Common Craft Blog
Booos and Yeahs - Coming Back By Popular Demand
By leelefever on August 09, 2007 - 10:50am
Boy, did we learn something about our videos. You like the booos and yeahs, eh? I think that's pretty clear.
It's funny. Did you know that the first time we did it for the RSS video it was completely spur-of-the-moment? The booo just seemed to fit in that moment of production - we had no inkling that it would be a trademark.
I'll take the blame for it not appearing in this video. I felt like it started to get a bit trite - I thought people might be getting tired of it. I was wrong.
I promise, cross my heart, that the next Common Craft Show video will have the booos and yeahs.Â
Thanks for letting us know what you think - for that I give you a big YEAAAHHH!
Woohoo!
Not to belabor the obvious, but the "boos" and "yays" really matched the informal tone of the videos, and made the videos more approachable and less intimidating for non-techies. I am among those that missed the boos/yays in the most recent video : ) Glad to hear they'll be back!
Nope
Too bad. The boos and yeahs were the primary reason I hesitated to show your videos in my work setting. They sound juvenile, not informal.
On Seeming "Juvenile"
Thanks for letting me know about your hesitancy to show the videos to your boss. I'm really fascinated and think it is an indicator.
We know our videos are not for everyone - and they should never be - we make no apologies for seeming "juvenile" because we believe that we could all use a little more levity in a world of boring monologues.
We have all the faith in the world that our videos will make it to the right people at the right time. If you, your boss or company can't be bothered with a video that seems "juvenile", then you are not a part of the market for what we do - and we're just fine with that.
what i think is too bad is
what i think is too bad is if a workplace can't recognize the value of outstanding instructional content simply because it might be deemed juvenile.
i personally think the reason why the boos and yeahs are so well-loved is because they accurately capture what most people genuinely feel when they discover, for example, the power of RSS...the frustration of wasting time digging through news articles to the liberation and empowerment of getting an RSS feed to work.
More boo/yeah
Hey, I really like the videos. They are great for helping mom and dad and the neighbor next door to get this stuff, and I've learned lots from them too. But I've hesitated to show them to my boss or my Executive Director. Sorry.
Juvenile schmoovenile
I freely post your videos on our intranet and encourage people throughout the company to watch. You take complex, slightly frightening technology and make it all make sense. Your wiki video is the best explanation of a wiki that I have ever seen--despite having CREATED wikis here in my workplace, I never truly "got" it until your video.
If you're afraid that your CEO or ED is just too--too what, exactly? Sophisticated? A true sophisticate would see the humor and appreciate the simplicity--anyway, I guess I'd be looking at my relationship with the ED rather than dissing the videos. These are some of the best workplace tools I've ever seen.
Yeah!!!