Take 1

A couple months ago while we were in the midst of organizing and promoting PLAY 2018, I took a coffee walk & talk (yup, that is what I call them) with one of my favorite co-workers, Phil LeClare. Phil is this awesome, smart and funny PR guy, who not only knows everyone, but artfully pushes you. I don't mean the literal pushing, but the push or jerk that all of us should get every once in a while to step out of the comfort zone that we surround ourselves with.

So, as we were walking across this beautiful bridge (bear with me here: he is not going to push me off the bridge, and this is also not some cheesy love story), I mentioned how much effort I had been putting in creating content to promote our annual conference. At this point, I did all the usual stuff: blog posts, twitter, LinkedIn, FB, paid promotions, retargeting, the good ol' email marketing outreach, etc. It was sticking, but Phil, pushy, as mentioned above, replied:

"I don't understand why you don't do your speaker blogs as interviews."

Lightening strikes appear above the bridge, and we almost get blown over the railing. Well, yes, that is how I felt. Duh, I thought, I do work for Brightcove. So that move would be natural, if there was not that comfort zone and that fear to step out of what I had done so far. "You got a great personality", he said, "and, you are curious as hell." Yup, that is true. In college I was accused several times of "interviewing" people during parties, aka asking a thousand questions and not allowing anyone to ask any of me."Ok, let me try", I responded.

As we walked back to the office (not having been blown off the bridge, which would have been a relief at that point), I came up with my list of fears:

1. I am going to be visible on camera. I gotta get my facial ticks in order.
2. Outfit failures are a real thing.
3. Will I have a good rapport with the interviewee? If not, will it be awkward for everyone to watch. (Oh yes, it will be.)
4. I will need to watch my language. (Damn!)
5. Who is going to watch this?

Argh. Ok, develop a plan of action to offset these fears! Come in my first victim - James Hamar. James was perfect. He is our producer and videographer par excellence at Brightcove, and we have known each other for years. I had a specific vision of how I wanted this to go down. More coffee table chat than formal interview. Comfortable chairs, lots of on-screen personality, and no longer than 5 minutes.

I wrote the script, we edited it as a team, James and I practiced off screen a couple times, Phil provided a bunch of feedback, as did a couple other trusted people. Looking at you Meredith Duhaime and Jason Oliveira. And then we were off to do Take 1.

Bah! It's one thing to practice, it's another to see that the camera is rolling. My brain did a fart. English is my second language and suddenly that language was gone. Gotcha! Well, I could not ask James my questions in German, could I? Slight forehead perspiration, deep breath, and just spit it out. Ok, first question done and James just kills it with his reply. We got into a good groove, and were off to the races; sorta, kinda winning. We went through the script, and then to my great relief, Jason, who was shooting this, offered me the biggest gift ever:

"You wanna do a second take? "

YES, of course! We did. And, finally I understood the beauty of recording and editing. My saving grace. The interview, while a little bit long, was my first foray, my first born interview (you can tell!), and ultimately led to whole series of PLAY 2018 speaker interviews to promote the event. I posted them all on LinkedIn, and if you ever are bored of Netflix or Hulu shows, feel free to check them out.

PLAY 2018 is now in the books. During the two day event, we recorded 12 interviews with such awesome folks as Katie Martell, Ruthie Shek, Marcus Sheridan, Zach Basner, Cameron Church, Katie Pennell, Steve vonDer Haar, Matthew Luhn, Jocelyn Johnson, Skyler Moss and TWO interviews with Andy McCarthy. It was a ton of fun (especially the hair and make up) and my life time curiosity in people and their stories has finally found a good outlet, where my constant questioning is actually appreciated. I hope to share these interviews soon.