So we have this new robot at work. His name is EARL - the Enhanced Automated Robotic Launcher.
It throws bowling balls.
The idea is that it will throw a ball EXACTLY the same way every time so you can take the variables out and test how different balls react, different pins, lane oil, lane surface - you name it. It's a research tool.
We held a media event to get some coverage for this thing and most of the local news outlets came. That's cool. Whatever. Our hook was that we had a big-time pro bowler show up to bowl a match against the robot. Man vs. Machine. Smart idea.
In the old days you just hope that one of the local TV stations does a story that's kind of cool and puts it on an affiliate feed and the next thing you know the CBS in Pittsburgh is running a little video of the thing. That was the old days.
In this NEW world - things are different. I put together our OWN feature story - video and interviews that I shot and edited myself - so we can control the message and commit more time to it than the typical newscast would.
Then we put that story on youtube, facebook and twitter and distribute the link to any media outlets who will listen.
Typically when we do this for a bowling tournament we'll get maybe 2,000 views in the first week. Not bad when you do 4 or 5 of them at an event, especially because your average media outlet isn't really interested in who's leading after the qualifying rounds of a youth bowling tournament.
For this "Man vs. Machine" story, we've had 50,000 views in 2 days and it's still going up.
Why? Because it's something different. "Did you see the dude bowling against the robot?" It's something that transcends the sport. It also has a niche. Technology websites are interested in the robot angle. Popular Science picked it up. Gizmodo and coolest-gadgets followed. CNET and the Huffington Post put it out there. Sites you've never even heard of jumped on board: technovelgy, politifi, blodic, liquida... a google search for "bowling robot EARL" turns up pages of results.
But there's something else at work here. We wrote a nice "newspaper-style" story. That's not being passed around. It's the video element... and the best part? All of these media outlets don't have to DO anything! They don't need to send a reporter and photographer. They don't even have to take a bunch of raw video and mold something out of it. They get a ready-made feature with a little personality to it and an interesting topic. Every one of these sites is looking for cool content. They all want "clicks." And very few of them have many staff members to speak of. "Man vs. Machine" is always fun... and all I have to do is re-post this link? Sure, why not!
It's the "new journalism" in a microcosm.
And because it's been shared all over, other more traditional media outlets took notice. We got a request for video from Discovery Channel Canada today and from the NHK network in Japan.
Take a look at the story yourself and pass it around to your friends. No, seriously, do it. It's easy. Post the link on facebook... e-mail blast it to your buddies... maybe a tweet... because that's how it works nowadays.
You, too, can be a journalist. Just click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8yMFdPD68c
No comments:
Post a Comment