to attend this year but wanted to encourage those of you in New York to check it out. What's in it for me? Nada - although I am sending my man Amadeo Plaza in my place (disclosure: Piers provided a discounted ticket).

What's in it for you? Plenty of great ideas, brilliance and inspiration from all walks of business and life. This year's speakers include:

• Colin Beavan - Green pioneer and journalist aka No Impact Man
• John Dimatos - Resident Researcher concepting tech solutions for UNICEF at NYU
  
• Nick Felton - Designer and creator of the annual infographic Felton Report
  
• Zach Lieberman - Creative technologist whose work bridges the real world with the digital
  
• Steve Grasse - Revolutionary behind Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction
• Andrew Hoppin - CIO who leverages digital media to create political and social impact
  
• Grant McCracken - Anthropologist and author of the book Chief Culture Officer
• Shantell Martin - Illustrator & VJ who creates vivid video-projection 'Oras'
  
• Steve Powers - Contemporary artist who recently created the city-wide A Love Letter For You
  
• Erik Proulx - Creative catalyst who inspires peers about their future; filmmaker behind Lemonade
  
• Avner Ronen - Television and entertainment market change maker and founder of boxee
  
• Tina Roth Eisenberg - Graphic designer; and global tastemaker through her blog SwissMiss
  
• Naveen Selvaduri - Social agitator and founder of mobile application foursquare
  
• Andy Spade & Anthony Sperduti - Creative experience builders behind Partners & Spade
• Ouigi Theodore - Visionary community-led brand builder behind BK Circus
  
• Rob Walker - National columnist and instigator of Significant Objects storytelling project
• Adam Wells - Design Director incubating new ventures & experiences for Virgin Group USA
  
• Peter Weijmarshausen - Realigning the product delivery with his 3D printing at Shapeways

As you can see, this isn't the usual roster of the same ol' marketing and social media faces. I hope you'll have an opportunity to attend.

I'm also going to ask (ok, tell) Amadeo that he needs to drop me a couple of guest posts about the best ideas he hears so even if you can't attend, you'll get to drink in a bit o' the PSFK Conference goodness.

What is content?

 

No seriously, what is it? I'm not even being snarky (for a change.) If you're a custom publisher who still butters your bread with print magazines, this whole social media thing should give you pause. You really do need to think about what the word content means today -- it might still be an 80-page book on glossy stock, churned out of a printing plant in suburban New Jersey. But it for certain is also an 80-character Tweet or 80-second video from your most ardent fan or vitriolic detractor. 

I know I'm probably preaching to the converted here, but this morning I was preaching to a whole new crowd...

So... I'm coming atcha from Nashville, where I spoke this morning at the 2010 Custom Content Conference. My presentation -- dubbed What Is Content? -- debuted some of the ideas and even a couple of the stories included in microMARKETING. This was probably one of my more nerve-wracking presentations -- it was mostly new material, the slides didn't really come together and start to flow until about midnight last night and, even then, it's all a bit stream of conscious and I never got around to summing up the key takeaways (oops.) But I think it turned out aiiight.

As usual, now that the talk is done I want to share my slides here. And as usual, they sure are purty but might not make a whole lot of sense without the words that accompany the pictures (especially if you aren't familiar with the examples I included - all the more reason to pre-order the book... wink... wink...)

That said, thanks to a handful of Twitterers in the room you can get a decent sense of the points that resonated with the audience by searching Twitter for #ccc @gregverdino (or just click the search term and I'll send you straight to the results.)

What Is Content?

View more presentations from Greg Verdino.

Feedback welcome, as always.

It's like birthing an elephant... only wordier.

OK. It hasn't quite been 22 months but it sure feels like it. Last week I finally submitted the complete microMARKETING manuscript to McGraw-Hill -- all 56,000 or so words of it. Somehow -- despite a consistently crushing workload, an acquisition, lots of travel, more than a few missed deadlines, a few bouts of writer's block and at least one conversation in which I attempted to convince my agent to return my advance -- the hardest part of writing the book is done.

What started out as a bunch of colored stickies posted to an apartment wall, as I mapped out the outline for my original proposal (note: the outline and the final book don't particularly resemble one another)...

 

...is now a pretty impressive (if I don't say so myself, although to be clear I mean the pile of pages is impressive; I'm in no position to judge the content itself) stack of white pages with a whole mess of black type on 'em...

