The VirtualStudio.TV Blog

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  Trainee Studio Manager job in Cambridge available at VirtualStudio.TV

  27th March 2012 by Sean Malone 7 comments

  We’re looking for a sharp and switched on Trainee Studio Manager to join our team and help us produce, shoot and edit videos and virtual events.
  
  We are an innovative, fast-growing and ambitious company which has developed a new way of producing and streaming videos and virtual events. We want to add a great new member to the team as we look to expand the business further in 2012. If you have a passion for video editing and production and are looking to start a career in the industry, then call off the search, put your feet up and read on!

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  6 Ways to use video to market your business

  24th January 2012 by Sean Malone 2 comments

  During the 1960’s, pretty much the only company in Britain practicing any form of integrated marketing was the Hoover Company. Their vacuum cleaner salesmen would start their day by reciting the company’s marketing mantra: “He who wishes down the well about the goods he has to sell, will never make as many dollars, as he who stands on top and hollers!”
  
  A modern take on that 60’s classic would be: “Stop wasting time working on endless planning; get out there and make some noise.” And the easiest, most cost effective way of making some marketing noise, is to make a video.
  
  Today, video is the attractive, persuasive and affordable medium of marketing communication. Make a professional quality HD video from around £650, post it on YouTube and within seconds you can be reaching-out to an audience of millions – that’s what I call making a noise, at an incredibly low cost.

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  5 Reasons why you need to have videos on your website

  27th September 2011 by Sean Malone 2 comments

  Following the launch of YouTube in 2005 there has been an explosion in the growth of web videos around the world and in the next 24 hours more than 3 billion videos will be watched on that site alone!
  
  We love producing Internet Videos andVirtual Events for our clients and really enjoy working in an industry where there is such a huge range of companies offering different creative video solutions for people all over the world.
  
  There are thousands of different uses for online video but I have listed below my 5 reasons why you need to have videos on your website.
  
  1. You want to communicate a lot of information in a few seconds; what your products, or services look like and the kind of people you are. All of this can be done in a punchy 60 second video clip, rather than more than 200 words of text. Due to the huge increase in email traffic and squeeze on available time in recent years, people today and in the future are far more likely to take the time to view a video than read a page of text...

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  Filming Video Projects in Africa - 10 Tips to Help you Plan & Prepare

  21st September 2011 by Sean Malone 1 comments

  If you regularly film and produce videos in Africa then you probably won’t need to read this post as you will know the following information already. However, if you are about to begin filming a video project in Africa for the first time, you might want to read my top ten tips to help you plan and prepare.
  
  I have worked on a number of projects in Africa - in Malawi and Madagascar and have always enjoyed my trips to the continent. Filming projects in Africa is very different to what I am used to in the UK and I have picked up a few tips and tricks I would like to share with you.
  
  1. Don’t do it. The chances are that you will be working for an NGO, or a charity, which means that money and budgets will be tight. In many cases it will be cheaper and more cost effective for you to employ another agency based in Africa to film content for you that you then edit at a later stage (although this option could also open up another box of potential problems further down the line!). However, if you can afford to work for very little, it could well be the best experience of your life!

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  How to get permission to film in a public place

  22nd July 2011 by Sean Malone 24 comments

  After years of shooting corporate videos in the streets of Britain and America, here are my top ten tips for getting permission to film in a public place:-
  
  1. Don’t ask: get the camera out and start filming. The chances are that nobody will challenge you, and by the time that they do you’ll probably have finished shooting the scene anyway. In the UK there are no laws to prevent anyone filming on public streets. Trespass is not a crime it’s a civil matter. In most states in the USA Trespassing is a misdemeanour; and in order for someone to be considered a trespasser a sign must be posted and the person must be asked by the owner or a Police Officer to leave and refuse to do so.
  
  2. Understand a bit about the law: Trespass on railway property, electricity sub stations and places like military installations is a criminal offence. Unreasonable obstruction of the highway (pavement) is also a criminal offence. In both cases a successful prosecution would normally depend on you being given (and failing to respond to) a reasonable request to comply with instructions and exit the area. When filming in London be aware of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008: an offence is committed when there is a reasonable suspicion that film footage is intended to be used to provide practical assistance to terrorists.

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  The use of Internal Communications videos set to rise in the UK

  27th June 2011 by Sean Malone Be the first to comment

  We run Leadership Communication Workshops all over the world, and last week, delegates attending our Workshop in Seattle from one of the world’s biggest IT companies told me that they are routinely producing short videos for internal communication bulletins, training programmes and marketing case studies. The scale of their video production is jaw dropping. Five years ago external production companies were producing 5 videos a year for them, today they are producing 5 videos a day for themselves!
  
  The big question is why has this growth been so explosive and is it set to continue? The answers are threefold:-

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  Tips on how to present a business video

  13th June 2011 by Sean Malone 2 comments

  Knowing how to present a business video is a skill that takes time to master. The explosion in online video has led to a huge increase in the number of business people producing videos about their products and services which is great. Being the face of your company on video is a great way of connecting with customers and giving an insight as to the personality and nature of your business. Whenever we film here at VirtualStudio.TV we give tips and guidance on how to improve your performance on camera and I wanted to share some of them in this blog post. Here’s my check list of 10 things guaranteed to help you become a better presenter on video:-
  

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  We can turn your PowerPoint presentation into a “Presentation Video"

  23rd May 2011 by Sean Malone 97 comments

  Over the last year we have made a number of product developments at VirtualStudio.TV and I am very pleased to be able to announce the launch of our brand new “Presentation Videos” offering. Over the last 25 years I have suffered, as I am sure you have too, from many bouts of “death by PowerPoint”. You know exactly the type of presentations I mean - full of text, hard to read and almost impossible to understand!
  
  Our new product allows people to combine their speech and presentation into one easy to view and understand video that can be shared with a global audience via the internet.
  
  The ingredients needed to create Video PowerPoint are simple. We shoot a presenter in front of a green screen, add some PowerPoint and then mix the ingredients together to create a compelling video, which you can stream to the web, email as a WMV file, or add to your website as a Flash or Silverlight video.
  
  To give you a feeling of what the finished product looks like, we made a video of Rachel explaining this on our website in this video...

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  10 steps to help overcome a fear of public speaking

  6th April 2011 by Sean Malone Be the first to comment

  I have more than 20 years’ experience training and coaching people to become better public speakers. I would say of the hundreds of people I have worked with around 90% strongly dislike having to stand up and address an audience. Many people fear it far more than any visit to the dentist or a trip to the very top of a tall building!
  
  There are any number of reasons why someone might be uncomfortable getting on their feet to present to an audience. In my experience by far and away the biggest reason is fear and the effect this has on their ability to present live.
  

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  10 reasons why some Virtual Events fail

  30th March 2011 by Sean Malone 2 comments

  According to the Virtual Edge (@virtualedge) in 2010 83% of meeting planners saw the need to add virtual elements to their meetings and events. We have seen a major increase in the number of customers asking us for online alternatives to conventional large scale events and the technological developments in the virtual events industry have been significant in recent years. I firmly believe that in the coming years virtual events will become far more mainstream and it will be fascinating to see how the industry evolves.
  

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