Artist profile

I am having many problems with this website I am reposting my blog from Thursday because I do not see it at all. Sad :( but my artist profile snuggle Otis has been in the music industry for awhile he has worked with big names in the music industry. Now to be completely honest I am really confused about this project and what you want us to do and learn from it. As I said before I'm not a big media person so it takes me awhile to get used to this new media. But I am interested in continuing to learn about mr, Otis and what ever else I can. This should be fun!

I'm Interested in Y'alls Answers!!....

I'm not sure if this was discussed in class, but I thought it would be cool if we had a list of the shows, films, or anything else that we love and purposely "dive" into. The thing that you just can NOT get enough of and place a lot of time and energy into knowing all about it.

Leave a comment with your transmedia obsession.... Let see how many of us have the same thing in common...

Saracuda!!

Sarah Lacy, also known as @saracuda on Twitter, is my subject for my profile paper. She is a native Memphian who is now the senior editor for TechCrunch, the largest Web 2.0 blog for tech entrepreneurs. She also wrote two books: Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0 and Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky: How the Top 1% of Entrepreneurs Profit from Global Chaos. Lacy was in Memphis recently for a conference and interview with a top executive at Fedex. I was luck enough to not only get in to the conference but also to get an interview with her for my iReportMemphis Blog! She is quite amazing and very fun to be around. She was also very pregnant upon her arrival to Memphis. I posted the video on Youtube, found here, and she's the best person I can think of in the Web 2.0 world to talk to. I also till have her contact info so I can ask some questions via email and see if she responds.

Transmedia Craze

I had never heard of the Transmedia Storytelling term before class, but after reading about it I realized how much I actually engage in this concept. I personally know that The Matrix is not for me and it never will be, yet the idea that Keanu Reeves explained to TV Guide readers, that the audience will get what they want out the movie Revolutions will be based on how much energy they put into it. That energy placed on consumption in all areas is something I would never do for The Matrix…HOWEVER, I do engage in that type of energy on things that DO excite me! In my case it is sometimes a TV show or Movie, but what I love even more is finding out information on Technology and Sports before it is reported to other.

From my experience, I was not a huge fan of the Twilight series until my friends forced me to watch a marathon of all the movies that were out on DVD and then went to see the newest one in theaters. Needless to say I became a fan and a member of Team Edward, (but also a fan of Team Jacobs Body) Now I say I am a fan BUT I’m not that big of a fan where I am going out and purchasing merchandise or even the DVD’s to own. I do engage in such behavior when it comes to TV shows I like such as, Desperate Housewives, Greys Anatomy, and One Tree Hill. No T-shirt buying, but I do own a few DVD collections. For me and my mom we find these shows to be “well made”, as Jenkins puts it, that it provides us a chance to talk throughout the week and construct our own fantasies about might happen in next episode.

I also liked Jenkins concept of Cult Films. How they are based on quotes and references drawn from a range of previous works. I actually LOVE things like this. The best example I was planning on sharing in class that utilizes this concept the best is Disney productions. In their movies, TV shows, and even in all the parks. Examples include, each park’s main castle is for a different princess. In Orlando at Magic Kingdom the castle “belongs” to Cinderella; in California the castle is Snow White’s, and in Paris its Aurora’s (Sleeping Beauty). My personal favorite is Disney’s Concept of “Hidden Mickeys”. It may not be written like the license plate references from The Matrix, but if you know about it you can find Hidden Mickeys in and throughout every park and ride. They have even created an app that you can download to help you find where each one is (p.s. I’ve clearly downloaded it)

I think we all engage in this type of trasmedia culture everyday truly based on our “love” and connection to the product and how much we choose place extra effort into it.

Expanded Version

Transmedia storytelling is extreme. It will be adopted more often and developed further in our cultural future because the creators enjoy doing it and fans can appreciate it to whatever level they want. Transmedia storytelling provides synergy across multiple channels, creating an incentive to interact and collaborate to know the big picture.

We definitely see more cross-media (extended products). It's easy to just add-on because it doesn't take the effort (but it also doesn't play the same role.) And right now, that's enough to satisfy a broad range of the audience.

Expanse amazes us and we like to be amazed.

