Well, the CBC interviews have both gone public by now, and all in all I’m OK with how they turned out (you’ll need Adobe Flash to hear/view both). First off, here’s the CBC Calgary Eyeopener radio interview (4 minutes 59 seconds):
Maybe it’s because I spend much of my time creating content for an audience, but accurate information is extremely important to me – so I feel compelled to point out a few things that aren’t entirely true in this radio interview. First, my videos aren’t really “some of the most popular unboxing” videos on YouTube – it’s a nice ego stroke, but it’s not true. My Dell Studio Hybrid video is the most-viewed video I’ve created, and it ranks #87 out of all the unboxing videos on YouTube. 89,000 odd views isn’t bad at all, but I have a long way to go to break into the top ten. The interviewer mentions that there are 14,000 videos on YouTube during my interview – the number is actually around 64,000, and certainly didn’t go from 14,000 videos to 64,000 videos in five days. When we got to the “geek porn” part <sigh> I meant to spell “pr0n” with a zero, not an “O”. All in all, the interview was fun, though I wish the focus was more on how consumers are using unboxing videos to learn about gadgets before they purchase them – and not on the entirely fictitious “sexy” element that’s just an inside geek joke.
Next up, here’s the clip from CBC News at Six:
It sure is weird seeing yourself on a news program! I kept telling myself that I should try to smile and be friendly, and I think that came through fairly well. It’s funny to think of all the camera angles the reporter shot, and all the questions she asked me, cut down to only two minutes. It was definitely a fun, if slightly nerve-wracking experience – I’m used to being on the other side of the camera!
The TV spot was a little strange right off the bat – “A Calgary man has discovered a way to make money opening gifts.” Gifts? Did the anchorman watch the piece before writing his introduction? The things I get sent are definitely not gifts, even I do get to keep the odd item here and there. And I didn’t “stumble upon” unboxing videos, I simply started doing what many of my peers in the industry were already doing – I was just late to the game. But hey, it’s hard to cram much detail into two minutes. The reporter also wanted to play up the “geek porn” angle in this story as well, so my closing answer to her question of “Does it get your blood pumping?” was my way of trying to be cooperative with the story.
All in all this was a fun experience – and who knows, it might not be the last time it happens!