The first DNA2008 conference starts outside the Brussels Marriott. The hotel rolled out the red carpet for us, (but in this case, it was in black and white, but with our logo on it!) Nice touch.
When we started, we anticipated 150 delegates, if we were lucky. This morning we had 300. Pretty good for the first time out.
The panels were all well attended and pretty interesting. This one was on newspapers and magazines moving to video online. On board, the editors of The Daily Telegraph, UK; de Telegraph, Germany; the Chief Information Officer for McGraw Hill (Business Week, Aviation Week, etc..) …nice….
The most amazing thing about the VJ panel was that there was no dissention, (or hardly any). Not so many years ago, as Pat Loughery (L), Director of BBC Nations and Regions (their national news network) reminded me, we could not even mention the term without people going nuts. Today. not a single dissenting voice from 300 journalists and media execs. The concept is a done deal, at least in Europe. What a contrast to the US!
All in all, the first day went great.
Far better than we had even hoped for. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.
70 Comments
rosenblumtv March 11, 2008
Ah Nino
That is your problem.
“the gift of self-respect”.
You are in the only person you respect.
When one lives as you do, it makes for a rather a limited world .
Why don’t you start with the Manchester book.
You might find there are a few other people in the world perhaps as smart as you.
Maybe…maybe even smarter.
You never know.
Nino March 10, 2008
Michael, I know that you are smarter than that, you financially are not failing by a long shot, your students are. Your teaching skills and your business projections are the equivalent of a permanent pink slip. You are making it by the bucket while creating misery for others disguised as opportunities. To tell you the truth I wish I could do it too, but I couldn’t stand myself making a living that way. It takes a different kind of person that’s for sure and I’m glad I have the gift of self-respect.
rosenblumtv March 10, 2008
Dear Nino
Well I can’t think of anyone who paid good money to learn to be a failure either, which is why I have been in the VJ training/consulting business for nearly 20 years now and the thing just keeps growing like topsey!
Nino March 10, 2008
Michael, you are back at your puberty deficiency syndrome. What’s the difference what the philosophy of FOX is. Unquestionably you are a liberal and they are conservative. When I work for FOX Sport all I care is that they are good clients and they ask for quality, I don’t ask for their political tendencies.
Your diversions to hide your failures are getting ridiculously sad. $ can get a job and has a job and your VJs do not and can not, that’s the bottom line, their knowledge deficiency make them unemployable and unmarketable.
I can’t think of anyone ever who paid good money to learn how to be a failure.
rosenblumtv March 10, 2008
I note that your network today reported that gov eliot spitzer was resigning.
Yours was the first network with the story…and also the last…because they made that up too!
While the gov may indeed resign, fox news never let’s facts get in the way…and neither, of course, do you!
Hey! I think the xerox machine toner needs a refill!
$ March 10, 2008
Yet, still, you are unable to prove it by posting the stories you claim as your VJ work for all to see.
Even if it’s in your very own VJ school classroom.
That says it all.
rosenblumtv March 10, 2008
Dear $
Well, you have certainly proved you are no journalist and that you most assuredly work for fox news.
Like your network, you just make stuff up and ‘report’ it as fact.
Actually, I found the stories, pitched em, reported em, shot em, wrote em and cut em. Call tom bettag if you like!
Meanwhile, you better stop spending so much time screwing around on the web. Your boss is gonna catch you and you can kiss that $35k a year goodbye.
pencilgod March 10, 2008
ST sounds like you have given it all a lot of serious thought. Unfortunately/fortunately most people in the industry have never heard of Michael or his VJ’s so don’t let it color your thinking one way or another too much.
Now you need to think that deeply about what you want from the industry and how best to get it. There is no one way. Lots of dead ends but no one way.
My short advice is to look around and find what company is doing stuff you would like to do and have a talk to them about what they are looking for in an employee and go from there.
I’ve got to run… I’m shooting a Destination New Zealand series so I don’t know when I’ll be back near a computer.
BTW my presenter, producer, researcher, sound man and cam assist are all different people, being paid professional wages for a professional job.
And the presenter Kelly Swanson Roe even helps carry the tripod sometimes.
http://www.pacific-crews.co.nz/IM_Custom/ContentStore/Assets/6/2/ce686ab7d7049f0acc2b59292dc343ec.jpg
There is room for everyone. Even a few VJ’s… just a few.
