In the last three and a half years, working for Sun Microsystems and now Oracle, I have produced over 300 video assets, ranging in length from 10 minutes to 3 hours. Most of this material is software engineers talking about deeply technical topics.
By YouTube standards, our audience isn’t large: my videos have had a few hundred to a few thousand views apiece. So why bother? What’s the ROI?
This breaks down into two underlying questions:
Why share this kind of information at all?
Why do it in the form of video rather than, say, technical white papers?
Why Share Technical Information?
Although most of my videos have a limited potential audience, those who watch them are the system administrators, developers, and other techies who use our technology in jobs revolving around large, complex systems for hugely complex computing and storage tasks. They are influencers, if not direct decision-makers, in major IT purchases. They prefer to get their information from those who know it best – the engineers who create the products – and they don’t want any marketing spin on it. To these folks, great engineers are gurus, and access to our engineers’ knowledge is a selling point. My technical videos never say: “Buy this technology, it’s great!” They don’t need to, because they feature the engineers who designed it telling you why it’s great.
Why Use Video?
More Effective Learning
Although the percentages on the “Cone of Learning” are open to question (in fact, the author of the original, Edgar Dale, disavows any such numbers on his original diagram), the hierarchical concept itself is common sense. Think back to your own education. Most people find it hard to learn simply by reading. (Otherwise, why take notes from textbooks?) You absorb more by seeing and hearing an engaging teacher. Better still are small, seminar-style classes in which you actively participate. Next on the hierarchy is hands-on learning where you do something yourself (how vivid are your memories of dissecting frogs in high school science?).
Seminar-style learning and hands-on training are beyond the scope of my current job (Sun/Oracle offers classes through another department). But we can certainly do more to engage and instruct our audiences than plain old text.
More Efficient Information Transfer
Top engineers are extremely valuable people whose working hours, from their employers’ point of view, are best spent coding. Even those who have the (quite different from coding) skills and inclination to write papers or blog posts, often simply don’t have the time.
It didn’t take me long at Sun to realize that the most efficient way to get information out of engineers was to film them. This was even easier when, as often happened, they were already creating presentations for conferences or internal seminars. It cost them no extra time or effort for me to film, edit, and publish video of that same presentation. (Video also extends the reach of such presentations to people around the world who cannot attend them in person.)
Outside of formal presentations, you can still tap engineering expertise for video. Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting the right people in a room and letting them talk. Back in March, we had a rare confluence of three of our top performance engineers (Jim Mauro, Brendan Gregg, and Roch Bourbonnais) in the same city at the same time. With Dominic Kay chaperoning, we spent about four hours in a conference room, resulting in at least three hours of usable video (not all of it published yet). As Brendan later pointed out, among all possible forms of technical information transfer, this was by far the most efficient return on his time.
You may be wondering how much it cost to produce all this video. I have a very complicated spreadsheet in which I track details on every event I’ve filmed. I determined costs, calculating in my time (shooting, editing, managing) and travel, the cases where I did the shooting but paid someone else to edit, or I received tape that someone else had shot and I did the editing, etc. I then divided by the amount of video finally published from each specific event (some trips/events resulted in hours of published video, some only minutes).
With all the variables calculated for, costs ranged from $150 to $1400 per hour of published video. For comparison, I asked our marketing folks how much they were paying for “professional” video production. Their estimate was $3,000-5,000 per video (talking heads in the studio, usually), none of which was longer than 15 minutes. So figure $12,000 to $20,000 per hour.
Guerrilla video is definitely more cost-effective.
And its reach can be larger than anticipated:
I can’t claim any credit for this (though I did post a making of long after). It was filmed and posted by Bryan Cantrill in about half an hour on New Year’s Eve, 2008. Between the humorous presentation, the technical content and the discussion it raised, this thing went viral in a hurry, becoming the most-viewed video ever made about Sun Microsystems (650,000770,929 over 900k views on YouTube to date). It continues to generate conversation in the market and with current and potential customers – which is, in the end, the real point.
