StoryTeller Media & Communications | Public Relations | Marketing | Video Production
Minneapolis/St. Paul Marketing and PR agency and video production company|StoryTeller
fundraising videos
Are You Trustworthy?
Who do you trust? Do you trust the personal injury attorney selling his services on t.v.? Do you trust the special advertising section in your favorite magazine? Do you trust that the newspaper is giving you unbiased information? Do you trust that the television news reporter has the “facts straight” in his report? Do you trust strangers? Do you trust the timeshare sales person? Do you trust the print ad with the fine print? Do you trust the deal that’s just too good to be true? Do you trust your mechanic? Do you trust a commissioned sales rep? What makes someone trustworthy and what makes someone completely untrustworthy? Now think about your company’s presence in social media. Are you trustworthy?
Ed Heil is the owner and president of StoryTeller Media & Communications an inbound marketing and public relations agency and video production company based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Ed blogs on topics related to inbound marketing, social media, media relations, news media, video production and crisis communications.
Great Use of Editing and YouTube
A friend of mine showed me this video last week. Not only was I completely blown away by the way it was put together using stop motion, but it’s author, who goes by the name MysteryGuitarMan, has done an amazing job of working with the YouTube format. He posts regularly, every Tuesday and Thursday, and speaks directly to the camera in his videos, creating a bond with his viewers and giving the videos a very personal feel. Also, in each video, he has links to at least two of his other videos.
Check out his YouTube channel when you have the chance. It’s very impressive.
Junior Achievement Company of the Year Competition
In July of 2010, 23 teams of students converged on the city Minneapolis to compete in a contest of business skills, ingenuity and innovation. The students arrived from across the United States and Canada to compete in the annual North American Junior Achievement Company of the Year Competition. We spent three days following these students around to put together this highlight video of what they experienced throughout the course of the competition. 
Hirshfield’s Partners with Second Harvest Nov. 10-28
If you’ve got some pre-Thanksgiving painting projects to knock out this weekend, swing by Hirshfield‘s and bring some food. Yes, food! Working in partnership with the Second Harvest Heartland, Hirshfield’s is taking your food donations between November 10-28 and helping to re-stock our local food shelves. When you bring in your donation, you’ll receive 20% of Hirshfield’s brand paint, which by the way, is locally manufactured so you’re also helping local business!
As you know, this is a difficult time for many families so please consider helping out Second Harvest Heartland, even if you don’t need to pick up any paint.
Music Video Done with iPhones
First, the back story. A New York City band called Atomic Tom recently had all of their instruments stolen. A major setback for any band, right? Not in this case.
Flash forward to October 8. Instead of using the thievery as an excuse and giving up, they came up with a fantastic solution. They gathered up their iPhones (7 in all), boarded the New York City B Train (which travels over the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn), and recorded a live performance of their latest song, “Take Me Out”. And not an acoustic version either; they each used different iPhone apps to act as their instruments. The remaining three iPhones were used as cameras to capture the performance, which was edited into this music video. 
I’ve used this space before to promote the use of high quality cameras and images in video, no matter what the final destination will be, whether it is DVD, a video blog, YouTube, whatever. I’ve also stressed the importance of using a tripod, framing your shots nicely, and the like. This video breaks all of those rules, and then some. And yet, I love it. It captures the raw feel of a live performance (and the fact that it’s taking place on the New York City subway!). The sound quality is fantastic, which is obviously important in a music video. I am also fascinated by the way they are able to use their iPhones as instruments. I knew Apple had a lot of apps, but I had no idea there was anything like this.
What a great blend of creativity, ingenuity, technology, and talent. I hope their never-give-up attitude pays off for them (at almost 2 million views on YouTube, I would say it has!)
Lunch with Jeff Prouty of The Prouty Project
One of the most enjoyable part of our work is meeting new people and making new friends in various businesses. We’ve recently crossed paths with a wonderfully creative and interesting strategic planning group called, The Prouty Project. Jeff Prouty, a former Price-Waterhouse guy, is the CEO and founder. He’s also one of our new favorite people. Jeff and his team work with CEO’s, upper level management teams and boards of directors to help them dream big and then reach their dreams. Their mission statement says it all: “We exist to creatively stretch leaders to achieve bigger goals, bolder strategies and better collaboration.
Media Training 101: Fact or Fiction?
It’s no secret to those who know me that I’m enjoying my post-television news career. What I don’t share quite as quickly is the, previously unexpressed, appreciation for the work that is done by those in the news business. The revelation occurred after listening to clients talk about what they believe are “truths” about how the media works. One of the joys I have in our work is helping those same people understand more about how the media actually operates. Part of that process in our media training is something we call, “Media: Fact or Fiction.” Here’s a snippet:
StoryTeller 2011 Forecast
September. It’s here and hard to believe I blinked and now it’s more than half way over! Fall is one of my most favorite times of the year… the smell of burning leaves, the cool mornings that make my daily run a little more manageable, the renewed energy and excitement of the yellow school bus turning the corner and the anticipation of the new experiences that lie ahead for my kids. The excitement takes me right back to when I was a child and my mom and I would make the annual trek to the “Dime Store” (wow that makes me sound old!) to buy my new school supplies and school shoes. She loved buying new school supplies just as much as I did.
There is something that feels so cleansing about this time of year. For me, Fall is no longer about the newly organized binders and pencil cases, but it’s the time of year that causes me to reflect on where we have come and most importantly where we are going. As a company, it’s the season that allows us to make sure that the ship is on course and to begin focusing our efforts on what waters we will sail as we look to 2011.
Here’s what I know you can expect to see from StoryTeller next year:
- A continued focus on applying the traditional principles of Public Relations to the new and ever changing social media strategies
- We will make sure we are as up to date on the latest trends, tools and strategies we think will help our clients be successful
- A transformation of our video studio space that will allow our clients to be creative in ways they have not even imagined
- Our commitment to you, our clients, to deliver the best product at the the best price within the timing that you expect it.
Social Media Conversation: More of You, Less of Me
The phrase “less of me, more of you” has some “faith” relevance and it also has tremendous relevance in our relationships with other people especially in social media. When you’re online in the social media portal of choice, how much time are you spending “talking” rather than “listening?” How often do you try to help others rather than try to attract more attention to yourself?
When Talking is Better Than Texting
One of the longest running and biggest challenges of emails and text messages is inflection and expression. Sure, you can write in ALL CAPS IF YOU REALLY WANT TO EMPHASIZE A POINT and you can smile 
or wink;), but so much is still lost in translation. Then there are those who hide behind e-mail in communication. You know the people who do it, in fact, maybe you even do it. But why?