NextGenWeb’s Social Media for Staffers series continued recently with an in-depth exploration of online video, a medium that is rapidly becoming a staple communications tool in Congressional offices.  We assembled panels of Democratic and Republican experts to share their experiences and best practices for equipment, content and distribution, with their respective parties.

Republicans:
•    Katie Harbath, NextGenWeb
•    Justin Germany, former Director of Online Media at John McCain 2008, Principal of Outlaw Media
•    Seamus Kraft, Director of New Media and Deputy Press Secretary, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Democrats:
•    Shana Glickfield, NextGenWeb
•    Erick Sanchez, Office of Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH)
•    Quentin Kruger, Digital Media Producer and Former Director of Photography, New Media, Obama for America
•    Philip de Vellis, Vice President of New Media for Murphy Putnam Media

Overall, our experts agreed that almost every office communication has an opportunity for a video supplement.  Sometimes the biggest challenge with video projects can be getting the Member comfortable with it.  But not only do reporters and constituents increasingly expect video, but our panelists proved that using video is actually easy, low cost and extremely compelling.

The basic tools you’ll need to get going are an HD video camera, microphone(s) and a tripod.  Once you have the equipment, you’re ready to start recording.  And, you don’t have to be perfect.  It’s okay to stumble on your words a bit, lose eye contact or share raw footage.

Some ideas for video:
•    Put your boss on a video stream during a tele-townhall and have staff monitoring the chat during the event.
•    Involve your users by asking them for their thoughts via video.  Post a style sheet that includes technical requirements, so they can submit video, too.
•    Redistribute highlights and clips from TVI’s or C-Span.
•    Feature behind-the-scenes office activities.  What seems mundane to seasoned Hill staff can be very exciting to your constituents.

To ensure your videos get attention from the public, make reporters and constituents aware of your video streams.  Once you post the video on YouTube (or Vimeo, Viddler or any other uploading tool), you can also embed them on your website, and then post them on Twitter and Facebook.

Analytics are great for measuring results and planning to be more efficient as you grow your video base.  You should go back and see where most of your video traffic comes from, so you know where to focus distribution efforts in the future.   You can also see what types of videos generate the most interest and do more on those topics and/or formats.  You can even see what time of day people watch the videos.  Experts warn not to expect Obama-like results.  Sometimes even just 100 views can be considered a big success!

A few more tips and tricks from our experts:
•    Good audio can make a low-resolution video seem 10 times better.
•    Even if your camera has HD capabilities, many videos will look good in standard and will take less time and bandwidth to distribute.
•    Get background music from places like PumpAudio, iStock or Creative Commons.
•    Use Ustream or BlogTV for streaming video, but make sure to test bandwidth
•    Be descriptive in your video title, so people will want to click, watch and share.
•    Treat videos like a press release and make sure all parties involved in the video are aware of it before you distribute.
•    Keep videos organized by archiving them by constituent issue code, date and location.

In the digital era, member communications are growing much more rich and diverse.  Online video is just one more innovative and compelling example of how broadband can bring citizens and their government closer together.

Photo: Democratic Panel in HC-7 of Capitol Building

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.