So the major reason to put geeks engineers in front of video cameras is this: IT WORKS.
^ top: The Perf Trio: Jim Mauro, Brendan Gregg, and Roch Bourbonnais
I spent yesterday afternoon in John & Jeffrey’s lovely, lush San Francisco garden, experimenting with the camera in my new iPhone 4. I’d say the results speak for themselves; I don’t think I’ll bother carrying around my old digital still camera anymore.
Most of these were taken as macro-range closeups and further cropped afterwards. I have not made any color adjustments.
@italylogue what time and where online can I watch [the World Cup]Â (if not in meetings…)? #worldcup #italy # @iamsrk you have exactly the same face in both pics, and both are a little worrying. You okay? #
YouTube – What’s Really Happening In Grand Isle Louisiana – You Won’t Believe This!!! # @drewjensen Whose ideal is it for gov’t to be local? There are some things that can only be done at a national level, & some done better. #
RT @StopBeck: Glenn Beck: Abraham Lincoln. Good guy? [Or,] bad guy? – I agree that it is good to ? everything, but Lincoln as bad guy…? # @Myrna_SF I buy it at my local Whole Foods or at the farmers’ market at the Ferry Bldg – the Creamery has a stand there every Saturday. #
I hope Delivery Exception means FedEx delivered my new iPhone to the concierge. They sure didn’t ring my bell. #
OMG I had forgotten all about Babe Rainbow. My dad had one of these for years, wonder where it went. http://bit.ly/9JnLSo#
RT @rajadurai: Presenting DTrace @ #oscon 8:30am Monday. Recording will be available soon. #
YouTube – Chris Anderson ’74 – Distinguished Alumnus Ceremony – Woodstock School  #
Squirrel! #
As per your concern, I would like to transfer this chat to the concern department related to your concern. – umm, yes, please do. #
Dear AT&T: Why has my iPhone suddenly decided I need a PIN to access voicemail, and why is it impossible to find out what that PIN is? #
I understand your concern, however, there is no option required to get connect with the concern department related to your concern. #
Does anyone know how to reach a human being at AT&T who can tell me how to reset my voicemail PIN? The phone tree offers no relevant options # @thinguy I’m going to cry. Billing zip isn’t my own zip, probably because O pays. I have no idea what the billing zip may be. # @italylogue uh, that’s a trick question, right? All of them. # @lindseyfowler I’ve had pretty good experiences with AT&T customer service up to now. Finally did get it solved. # @llcrowe Gonna talk about my guerilla stuff? Sadly, that’s about all that’s still visible… blogs.sun.com/video # @llcrowe You do realize I’m in marketing now? 😉 #
In spite of the nasty colony of bugs living in my sinuses, I’m doing (virtual) happy dances today – I have things to feel good about, too! # @almightygod old men who CLAIM to be virgins. #
okay, social media break over, back to… that other stuff I’m doing. # Solaris ZFS Performance Tuning: Synchronous Writes and the ZIL#
Learning way more about DTrace than I ever expected to need to know. #
WTF? Why does AT&T now imagine that I live in Michigan? #
My life is full of contrast, change, and contradiction. And I’m fine with that. # @manfrys yu’re about to unlock a whole lot o unfollows #
How we communicate now: daughter tagged a photo I’m not actually in, to let me know her friends have discovered & loved my carom board. # @Zee advice I give all about-to-weds: Just make sure you spend more time, brainpower, and money on the /marriage/ than on the wedding. #
okay, time to shut down the distractions for the day. Well, most of them. # @ATTJason thank you. Just as long as I don’t have to move to Michigan. 😉 # the verge: dead woman walking#
Very happy that I can get a good masala dosa for lunch one block from my home! Ruchi San Francisco #