It's fascinating, but it is a serious investment of time and resources for all parties involved. Wait, aren't our attention spans simultaneously dropping? How many passions can you maintain, how many stories can you follow, and how many alternate universes can you keep track of?

And at the end of it all, a story exists to make an impact and resonate with the world. How many ways can this change? Maybe the story changes with your level and kind (/degree) of involvement. This could be literal changes in the narrative with new information, or change in how it feels and what it means to you.

This relates to the overall progression of complexity of everything. We expect to be engaged at varying depths. Some more than others (divers and skimmers).

All the niches become normal. We are in the micro-culture era. Culture is becoming fragmented, but we're still connected by overlapping, interwoven threads of interests. The fundamentals of the human condition are still there, under the pile of culture we create.

Transmedia

The Medium of Transmedia can get pretty complicated, as we learned today in class.  the thing I find to be most interesting about Transmedia is that the fan can choose how far they want to "dive" into the show or film.  I never knew what to call it when you just cant get enough of something, you gotta keep trying to uncover something new.  This brings me to the idea of the spoiler only because the fan has to know what happens next.  I'm don't think that I would be a big fan of Transmedia because it seems that there would be more of a let down if things don't play out on the screen the way I envision them to be.
on a side not the artist I would like to research is Abe Kass and he  is the founder and CEO of the Smart Life System and Wisdom Scientific publishing house. I found him on Cdbaby.com.

http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/AbeKass1

Transmedia, everywhere

Transmedia storytelling has many different faces. I feel like especially for the younger and mid-aged drivers and skimmers with a good purchasing power, there are tons of transmedial involvement in the same story: Movies, Series, Videogames, Merchandise. I think a particularly interesting form of that can be found in the ways filmmakers try to retell a stories that basically have already been told, only adding or altering little of the material or plot. Ten or more years ago, videogames such as Max Payne, Resident Evil or Hitman had huge fanbases. The same accounts for all the Marvel comics (Watchmen, 300 or SinCity) that have been put on screen throughout the last years. Sometimes, it seems as if wherever there is a new marketing strategy needed to recruit new audiences or to make old matierial accessible to younger people, there will be one.

Transmedia Stories

I never thought about movies or TV shows being transmedia because I'd never heard of the term before.  But, now that I know what it is, I find it somewhat interesting.  But, I will say the good thing about it is because you can go as deep as you want to with your "fandom" as you choose.  Or, you can choose to not go any deeper than the movie(s) or TV show.  It's all about what you choose to do; and choice is always better than none at all.

Transmedia Storytelling

This class introduced me to a totally new medium of storytelling that I was altogether unaware of. I have never watched the complete first Matrix movie. I saw the trailers and caught part of it on television and it did look interesting - lots of action and special effects which I love - but I never had any real interest in seeing it. I just assumed that the content was benign and unrealistic so not a priority. If I had known that the actual production of the film was so involved, I think I would have been enticed to check it out. I love new, creative ideas in any form of media. The idea that this movie was designed to be as interactive as it is is mind blowing. It seems to me that it took a lot of planning and brainstorming to come up with the concept, and then a lot of focus to stay on story using so many different little stunts and mind tricks. I think this concept is doomed to be a niche idea though, because it requires so much intense effort. As we mentioned in class, Hollywood is all about money and a quick turnaround. No one would want to take the chance that the story wouldn't catch the top of the "Long Tail". Our new culture is all about fast turnover, and short attention spans. Deep thought in our culture has gone the way of the cassette and eight-track. When I look at television, or a movie, I am always annoyed that the new stories and plots are so weak and shallow. I am not the most cultured person in the world, far from it, but I am old enough to remember that in order to have a media project of any type accepted for distribution in the past, it had to have some sort of relevant content. People used to like to have to figure out a plot without special effect or shock content. People used to love to be challenged, but not insulted by some writer who thinks his audience is so stupid that they have to be shown every little disgusting detail of a given story. Nothing is left to the imagination anymore. I am such a fan of the old Perry Mason television shows. They had a murder every night, but you didn't have to see a gory body, or hear the degrading of the English language with unnecessary profanity or toilet talk. Why is nothing that has to do with the body no longer personal? Why is sex (not romance) the main focus of the new writers? Why do the new singers have to have big production gimmicks and nudity to sing a song? I guess I am just stuck in the past, but like my friend Alfred Wolf Woesten - a gifted jazz trombonist, composer and symphonic arranger - I lament the thought that my children will never know what true talent is because they have never been exposed to it. They will never know how to appreciate a beautiful melody, or heartfelt lyric. They will never understand how "old folks" can be so content to just sit and listen to a great tune that is simple and nice and has no gimmicks involved. But, I digress. Transmedia storytelling is a fabulous idea and it will live a long time, but I'm afraid that the audience will always be those who want to interact with it, and can appreciate it for what it took to create it, and not by those who are too shallow to conceive of such a thing.

