Amid a Feast of Foodie Videos, 6 Unusual Cooking Channels To Try on YouTube

Cooking on YouTube has become big business for audience views and chef revenue — but there are still a few truly quirky originals out there, from culinary canines to black metal vegans. Who knew?

I wrote this piece about YouTube's foodie success stories and some of its more, er, unusual cooking channels for KQED's Bay Area Bites blog, so go read it over there!

• Read Amid a Feast of Foodie Videos, 6 Unusual Cooking Channels To Try on YouTube

To Thine Own Sell Be True: or, Why Arts Marketing Isn't Going Far Enough

When I was about fourteen years old, I saw an actor named Samuel West perform Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company. If you'll permit me a bit of hyperbole, seeing this production at London's Barbican Centre kind of changed my life.

For the first time, I understood why this 'stuff' (Shakespeare, theatre, poetry, performance, everything) mattered, and how it could make my life better. It set me on a path in which the arts became my passion, my study -- and finally what I'm privileged to call my career.

The reason I am telling you this story is that over a decade later, I am following Samuel West on Twitter for old times' sake, and because he's funny. This, in particular, made me laugh a little while ago:

Lovely young wife falls for hard-drinking doctor; they plan woodland sex. Last two weeks of #UncleVanya. Tickets: bit.ly/WE6IZs
— Samuel West (@exitthelemming) January 14, 2013

It made me laugh because it's Uncle Vanya, silly -- how funny to sum up Chekov thus, and in a tweet, too! Just imagine if theatres really did promote their productions with this kind of campaign!

And then I stopped laughing and thought: if this type of approach were to get people through the doors, who cares?

What Facebook Graph Search Might Mean, or 'Last Recommendation in Brooklyn'

Facebook's Graph Search announcement yesterday has many people predicting the decline of other search services and platforms that the humans of Planet Earth would otherwise use for recommendations on what to do with their evening. And with the commentator focus on mining this functionality for guidance concerning, say, 'Mexican restauarants my friends have enjoyed in Brooklyn', I couldn't help wondering: when did the opinions and recommendations of our social circle become so important online?

Hey, I don't know any of these people!

What I mean is, speaking objectively: why should knowing somebody personally elevate their opinion above that of what might be termed an 'expert'? Just because my friend, er, Curly likes Mexican food and used to live in Brooklyn, why does that mean I should trust her experience or recommendation (as handed to me by Facebook Search) more than 450 reviewers on Yelp? Or (just imagine) a Brooklyn-based food critic, whose 50-year newspaper career has been dedicated specifically to the evaluation of local Mexican 'eateries'? Does knowing and (presumably) liking Curly make her recommendation any more valid, or me any more likely to agree with her tastes vis-a-vis carne asada?

Facebook 101!

I had the pleasure of visiting Facebook HQ down in Menlo Park, CA yesterday to participate in an awesome 'Facebook 101' Live Talk for the Facebook for Non-Profits Page, with Strategic Partner Manager Libby Leffler. We chatted about how to grow an authentic, appealing presence on the platform, what social media can do for the arts, and the tips and tricks behind some of our most successful social content at SF Ballet.

Cheers for the awesome opportunity, guys! You can watch the recording (and enjoy my effusive hand gestures) here on the Facebook for Non-Profits Page.

Tea and Posting in Las Vegas

Shamefully, I have not yet had the opportunity of mentioning what an awesome time I had last month on my trip as one of the three Community Manager of the Year award finalists at the Oracle Social Media Summit in 'Fabulous' Las Vegas. I can honestly say that the Wynn was the fanciest hotel I have personally blighted in my entire life, and spent an entire five minutes trying to wrench open the curtains in my palatial suite before working out that they were remote-controlled. (I'll stick the managing the communities, I think.)

