OWAA Conference — Profiting From YouTube and YouTube Like Videos

Presented by John Beath (OWAA president):

Use YouTube videos to drive traffic to your site.
Brand your videos in the editing process (both when the video starts and ends).
You must be entertaining, informative or both.
You need to have good sound for your videos.
Always offer an interesting background.
Use videos to entertain your site visitors and keep them returning to see more of your videos.
Use video to show off and explain your product.
Use video for how-to informative videos.
Always put your website address on the video and brand it as your words.
You do all of this to build relationships with people—at least that should be your goal.
How you code your YouTube page will determine where you appear in the search engines. You can have a video appear on the search engine’s front page.
Let YouTube host your videos rather than your own website. Search engines will find you more easily this way.
You can create a slideshow or video webinar online.
Use video to promote your event/seminar.
Camtasia Studio — allows you to record what is on your screen.
E-junkie: hosts your webinar and will even sell it for you.
Video can be a very powerful way to sell.
www.halibut.net/owaa/ (most of these notes and sample videos are available at this link from the presenter)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Strive to get people to subscribe to your YouTube channel.
The best videos are about 1.5 to 4 minutes in length.
www.halibut.net/owaa/tips.htm

OWAA Conference — How To Talk To The (Video) Camera

Craft improvement presentation by Lisa Densmore:

Universal rules:

Treat the video camera as a person.
Minimize hand movement — don’t point at the camera, if it’s obvious, you don’t need to point to the object shown in the video.
Slow down — speak decisively.
Eliminate the “um’s” and the “Uh’s” — silence is better.
Don’t refer to people by their first names only unless it is known (by your audience) you are personal friends.
Talk to an 8^th grade level.
Use limited words over 3 syllables in length. (this increases the ease of comprehension)
Keep it short. (speak in sound bytes)
Enjoy the moment. (relax and do what you know how to do)

The show opening:

Look at the camera
Walk then talk—take a step or two before you begin to talk
Don’t read your eyelids—when you talk put it into conversational words (don’t sound scripted).

Tell the viewer what they are watching:

Welcome to [show name]
Your location
Your name
And what (the viewer) is going to learn.

Show opening with a co-host:

Know the camera movement (1 shot pull to a two shot or a 2 shot from the start)
Intro the show to the camera
Intro your co-shot or guest, then let him/her talk quickly after the viewer sees them.
Look at whomever is talking.
Give interesting information.
Glance back at the camera together periodically
Both should look at the camera for “throw.”

In the action — if docu-style, stay in the action. The viewer is “fly on the wall.”
If running monologue, engage the camera.
Common mistakes—looking at the camera during the action. Be aware of where the camera is at all times.
Don’t block the camera or ever put your back to it.
Never upstage another on-camera person.
When talking to the camera, don’t look off-camera (indicating there is action the viewer is not seeing).
Don’t lose continuity by:

Clothing change
Gear change
Positioning of people, gear, etc.
Random word changes

It’s your job as the show host to avoid all these problems—not the cameraman.
Intro’s and outro’s — Welcome back = reset (show name, host name and the location again). The further you get into the show you can leave stuff out.
Look at your guest when talking to the guest…but you can turn to the camera when you go to a “throw” or “break.”
If using a stick mic, don’t cover the face. Hold it low in front of the chin.
Ask the viewer what they want to know.
Make the guest look like a star—in the process, you will then look good.
Banter is better.
Always stay on topic.
Interviewing mistakes:

Interrupting (when guests take a breath take control back)
Looking away from your guest
Long questions
Excess body movement
Asking “yes or no” (close-ended) questions.

As the interviewee:

Look at the host, not the camera after you are introduced
Keep it short—just enough to get your point across
Reveal interesting information, keep anecdotes short.

In the studio: same rules of camera engagement.
Sit up and slightly forward, yet have a relaxed demeanor.
Eliminate hand movement.
If using the teleprompter, set the font size large enough (to avoid “reading eyes”)
On narration:

Pacing is important
Read slowly but with energy
Make it sound like spoken prose
Inflect the right tone
Be satisfied or re-do it.

What to wear: Blues, purples, greens are best. Avoid bright neon (solid white or black)
Keep blaze orange at the legal minimum.
Beware of the brim on baseball style caps — creates a shadow.
In the close, thank the viewer for watching and invite them back next time.

OWAA Conference — The Driftless Area

Presented by John (Duke) Welter, vice-chair of the National Board of Trustees, Trout Unlimited.

24,000 square mile area in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.
Characterized by a limestone bedrock that was not part of the last glacier activity (10,000 to 12,000 years ago)
Other names are blufflands, coulee regions—depending on the location. Basically same area.
Contains about 4,500 to 5,000 miles of coldwater streams in this area that harbor trout.
Algific slopes (aka refrigerated slopes).
These areas have their own unique insect life.
This area has a colorful social history: Trapping and trading, lead mining, Indian conflicts, Underground slave railroad, and more.
Upon settlement, much of the soil on the ridge-tops was susceptible to erosion through gully flooding.
The depths of the topsoil erosion(down in the lowlands) typically ranges from about 4’ to over 20’ deep.
Now, these rivers are carving their way through this eroded soil which comprises the river banks of these trout streams.
Contour farming, upland flood control dams, CRP and reforestation all improve the stream culture for trout.
Richard J. Dorer (state forest) is a model for reforestation to reduce erosion—both on private and state owned land.
If you can control the soil erosion these are really high quality trout streams.
Today, the erosion is from the streambanks and not the gully erosion from up higher on the bluffs.
For instance, over-grazing on streams breaks down the stream quicker.
So what needs to be done? Move forward the science of watershed restoration. Get funding for the projects and build regional identity.
Marry local TU chapters with a need with other (bigger) TU Chapters that perhaps don’t even have a trout stream in their area.
Local communities were also adopting streams and building up the stream quality.
Some of the projects have allowed different techniques to be tried to see what works best.
Not all efforts are being completed just for the benefit of trout, there are snake hibernaculum and turtle habitat also incorporated into the efforts. Some valleys even include habitat for migratory songbirds.
It was important that for lots of these efforts they needed to have public access guaranteed.
The goal has long been not to have any costs on the landowner.
Economic impact throughout the region is $1.1 billion per year in this region.
Quality of life is another big issue for this region.
Why is this area different from other trout spots around the country? These are small, intimate and challenging streams that can be tremendously challenging for the fisher.
It’s a place you go for your fairly private streams…there’s no epicenter of activity (like you find in streams in Western States). The good fishing is spread out over a large area of the region.
“Flyfishing Midwestern Spring Creeks” by Ross Mueller (suggested read)