 

Of course my work isn't done. I'm still dealing with the not-so-minor nuisance of securing permissions from the folks I interviewed for the book, deciding who I'll try to chase down for jacket blurbs, am awaiting the next iteration of the manuscript for another round of edits, and am beginning to think about how we should market (micromarket of course) this bad boy.

Oh -- and tomorrow I hop a plane for Nashville where, on Thursday morning, I'll be presenting at the Custom Content Conference. This will be my first speech based in part of some of the ideas in the book (not all of the ideas, but a handful of thoughts about microcontent and what it means for publishers, marketers and marketers who think like publishers). Attendees will leave the room with the first bit o' marketing collateral promoting the book (you can peep it here: Download LLP5510 Verdino Flyer) -- and off we go.

microMARKETING is currently slated for an August release date but if you're interested in pre-ordering a copy or two or ten, you can hop on over to Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Borders.

See and be seen on the SXSW scene... on southby.tv

I'm posting this from Austin where I'll spend the next few days working out of the Powered home office and catching as much of the SXSWi experience as I can swing. I haven't planned out a schedule of sessions and have only rsvp'd to a handful of parties. So I'll basically go wherever the wind -- or one of those scary pedicab peddlers -- takes me. But if you're in town for the festival and would like to connect you can hit me with an email or a direct message, track my whereabouts on foursquare or just look for my shining bald pate in the Convention Center hallways, in and around the blogger lounge (I spent a ton of time there last year and figure it will be my de facto home base when I'm not head-down at the office) or out and about on the party grind. 

But even if we don't connect in Austin, there are still some cool things I'd love for you to check out if you're going to be at South By - and maybe even if you're not.

Powered's newest client is VeriSign. You might know them as the company that doles out dot com or dot net domain names; sure you actually buy your domains from Go Daddy, Domain.com or wherever but it's VeriSign that handles the registries themselves.

So at SXSW this year, we'll be kicking off some interesting programs to raise awareness and registration of .tv domains. Video is hot and getting hotter, and .tv is the only logical domain choice for content creators who are serious about generating video programming, growing their viewing audience and building their video brand. Here are some of the things we're doing over the next few days to help you get started if you're new to video or get seen if you're already a video vixen.

southby.tv: First of all, you'll want to check out southby.tv. Whether or not you're at SXSW, it's a great place to get a look at some of the cool stuff happening in Austin -- shot by the real people who are in the thick of things. As we say on the site, southby.tv is a "living diary" showcasing video content from the insiders at the festival.  Which brings us to point #2 -- if you're at the event and have your video camera or phone in hand, your content can be part of the southby.tv line-up. Just hit the site, follow the submission instructions and your clips may be chosen by our curation crew.

You can be the Next .tv Star: We're not just giving you a chance to have your SXSW clips appear on our site; we're giving you a chance to hit the weblebrity big leagues (eww, yes, I ready said weblebrity.) All over the event, we'll be shooting audition videos for anyone who wants a chance to win a cool prize package and a shot at being a correspondent for an upcoming Best of .tv web show. The prize includes an all expense paid trip to San Francisco where you'll spend the day backstage at Revision3 and get a private video production coaching session from Diggnation producer Dave Prager, one of the guys behind one of the web's most widely watched video series. And of course, you could become a Best of .tv correspondent...

Read on for more details about how you can audition in Austin over the next few days. Or visit southby.tv to submit an audition directly (and to learn all the rules and legal stuff, of course.)

The .tv Street Team: We'll have a team roaming the event, shooting audition videos for anyone who wants a shot at being the next .tv star and handing out must-have swag. Be on the lookout and make sure you say howdy (or whatever it is they really say in Texas...)

The Bigg Digg Shindigg: .tv is sponsoring Saturday night's Live Diggnation event (7pm at Stubbs BBQ). We'll have a big ol' tent where we'll be shooting auditions for the next .tv star and doing some other fun stuff, so be sure to check it out. If you can't be there, you can also watch the fun when the Diggnation episode hits iTunes.

Special Offers: And finally, to coincide with .tv's SXSW presence, we will have special offers for anyone looking for an excuse to get going with video. Check out the offers page on southby.tv for your shot at freebies and more.

I hope you'll check out what we're doing with .tv and spread the word to any of your friends who might be interested in web video. And if you see me in Austin over the weekend, come on over and say hello.