When I wasn't attempting to destroy expensive furnishings, I finally had the pleasure of meeting my fellow finalists in person, the lovely Stacey Acevero and Jeff Esposito, as well as hearing from a wide range of speakers about their use of social media. I also had the fortune to be part of a panel on best Facebook practices, in which I spoke about the anatomy of a successful post.

Me with my fellow finalists Stacey and Jeff. I love this photo for two reasons: 1) I clearly can't smile appropriately, and 2) I have managed to photobomb myself via Twitter.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Hashtag

Indulging in a recent retrospective of my Twitter timeline—the 2012 equivalent of flipping through your baby photos—I came across this heartrending cri de coeur from my previous self: "Maybe life *would* be better if I just relaxed and learned to love wry hashtags." 

By happy coincidence, this was on the same day I read this beautifully serious-minded examination of the hashtag from the New York Times, which charts its evolution from simple topic aggregator to a bona fide 'literary device'. I'm pleased to say that after a conscientious program of self-reeducation, I myself did indeed learn to stop worrying and love the hashtag, but I'd still argue that my early objections to the medium hold some valid truth-nuggets for individuals, brands and organizations committing crimes against Twitter with a blunt tag:

Crime #1: Unnecessary. When I first started using Twitter, my key problem with hashtag use was that everyone was doing it (with trending hashtags as the proof.) I've since gladly accepted that hashtagging is actually a central part of the Twitter vernacular, a mode of expression that's evolved out of the necessary brevity of the platform and come into its own. But the worst-judged brand/organizational hashtags I see out there seem to be employing them just for the sake of doing so, because everyone else is—and wind up appearing misplaced, inappropriate or just plain embarrassing  My favorite example of how comical an incongruous hashtag can be comes in the shape of an endearingly befuddled Liam Neeson instructing fans via this promotional video to “tweet hashtag #Taken2Scene” with the air of a man who's just learned these words phonetically five minutes beforehand. This video is the reason I have my 'Not everything needs a hashtag' tattoo. (Just kidding! I got that done way before.)

Sometimes going through a YouTube video
frame-by-frame can really pay off

Some thoughts on Election Day

To tell you to truth (because I usually lie, duh), I hadn't expected to feel quite so powerless today.

For the past 1.5 years I actually rather enjoyed being able to escape campaigners proferring leaflets on the street with the words "Sorry, I can't vote"--delivered in an exaggeratedly cut-glass accent that explained the whole thing--but today I really feel I'd love to be able to fill in a ballot. This is because I love the city that I live in, and I also love the people I share it with, even if they do get a little 'shove-y' on the bus sometimes. I want my friends to have the rights that are currently denied to them, and for them to retain those that are under threat. To add my voice in support of them is what I want, but for now at least, I'll have to trust that a significant number of those around me feel the same way when they go to the polling stations today.

I've seen more than one post from friends online proclaiming that they can't wait until tomorrow, when their social media streams and feeds are free of people's 'political opinions'. Respectfully, I couldn't agree less--and not just because I think the word 'political' is redundant here. 'Politics' isn't something that happens somewhere else, to other people. It's the stuff that dictates how good our human lives are, and how the lives of others can be made better. The more we talk and listen, through the myriad of channels that are now open to us, the better people we become and the more we're able to consider a viewpoint outside of our own. So remind me: how is this a bad thing?

So, yeah: go and vote, Americans! I'll know if you don't.

The Unbearable Hugeness of Jupiter

What is the exact point at which 'much-needed perspective' becomes 'abject terror at the basic futility of human existence'?

Perspective.

Answer: "around the third click on this utterly amazing 'Magnifiying the Universe' interactive".

Enjoy your important weekend on this tiny, insignificant planet, friends!

Lessons from Sesame Street, Vol.17,998

It's clips like this that remind me that enthusiasm and sincerity are pretty much the best things in the world, and there's almost nothing they can't accomplish. And if it wouldn't make for such an unwieldy tattoo, I might consider getting that etched somewhere discreet.

