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Saturday
Apr262008

Responsible Corporate Video Storytelling

DateSaturday, April 26, 2008 at 07:53PM

hands.jpg

As usual, my dear friend Drew McLellan has me thinking.

Between Drew's latest post on how internal corporate videos can go awry and one very long bike ride, I got to thinking about something I haven't yet written about:

  • responsible corporate video storytelling.

Regular readers know how passionate I am about capturing authentic stories from people for organizations. New readers will quickly find out, for sure.

Microsoft's video may have been produced as a joke and not have been intended for external eyes.

No matter. There's a larger point.

I guess I have a hard time seeing an organization's story as a joke. Hence, seeing resources that are wasted instead of being used to help and enlighten others along their journey is hard to witness.

I would also venture to guess that the many employees who do work hard everyday at their company don't see their own personal story or their company's story as a joke, either.

Microsoft's video is now perpetuating the term many people have cringed at over the years: corporate video. Too bad. They had a unique opportunity to turn that around and create a new story. A story that could have worked at so many different levels. But they didn't.

So, we have a choice, then, don't we?

We have a choice to create a video story that inspires hope and greatness in each other. Or perhaps even create a story that points to an inner truth we all seek throughout our lives. One that says, "Yes, I can do this!"

Or we have a choice to misuse the resources given to us to create something less than great.

It comes down to one...or, the other.

My dream?

I dream that those creating corporate videos realize the inherent power a personal story can have not only for their organization, but for those around them and the world.

For nearly 25 years of capturing hundreds of passionate personal stories for organizations both large and small, I have been blessed to witness this power.

We have a voice. It's time to use it.

The planet needs it.

---Tom

AuthorThomas Clifford | Comment3 Comments |
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Reader Comments (3)

Tell me that video isn't a spoof. Did MS seriously create that awful thing? Maybe RedHat did it just to poison the well?

That ain't storytelling. It's sorry selling!
April 26, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterSteve Woodruff
Hi Steve,

Spoof or not...imagine what could have been done with the money/resources.

Just imagine.

Tom
April 26, 2008 | Registered CommenterThomas Clifford
I'm new to video so I can't comment too much on what's good or not. Nevertheless, this is a bad move that hurts MSFT's image Stories are an important part of any entity's lore, and propagating a negative image like this, regardless of tongue in cheek, does not help. Thanks for highlighting this, Tom.
April 26, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterGeoff Livingston

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