State of the Org - 10-13-10

[Vlad G Pohnert]

I've promoted the org in my AMV rooms as the Data Admin... And Everyone who asks (as a LOT ask) where to get the videos, I point them to the org.. HOWEVER, once they are here is is up to all of us in if they like it or stay.. Sometime we all seem a bit too.. hmmm.. critical toeards aour hobbies but it might scare way those who are not creators but people who like to watch and talk AMVs

Vlad

[Phantasmagoriat]

People could mention the org in their videos more.
I think I've only done it once in a trailer, but I could have easily mentioned the org in the Animethon Contest intro but didn't . It's simple, and in mass numbers it can be very effective. For something like a trailer, mentioning the org is pretty much perfect, because it can can act like a 'fake' company or advertisement. Slap on a generic but awesome slogan like: "AnimeMusicVideos.org. The definitive AMV resource." and you've got yourself a strong advertisement campaign (actually, if we come up with a slogan... that's totally my pick. Short, simple, and, descriptive. It could use a range of voice-overs too)

But people can be ultra-creative too. Just look at what AKROSS CON does: they require everyone to put their logo somewhere in the video for a minimum of 2 seconds. Other than that, editors can do whatever they want... so sometimes the best part of a video can be the logo >.> My point is that if you see something so often, and it seems like such a big deal, eventually you will check it out. I'm sure AKROSS has got a few people to migrate over there that way.

Also, think of all the stolen AMV's on YouTube that could/should have AnimeMusicVideos.org promo written all over them... it would be like "reversing the tides"... using YouTube to our advantage.

Plus, I think it can even be be quite fun. We are creative people. Nuf said. Perhaps as an incentive there could be a contest for "Best .org promotion" whether it be as part of the AMV or even if the promo was the AMV... because this would be a perfect excuse for people to simply make something >.>

IDK, just something to think about. I'm pretty sure I'll mention the org in any of my future AMV's now, even if I just say "For more information, check out AnimeMusicVideos.org" in the credits, but I can totally see myself having fun with it too

[Knowname]

Thing I hate about Nintendo and Apple is their stupid stamps of approval. Are we suggesting we put an org stamp of approval on everything org related? ugh. I like the way things are. Ppl know that when you want to get serious about amvs you go to the org. That's it.

[JaddziaDax]

Now I'm confused.... do we or don't we want to advertise on the tube about the org? I was always under the impression that this would direct all those copyright holders to our site, and that it was considered somewhat taboo to link here in descriptions. If the case is that we do want to link, I can go over all my video descriptions and add the links.

I tend to go to both the tube and the org for different reasons. Here I can offer a full quality download for those who like to collect and keep the videos, and on the tube I can catch the casual viewers who only want to watch the video once or twice. Also the difference in feedback is nice. One often balances the other.

While this may seem jerkish of me to say so, but I don't make my videos solely for the org, therefore I don't want to put the org's logo on my videos. Same goes for AKROSS - I don't make my amvs solely for them so I don't want to put their logo on my video either (and it's just one of the many reasons I won't enter their contest). I make my videos for me and whoever wants to enjoy them. Which is why I put my logo/url on the front of them. >.>

Please don't take this as I'm not supportive of the org, because I do support it. It's just I don't like the idea of adding any more advertisement to my videos than what is already there.

I make my banners for the org, as specifically advertisement for the org. Which reminds me, I gotta get to making some banners with the new logo eventually. I really wish people would use the banners more, since that's what they are there for.

I'm all for advertising at cons. Since a lot of our target audience (anime fans) show up at cons. I wouldn't mind making myself some T-shirts with the amv logo on them and wearing them at the cons. I think the idea of making business cards available on the site store is a good idea so anyone who wants to buy them can hand them out. Unfortunately I'm currently somewhat broke, so I can't really afford either for myself at the moment... let alone go to any cons aside from the little local one. I also agree with DriftRoot's statements about presenting the org.

As for the idea of changing the tone of the org to be a bit more friendly, this will only happen if people start acting more friendly. This is one of the reasons I started posting on the forums. I wanted to change the tone of what I saw, and I decided to do it myself. Truthfully I think that the forums now are a lot more friendly than they were when I first started. But I do think that they have since regressed a bit.

However, friendliness seems to be confused with sugar coating and sugar coating is very looked down upon here. The way I see it, is that if sugar coating gets the message across, and gets the person to listen to much needed feedback, then I see nothing wrong with it. Being so brutally honest that you come off as an ass isn't anything to be proud of, it means you are an ass.

