Thursday, January 25, 2007
Things are going so well. We have another wish granted (more details coming)! I'm at Sundance right now and will be posting a video of some stuff we are doing here. So much to tell you all. When I catch my breath I will update you all.

Paul

UPDATE:
I will be putting up a new post today! Sorry for the delay. My back was out and I was in bed for three days straight. My back hurt so bad that I could barely move. I'm also going to move to just updating with Youtube quick capture, so it will cut down on my editing time. I will also be uploading all my video episodes to stage6.com. After March 8th I will have time to put up more footage of the 8 wishes project. This new approach should take some pressure off of me and allow me to update my blog more often. Thanks for hanging in with me. Please give me some feedback, and ideas on how to spread 8 wishes.

Paul
posted by Caridad @ 2:32 AM   15 comments
Thursday, January 11, 2007
First Wish Granted - Interview with Paul Orfalea!


1st Wish Granted! Paul Orfalea - video powered by Metacafe

This video should give encouragement to children with dyslexia. Paul Orfalea is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country, and he achieved all of this despite (or because of) his dyslexia. His story has given me a lot of inspiration for my 8 Wishes, and it was amazing to meet someone who is so much like me. Knowing all this gives me hope.

8 things you can do to help me get my wishes:

***Make sure to watch the revised version of the video that started it all***
All funds made from this video will also be donated to DARC: $5 for every 1,000 views!

10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe
posted by Caridad @ 11:59 PM   1 comments
HELP US MAKE THE FRONT PAGE!


Digg!



10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe
posted by Kristen @ 3:50 AM   4 comments
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Since we started this project 30 days ago, I've learned a lot, met some amazing people, and realized a lot of things:

1. The power of relationships: Paul Orfalea taught me how to put faith and trust in the people I choose to join me in this. I don't have time to evaluate or test my teammates; I work on gut alone.

2. The power of the internet: There are more avenues than I ever imagined, and people have real influence on the world outside our computers.

3. The competitiveness: The abundance of great content was far beyond what I thought, and we are competing against some smart, creative people.

4. FUNdraisers can be fun: We know we can make an impact and we can have fun doing it, so its important to me that we keep this fun and exciting.

The past few days have been a whirlwind for our team, and it's led me to make some big changes in our plan. Honestly, I'm just not ready for this to end yet. I want to get all of these wishes granted, and I believe we can do it. In fact, I truly believe it would already be done if the right things had serendipitously or rightfully happened. Unfortunately, I made a couple errors in judgements, caught a few bad breaks, and set the bar much higher than a team of hundreds could really reach. However, as Maria Shiver wrote to me before my trip, "shoot or the moon if you miss, at least you'll be amongst the stars," so we might not have hit the moon, but now we have a chance to join the stars.

The changes:

First, wish #7 (previously, to be on 21 talk shows) is now "To be Featured on 88 Websites/Blogs." See lesson #2 above. This project is also about proving the power of social media. I believe that if we achieve this goal, the talk shows and mainstream media will naturally follow.

Second, we have extended the deadline for 58 more days to a total of 88 days. The new deadline is coincidentally March 8. I had originally set the false deadline to keep it exciting and so I could join The World By Road (TWBR) in February. I decided that I can serve TWBR better from behind my computer, helping to promote their trip. Now, I can extend the 'deadline' as long as I need to in order to get the funds needed to help these kids.

As we take on this journey, I want to thank all our supporters and doubters for keeping this going. Your support makes me feel really good about what we're doing, but doubt really fuel my fire. If it wasn't for the criticism and naysayers, I wouldn't have the energy to devote so much of myself to granting these wishes. I hope everyone sticks around to see the result.

Here is 8 things you can do below to help me get my wishes:

Make sure to watch the revised version of the video that started it all. All funds made from this video will also be donated to DARC: $5 for every 1,000 views!

10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe
posted by Kristen @ 12:02 AM   5 comments
Thursday, January 04, 2007

Well I can't wait anymore. I have to tell you what wish came true yesterday! I meet with Paul Orfalea for 3 hours! It was like talking to myself. He is a hero of mine. He started Kinko's and has dyslexia. His interview will inspire so many kids that have dyslexia! If I had to explain Paul in a video this would be him:
VIDEO LINK
Of course more details and video footage will becoming about the meeting we had. The interview blew me away.

Paul






Here is 8 things you can do below to help me get my wishes!:


Make sure to watch the video that started it all. All funds made from the video below will also be donated to DARC!

10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe
posted by Caridad @ 6:30 AM   6 comments
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
1st wish today! Will tell you about it soon!!!! Watch our new trailer below:



Love you guys! Thanks for all the emails and comments.

Paul
posted by Caridad @ 10:36 AM   6 comments
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Is YouTube becoming MaybeTube?
Digg!