Transmedia Storys

In all honesty todays lesson on transmedia storytelling really highlighted my geek.
It IS a niche market. No doubt. But as when a film falls into this category for me I find myself drawn to the need for the whole story. It works wonders as a marketing tool when it works. The big question is differentiating between marketing ploys and the real deal.

I believe on some level we all find some kind of enjoyment in it, regardless of how much. As a niche it will go on, but I believe it is something that has become subliminally popular.

American Culture

In tuesday's class we talked about tribes and whether or not American culture would become fragmentary because of the "nichey" culture. I think that belonging to several different tribes is a good thing and it helps to well round people. Essentially being able to belong to several different tribes exemplifies America. It is the epitome of american culture. The beauty of America is that you can come here and do whatever it is you would like to do from worship the devil to becoming a monk, it is your autonomous right. This is what makes our country so great and unique!

artist profile

The artist I would porfile was a classmate in high school. We took art together for four years at Overton High school here in Memphis. So I have watched his art grow and change and become better and better. He is now using his art as his career. He has created a website and keep it going strong through his facebook by post new portraits he has created for celebrities. He started with 106& Park and contuine throught there. These are some links to him.http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chessartworld.com%2F&h=zAQFeFv20http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMuc076B0L4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeVwSZtWmkA

Niches and Diversity

Niches cultures are a great expression for diversity and in today’s internet age it seems there is something for everyone. Carter said it best when he called the diverse subcultures “Connoisseurs.” One important factor to consider is the way that the internet and media have created a void for face-to face human interaction within these subcultures. I am happy to see that we are all very comfortable expressing out opinions via likes and dislikes on the internet, but I often wonder if people would be so expressive in a real life situation.

It is important to let our hobbies and interests lead us to bond outside our office, living room, or back porch and help us venture out to discover each other in person. Staying inside on the computer will lead to a division of cultures. This reminds me of a phrase we are all familiar with, “United we stand, divided we fall.” I am truly for diversity and independence, but equally for sharing and experiencing each other in person. Venturing out “keeps us real” and gives us the fulfillment we need from human interaction. Danny mentioned that the answer to this is belonging to multiple tribes and I couldn’t agree more! My friendships represent such an eclectic group of people that I often have a hard time having them all in one place at the same time. Some people are not ready to cross cultur-ize themselves, so I have patience and understanding.

Artist Profile - FreeSol

I would like to focus on a local Memphis band called FreeSol. They started as a Newbys band and were picked up by Justin Timberlake. They utilize their website, YouTube, and connection with Justin Timberlake to promote their music. They really haven't taken off yet but wanted to discuss how the short and long tail interact and how it can either benefit or hinder the final outcome of the product. Their website is www.freesolmusic.com and think it would be a great challenge for me since this topic is neither dance nor sport related.

Artist Profile

I will be doing my artist profile on Anhayla Renee. She is a singer. I found videos of her on youtube a while ago. She has original songs and also does covers of other artist tracks. Check her out......
So unless something changes. She will be the artist of my choice.

http://www.youtube.com/user/anhaylarene

Fragmentersity.

Our discussion of Andersons "niche culture" brought up some interesting points. Are we really becoming a fragmented country of sub cultures? I think we have been a multi-tribe culture for quite a long time, but not until the proof was at our fingertips on the internet did it become so evident. I think all these different groups are connected by the simple fact that, in this country, we still have the right to have different groups. If we ever become too fragmented however, it would only work for so long. Because of this fragmentation, we are as individuals becoming more and more isolated. It's almost unnerving to feel that your thoughts might not have anything in common with others your own age, much less others who are older or younger than you.