$ March 10, 2008
Rosenblum,
What you did was no more than what any other local news photographer does.
You were on b-roll patrol.
Shot video. Did some interviewss.
Editing it yourself? No.
Writing the copy that was read on air?
No.
Voicing the story?
No.
Everything you claim about being a VJ didn’t happen with any of those stories.
If they did, you would have long ago posted them as examples. You don’t and we all know why. You most of all.
There is a place for VJs in many business models. But your over the top claims have time and again proven you yourself don’t know how to do the job or make it work in the real world of business other than hiring yourself in a school you’ve started yourself. Which you’ve done over and over again.
You’re your own best employer! You’ve also fired yourself several times too every time a business you start fails.
ST March 10, 2008
Nino, Pencil God, $ and Cliff,
I have been following your comments for the past couple of months now and needless to say I have learned so very much. Thank you.
I took Michael’s Travel Channel class in January and I have to say that it was indeed a good crash course for me. “Me†being an amateur in shooting video. After taking the course, in all honesty – I don’t expect to make huge money with what I have learned from that course, and I don’t expect to start creating amazing pieces for the T Channel. There is no way in hell I am leaving my day job to become a full time TJ or VJ. Nino is right, I need to get food on the table – think Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: in order to attain self-actualization one must be able to satisfy certain categories of needs such as biological need i.e. food. Although this does not mean I will not pursue making travel pieces, and try to get paid for them, this just means that I know where I stand.
There are two very valuable things I walked away with after that workshop:
I. It gave me a starting point to address my want and desire to make great travel pieces. I’ve always wanted to create travel stories because I thought that with my background (I’ve only lived in one country for 6yrs max – this is my 7th country) I had content to tell a better story. Not just some footage of a tubby bald guy going around the world to eat insects. With this came the desire to learn and the desire to gather information, assimilate it and incorporate it into what I want to create. Due to this want and desire to pursue something great I listen to everyone; I take no sides, instead I take it all in. I signed up to EFPlighting.com, I read this blog and the posting because it gives me good material to research, I read b-roll, and I subscribe to a lot of online magazines dedicated to shooting on a TON of formats.
II. The workshop gave me access to an outside critique system. I can submit my stuff to those poor guys who have to sift through my work and give me pointers. This is fantastic and I would love for them to rip my stuff apart.
These two points were worth the cash I had to dish out. In essence it gave me (an amateur) access to professionals. Having that is so important, I am lucky to have friends in the photography/cinematography/video world – professors, freelancers, editors, writers. They aren’t HUGE names, but they have been in the field for over 10 years and they point me to the good workshops, techniques, books, gear and all that good stuff.
I think that where the VJ falls short seems to be at the point where he believes that he has all the necessary acumen to become a bonafide journalist right off the bat. In fact I feel that this is where a lot of people across many fields fall short or catch themselves off guard by new approaches etc. In my field, corporate finance, it is very competitive amongst ourselves. Every year there is always a new kid on the block who thinks he is Wall St.’s new Gordon Gekko or Carl Ichan and you see them get chewed up and spat out. The sole reason for this is because they didn’t take the time to asses the situation and mentally note “What is it that I need to know in order to be successful?†instead they spent their time kissing ass and saying they could do things when they couldn’t. Come show time they fold. In the broadcast world it seems to me it is intuitive that crappy work leads you to fewer clients (and eventually none) but you have the chance to get better. In the finance world you get escorted out by security in front of all of your friends. In both fields, and truly in any field, the message is the same: Crappy work gets you nowhere.
There is a certain amount of humility that I feel is lost here in the US and especially amongst my generation and the generations following mine. It all comes back to the access thing, with technology comes bigger egos – people who think they can do anything, stars are born over night (just type in lightsabre boy on YouTube and see how many hits he got) but they burn out just as quick. Continuity comes from quality and the pursuit of it.
There may or may not be a future for VJ’s/TJ’s out there but there is always a future for impassioned people who want to learn it all. I am not saying that passion is all you need to become successful in this field, but I believe that if you truly are passionate about what you do, you take every measure to learn the ins and outs, the new and the old, the language of the field and who is who. It just so happens that all of that gets you so much closer to making money in the field. My philosophy as to how I am approaching this entirely new field:
Aim high, expect less. Keep your ears close to the ground and eyes everywhere.