I told you once, you son of a gun – I’m the best that’s ever been # @jkstark We already had good dosas in SF, but that was way down in the Mission. This place opened near me just a couple of months ago – yum! #
Props to Apple – iPhone sans case just landed on a tile floor and survived. Told you I drop things! #
The End of Forgetting http://nyti.ms/dab7st we need to learn new ways of defining ourselves without reference to what others say about us #
So I started watching True Blood (season 1) last night. I think I’ll just carry on with that now, to give my brain a rest… #
Only 2 episodes per disc? What’s up with that? # @vdotw Like! Much better than the one book I read from that series, in fact. # @lskrocki Whoa, I never got that kind of treatment! Count yourself very, very lucky. # @lskrocki (Well, and deserving, too!) # @blackbeltncrazy Sorry, no TV and not buying DVDs anymore (no storage space!); I get ’em from Netflix and watch on my 17 MacBook. #
RT @OTN_Garage: Rumors abound that Systems Admin & Developer community (that’s you) of Oracle Technology Network will be ready wicked soon. # @thinguy cool have fun! # @Joanmarie probably not the same shows-secret project I’m working on. 😉 # @ianhf seems like that wd be a no-brained… #
Got my head examined, now awaiting the verdict. But y’all already know I’m crazy. 😉 #
Multitasking on the iPhone makes up for a multitude of sins. # @Joanmarie later we can compare notes. Right now – my brain hurts! # @bsousapt no, but would be willing to try a review unit. 😉 #
I have seen the inside of my head. It is not pretty. # @nomdeb – check new comment on Famous TCKs: Third-Culture Kids in the News and in History# @nonstick I’d better get a drink in before starting next round of antibiotics # @NomdeB I need to get back my copy of Hobson-Jobson #
RT @avinashkaushik: how amazing would it be to have a 35 iPad in every person’s hand? http://zqi.me/ctW8h8 #goindiago # @vdotw ooh, good idea. Make mine Maker’s Mark. # @vdotw now I’m hungry! Do have Maker’s Mark, tho. Having a wee drink before I have to start antibiotics again # @italylogue I’ve usually found that the women look more like their high school selves than the men. #
RT @ToddMichaelsen: Woah, @ninapaley video All Creative Work is Derivative (w/ my music)Â 🙂 #
Scroll down for the best argument for reincarnation ever#
Hmm, I guess El Reg doesn’t pay attention on weekends. #
Too sick to join film classmates auditioning today, they are very kindly doing it for me (and filming). Somehow we’ll get this thing made. #
Watching a piece of news disseminate. This will be an interesting exercise in the reach of social media. #
trying to summon energy to go to store so I at least have something interesting to eat. Netflix won’t deiver True Blood til Monday, dammit. #
Sign me up! – Jane Austen’s Fight Club #
I need a rent-a-mom, to bring me chicken soup in bed and say There, there. Not that my real mom ever did much of that. # @NomdeB True Blood? No, they have to send DVDs, and it’s only two episodes per disc, which seems like a ripoff. Buffy was 4 per disc. #
Codeine high not my fav (as if I had a fave high!), but it beats what I was feeling before. Pasta w fresh tomatoes, basil & mozz also help #
RT @tgardner: Remembering the 70s. Heavy Horses, one of the three great folk-prog-rock Tull outings. Tremendous. – ooh, yes, good memory #
I could do this in my sleep! Which is good, because I’m doing it rather stoned on codeine. # @bklein34 I think there’s a literal videos version of that; if so, you should totally check it out. #
posted a comment to the wrong place, so it was wholly inscrutable yet weirdly appropriate. # I Worry#
I need immediate delivery of Legos. # @Joanmarie I could very happily do without sinuses! # @blackbeltncrazy I’ll bet it could. Have you tried? #
Watching Hogfather, a Discworld movie. # @NomdeB missed that, will have to look. #
