So my 1 year post-college in NYC is complete and guess what? I'M STAYING FOR ANOTHER YEAR+...but I have to stay true to my Seattle roots and pay homage. Well in truth I am making a vacation out of this while at the same time getting a "Septoplasty" (seriously....Wikipedia Septoplasty). So for this month I'll be checking out the Seattle Online Marketing Events scene (once I recover). I'll check out Meetup.com's offerings, maybe hit up a few tech groups, but I'm definitely locked in for the Online Marketing Summit which has been traveling the country as a go-to-conference for, well...you guessed it! ONLINE MARKETING! Check out the info below and also note "SCORE", another company hosting a very worthy event for budding entrepreneurs. Check it out:
…here are some other events, but due to my recent "Septoplasty" I’m not hitting them ALL up. Check them out at this link: Seattle24x7 Events. If you know of any other events, or you're considering heading out to OMS, let me know and drop me a line at Red@aclion.com.
PS: If you want to know how my surgery went, feel free to friend me and comment on my FaceBook wall. Facebook me!
Following the recent trend of CollegeHumor.com going fromOnline User-Gen to MTV, it seems FunnyOrDie.com falls into that same category. I think this is going to be a recurring theme and figured I'd bring readers up-to-speed on FunnyOrDie.com's progress:
Without a question, FunnyorDie.com is hilarious and has a future in the Online Video business. They even have a Wikipedia Page, Funny Or Die. "Funny or Die is a comedy video website founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, Gary Sanchez Productions with original and user generated content. Funny or Die is also unique in that it contains a good deal of exclusive material from a number of famous contributors (e.g. Judd Apatow, James Franco) and has its own Funny or Die Team (FOD Team) which creates original material for the site. Michael Kvamme, an aspiring young comedian, came up with a concept for a new kind of comedy site and the site was developed by Randy Adams. Videos are voted on by users of the site; those that are deemed funny stay, but those that are not "die" and are relegated to the site's "crypt"."
The site's first video, The Landlord, has received over 55 million views and features Ferrell confronted by a swearing, beer-drinking two-year-old landlord.[1] In June 2007, they received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital,[2] and in June 2008, they announced a partnership with HBO.[3]
I first knew about the Investment back in April when I came across a Mashable.com article FunnyorDie.com: Will Ferrell Takes Sequoia Investment. Then In June 2008, I read an article that insured my belief that they've made their place in the Online Video business, avoiding the User-Gen approch (in a way) and uploading professional content. As quoted from WikiPedia:
HBO and FunnyorDie announced that HBO had purchased a stake of less than 10% in Funny Or Die. With this, Funny or Die will be responsible for developing at least 10 half-hour episodes for HBO, and the companies may organize future comedy tours together. Regarding the agreement, Will Ferrell said, "I don't want to overstate the importance of this deal, but this is the missing link moment where TV and Internet finally merge. It will change the way we as human beings perceive and interact with reality. Okay, I overstated it. But it is an exciting deal."[4]
I'd keep a close eye on FunnyOrDie and see what Will Ferrell is fully capable of. Hats off to them! Now go and check out their latest footage (b/c most of it is not exactly censored for me to post on this blog): FunnyOrDie.com
