My first 'point and shoot' experiment

One of my current jobs is writing for BT’s Broadband Office blog, with an item or two each day about how small businesses can make best use of the internet. It’s a group effort, and I tend to cover the non-BT angle: things like website development, SEO, recommended blogs and freeware.

With all the effort going into online video at the moment, I wanted to experiment with some ‘point and shoot’ interviewing, following the example of Robert Scoble and Microsoft’s Channel 9. I got an invite to BT’s business showcase in Covent Garden last week, and interviewed a few of the exhibitors. The first example is now online: a short chat with Ivan Croxford, who’s the man behind BT’s new ‘social network’ for businesses, Tradespace.

It’s very amateur, and very rough. The picture is shaky, and the sound isn’t always great.  In my defence, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and was filmed on a mobile phone (albeit a fairly new one). On that basis, I’m actually really pleased with the results. I’m convinced that this approach to communication is a winner: Ivan is a nice guy, with obvious passion for what he’s doing. No copywriter could capture that.

I’d love you to have a look and tell me what you think of it. I’m hoping to persuade BT to let me do some more of this; and yes, next time, I might even bring some proper kit.