woke up before 6, but managed to go back to sleep until nearly 10. I think my body is trying to tell me something… #
targeted advertising means that, as a result of 1 visit (no buy) to Zappos, I now see shoe ads everywhere. Dunno if this is good or bad. #
Last year I spent 5 weeks of midsummer in the other hemisphere. This year I’m spending it in San Francisco. = no real summer. 🙁 # @Zappos_Service they don’t bother me,but thanks – I do need shoes. I appreciated that I could click a link to learn why this ad is here. #
Sunday brunch: cinnamon French toast with pecans, sauteed peach slices and, of course, bacon! And coffee. #
RT @blackbeltncrazy: I vow not to tweet any nonsense today. – that takes all the fun out of it! #
How do I feel today? Death warmed over pretty much covers it. # @penelopetrunk You could try Stop me if you’ve heard this before… # @craigmorgan where’s this? # @alanc They responded to me about that on Twitter last week – known problem, they’re fixing it. #attfail # @bklein34@paytonsun@walterpayton Knew I had this somewhere: http://bit.ly/beM6xm #greatestofalltime # @bicyclemark The reality is that most babies do look like Winston Churchill, but we can’t say that to the adoring new parents. # @bicyclemark My aunt, confronted with a spectacularly ugly newborn, stuttered out: What a… baby. # @LindaStone If you’re not going to read it again (or ever), out it goes. # @LindaStone Sorry to hear it, that definitely makes it harder. In that case, wait before you give away anything irreplaceable. #
Good-bye, Sun : The Observation Deck http://bit.ly/cs39Vp 🙁 #
Bryan Cantrill says Good-bye, Sun http://bit.ly/cs39Vp 🙁 # @paolovalde non avevi detto che San Francisco e’ piena di italiani d’estate? 😉 # @jeffreytaylor Much-needed and well deserved! # @saraford Ugh, in Houston of all places… # @saraford hmm, yes, Cajun food is the one thing I haven’t yet found in SF, though it may well exist here. # @glynnfoster I guess you didn’t hear the news… House of Shields is no more. # @saraford I await an invitation! # @glynnfoster You and a lot of other people. #
Between medications and the heavy-duty editing work I’ve been doing for days, I think I’m achieving some sort of geek cosmic consciousness. #
Being ill is boring. #
Actually, I don’t feel too bad. As long as I don’t, like, get out of bed or anything. #
Geek Humor P3 bug http://bit.ly/aZ075o #
RT @mjnelson: Want: http://j.mp/bAofPC – me, too! Also don’t miss the Abba covers in Hindi on that page. #
I believe the respectable term is… marketing. # @NomdeB And/or common mindset, character, way of thinking – which may occur with/because of common background, but not only. #
In Milan, a city law requires locals to constantly be smiling or risk being fined. http://bit.ly/dC34kB #
RT @jkstark: @NomdeB Why does Hollywood feel need to destroy all great foreign films? Are people too afraid to read subtitles? – Too lazy #
Drawback to working from home & online (a lot) is that no one knows when you’re actually to ill to show up in person. # @sogrady Can you see the back of you own head? If not, how good are you with mirrors? #
I swear the finches are observing me. #
Problem w illness is accepting the need to be still. I think: Oh, I feel better, now I’ll go do x. But I’m not better, & soon regret it. # @ebertchicago at least they’ve covered all their bases # @feliciaday The more you tan now, the more you will need botox later. Don’t go there. # @NomdeB make sweet tomato chutney. Jaffrey recipe. #
I’m awake, I think. What day is it today? # @NomdeB Making your own isn’t hard, and it’s delicious! #
If all the gays in the Catholic church were to leave it at once they would cause it serious operational problems. http://bit.ly/bjTW8x #
Glenn Beck’s Incendiary Angst Is Dangerously Close to Having a Body Count http://huff.to/9V3oRV #