Artist Profile- Sexy Beijing's Host Sufei

I have chosen to profile the host and creator of China's No. 1 Internet Show/Station. "SuFei" of Sexy Beijing. Sufei is a Jewish-American who moved to Beijing over 10 years ago and saw a niche for a TV show highlighting the Chinese culture we never see in mainstream media. Her show has been called, China's Sex and the City. Check out the link below:

http://www.sexybeijing.tv/new/default.aspx

Artist Profile: David Rees

I kind of feel like I might have an explanation for missing the deadline for the artist profile post on this blog.. For my profile paper, I am chosing critically acclaimed political cartoonist David Rees, mostly known through his "Get Your War On"-cartoons that he published during the presidency of George W. Bush. He has a Wikipedia entry, that mainly focuses on his past achievements as a cartoonist. Currently, he centers on - manual pencil sharpening. I had to contact a friend of my parents' in San Diego, who is an artist herself (www.muellerswanson.com), and who paints and draws a lot, to find out about his name again and his website, but I couldn't get a hold of her until now.
At any rate, David Rees has his own homepage (www.artisanalpencilsharpening.com) that is all about him sharpening state-of-the-art pencils by hand in New York's Hudson River Valley. You can buy them at his homepage for 15$ a piece. Plus, blogs like thisburgess.blogspot.com, as well as traditional media like the LA Times ans The Guardian wrote about him. He has a business model and a good sense of humor ("...every pencil David Rees sharpens is shipped with a signed and dated certificate authenticating that it is now a dangerous object."). But first and foremost, he might be as nichy as it gets...

Niche culture and cultural fragmentation

Today we have spoken about niche cultures. We all have a mix of generic and specific interests concerning to the different topics. One issue, pointed to the fact from some critics, says that niche culture leads to cultural fragmentation. But in my opinion, it is not that bad, if there is something for everybody. The world is full of different sorts of persons and cultures. Why should everyone have the same interest? Surely, there might be a lack of continuity, but it is also somewhere boring. Why should everyone be interested in the same topic? Furthermore, cultural fragmentation could enhance creativity and support diversity. I think that makes us a kind of special. There plenty of ideas and concerns, and you nearly find everywhere people, who pay attention to that, no matter how weird the interest is, no matter which sort of niche it includes. In my view, cultural diversity is necessary for guaranteeing what makes us different and how we interact.

Profile artist Craig Alexander

I’ve decided for the ironman athlete Craig Alexander, who has won the last Ironman in Hawaii. I’m very interested in that sort of niche sport, and have already done an Ironman relay as a swimmer. Craig Alexander has an own website http://www.craigalexander.net/ and uses some social media channels, such as Facebook and Blogs for his representation and promotion.

Tiger High / Trashy Creatures

Artist : Tiger High
Website : Trashy Creatures
What is it: psychedelic reverbs of the signature Vest style . Check out a review at The Flyer.

Tiger High, as shown on their website, have released digital downloads and niche limited collectors items of cassette and vinyl recordings. Some songs stream on both the website and bandcamp, with options to buy in the store on their website. Most of the members were also in The Bulletproof Vests, which is more garage power pop (RN, BC.) Also, they have a collaboration with American Grapefruit Media, rss feeds, twitter, etc.

I want to explore what they're doing right with the use of Media 2.0. They have long been a bright spot in Memphis music and I'm curious to see what is working for them.

Check 'em out. If you like what you hear, you can see them live. You can buy merchandise at the shows and help support them with the a mere $5 cover cost.

Some of my favorite Memphis music memories were of these guys battling it out at the Buccaneer, Jake coming out of the crowd and picking up a guitar to collaborate on the spot with Richard James at the Beauty Shoppe, and just putting out good tunes, always playing originals and covers, often til 3 in the morning. If you've been to many shows around town, chances are you've seen a Vest or two.

They're playing a show at the Hitone on October 27th, (this Thursday). Though, I highly recommend the Nov 9th show with Thee Oh Sees w/ Total Control.

Niche Culture

The "and/or" culture? Today's discussion in class was good talking about what we all thought about as far as the niche cultures with the massive parallel cultures. I think that as a society we all are entitled to be involved in different tribes but not just different but as many as we see fit and then some more. Cultural diversity is important and belonging to multiple tribes is one of the best ways to build more diversity throughout the world. Instead of everyone being pigeonholed into one specific category it allows for more diversity. I don't think that it makes harder for individuals to interact with one another but you fit in to certain groups wherever you may be but it would also allow for a new group to teach you something new and you have the ability to be exposed to newer things.

