Branching out

Buffalo.com photo by Don Nieman.

Right now, we are recruiting college students to serve as campus interns - on-the-scene reporters and photographers who will essentially cover the doings at their schools. We want to attract a college-aged audience, and figure this is one way to get them - by offering something that they aren't necessarily getting anywhere else.

We also are not actively recruiting new community contributors. We want to retain and continue working with the people who are in the program, but we're not advertising for new people at the moment. We are pleased with you - the current group - and want to keep you all active, motivated, and involved in the MyBuffalo experience.

You have probably noticed that we're doing more stuff like video and podcasts. I want you to know that you - our talented contributors - are absolutely welcome to get involved in the action. If you have an idea for a podcast, or a video series, or anything along those lines, just talk to me or Deanna - we would love to take a good idea and turn it into a series at the MyBuffalo site. If you have a particular interest, or have always felt like you could host your own show, or simply want to try something new, we are here to help make that a reality.

Writers, you can try your hand at photography.

Photographers, you can try writing stories (as Darleen successfully did yesterday - nice job, Dar).

Anyone can record and post their own podcast. Anyone can pitch an idea for a video series. We will help with the technical end if we think it's feasible.

This is my invitation to you to consider branching out. We have this neat little toy called MyBuffalo...feel free to use it to it's full capacity.

That's Hot - Warped Tour Preview

Kristie Taft is a local music writer we met on Twitter, and she's been writing reviews, previews, and conducting interviews for MyBuffalo.com. Recently, we started a video segment with her, too. You can find her at MyBuffalo.com under the name FluxyStar...check it out, she does a nice job.

Buffalo.com musings

Buffalo.com video by Bill Parker.

I just posted the videos above and below from MyBuffalo. It took me about 30 seconds. It is amazing how easy some of the tools are to use at MyBuffalo...and they are available to everyone - you, me, the guy next door.

I feel like that is something that me and Deanna need to work on. We need to educate people more about the new site. I feel like we are trying to jam the square peg of Spotted/YourHub into to round hole of MyBuffalo. I feel like we need to do more to explain what is available at the site, and show people how to do it.

Our traffic so far is OK - it's about the same as we had at Spotted. That is decent, but now it's time to start growing this thing. And as we grow, you are going to come along for the ride - more people will read your stories, see your photos, comment on your media, make your acquaintance. I know that I want a lot more people seeing my photos and videos and blogs - I know you do, too.

I am completely open to suggestions that you may have. What does MyBuffalo need? What do you like about it? What do you hate about it? How would you change it? What confuses you? What would you want the world to know?

If you're reading this, you're a "power user." You're a regular at MyBuffalo. You were probably at Spotted and YourHub a lot, too. You have opinions and ideas...share them, and help us make you a better Web site.

Live at The Square with Gabrielle: 7-2-09

That's Hot! @ Buffalo.com - The Inaugural Epsiode

The wall comes tumbling down

I was walking through the sales department this morning and someone said to me, "Hey, do you know that they're tearing down the main wall of The Aud in 10 minutes?"

So I went to the fifth floor with my camera, and this is what I saw.

A couple notes of interest

Buffalo.com photo by Marc Wierzbowski.

This info was passed along to me this weekend, so I thought I would share...

• Betty Wagner found some info on a new Buffalo Digital Video group that is in the process of being formed...any of you who are interested in video projects or collaborating with some of your peers in the area may find this interesting.
  
  Writers, this includes you - if you are interested in writing screenplays or writing for television, etc., it would behoove you to make friends with some people who are savvy with the camera. There is nothing more valuable in terms of experience than writing for the genre that you would like to pursue, and this could be a terrific networking opportunity.
  
  
• The Puppy Love community gallery is officially closed (well, you could technically still post photos there, but you can't win any of the prizes anymore), but if you still would like to share your pet photos - specifically those of the feline variety - check out this application that Darleen Stry found for the 2009 Hilton (NY) Apple Fest cat and kitten photo competiton. If you win, I would like 5 pounds of Red Delicious as a finder's fee, please.
  

Disappointing to see...

Someone apparently took the time to go through and rate every Spotted video with one star. That's a little insulting...

Some people.

Video section is looking good, and a few other notes

Buffalo.com/Spotted photo by Darleen Stry.


Hey, I wanted to thank everyone who's been posting videos lately - Dan Ruggiero, Kathi Ross, Bill Parker, Darleen Stry, Eric Malinowski, and others - you are making the site look great, and I thank you.

I've been going back and forth with the people at Morris DigitalWorks - for those of you who don't know, Spotted is actually a vendor-provided product (we didn't invent it at The Buffalo News/Buffalo.com), and Morris is the company that provides it - about some video issues we've had. Those issues have included videos that appear to upload correctly and then disappear, video info that gets jumbled in the text boxes when it uploads, and things of that nature. supposedly, all of these issues have been resolved - if you have trouble uploading video, or upload a video that gets jumbled in the process, let me know because they are ironing out the kinks.

Also - you may or may not have noticed this with Spotted - but the site was upgraded recently and there are some new tools at my disposal. Once again, I can rotate photos and choose thumbnails - so if you notice that some of your photos have changed orientation or your thumbnail is changing, that's me working behind the scenes...of course, I would be very pleased if you rotated your photos and changed your thumbnail regularly...hint hint...but I understand that everyone is busy, and you are probably not a Spotted nerd on the same level as me.

Anyhow, keep those videos coming! We're featuring them on the Buffalo.com home page, and they have been getting a lot more traffic in the actual Spotted section (we also have a video tab on the Buffalo.com home page, but videos viewed at Buffalo.com don't count towards Spotted page views, if that makes any sense). And if you have any questions, let me know.