Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-28 Thread noel hidalgo
i don't trust anyone over 30...
i will soon not trust myself...


On Dec 28, 2007 4:53 AM, Patrick Delongchamp [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  I am always wary of people that distrust Wikipedia as it reveals a lot.


RE: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-28 Thread Jake Ludington
 I am always wary of people that distrust Wikipedia as it reveals a lot.

It might simply reveal that they actually fact-checked more than one article
and found Wikipedia to be packed with inaccuracies. In some cases,
attempting to participate in Wikipedia and correct those accuracies is shut
down by the powers that be in the Wikipedia hierarchy, even with irrefutable
scientific proof in hand.

Blindly trusting Wikipedia is just as stupid as blindly trusting anything
else.

Jake Ludington

http://www.jakeludington.com

 



Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-28 Thread Patrick Delongchamp
Perhaps I should have said people that distrust the Wikipedia model.
  Fact checking is definitely your responsibility as well as an
important part of anything you read online.  The threshold for
inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability which makes this much easier.
Any statements that are not verifiable should of course be taken with
a grain of salt.  The content should of course be scrutinized in the
same way anything you read should be scrutinized.

Regarding inaccuracies and claims of suppression, Wikipedia has been
found to be as accurate as the Encyclopedia Britannica and your
distrust of it's model stems from a lack of understanding of it's
policies and is not some kind of conspiracy to cover up the truth.

Without even knowing what article, what statement, or what scientific
journal you're referring to, I can assume with a good level of
certainty that you were probably trying to cover up a significant
viewpoint in order to advance a position through your own original
research and synthesis of published material.  This would necessarily
lower the value of an encyclopedia article and, ironically, make it
less trustworthy.

It's important to understand something before discrediting it.
However, if this is of no interest to you I can recommend others that
universally hold the same opinions of Wikipedia as your own.  They
are:
- creationists
- people who easily buy into conspiracy theories
- people who don't believe in the theory of evolution
- people who buy into new age beliefs about quantum physics and movies
like What the Bleep do we Know!? Down the rabbit hole.

...etc

On Dec 28, 2007 12:21 PM, Jake Ludington [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:






  I am always wary of people that distrust Wikipedia as it reveals a lot.

  It might simply reveal that they actually fact-checked more than one
 article
  and found Wikipedia to be packed with inaccuracies. In some cases,
  attempting to participate in Wikipedia and correct those accuracies is shut
  down by the powers that be in the Wikipedia hierarchy, even with
 irrefutable
  scientific proof in hand.

  Blindly trusting Wikipedia is just as stupid as blindly trusting anything
  else.


  Jake Ludington

  http://www.jakeludington.com

  


Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-28 Thread Patrick Delongchamp
And just to bring things back to the topic at hand.  This is exactly
the kind of nit picking of emails that I feel has brought the group
down.  Where was the comment on everything else I brought up?  This
kind of stuff only starts flame wars.

On Dec 28, 2007 12:21 PM, Jake Ludington [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:






  I am always wary of people that distrust Wikipedia as it reveals a lot.

  It might simply reveal that they actually fact-checked more than one
 article
  and found Wikipedia to be packed with inaccuracies. In some cases,
  attempting to participate in Wikipedia and correct those accuracies is shut
  down by the powers that be in the Wikipedia hierarchy, even with
 irrefutable
  scientific proof in hand.

  Blindly trusting Wikipedia is just as stupid as blindly trusting anything
  else.


  Jake Ludington

  http://www.jakeludington.com

  


RE: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-28 Thread Jake Ludington
 And just to bring things back to the topic at hand.  This is exactly
 the kind of nit picking of emails that I feel has brought the group
 down.  Where was the comment on everything else I brought up?  This
 kind of stuff only starts flame wars.

I was validating your point by not commenting on things I agree with. ;)

I have no interest in starting a flame war.

Jake Ludington
 



Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-28 Thread Patrick Delongchamp
lol, well said.

On Dec 28, 2007 3:39 PM, Jake Ludington [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:






  And just to bring things back to the topic at hand. This is exactly
   the kind of nit picking of emails that I feel has brought the group
   down. Where was the comment on everything else I brought up? This
   kind of stuff only starts flame wars.

  I was validating your point by not commenting on things I agree with. ;)

  I have no interest in starting a flame war.

