How do you boil down such an important day, packed full of inspiring wisdom and wonderful moments,  into a soundbite? Well, the short answer is you don’t!

“If I’d had more time, I’d have written a shorter letter!”***

Conventional wisdom says that very few people watch long videos online. In fact, depending on whose statistics you use, less than 25% to 50% of viewers will finish a video that’s over four minutes.

The “sweet zone” appears to fall between 20 and 90 seconds, with the first 10 seconds being critical if you are producing a marketing video. Still, shorter is key. I mean, who wouldn’t watch at least 20 seconds of a video with baby beagle howling?

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Congratulations to the Red Class of 2012!

Commencement 2012 went off without a hitch. The weather was beautiful and the graduates were incredibly classy. Now begins the next life chapter for our graduates, and the next big Trinity event (Reunion) for the staff.

Well, actually, only for most of the staff. The Communications/Web Team have miles to go before Commencement 2012 sleeps. Over 5,000 photographs were taken on May 20th that had to be sorted through and edited, with the very best being posted to SmugMug by last Friday.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is week, May 7-11, 2012, is Teacher Appreciation Week 2012.

Everyone should take some time to think about the amazing teachers you’ve had and thank them for their hard work.

Teachers Inspire

Mrs. T. Sealove loved pigs. She played “The Cat Came Back” song on a record and sang along for us. I learned to love science, and dinosaurs especially, in her first grade class. For years afterwards, I wanted to be a first grade teacher just like her.

Ms. Clark taught me that I could sing and sightread music (something I would never have believed I could do). She was amazingly open and supportive of everyone. She even helped me record an audition tape for a Girl Scout Wider Opportunity (“Maybe” from Annie)–I got the Wider Opp (now called Girl Scout Destinations)! Her choir room was a port in the tempestuous storm of high school. I bawled my eyes out at my senior choir concert and still miss singing in HER chorus.

Thank You!

Who would you thank?

Did you see it?! The Space Shuttle Discovery just cruised on by in its final piggy-back ride to the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian in Dulles, VA.

We all rushed to our co-worker’s window; she had the best view. And then we watched, breathless, as this piece of history made a circle over the city and headed off to Virginia.

This is one of those moments that makes DC such an amazing city in which to live!

And technology lets us remember it . . . more or less.

Smart phones allow us to capture images in a spontaneous way that is unmatched by most other methods.

But the quality does leave something to be desired. Honestly, I feel a bit like a Bigfoot stalker or the alien abductee.

“It’s the Shuttle! I SWEAR!! Why don’t you believe me?!
And, also, you can see  Elvis hiding below in the trees…”

But, at least, I saw the Shuttle fly over, even if my tech leaves it mostly to the imagination. I love DC!

Did you see it, Trinity? What did you think?

I am always amazed at how long video editing takes. I feel I should be used to it by now, but, like Joss Whedon’s deviousness regarding the death of beloved characters, it surprises me every time.

Generally, the longer the event, the more person-hours required to cull through the footage and splice it down to a usable format.

No wonder it’s many months after a film “wraps” before we see the final product. James Cameron’s movie, Titanic, was 40 minutes longer than it actually took the ship to sink. Think how long the film editing must have taken!

Despite length considerations, I’m finding that speaking events, like Sister Teresita’s inspiring words, are actually easier to edit (for the most part) than less “linear” events like the great Easter Egg Hunt from last week.

And, regardless of how long the process takes, all the work is worth it when you have a video you love. (Watch the videos now!)

The Process

Sounds so ominous, doesn’t it?

• “Linear” Event Process
• “Non-Linear” Event Process

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No Photoshop! Just holiday lights and a moving camera. By Shannon Wyss

It’s Friday afternoon, 4:30pm. Do you know whether that photo you are looking at on Facebook is real? Is Nicholas Cage really a vampire?

Think About…

It’s hard to say these days if anything is real on the internet. But then what defines “real”?

• When does a photo stop being a photo?
• Dangerous Art of Retouching
• Fotoshop by Adobé
• Your Turn

When does a photo stop being a photo?

On one hand, Photoshop can create some beautiful works of arts.

So when does a photo stop being a photo? When is it visual art and not photographic art? Is there even a line?

• Take this gorgeous photograph–Nature at her best!  Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the winter wonderland of debt reduction techniques!

by Kam Shots

We aren’t getting any winter weather around here. However, when you talk about debt reduction, you get your very own frozen fun.

• Debt Snowball
• Debt Avalanche
• Credit Card Popsicles and Other Tips
• Mint.com – One Site to Rule Them All!

Debt Snowball

Despite fun mental images to the contrary, the Debt Snowball approach does not involve making giant spitballs out of your credit card billing statements and bombarding company executives with them.

Instead, for Debt Snowball approach, you: Read the rest of this entry »

Who doesn’t love cute animals, inspiring music, and Ferris Bueller? No one, hopes the Super Bowl ad agencies. But some decency standards can apparently be overlooked!

Did you know that, according to the AP, 30-second ad spots for the Super Bowl sold for as much as $35 million?! I bet you and I can come up with better ways to spend that cash.

Astronomical price aside, as in previous years, there were some innovative ads, some notable ads, some offensive ads, and a whole bunch that I couldn’t remember 30 seconds after I saw them (for those, so much for a decent return-on-investment)! Read the rest of this entry »

Resolutions #2 and #3 can be tied together: Save Money and Pay Off Debt. Extra cash on hand can go to savings or the credit card bills. But, in the interest of scan-ability, they each get their own post!

• Spending Cuts
• Finding the “Cheap” Stuff
• Make Your Own Sale
• Best 4-letter “F” Word

Spending Cuts

Everyone knows that the best way to cut spending is to mount a targeted attack against any purveyor of coffee-like beverages.

But if you cannot live without, here are a few other ways to cut back your spending. Read the rest of this entry »

In the highly scientific poll in my New Year’s Blog, the most common general resolution (as of today) was “Exercise More.” Excellent choice–let’s get on that!!

There are plenty of websites and apps out there with ideas on different ways to accomplish your exercise goals. Of course, no one way or one approach will work for everyone. In fact, one approach may just be many little approaches to find that great fit to support your goal.

So here are just a few ideas and tools to help you start.

• Make It Fun
• Make It Inspiring
• Make It You
• Track Your Progress – Websites & Apps

Exercise Ideas

There is an exorbitant amount of ways to exercise–it truly boggles the mind.

So start at the beginning. What do you want to do? What do you want to accomplish?

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