Cliff, I am not a ‘detractor’ but these guys are veterans. Instead of running face first into Roman Legionnaires armed to the teeth consider your strategic options. Rage Against the Machine is a great example. A great band that was anti-institutional, what label did they sign with? Sony. Huge, corporate institution, WHY? Because Sony has a great marketing system which allowed Rage access to people and get their message out. I think that you have to know and use the system before you break it. I think we should take in what they say, all of it, continue going to workshops and become better. I’m in the same boat as you, probably on a smaller boat even and there is a lot of rowing to be done. I know for sure that both you and I can benefit from these guys. They may not be here to cheer us on, but at the same time, in reality, who (besides family –hopefully) really is there to cheer us on anyway?
Nino – your work is great. I can only dream to accomplish that in my lifetime. For someone who has worked extremely hard to get to where you are at now, I can only imagine how it would feel for someone to come out and tell you it will all disappear. Although, I do feel that there is a place for VJs, the amount of content that web audiences demand is significant and at the same time I agree with you that the best quality work will prevail. I think that with new technology (in this case not just cameras but, more so, internet as a new channel) there are always new comers and some old timers don’t catch up. The great ones are the ones that can use that technology to their advantage by fusing new and old. I would imagine that the principles are the same, composition and lighting are always going to separate the pros and amateurs. I am sure I don’t need to tell you this since you have been around and have seen a lot. As an amateur though, I think it is important for me to be able to say to you that not all VJs/TJs are the same. Some of us want to make great work and are 100% all ears and 0% egos.
Pencilgod, & $ – I’d hate to run into you guys on a good day! Ha. Jokes aside, getting the inside perspective from you guys helps to put things into scope. I don’t expect to go into broadcast journalism and I don’t expect to become a full time VJ. I’m sure you are thinking “Good. It isn’t happening!†but I have questions for you both, and Nino as well. Is there room for people who do want to get into the field without formal training (no journalism/photography degree etc., maybe workshops at the most)? Do you feel that there is a necessity for lower cost crews and how do you feel the industry will address it? Also, does it take a certain type of person to make it in this field, if so what kind?
Thanks guys.
-S.
rosenblumtv March 10, 2008
Hey $
Trust me, I have a full time career. 🙂
As for the piece I did, you’re a journalist, (I think). go find em. I am all over ’em, including my voice and face!
and of course, what IS it you do, exactly?
best
me
$ March 10, 2008
Running a school for VJs is not a full time VJ career. No different than someone who teaches journalism at a college can claim they are a working journalist.
You sir have a difficult time speaking the truth.
Sadly for you, the number of failed VJ projects in your wake speak volumes about what you do and don’t know.
$ March 10, 2008
Rosenblum.
You are no VJ.
Your work you site did NOT include your voice on camera, nor YOU doing the editing.
In other words. NOT VJ.
Nino March 10, 2008
Michael, you took credit for many shows in the past five years that people that worked on those shows never even heard of you, myself included. Why don’t you show us some of the work the you did as a VJ for all there national shows that you are taking credit for?
rosenblumtv March 10, 2008
Dear $
Come on, fess up now.
You are no journalist.
But you sure work at Fox News.
Just like them, you make stuff up, present it as fact with no research and then slander people.
(Are you Bill O’Reilly, perhaps? Or maybe you just work for him).
I have,in fact, worked as a VJ for Nightline, MacNeil/Lehrer, Christian Science Monitor (when it was a TV show), CBS News and others. (I did this while you were, no doubt, making coffee at Fox news and xeroxing rundowns.)
My work as VJ led to my ‘full time VJ career’. (how do think I got here). Your work of coffee making and xeroxing no doubt led to your full time career, (whatever that is – I mean besides posting on my site).
$ March 10, 2008
Perhaps, Cliff, what we accomplished is to encourage you to actually get yourself employed as a VJ.
Of course you, like Rosenblum, find it easier to play victim and avoid the truth.
You avoid admitting you’ve been unemployed as a photographer and VJ for more than a decade. Preferring to talk about classes you took so long ago but never any real full time jobs using those award winning visual talents you claim you have.
Rosenblum avoids admitting he has never produced any VJ product all on his own that led to a full time VJ career anywhere.