Changed sheets on the bed I’m spending way too much time in, now to summon energy to wash them, & the bathrobe I’ve been wearing for days. #
Fuga di talento is much the same in Spanish as in Italian. #
We’re gonna have an emergency here: I’m running out of bird seed. #
Medical humor: questionnaire on symptoms and social/emotional consequences of your rhinosinusitis is titled the SINO-NASAL OUTCOME TEST. #
So what do people think about Mozy backup? # @NomdeB hmm. Wonder how that would do on a sunny balcony in San Francisco. # @NomdeB ps where did you get it? # @standaloneSA damn, which I felt up to attending, to say thanks to the folks who keep our modern world running. # @standaloneSA Not til Friday at the earliest, have a sinus procedure scheduled for Thursday #
iPhone case finally arrived, now to see whether it cures the calls dropped for no apparent reason problem. Betting not. #
Having more info doesn’t make us less free to decide. More we have, better we can make a free, independent conclusion http://bit.ly/bgchTk # @standaloneSA Balloon sinuplasty, if it works, should be the least invasive option. Antibiotics haven’t made a dent, so few choices left. #
DTracing Your Website – Oracle Solaris Video http://bit.ly/a5Zikp #
Another new/old video: Built-in Virtualization for OpenSolaris: Containers, Sun Logical Domains (LDOMs), and xen http://bit.ly/ddHkLS #
Could probably make an effective horror film out of what’s living in my sinuses, for those who like that sort of thing… #
Did I forget to tell you guys about this one? Observing Your App and Everything Else it Runs on Using DTrace http://bit.ly/9fxpVF #
my Legos have supposedly shipped, but UPS doesn’t recognize the tracking numbers. Want Legos now! # @ebertchicago Perhaps the lobster didn’t like being called a fish. #
My Mr Deity Season 3 DVD shipped today! http://bit.ly/11zb9w #
Yummy Indian street food being delivered soon, a cup of tea, then I’ll get on with the big secret project. (Yes, I’m still ill, too.) #
Hummingbird sucks down as much nectar as he can, then hovers, looking from me to feeder & back: You know it’s getting empty, right? RIGHT? # @pfuetz argh, well, the preso is over a year old… # @NomdeB I just burned my only small cooking pot making nectar for the hummingbirds. Damn. # @SFoskett That is one problem I definitely do not have. # @NomdeB I’m getting along with 1 small pot, 1 v large (pasta boiler) pot, 1 deep saute pan. My kitchen is so small, don’t want to fill it #
RT @hcsaltiel: @DeirdreS Hi! I’ll be giving a tech talk next Wednesday for Oracle about virtualization, and case studies. – cool! where? #
The Secret of Successful Entrepreneurs? A vast network of random connections http://bit.ly/9do2gA via @NomdeB – I do random really well 😉 #
having to recover video on my own site, this is one I’m glad to see again: Una Su Un Milione http://bit.ly/4SMbe6 #
To take my mind off tomorrow’s ordeal, watching Kaminey (Bad Guys). Rec’d with it a free copy of Himmat (Honor) which has Naseeruddin Shah # @vdotw I love anchovies, not so sure about putting them in my drinks, though… #
hearing and semi-translating Hindi while editing English. Multicultural multilingual multitasking! #
And, BTW, an old school friend of mine is in this movie! #
hmm… and I think the name of another old friend just flashed by in the special thanks to credits. # @NomdeB Actually, Anne Rice has become a hard-core Catholic… # @NomdeB Thank god. 😉 # @NomdeB re-watching Coupling – lots of giggles a great antidote to tonight’s nerves. # @NomdeB I’m sure it’ll seem like nothing… No, I’m not sure, actually I think it’s gonna be pretty horrible and gross. But it Must Be Done. #
RT @NomdeB: Bollywood Dance WOSA style. You’ll see some familiar faces. http://bit.ly/97bSGM – we Woodstockers always know how to have fun! #
I survived, my sinuses are clear now. Massive headache, but I’m discovering the joys of Vicodin. #