The artist I will be profiling is Who Is Sugar.  She does YT videos on thrift shopping, natural hair, and other "nichie" topics that I find interesting.  She's also an avid Tweeter and has a fan page in Face Book.

www.youtube.com/user/whoissugar

profile artist

Shuggie Otis...I chose him because of his old school feel. I can vibe to him!

Artist Profile: Erika David

The artist that I will be profiling is Erika David, also known as Ekaiann. She has an extraordinary voice and has been displayin her talents on you tube since 2007. She is a college student and I suppose that one day she would like to get signed to a record label and with her voice, I'm sure she will. Check out her website
WWW.ERIKADAVID.COM or find her on youtube.com

Niche Culture

I don't know if how I am going to say this is going to actually play out like I have it in my mind. But, I am going to try. Since I am a very patriotic person, I love America. FACT! I think that it is beautiful that we have so many cultures in our one nation, and I really love that some of these cultures have merged with others to kind of form what we know as America today. I have just about every bit of ethnicity in me as you can imagine (maybe thats why I am so unique?) but I think that Media 2.0 is allowing us to be who we are, uniqueness and all, and be able to share it with others. I think for me, it is easy to accept because I am from loads of different cultures, some of which play out in who I am today more than others. But the niche culture gives me access to be apart of a lot more. I am an animal advocate, so I follow other animal bloggers. I love to see the cheesey pictures that they make their animals pose for, I love listening to training stories and people bragging. I also love politics, so I listen to a few people who are more than willing to share their stories and views through podcasts. And I am a true arts and crafts GEEK, so I love sites like ETSY.com because they allow creative to flow and give you an opportunity to start your own 'circle' within their world and share your work online, along with websites and so on. The internet and niche culture allows us to do so much, and to be apart of so much, and I find this to be truly amazing.

Cartoonists Index Profile

There is a guy by the name of Daryl Cagle, he is a cartoonist with MSNBC now, but he started at a conventional newspaper as the editorial cartoonist. Daryl was one of the first of his profession to fully understand and use the Internet as a way of exposing the world to the art, humor, and political commentary of many of the world's great editorial cartoonists. He started his web site "Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index" while he was still working for a newspaper, before newspapers were losing money and cutting editorial cartoonists from their staffs. With his site, he gave these artists a format with which they could continue their work and gain that niche audience that they would never have had if not for the Internet and Daryl Cagle's idea. I think this is a person who personifies the idea of a Media 2.0 individual who has used - and still is using - the Internet in a positive and progressive manner. He's making a profit as well. His should make a good profile.

Niche Societies keep it classy

I like niches. There are many that I identify with, a few are: Cycling, Gaming, Student, Internet user, tech geek, cigar-lover, watch collector, the list goes on for quite some time. Another word (which I think is much classier than "lover of niches" or some other such derivation) is Connoisseur. I think that sums it up a little better. I like different stuff to varying degrees, I identify with people involved in all those subcultures.

I was surprised that there were some out there who dislike an increasingly niche culture. Then it struck me in one sentence. It is harder to market to niches. Although if you do there is a great benefit in that you can profit off of the long tail. For example if you make custom travel humidors with extra options like a watch winder on the bottom. That is a really, really specialized item, you are looking for someone who smokes cigars and has an automatic watch that is into traveling. Where but skymall could we such randomness? The answer is in niche forums, places where people with very specific interests can go and nerd out together to there hearts content without boring the ever-loving pants off the rest of the population.

I for one am a nicher through and through. I think that the mass individualism afforded by the internet and modern technology are a wonderful thing.

Artist Profile: Jen-Sized

She's a local blogger and all-around entertaining online personality and can be studied further @this link. So check it out...