For some context, it might help to clarify that this guy playing it straight on the Street is literally the coolest man alive. Be proud, folks!

10 Pointes for Gryffindor

I was interviewed about dance and digital by fellow social media* enthusiast Amanda McAlpine for her great blog 2pointesocial.com. You can read it here!

* or as nobody calls it, 'smedia'. Make it happen?

Community Manager of the Year Awards!

VERY exciting news: I've been chosen as one of the three finalists for Oracle/Vitrue's inaugural Community Manager of the Year award for my digital engagement work at this fine organization!

As with many awesome things, this started with a single tweet from a user who most kindly suggested our social media work would be a good fit for this award, which looks to "recognize and celebrate the incredible work being done by the fastest growing, most in-demand position in all of social network marketing." I'm delighted to say that my teabags and I are being sent to Las Vegas next month for Oracle's Social Media Summit, where I'll get to meet my talented co-finalists, speak about my work and hear what some of the most exciting people in my field are cooking up.

I'm particularly psyched that we're the only arts or non-profit organization represented amongst the finalists. Tea all round! See you in Vegas...

Adventures in Marketing: How could you, Don?

Perhaps I'm just resentful that $90 cardigans don't feature heavily on my shopping list, but even just passing the poster for the new Mad Men Collection at a well-known clothing store every day makes me grumpy. It's not that I object to retailers taking inspiration from cultural trends (far from it; the sooner H&M brings out a Clueless-inspired collection, the better as far as I'm concerned). It's more the dubious sell-out this represents for what is, to my mind, one of television's finest artistic achievements.

Adventures in Marketing: Pickin' on Hardly Strictly

I am unbelievably excited about attending my first Hardly Strictly Bluegrass later this year, such is the legendary fame of this much-loved free annual festival in Golden Gate Park. I'm also a huge fan of the way the organizers are building momentum to the event itself via their Facebook page, posting fan pics of previous events (complete with happy reminiscences from the snappers themselves), flagging folky gigs going on around town that might interest fans of HSB, and generally nurturing a lovely, unforced sense of community spirit. 

Most of all, I love their strategy for dripfeeding details of the line-up: by offering fans a Soundcloud 'Sneak Peek Medley' of the featured artists, and encouraging us to guess who's confirmed to play by working out who's featured on the audio. It's such a beautifully simple idea, and even when I can't guess all of the bands I'm hearing, I'm still listening to some fabulous music. This is how you promote something - with a semblance of heart. Cheers for the lesson, HSB folks!

Adventures in Marketing: Some unsolicited advice for Netflix

Who doesn't enjoy giving unsolicited 'expert' advice? Turns out it's fairly fun to read as well, which is why I love the idea of this 'Free Consultation' over at The Awl. The idea - that airlines could humanise their operations and curry some customer loyalty by letting booking customers know exactly which pilots and cabin crew they'll be flying with - is fun and rather neat, and I bet no-one's actually thought of it before.

It's also nice to see unsolicited advice being doled out as a positive concept, rather than a reaction to something gone wrong - which, if we're honest, is where the rest of us usually begin. (As self-designated squadron leader of Pedant Patrol, I'm a dreadful one for this, particularly when it comes to duff promotional text on websites and product packaging - but that's another story entirely.) Sadly, the only nugget of uninvited marketing wisdom I can offer right now is in this vein, to the beleaguered Netflix (that's the US Love Film, Brit readers), whose recent price hikes have inspired 90% of the US population to riot:

Guys -
In all honestly I don't really care that you've put your prices up by $6. What I do care about it finding out from an outraged Internet a whole seven hours before you get around to notifying me, your customer, by email. 

Now, let's not fall out again, as I have got a whole six seasons of The X-Files to rediscover via your Watch Instantly service and there's no way I'm actually buying those.

Carly 

That feels better. Now, what life-changing unsolicited advice would you offer to Big Bizniss, for a 'nominal fee'?