Battling the org's reputation isn't ever going to be easy. Although, if people don't like the tone of the forums when they get here, they can still participate in all the other places on the site, they don't have to go only on the forums. I actually didn't really participate on the forums until over a year after I joined. There are journals, just listing your videos, and the opinions/quick comments. I made a lot of my original org friends through opinion exchange and journals. The forums are not the entirety of the site. I try to stress this when I talk to people about joining who don't want to because "the org is elitist".

I also agree with Godix that we can't expect the admins to fix everything on the org. That if we see something that needs to be changed or fixed that we need to do it ourselves.

Anyway I'm in a bit of a rush, and can't think of more to say on the topic... I donno if any of that made any sense, but I gotta run

[Knowname]

I do wish our target audience wasn't anime fans. It'd be nice to actually get some intelligent ppl here rather than just over sexed emo teens.

[ngsilver]

over sexed emo teens.

o.0

[Phantasmagoriat]

Thing I hate about Nintendo and Apple is their stupid stamps of approval. Are we suggesting we put an org stamp of approval on everything org related? ugh.

By no means do we have to use such aggressive advertising tactics like Nintendo and Apple, but if we want to have our presence felt, there still needs to be some visibility. AMV contest intro's would be one good place. Another would be in the credits of your AMV (if you make credits, again, a simple line like "For more information check out AnimeMusicVideos.org" can go a long way, and it's certainly not in-your-face). If people want to promote the org in their intro's and outro's is entirely up to them, but I think it could encourage creativity too.

I like the way things are. Ppl know that when you want to get serious about amvs you go to the org. That's it.

While I see some truth in this, I think that's a bit of an assumption. I would venture to guess there are people that grew up on streaming audio/video, and have no clue about HQ downloadable content.

Now I'm confused.... do we or don't we want to advertise on the tube about the org? I was always under the impression that this would direct all those copyright holders to our site, and that it was considered somewhat taboo to link here in descriptions.[...]

I was wondering the same thing.

[Pwolf]

I think giving the org more exposure at Cons is probably the best option... We don't need to put the logo in our videos if we put them else where... it doesn't matter. On the tube you can just show them where to get a high quality version for download. At NDK this year Yue made up a flier with some basic information about AMVs and Editing. She handed it out at the Iron Chef. She put the org on there. I think stuff like that will go a long way in getting more people to come here.

Every con I go to or speak at, I always mention the org and there's always people who don't know about it.

[DaCoolGohan]

Ok so I didn't realize the community was dying. I do realize that popularity of older editors has gotten less, other than the more gimmicky/crowd pleasing ones, but I thought this community was going strong. I understand that the legal issues are getting to be a constant bother, since as much as people try the Music Industry and Film Industry are not that big into letting people use their content for free, even if you don't make money off of it. I haven't been that active on the site in the past few years and thats because I have been making the transition from College into the professional world doing Web Design, Video Editing, Motion Graphics/Animation and the like. It would be a sad day if this site got shut down for good, because the only reason I have jobs right now is because of AMVs. If I hadn't started web designing back in 99-00 and photo editing in 00-01 then I would have never found video editing & design as my calling for a career. This is the thing that some major companies don't take into account. When this site started in 2000 it was one of the pioneers of the Web 2.0 revolution. Although it has a changed a lot, I can't say that the reason we have distribution codecs, that are much better these days, wasn't influenced by AMVs. The site says we have 834,553 Members and I know at least 1/3rd or Half of those were active at one time if not now. Would they really brush such a large community under the rug because they need to make profits? I can't say that it won't happen but shit we get way too much flack for doing something we don't profit off of and shit I wouldn't have found half of the bands I love today if it wasn't for AMVs. So all I can say is I hope this place stays around, even if it isn't what it used to be, it has done a lot for the community.

[8bit_samurai]

"Remember when the Org was good?"

-The Org was never good.

But in all seriousness, even if you don't read this after the comment above, aside from a few aesthetic changes and upgrades, the only thing that seem to have changed (to me at least) are the users. Gods have fallen, heroes are forgotten, time goes on.

Truthfully I think that the forums now are a lot more friendly than they were when I first started.

x2

It also seems more lax as well, which may or may not be a coincidence that around the same time the MEP and Screencaps, and perhaps a couple other forums have died down considerably, for better or for worse. Although I do admit that I miss the days when I first joined the Org.