Dont get me started. Their whole approach repeatedly winds me up, I suspect partially because Mr Pulver is used to moving in circles that are in awe of his name and his past reputation, and so when talking to content creators who may be unaware of this, comes across as arrogant.
Network2 earned the wrath of some for talking content liberties late last year, and their initial response was a denial that they were doing anything wrong, and even surprise. They changed their ways but I get the idea they still didnt think they'd done anything wrong. Thanks to Bill for posting video of that NYC Video 2.0 meet, I see signs that this attitude continues (Pulver saying that people were bitter about youtube selling itself for billions whilst creators got nothing, not because theres anything unfair but because these creators 'dont necessarily understand the commercial side of business'. They wind me up these days because they heavily blur the lines between 'promoting the concept of people watching internet television', and 'promotion of network2 as the place to do it'. And because he also runs conferences, they get thrown into the sales pitch too, so Im unsurprised that the winners will be announced at the expensive conference. Anyway its pretty clear they need all the publicity they can get, I suppose I should be greatful that they are at least going to pay some people for giving it to them. I will read their terms and conditions later to see if they only intend to use the winning entries, or whether they hope to get hundreds of submissions and be free to use them all, thus making the large prizes on offer a way of getting adverts made for them on the cheap. As for the actual brief of people making videos to tell the world about internet tv, I would struggle to know how to approach this because there is already a lot of awareness out there in the masses, thanks to expensive publicity on the issue, from companies that the public have actually heard of. It is my conviction, based on his own words, that Jeff Pulver believes the next media mogul will be the walled garden gatekeeper who puts together the best range of shows to suit his audience. And he wants to be that man. He could be right but personally I laugh at this in disbelief because it misses a fundamental point of the new age of video on the internet - that people themselves are the best judges of what they want to watch, that old TV is tired because their gatekeepers and editors are out of touch, and replicating the same phenomenon on the internet is a bad joke. Cheers Steve Elbows --- In [email protected], "Dean Collins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I woke up this morning to find this in my inbox; > > Jeff Pulver is normally a very clever guy who started VON among other > things so this is obvioulsy legitimate just sounds/reads a bit weird. > > just passing it on. > > Cheers > Dean > > > > > > > Tomorrow morning I will be announcing an internet video contest where > the grand prize is US$ 25,000. Submit an episode of your Internet TV > show or a videoblog entry dealing with "How to Watch Internet TV," > mention Network2 in it as well, and submit a link to where we can > find it. > > Your show doesn't have to be on Network2 to enter (though if you come > to <http://network2.tv/addshow/> , you can submit your show for > inclusion). Simply show us how to see your submission, published on a > site (YouTube, Blip, Revver, or anywhere we can easily find it), and > it counts. > > Have fun with this. If you have an ongoing show, see if you can work > the theme into your show. If you're a videoblogger, show us your > style. Humor helps, but follow your own path on this. We want your > take on the topic: How to Watch Internet TV, mentioning Network2 at > some point. Oh, and if you'd give us a link on your website, that > would be nice, too. :) > > We'll review the submissions (due by March 9th), and announce the > finalists around March 16th. We'll announce the winner at Spring 2007 > Video on the Net <http://www.videoonthenet.com>, in San Jose > California, on March 20th. Grand prize gets $25,000. Second prize > wins $10,000, and Third Prize takes $5,000 home. > > For more information, please visit: <http://pulver.com/contest>. Some > restrictions apply, and there's plenty of rules to read over at: > <http://pulver.com/contest/rules.html>. > > Earlier today I created a video announcing this contest and just > posted it for viewing onYouTube: <http://www.youtube.com/watch? > v=aC6o3uHigyM>. > > I would appreciate it if you would help spread the word about this > contest. > > Best regards, Jeff > > p.s. Network2 and pulver.com will be hosting Networking Events in LA > and SFO on Feb 7th and 8th. Details are posted at: > <http://pulver.com/party/> >