Oracle Solaris, OEL, and Oracle VM Available on All Certified non-Sun Hardware – OTN Garage http://bit.ly/bifqoH # @bubbva Thanks – I am also glad to know I’m not dead! #
My first meal post-surgery is supposed to be liquid. Does a chocolate cupcake count? #
Saw actual live network TV in the waiting room for half an hour or so. That will last me a good 6 months. # @melanierenzulli I have trouble defining hometown. On Facebook it says Mussoorie, India which is about as close as I’ve got. #
hmm. There’s a cadre of Deirdres who follow each other because we’re fairly rare. Now I have a Straughan follower – even rarer! # @jeffhuber I had probs where Skype seemed to interfere with the corp conference call system, causing bad quality for all. You’re not? #
Compromise: first I will have hot chicken broth, then I will eat the cupcake. # @c0t0d0s0 Congratulations – L�neburg is a beautiful city! #
What is this sensation of air in my head? And am I actually smelling the ocean (or the bay)? Didn’t realize my sense had been so affected. # @AnnieGaus Run and tell, that, homeboy! Love it. He can be my brother anytime he wants. #
Best. Cupcake. Ever. # @bklein34 Whole Foods. Basic chocolate. If I had more than one, I would be eating myself sick… #
While no doubt handy, Ebooks won’t really attract me til I can get them used or a whole lot cheaper. #
Beginning to suspect I am really going to miss that one Vicodin when it wears off. Yes, I have codeine, but it’s not the same, is it? #
AdSense thinks people coming to my site are looking to date Italians. Umm, okay… # @blackbeltncrazy True of employers and clients in all fields. The point is that they keep paying you to talk, whether or not they listen. # @juliebenz Reminisce. Tell behind-the-scenes stories. This might jog your memory: http://bit.ly/cKRoO5 #
RT @casinclair: Always wanted to do TEDxEvil. Dictators, weapons mfrs, disgraced CEOs present, announce TEDxEvil Prize – candidates abound! #
My daughter had a good idea recently: I want kittehs! #
Discharge papers from surgery today advise Avoid making important decisions for 24 hours. # @NomdeB Naming a dog after friends’ kids is either a huge compliment to that family or somewhat creepy. 😉 # @NomdeB Hmph. Deirdre a bit drab when compared with newer Irish imports. In my interpretation of the myth, she had 3 husbands. At once. # @NomdeB And daughter’s name is nowhere to be found. Americans overlook Rossella, the Italian translation of Scarlett. # @NomdeB The Sanskrit means illusion, makes a lot of sense for anyone in, er, the entertainment industry. # @italylogue You should see the horoscope a Javanese magician did on me many years ago. Now there’s a travel story… # @NomdeB Tara, too. # @msgilligan Is that on the oil side or the hurricane side? Or are they all hurricane sides? # @blackbeltncrazy Ah, that does put rather a different spin on it. # @vdotw Balloon sinusplasty, aka sinus roto-rooter. Not sure it’s a total cure, but… fingers crossed! #
Heard this on SmugMug today, struck me as appropriate, in a tangential sort of way – P!nk – So What http://bit.ly/czNw0L #
RT @c0t0d0s0: Oracle Premier Support for Operating Systems on non-Oracle hardware: Yesterdays announcement regardi… http://bit.ly/dbhIcm # @lskrocki Minor, but nasty enough in its way. Here’s hoping it worked! #
RT @WinnieWongSF: Why Fernando?: http://wp.me/pPjuY-9A – Winnie’s a film school buddy, I hope to be well enough to help on her shoot #
For a limited time, you can save 30 when you purchase Solaris Internals or Solaris Performance and Tools. http://bit.ly/ccM0ld #
RT @c0t0d0s0: Happy SysAdminDay: The world celebrates the 11th SysAdminDay today. To all the users out there: This… http://bit.ly/9pRabt #
I slept from 9:30 to midnight. It would be nice to go back to sleep soon. Post-surgery jet lag? (I was only under for an hour!) #