  Jake Ludington


  


Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-28 Thread Charles HOPE
Patrick Delongchamp wrote:

 It's important to understand something before discrediting it.
 However, if this is of no interest to you I can recommend others that
 universally hold the same opinions of Wikipedia as your own.  They
 are:
 - creationists
 - people who easily buy into conspiracy theories
 - people who don't believe in the theory of evolution
 - people who buy into new age beliefs about quantum physics and movies
 like What the Bleep do we Know!? Down the rabbit hole.


Hitler was a vegetarian. This is why I eat meat.


Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-27 Thread Eddie Codel
Andrew man, do you really have to lay a long ass email like that on me?
Give a vidbro a break, wouldya? It's still the holidays for some people.
Damn, now I gotta formulate answers

You make a lot of assumptions about us and my role at PodTech, Let me just
lay the ground work a bit so you have a better understanding. I get a sense
of an almighty you suck tone in your response. I'll try not to let that
color my reply to you.

Producing GETV was only one part of my job at PodTech. Other parts were
shooting  editing corporate content for PodTech's paying clients, shooting
 editing o' plenty of Scoble's show before he got editors and later
producing LunchMeet. Irina similarly had other things on her plate outside
of GETV. Producing GETV was never to be our full-time job, nor was it to be
a daily show in my mind. Please keep this in perspective as you read on.

On Dec 26, 2007 5:51 PM, Andrew Baron [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Just a side track I guess on what may be a rhetorical question but a
 question nonetheless:

 On Dec 26, 2007, at 2:18 PM, Eddie Codel wrote:

  How many
  people do you think it takes to put out a daily Rocketboom episode?


 In context of your show on Podtech, along with the very nice budget
 that you had, as well as all of the business worries on someone
 else's watch, I would suggest just two, as you had. I think three is
 a great production number for a team but your budget would of been
 able to support more talent, it was up to you to determine the
 creative side I think. Over time, the success of the show is pretty
 much in your hands. Its all about the content and what you can do
 with your time. Of course there are a huge mound of barriers and
 bureaucracies and things that are truly not fair that get in the way,
 but I still think, at the end of the day, its what you can produce,
 content-wise that must build its own support.

 It seems like this must be the perspective or mind-set that you would
 need to be the most effective under the situation of deciding to go
 with a network like Podtech.


Chalk it up to false expectations then, I'll take the hit for that.

Andrew,  I applaud your ability to pull off making a great daily show with
such little resources. Our show was something that Irina and I pulled out of
collective asses, not something with a grand vision or plan from the
beginning.  I never saw it as a daily show and we didn't have the time to
make it a daily show even we wanted that. Again, our time was split at
PodTech.


 Correct me if Im wrong, but I always saw Podtech as a record label
 that supports artists, not entrepreneurs or business people. It was
 meant for the people who dont want to deal with all the business,
 they just want to do one thing: make great content. If they just can
 do that one thing well, they are entrusting the record label to do
 the rest. Its more intertwined than that really, but thats the gist
 of what I mean to say. The record label of course expects or at least
 hopes that the artist will make some kind of work that allot of
 people will want to see.


Interesting comparison and maybe apt if we actually did get support. Record
labels also help their artists grow. They know what it takes to produce work
that a lot of people will want to hear. PodTech was not that record label.


 With Rocketboom in particular, we do not have the support of a
 network. So its different, we do all of the business and try to grow
 everything ourselves. Along with some help from Josh Kinberg and
 Kenyatta Cheese, I pretty much did the whole thing daily myself for
 the first 6 months with Amanda Congdon pitching in a couple of hours
 per show. Eventually we we were both doing it full time. While I had
 some editing support here and there, after one year, I hired a full
 time editor. So after one year, we went from two to three. The growth
 of the audience and the demand for time to grow the business
 supported the growth of additional people.


So let me ask, how did you and Amanda pay your rent that first year? How did
you feed yourselves? If you didn't have the support of a network, how did
you manage to pay the bills while doing this full time?


 From an artistic perspective, it's very draining to research, write,
 direct, edit and publish every day by yourself (keep this point in
 mind, I'm about to drive it home). Then, we hired Ellie to help
 assist me with all of the business stuff (she is still with us and
 has way grown out of that role).




 After Amanda left, I eventually hired support to help get the whole
 business together, tight, up to date and clear. Now we are growing as
 we manage other projects as well. We were and still are in a start-up
 mentality which is a different kind of place to be for us, compared
 to an artists who just needs a place to do their art.