Niche Culture

Chris Anderson is good at researching all the topics he discusses in "The Long Tail", that much is obvious, and I sometimes wonder at the wording and generalisations used by the sources from which he gets his information . I remember the "Disco" craze of the late 70's early 80's. It was phenomenal. It is true that everyone had to release a Disco album, but it had more to do with wanting to be a part of the phenomenon than being forced by record labels or producers. Artists themselves wanted a part of the craze. Anderson says that audiences soon got bored and wanted to burn disco albums - which they did in Chicago in the most famous event - but that was staged by producers trying to re-spark the craze as it was dying down, not because the masses were in revolt. Disco tunes are still being covered by bands of all genres, like the Bee Gee's "How Deep Is Your Love", by Jaared on his Manhattan Nights cd, and many others. He also says that the "House Music" that was supposed to have replaced Disco was as big of a craze as Disco itself. I remember that it was huge, but it was a niche more than anything else. It used Disco Music covers so it didn't really replace Disco, it just altered it. It was created by djs who only play other people's music, not their own, and it led to another phenomenon "Raves", which were definitely niche parties for teens and want-to-be teens, that were not something in which the "mainstream" of culture participated. I appreciate reading this chapter in Anderson, it reminds me of some times I had forgotten, but I don't think that he and his sources should use such strong metaphors when they describe events that happened before most of the students reading his book were born. It can be misleading.

Profile. CDBaby.com

My media project will focus on cdbaby.com as a whole as it directly relates to my personal passion and it applies to the Media 2.0 standards

Jason Scott's Kickstarter

Just thought you would be interested to know that Jason Scott's Kickstarter campaign passed the goal of $100,000 today. This means his project is now funded - i.e. he will get that money for his projects. It took 40 days!
Here's the update:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/textfiles/the-jason-scott-documentary-three-pack/posts

LEE CAMP

For my artist project I have picked Lee Camp, he is a comedian. He does a weekly rant and posts it on both his blog and youtube for the world to see. He talks a lot about politics, but he is a headstrong guy. He does all of his promotions through internet mainly, he has been discovered by media (the news networks mainly). This is due to his political voice and his willingness to be overvocal. He also does a podcast along with his blog and videorants. I think that this is a very good example of Media 2.0 at work. His work is always available via the internet, and he uses that to his advantage (if he didn't, I would have never heard of him)!

Profile Subject - Kelly O'Neill

My Media 2.0 Profile Artist is Kelly O'Neill, a successful Painter who lives in Brentwood Tennessee. She has had her own business since 2002, but got her big break in 2010 when she posted a YouTube video of herself painting a portrait.

Clicky for her website!

Happy Birthday iPod

Today is the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the iPod.
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/23/10-years-ago-today-the-original-ipod-changed-music/

How has the iPod influenced Media 2.0? Would we be where we are today without the iPod?

Meme of the Day: Red Water vs. Blue Water

As some of you may have figured out by now, I like to view the class through the filter of Word of the Day and sometimes that doesn't work out persactly^TM, however, one of the items I picked up from the Very Verbose Jason Scott was the Red Water Blue Water story -- so I did a little web search and came up with his tale told from the POV of marketing and it fits nicely into our long tail big head classroom theme. Here's the link to the larger tale <sic> along with the story again for those who may find it of interest.

Red water/blue water: the interactive fiction new audience debate

One such mantra I picked up, big in the world of marketing and PR, is the idea of ‘red water’ versus ‘blue water’.
Everyone wants a bigger audience for their game; and most companies want to ’fish’ in the most densely populated pools of water (to get the most out of their time, efforts and marketing dollars). What results, however, is a feeding frenzy. Everyone gets something, but it’s a bloodbath. This is what’s called ‘red water’.
So, what if you could find new pools of water, filled with fish that’s away from the competition? You could have that audience all to yourself and be free from the effort that goes into constantly trying to outdo the competition. This market or opportunity is what’s called ‘blue water’.http://www.inthecompanyofgrues.com/?p=27

Jason Scott seems to perfectly exemplify the New Media Models that Anderson (2009) talks about. He builds on producing his own movies in the form of DVDs, so he makes a living out of a kind of merchandise that some people might find a little geeky and goofy. In that respect, Scott resembles Jonathan Coulton. Both came of age in the early years of the digital revolution, became IT-guys and finally turned their skills into a business model that is still relatively new to the world: Selling your on stuff independently, bypassing the big labels, staying in touch with your fanbase. I could imagine that a lot of people admire those kind of artists for their can-do spirit and their ruggedness in a society that is becoming increasingly individualistic and standardized at the same time.