Attribute it to the Google deal or not , truth is that things have changed at YouTube.  On New Year's Eve, YouTube featured its own celebrities, real world celebs, and then was kind enough to offer a spot to "maybe you!"  Maybe?  MAYBE YOU, DID I READ THAT RIGHT? (screenshot )

Funny thing is, I was really excited to see what they were cooking up for New Years...  But to my disappointment they choose "A listers and Youtube Celebrities."  Why would they give another platform to people that already have a huge platform?  To be the best it can be, YouTube should continue to give a chance to the unsigned artists , the diamonds in the rough ! Youtube should focus all their enegy on unsigned artists and the diamonds in the rough

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of lot of these A-listers and youtube "celebs," but why do they need another chance to get even more exposure?   I don't go on YouTube to see the rich and famous.  I want to see the undiscovered become discovered on an equal playing field, which YouTube has become famous for.  But, my dear, longtime friends, have You forgotten what got You to where You are today?  I love YouTube as much as the next starving new media artist, and that's why I figured I owe honest feedback.

Why am I so enraged?  Featured videos have a sharp advantage over the rest-- careers have been launched, a lot of money has been made, CAUSES HAVE BEEN STARTED, and lives have been changed, usually because something gives the "Feature Editor" a nice laugh.   I'm not sure what the motivation is now, but it doesn't ring true to what YouTube strives to be: "a consumer media company"

Why?  To use Seth Godin's words : It’s Broken. (As we shared last week, he has some theories on the broken user experience, shared in a pretty funny video).  Aside from their NYE decision, here's why YouTube needs fixing:

Firefox Reload.  As we all know, video views are an important metric, but now users are able to abuse the system with automatic page views through Firefox ReloadWhy hasn't this been fixed ?  As one Digg user points out, "It was to youTubes advantage to play dumb on page view fraud, it bosted their numbers too."

Share the wealth I regret not focusing all my attention on promoting my Metacafe video.  At least we could have recieved extra funds for our cause through their Producer Awards.

Putting more $$ in Big Pockets. Due to some deal, some major media players get the Director Videos slot on the top of the home page to promote material.  According to MediaShift, the Vice President of Communication for CBS would "like to attribute [the big video-view numbers for CBS clips] to the fact that it’s good content."  Right, its definitely not attributed to the prime real estate you're given.  Without this advantage, our video has 25,000 views, led to a spot on Fox News, and granted one of my wishes (to be announced shortly).  Maybe we can attribute it to good content?

They should be more transparent about the process. Or content providers will go else where.  Of course, if it's too clear to users what makes a 'good video' then You run the risk of videos catered to those criteria. In my opinion, the community should decide what's best and deserves a spot on the front page, much like a Digg system or Metacafes videorank system.

Higher quality resolution!  For example, check out what Stage6 is doing (By the way, a penny is donated for every view of our vidoe on at Stage6). For many content providers, it breaks our hearts to see our video squished down to a blurred video.

I hate when people just complain, so I have solutions and, believe me, they will be posted here at my blog. Here is just one: to make money just put 15 to 30 commercails at the end of the videos.  It will be up to the corporations and their creative marketers to make it entertaining enough for the viewer to stick around. I know I wouldn't mind if an ad popped up at the end of a video, and if it was as entertaining as another user video, I would watch it.

In the end, its all about You, and a level playing field. Mark my words now, if I ever have the honor of becoming a YouTube "celeb" (which is the dumbest term I ever heard of because I believe everybody is a celeb on youtube), I don't want to be given special treatment and an unfair advantages over other up and coming stars.  I also sincerely hope my MaybeTube theory is disproven, because the online video world will leave them spinning and we'll be left with "WhoTube?"

As Steve Garfield said in 2004, this will be the year of the video bloggers.  I'm saying it now: 2007 will be the year video bloggers take over the world.   Not convinced?  Just check out what my friends are doing my friends.

(And a note to those of you think I'm just bitter:  I love YouTube, and that's why I had to make my case on this.  Our 8 Wishes video has 27,000 views, and that equates to thousands of people who are helping us make a difference, so thank YouTube!  And I'll always love to watch Your videos.)







Here is 8 things you can do below to help me get my wishes!:


Make sure to watch the video that started it all. All funds made from the video below will also be donated to DARC!


10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe
posted by Caridad @ 7:12 AM   9 comments
Monday, January 01, 2007
TAG!  I want your 8 Wishes, so we're starting a chain.  I'm first on the meme (you know my wishes) and I'm tagging 8 bloggers:

ShoeMoney
Viral Garden 
FredCast
Will Video for Food
Beth's Blog
Technically Speaking
Widgets Lab
Kristen (AllMyCauses)

Please post your 8 Wishes and TAG 8 more bloggers!  

Watch my 8Wishes video on the top of right side bar.

posted by Kristen @ 7:55 AM   2 comments
Welcome to 8 wishes!


The Video That Started It All:



Please rate and comment on this video at youtube:
VOTE FOR VIDEO HERE


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Where Does the Money Go?
Learn about the 501c3 Charities

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Learn how and why I've made these wishes

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Send your 8 wishes to me!

About us
Meet Paul and the 8 Wishes team

More Info on Solo Ride...
Learn about the film behind 8 Wishes

Contact Me!

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Contact me HERE

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