 The thing I figured out over time - and this is the main point I
 wanted to share - is that it only takes one or two but you have to
 factor in endurance. Its not a 

Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-27 Thread Patrick Delongchamp
 took pictures at your Christmas
 party
  last night, and you used them on your blog, and then that photographer sent
  you a bill for $3,000 wouldn't you be a bit miffed? Especially after you
  lost tens of thousands of dollars on such party? (PodTech lost a lot of
  money on the Vloggies, and, indeed on the videoblogging network it was
  trying to build).

  Today PodTech is turning away from videoblogging and more toward corporate
  content which doesn't pay videobloggers at all - so we all lose. Myself?
 I'm
  moving to something new next month - it'll be fun and I want to take the
  community with me, but my eyes are far less idealistic than I was when I
  left Microsoft and thought that this community would really be fun to work
  with. It doesn't take much business insight to see that this industry, er,
  community, is having a tough time coming up with a business model. It
  doesn't take sharp eyes to see that this community hasn't rocked and
 rolled,
  even while other video communities have.

  Maybe there won't be a good business model for videoblogging (although I
  think I've found one and would like to get more people on board), but it
  seems to me that when a company is helping pay videobloggers that this
  community should have done everything possible to make sure it succeeded.

  Me? I'm going to do everything possible that Zadi and Steve succeed, and
  succeed wildly. That's how I'll give back to the community.

  I really appreciate this note, it's a great Christmas present and makes me
  feel like doing even more to help this community.

  Robert Scoble

  ###

  _

  From: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  On Behalf Of Gena
  Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 10:41 PM
  To: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble



  Robert I want to specifically address an issue you have brought up and
  I don't think you were being heard.

  You took a lot of heat concerning the Podtech - Censorship of Loren
  debacle. Words were said and mud was flung in all directions. Upon
  reflection, I don't think folks separated you from the company or in
  fact the actual person that generated the situation in the first place.

  I think we as humans start to classify folks as personalities and
  not as real people. I met a very nice person (this would be you) a few
  years back. We talked as regular folks. To be honest I tend to do
  that with everyone I met. But others treat you as The Scoble with
  reverence.

  The other side of that seems to be intense anger when there is a
  disagreement. It is not right but there ya go, it is human. Part of it
  is the celebrity thing. The other side of it is somedays we just do
  not act according to our better natures. I didn't speak up and say
  Hey, he didn't cause this situation why are you going after him?

  I have been to other events where folks wouldn't part their lips
  toward me because I'm not an A - Lister. This is a good thing as it
  cuts down on the amount of BS I have to produce. I'm aiming for zero
  emissions.

  When I look at the comments section of your blog those folks play
  rough. I don't know how you can plow through that stuff on a daily
  basis. What is scary is that these folks like your writing but are
  almost cannibalistic in how they respond to your posts.

  You may or may not have good reason to deal with this group again. I
  don't know. But I do want to say that speaking for myself only I
  acknowledge the dog piling you received and it wasn't right. For
  whatever part I played I'm sorry and I heard what you said.

  Gena

  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

  


RE: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-26 Thread Robert Scoble
Sorry, Correction. Irina tells me she was working for Top Ten Sources and
Dealmaker Media when she started talking with Furrier about coming to
PodTech. Sorry for making that factual error. 

 

Robert Scoble



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-26 Thread Andrew Baron
Just a side track I guess on what may be a rhetorical question but a  
question nonetheless:

On Dec 26, 2007, at 2:18 PM, Eddie Codel wrote:

 How many
 people do you think it takes to put out a daily Rocketboom episode?


In context of your show on Podtech, along with the very nice budget  
that you had, as well as all of the business worries on someone  
else's watch, I would suggest just two, as you had. I think three is  
a great production number for a team but your budget would of been  
able to support more talent, it was up to you to determine the  
creative side I think. Over time, the success of the show is pretty  
much in your hands. Its all about the content and what you can do  
with your time. Of course there are a huge mound of barriers and  
bureaucracies and things that are truly not fair that get in the way,  
but I still think, at the end of the day, its what you can produce,  
content-wise that must build its own support.

It seems like this must be the perspective or mind-set that you would  
need to be the most effective under the situation of deciding to go  
with a network like Podtech.

Correct me if Im wrong, but I always saw Podtech as a record label  
that supports artists, not entrepreneurs or business people. It was  
meant for the people who dont want to deal with all the business,  
they just want to do one thing: make great content. If they just can  
do that one thing well, they are entrusting the record label to do  
the rest. Its more intertwined than that really, but thats the gist  
of what I mean to say. The record label of course expects or at least  
hopes that the artist will make some kind of work that allot of  
people will want to see.