Jason scott

Jason was a truly interesting man, but he lost me a couple of times. He seemed to really love what he does and I really hope he makes his goal so he can produce another documentary. I think what he does is interesting but I can not fully relate because that was long before my time on the computer began. :) but I really liked his advice to newcomers. Be honest. Be positive. Take the hates with the lovers. You wouldn't expect someone with his career to receive much hate. But people have developed blog about how much they dislike him. And for anyone with emotions, that could be hard to take. But I didn't really hear his answer to the question of how he targets his audience could anyone fill me in?

Skypp

Today was another interesting day in class with our Skypp lecture from Jason.  It was very interesting hearing from him exactly how he was able to to do what he enjoyed doing.  I made connections between both Jason Scott and Johnathan Coulton.  Both men made a success out of what it is they love to do.  Scott defiantly found a way to make his product unique to him and his brand. I love the idea of doing what you love to do and getting 100,000 dollars in your pocket for doing it.  I feel that Jason Scott could of lectured without having any questions from the class, i did enjoy it though

Skype Chat With Jason Scott

Today in class we had a skype chat with Jason Scott. He pretty much epitomizes the long tail and is definitely extra niche. The moost suprising part of all to me is that he is sooo successful at what he does. And what's even more suprising is that niche artist are becoming more and more popular. Some may even say that the niche is possibly becoming the norm.The best part of being Jason Scott is that he gets to wake up every morning or according to him, whenever he feels the neeed to get up and go to work and do what he loves. That's awesome!

Skype with Jason Scott

Today we had a Skype session with Jason Scott who we also took a look at some of his work prior to class and read about his documentaries and also his dealings with text files. I found it interesting to hear him talk about his beginning with it and also where he is going with it. He had an idea both with the text files and he was able to build on that idea and provide to an audience through something that he loves and enjoys. With his documentaries he has certainly gained a pretty large following (at least in my opinion). He has had fans donate to him to help reach certain financial goals to be able to continue to produce a product for the fans and clearly they like it because now he is almost to his $100,000 mark for the kickstart campaign. It shows that if you put out a quality product and have the fan support but also show loyalty to your fans and reward them then your following can grow. He seems to be a successful man and just wants to put out good quality work. I can respect that and I enjoyed hearing his story today.

Technostalgia

When the question was directed towards Kickstarter, Jason Scott made the important distinction that at the moment, is just a tool. But even though the website's popularity is transient, it does contribute guidelines to some fundamental values of succeeding in an interactive and collaborative Media setting. Specifically, Kickstarter familiarizes us with the idea of crowdfunding. What is important is the skills derived from its use, as our participation grows in the expanding online universe.

I think the most powerful practical advice he gave was his unique and personable method of distribution and connection to audiences. It was a fresh idea to hear a specific example of this instead of the broad theoretical terms we have been reviewing. The connection to the audience is a necessary element. He is highly personable and engaged with the audience. Instead of a typical marketing push driven by false identity and an inflated sales-pitch, he was personable and reached out to previous connections, just by being real.

"To under-promise and over-deliver"

Statement from producer: I made something, you might be interested, check it out. Actual outcome perceived by audience: That was actually pretty awesome // blew my mind. And I got a sweet collectible coin. Thumbs up.

And he referred to some psychological underpinnings of why he became an archivist as a collector. That feeling of attachment to artifacts, that things are transient and you must grasp onto them, lest they be gone forever. (I'm sure in a physical way, Hoarders relate to.) This is an attachment to ideas behind the games, the culture embraced by the technology, and medium that morphed culture. So, those early adopters of BBS and text games, before widespread public access and development of the internet were hardcore and passionate, and had an extremely personal connection.

When Grace asked who is audience was, one response was the people who were nostalgic. People want their experience and interests to be validated. They invested so much time, and Jason Scott is validating and publicizing that importance and value of the mode itself and the culture that existed. Again united, revived, and saved from fading into obscurity.

I'd have more to say on this topic, but I'm only vaguely familiar with the surface of it. I vote some of us get together and watch at least one of his documentaries. Mini film fest, anyone?