Nino March 10, 2008
Cliff, it’s a simple formula
EDUCATION=skills=jobs=making a living.
When the formula gets broken at the start you have no job and make no living and this is exactly what’s been happening to the VJs .
“it is readily apparent that you three are determined to drive away all who come here in a positive attitude”
I admire you for your tenacity but may I remind you that you and Michael are the only one here with positive attitude toward VJ? 9000 trained by Michael and not a single one has anything positive (or anything at all) to say about his status as VJ?
Maybe the reason of failure is not enough knowledge or skills? Try learning more and doors will open for you, but the first step is to realize that you need to know much more that you really do, but when you think that you already know it all and you fight those who are trying to make you understand that you just haven’t got it, it will never happen for you.
pencilgod March 10, 2008
Video isn’t as easy as it looks.
My point exactly.
Michaels VJ model is based on the premise that video is easy. So easy that as he tells us constantly any 12 year old can do it… he used to say a 9 year old but even he gave up on that.
What you have discovered is the reality doesn’t match the spin.
That is all we really have been saying. Everything else is fluff and fun.
If you are going away I hope you use the time to think about promise vs practice.
Michael preaches promises, we practice what we preach.
If you really want to learn email me or even Nino, you might be surprised how much help we are willing to give someone who really passionately wants to learn our craft.
Stephen
Cliff Etzel March 09, 2008
pg said:
That’s a good question. Video isn’t as easy as it looks. I make no qualms that I have a ways to go. That doesn’t mean I won’t get there. The challenge I have is the three amigo’s that generate 99% of the negative comments on this site seem to forget that at one time, they were first starting out themselves. That is the challenge I have. If the attitude was one of mentorship instead of condescension, maybe there would be acceptance of what you have to say – until that time comes, forget it.
$ – your response is again an example of what not to be like.
Nino – Where did Washington come from? In addition – what makes you think a so called “EDUCATION” somehow qualifies anyone to practice a profession like shooting video? That is another part of your archaic mentality and why you haven’t earned any respect from me or anyone else here. If you’d shut your mouth and actually quit filtering what is being said here through your prejudices – and responding as such, you might find that others would be willing to listen to what you have to say.
I am going to take an extended leave from this venue since it is readily apparent that you three are determined to drive away all who come here in a positive attitude – well, you drove another one away – proud of yourselves?
Nino March 09, 2008
Cliff, do I have to make another search? Remember that big award from Washington that you claimed you received, and after I did a search of the recipients your name was nowhere to be found and we never heard you mentioning that again? If you are so proud of your accomplishment why not display your work in your blog. If you are looking for credibility then also display your education and training on your resume, not just “call meâ€. Also you have a 15 years gap that’s a little hard to digest for someone making your claims.
The problem that have been afflicting VJs, and that’s worldwide, is Michael’s brainwashing. He is no different that cult leaders that seek out weak persons to brainwash. He tried with professional but we saw thru him after the first few words he said, his only hope to make money was to find those who could not make it in any area of TV productions and convince them that they are the future, his teaching and they inner abilities will change television forever. Cliff is the poster child example of all this, untrained, uneducated and convinced that he is the future but can’t even find a place in the present. He, just like many others keeps hanging on to the messiah (Michael) prediction that “take my word, it will happen†only every time that “will†arrives and becomes “now†he has a new timeline and a new “willâ€, and these idiots still hang to “it will happenâ€. I can’t help comparing him to those self proclaimed evangelists who keep sucking every penny to poor weak individuals with the promise that the “messiah will returnâ€, and while they keep praying the evangelist goes around on his private jet and drives Lamborghini. And BTW there’s a congressional investigation taking place about these evangelists.
We’ve been hearing that “we are afraid of them and they are the future†from VJs here in the states, from Europe and even from those TJs trained at the travel channel, this is Michael’s method to get to their wallets, convince them that we the trained and skilled established professionals are washed out and the industry needs new blood. My predictions always were that by the time that these folks realize that they’ve been had and their acquired skills will get them as far as places like Youtube, Michael will be far gone, and as predicted Michael along all the VJ/TJ’s money is off to Europe and Africa to find an all new crap of suckers while looking back laughing and whispering: “thanks for you money and so long suckersâ€.