With Rocketboom in particular, we do not have the support of a  
network. So its different, we do all of the business and try to grow  
everything ourselves. Along with some help from Josh Kinberg and  
Kenyatta Cheese, I pretty much did the whole thing daily myself for  
the first 6 months with Amanda Congdon pitching in a couple of hours  
per show. Eventually we we were both doing it full time. While I had  
some editing support here and there, after one year, I hired a full  
time editor. So after one year, we went from two to three. The growth  
of the audience and the demand for time to grow the business  
supported the growth of additional people.

 From an artistic perspective, it's very draining to research, write,  
direct, edit and publish every day by yourself (keep this point in  
mind, I'm about to drive it home). Then, we hired Ellie to help  
assist me with all of the business stuff (she is still with us and  
has way grown out of that role).

After Amanda left, I eventually hired support to help get the whole  
business together, tight, up to date and clear. Now we are growing as  
we manage other projects as well. We were and still are in a start-up  
mentality which is a different kind of place to be for us, compared  
to an artists who just needs a place to do their art.

The thing I figured out over time - and this is the main point I  
wanted to share - is that it only takes one or two but you have to  
factor in endurance. Its not a sustainable kind of lifestyle for the  
long term. Because the content must strike a chord in people which  
justifies the budget, the budget should go up and down depending on  
prospects and historical performance.

While I have always been outspoken about Podtech, my theory has only  
been on one angle, which is content; I think Robert has that down and  
continues to invent his own direction as he goes, but no one else on  
Podtech seemed to strike a chord with people in a way that was  
memetic for some reason. While I have very little idea and almost no  
opinion on the inner-working of Podtech, Eddie, I think perhaps in  
theory, you had two people who were capable and you also had the rest  
of the business taken care of for you (you were prepaid) - you had  
full times sales, web support, community, all kinds of stuff that you  
didn't have to deal with on a day to day basis that others do.

If you were looking for help and direction, why not try to study  
Scoble more closely on what he does. At least he does whatever he he  
does well so to having him around on a daily basis would be a huge  
resource. Isn't it traditionally the case that people have mentors  
who help them to grow their craft? If not by support, by method?

Anyway, setting all of that aside, how many people do you think it  
should take you to do what you want to do?






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



[videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-25 Thread Gena
Robert I want to specifically address an issue you have brought up and
I don't think you were being heard. 

You took a lot of heat concerning the Podtech - Censorship of Loren
debacle. Words were said and mud was flung in all directions. Upon
reflection, I don't think folks separated you from the company or in
fact the actual person that generated the situation in the first place.

I think we as humans start to classify folks as personalities and
not as real people. I met a very nice person (this would be you) a few
years back. We talked as regular folks.  To be honest I tend to do
that with everyone I met. But others treat you as The Scoble with
reverence.
 
The other side of that seems to be intense anger when there is a
disagreement. It is not right but there ya go, it is human. Part of it
is the celebrity thing. The other side of it is somedays we just do
not act according to our better natures. I didn't speak up and say
Hey, he didn't cause this situation why are you going after him?

I have been to other events where folks wouldn't part their lips
toward me because I'm not an A - Lister. This is a good thing as it
cuts down on the amount of BS I have to produce. I'm aiming for zero
emissions. 

When I look at the comments section of your blog those folks play
rough. I don't know how you can plow through that stuff on a daily
basis. What is scary is that these folks like your writing but are
almost cannibalistic in how they respond to your posts.

You may or may not have good reason to deal with this group again. I
don't know. But I do want to say that speaking for myself only I
acknowledge the dog piling you received and it wasn't right. For
whatever part I played I'm sorry and I heard what you said.

Gena



RE: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-25 Thread Robert Scoble
, 2007 10:41 PM
To: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

 

Robert I want to specifically address an issue you have brought up and
I don't think you were being heard. 

You took a lot of heat concerning the Podtech - Censorship of Loren
debacle. Words were said and mud was flung in all directions. Upon
reflection, I don't think folks separated you from the company or in
fact the actual person that generated the situation in the first place.

I think we as humans start to classify folks as personalities and
not as real people. I met a very nice person (this would be you) a few
years back. We talked as regular folks. To be honest I tend to do
that with everyone I met. But others treat you as The Scoble with
reverence.

The other side of that seems to be intense anger when there is a
disagreement. It is not right but there ya go, it is human. Part of it
is the celebrity thing. The other side of it is somedays we just do
not act according to our better natures. I didn't speak up and say
Hey, he didn't cause this situation why are you going after him?