Today's Niche-er

Jason Scott is obviously a good example of the successful niche-ers which are becoming more plentiful with the advent of Media 2.0. He is able to stay true to his own personal goals and passions on a full time basis without having to have an alternate source of income. His chosen subject has a relatively small audience, and before Media 2.0 it would have been almost impossible to make a living with such a small spread out market. New Media, however, allows him to reach his entire market, no matter the distance ect., and all together, it's not such a small audience after all. Apparently, people are (Gasp!) beginning to make money doing what they love.

Jason Scott - definitely a successful niche strategy

Today, we have listened to a guest speaker, Jason Scott Sadofsky, who is a historian, archivist, and filmmaker. Jason Scott is the creator of the website www.textfiles.com. He also created two documentary films about “BBS: The Documentary” and “interactive fiction, Get Lamp”.

Jason Scott has shown very well how he used a niche strategy for increasing the profit. With textfiles.com, he concentrates on mid-1980's textfiles. In his archive, you can find every kind of textile, such as artwork, Apple’s II, humor, law or science. He offers a wide spectrum of topics, so that everyone can find something, which is interesting. Additionally, he has a very faithful audience and I am really amazed that the site has so many monthly visits. But I think his niche strategy definitely shows, how successful you can be, if you know how to use new media channels. However, I think the most difficult thing is to have an idea, such has he had. The internet almost offers everything, so he could be very proud about his niche and that he already launched the side in 1998.

Scotts Personal Touch

Today’s skype conference with guest speaker Jason Scott was another exciting example of how technology has advanced communication. The exciting thing with this advancement is how it has been integrated into academic environments.

Before class I watched a few YouTube videos of Mr. Scott and his video production on Bulletin Board System, BBS. The best way I could relate to this system of community collaboration is the modern day message boards that are focused on specific topics.

Someone in his video made a comment stating that computers have become an extension of ones self. Our personal computer can portrait how we want and actually work as well as communicate. It has become a very personal device. And that could not be even truer today. Computers today have transformed into our telephones devices and when was the last time any of us can say we didn’t have our cell phones on us; or at least within a one foot radius of our being?

Listening to Scott talk about the concept of Kickstarters and how it removes the “fluff” people use to promote their product was quite interesting. For example he mentioned, the extensive social media posts and pushing regular and electronic mail is not always the best method. By eliminating that tool one has a higher chance of gathering more support for projects or cash flow from consumerism. He found that by eliminating that type of promotions along with incorporating fundamental core values to his project actually increased funding and sales on his moves as compared to others. I really liked how he puts himself in his work, not necessarily in front of the camera but he makes it aware how passionate he is about the product he produces, and that it is full of accurate information that he spends quality time researching. His personal approach to his work and “amazon way of thinking” benefited him. What I am referring to when I mention his “amazon way of thinking” was his approach to SUGGEST or inform his fans about the other work he has created rather than asking for more financial support. He found that by just informing his target market of other products they can purchase, they turned around and actually purchased his movies.

I am sure that other companies apply this approach to their marketing and social media outlets, but I bet if many more companies that are struggling financially apply Scots method of suggestion, they would see same results that Scott did.

Jason Scott interview

Even though I had no idea who Jason Scott was before today's class, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him.  He is definitely a person who has found a niche, the audiences that appreciate what he does, and he's turning a profit.  He's a very down-to-earth, funny, and wise character who really does what he loves.  And you can't fault a guy for doing what he loves.  There are a lot of people who get up every day and go to a job they hate; they'd trade places with him in a second.  Hell, I'd be one of them, if I had a job.

He definitely made good use of Media 2.0 in order to make his documentary about bulletin boards.  He tapped into a non-existant audience and basically offered them something they didn't even know they wanted.  

Jason Scott Skype Lecture

I really enjoyed listening to Jason Scott talk about his success as a Media 2.0 celebrity. Although I had never heard of him before I was very intrigued by his work and the way in which he has promoted it. I took a quick peek at his blog after class and it is clear the man is not at a shortage for words. His entry's are very verbose but I found them very well written and informative.

I plan to watch his videos and explore some of the media he has created. I was also excited to hear about /. a site I had no idea existed which he likened to an earlier version of reddit. Being that is where I spend the majority of my time online it is always good to hear about things that relate to it.

All in all a great class, lots of new information and stuff to look at. Good times.