I have been to other events where folks wouldn't part their lips
toward me because I'm not an A - Lister. This is a good thing as it
cuts down on the amount of BS I have to produce. I'm aiming for zero
emissions. 

When I look at the comments section of your blog those folks play
rough. I don't know how you can plow through that stuff on a daily
basis. What is scary is that these folks like your writing but are
almost cannibalistic in how they respond to your posts.

You may or may not have good reason to deal with this group again. I
don't know. But I do want to say that speaking for myself only I
acknowledge the dog piling you received and it wasn't right. For
whatever part I played I'm sorry and I heard what you said.

Gena

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-25 Thread Jeffrey Taylor
 to YouTube, Blip.tv,
 Kyte,
 or any of the other companies who are trying to make it possible for you
 to
 distribute your work (and get paid - I know at least one videoblogger who
 gets paid more than $10,000 per month thanks to YouTube's advertising
 deals)? Some of you have, and that's always appreciated. But most of you
 remain silent, or don't look to help out and make sure there are healthy
 businesses here.

 There's tons of others, too.

 As to PodTech's run-in with Lan Bui, there's a reason why we were arrogant
 in response: those pictures were taken at our party: the Vloggies. An
 employee used them without checking because she assumed that the community
 would support us and that pictures taken at our own event could be used
 without worrying too much and it was on a sign, not something that would
 make us tons of money. Turns out she was very wrong (how many of you have
 never made a mistake?), but if someone took pictures at your Christmas
 party
 last night, and you used them on your blog, and then that photographer
 sent
 you a bill for $3,000 wouldn't you be a bit miffed? Especially after you
 lost tens of thousands of dollars on such party? (PodTech lost a lot of
 money on the Vloggies, and, indeed on the videoblogging network it was
 trying to build).

 Today PodTech is turning away from videoblogging and more toward corporate
 content which doesn't pay videobloggers at all - so we all lose. Myself?
 I'm
 moving to something new next month - it'll be fun and I want to take the
 community with me, but my eyes are far less idealistic than I was when I
 left Microsoft and thought that this community would really be fun to work
 with. It doesn't take much business insight to see that this industry, er,
 community, is having a tough time coming up with a business model. It
 doesn't take sharp eyes to see that this community hasn't rocked and
 rolled,
 even while other video communities have.

 Maybe there won't be a good business model for videoblogging (although I
 think I've found one and would like to get more people on board), but it
 seems to me that when a company is helping pay videobloggers that this
 community should have done everything possible to make sure it succeeded.

 Me? I'm going to do everything possible that Zadi and Steve succeed, and
 succeed wildly. That's how I'll give back to the community.

 I really appreciate this note, it's a great Christmas present and makes me
 feel like doing even more to help this community.

 Robert Scoble

 ###

 _

 From: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com videoblogging%40yahoogroups.com[mailto:
 videoblogging@yahoogroups.com videoblogging%40yahoogroups.com]
 On Behalf Of Gena
 Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 10:41 PM
 To: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com videoblogging%40yahoogroups.com
 Subject: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

 Robert I want to specifically address an issue you have brought up and
 I don't think you were being heard.

 You took a lot of heat concerning the Podtech - Censorship of Loren
 debacle. Words were said and mud was flung in all directions. Upon
 reflection, I don't think folks separated you from the company or in
 fact the actual person that generated the situation in the first place.

 I think we as humans start to classify folks as personalities and
 not as real people. I met a very nice person (this would be you) a few
 years back. We talked as regular folks. To be honest I tend to do
 that with everyone I met. But others treat you as The Scoble with
 reverence.

 The other side of that seems to be intense anger when there is a
 disagreement. It is not right but there ya go, it is human. Part of it
 is the celebrity thing. The other side of it is somedays we just do
 not act according to our better natures. I didn't speak up and say
 Hey, he didn't cause this situation why are you going after him?

 I have been to other events where folks wouldn't part their lips
 toward me because I'm not an A - Lister. This is a good thing as it
 cuts down on the amount of BS I have to produce. I'm aiming for zero
 emissions.

 When I look at the comments section of your blog those folks play
 rough. I don't know how you can plow through that stuff on a daily
 basis. What is scary is that these folks like your writing but are
 almost cannibalistic in how they respond to your posts.

 You may or may not have good reason to deal with this group again. I
 don't know. But I do want to say that speaking for myself only I
 acknowledge the dog piling you received and it wasn't right. For
 whatever part I played I'm sorry and I heard what you said.

 Gena

 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

  




-- 
Jeffrey Taylor
Mobile: +33625497654
Fax: +33177722734
Skype: thejeffreytaylor
Googlechat/Jabber: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://twitter.com/jeffreytaylor


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



RE: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

2007-12-25 Thread Robert Scoble
Jeffrey:

 

Podtech should have known that Irina had a huge network of influential
people who
love her, and rightly or wrongly took her firing personally. In retrospect,
it could have been done better.

 

The problem is that at some point or another it's a business. If money keeps
flowing out and not coming in at an increasing rate eventually investors get
itchy.

 

PodTech was going through its own managerial problems at this time too,
which caused almost every problem you detailed below. You might have seen
that the CEO is no longer the CEO. You might notice that I'm off to do
something else (even though my show was pretty damn profitable). And that
almost everything else is getting closed down except that which brings in
revenues. 

 

I won't say anything bad about Irina, but I've learned many times in my
career that whenever you hear about someone getting fired from a company
that there's more than one story.

 

Keep in mind that Irina had been laid off when we hired her and we invested
a TON of money in her career and in Eddie's (and we even let Eddie keep
thousands of dollars in gear so they could keep doing their show - that's
more than I'll get from PodTech when I leave).

 

And sorry for beating up on the community, I hope it comes out of this and
sees some real success stories. Sorry that PodTech wasn't one of them,
although PodTech is still living to see another day and still deserves our
support.

 

Robert Scoble


###

 

  _  

From: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Jeffrey Taylor
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 11:43 PM
To: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com; Robert Scoble
Subject: Re: [videoblogging] My Amends To Robert Scoble

 

Robert,

I'm really sorry that your first venture out of Microsoft didn't turn out to
be an overwhelming success. It wasn't entirely your fault, as things like
this go. But I am afraid you're trying to hang your baggage about this
failure (and I think failure is a good thing) on this community.

Podtech could not have done a better job of communicating through it's
actions, regardless of its intentions, that Podtech did not care about
videobloggers anymore. Long before now. I really don't want to crap on the
goodwill sent by Gena, and I am the first person to do my best to see both
side of an argument.

1. Firing Irina, saying that Podtech's focus had changed and publicly saying
how much Podtech had spent on her was a signal to us that Podtech did not
want to focus on this community anymore and wanted to turn towards corporate
content. I saw nary a negative comment about Podtech before Irina. Podtech
should have known that Irina had a huge network of influential people who
love her, and rightly or wrongly took her firing personally. In retrospect,
it could have been done better.

2. The Lan and Vloggies controversies did not help. This was an opportunity
for Podtech, at the very least, to communicate their respect for the
community as they changed their business plans. Still, it was a debacle on
both sides from start to finish. Total dramafest.

3. Podtech is just as responsible for the ill-will created as this community
may be, and the sad thing is that the goodwill cost of certain decisions
was not calculated before the decisions were made. It cost Podtech more to
fire Irina, to not take care of Lan immediately and to be a bit greedy with
the Vloggies than it saved.

As for the rest, I really hope you'll get a cooler head about this. Blip
gets thanks and lauded here all the time. Many others do as well, and the
ones that don't get our eyeballs and sponsorship/VC cash that puts food on
their tables (and in some cases, Baccarat crystal and Royal Doulton china on
their tables, too). They'll be fine, because you're absolutely right when
you say entities don't need us (whatever us is) to do well. I don't
think that many of us think that at all.

I really hope you do well at Fast Company or wherever you end up, Robert.
You deserve success simply for having the massive courage it takes be your
authentic self in all forms of media. And I am sorry we live in a world in
which being playfully, passionately excited about something, like you are
about technology, is given such a nasty reception at times.

On 26/12/2007, Robert Scoble robertscoble@
mailto:robertscoble%40hotmail.com hotmail.com wrote:

 Gena,

 Thanks, this was a very nice Christmas present and a nice way to end a
 really great day. Someone just forwarded me your email and I appreciate
 that
 too.

 I haven't been able to respond over on the Cheryl page because it keeps
 saying my comments are spam, which is funny too. Oh well.

 One thing I wanted to say over there is that PodTech invested more than a
 million dollars in this community (seriously, I have the receipts, we
 hired
 dozens of videobloggers and even had a few on our staff, including people
 who are very active on this group). I've personally got tons of people
 here
 paid, some of which got paid more