The Art of the Online Corporate Video

If you never saw the award-winning online video series about the renaissance of the IBM mainframe, “The Art of the Sale”…well, you just don’t know what you’re missing.

See, the mainframe is like a barn.  It’s where you bring all the ranchers and farmers and livestock together under one roof so you can run your latest payroll.

And it’s where the creative comedy genius behind it all, Tim Washer, can sometimes be found hiding out, out behind the big blue barn in Armonk trying not to get found out before he lays down some more hilarious corporate comedy tape and taken out to the barn for a lashing.

After the success of the “The Art of the Sale” series, Washer has gone on to produce some other creative and hilarious videos that help convey the opportunity presented to IBM in helping build a smarter, and yes, sometimes funnier, planet.

Here’s an example from IBM’s recent series, “Mad Science,” featuring none other than IBM Fellow and chief scientist for design automation, John Cohn, hot off his stint on the Discovery channel’s post-apocalpytic reality TV series “The Colony.”

In this episode, he and Tim go canoeing in search of John’s long lost wallet on Lake Champlain…in December…when it’s 27 degrees out…but not before John explains how IBM is helping facilitate smarter and cleaner water by using sensors to monitor water quality and conditions.  Take a peek:

Washer recently joined noted social media PR guru David Meerman Scott in a webinar presented by B2B marketing video enabler, VisibleGains.

In the series of video interviews, Meerman queries Washer how he was able to bring comedy into communications at IBM, still get across the strategic point about building a smarter planet, and not get fired and be demoted to staff writer for the now non-existent Conan O’Brien late show.

Why would IBM make fun of itself?  More importantly, why would IBM join the online menagerie of skateboarding bulldogs and subservient chickens?

Watch this series to laugh and learn.

Anything For Ratings

Rozlyn, formerly of ABC's "The Bachelor"

Anybody see the drama on “The Bachelor” last evening?

Whoaaaa…didn’t see that one coming.

And apparently neither did “The Bachelor’s” Web team, who as of this morning hadn’t updated Rozlyn’s bio, the status for which says “Still competing for Jake” (see screenshot captured around 8:30 CST today).

Is there something somebody isn’t telling me?

If you didn’t hear about the bombshell, last evening, it was revealed that Rozlyn was allegedly having an on-set affair with one of the production staff and, when considering she was supposed to be on the show to get to know Jake, it kind of defeated the point if she was consorting with the help.

And poor, poor Jake, who was innocently drawn into the black widow Roz’s arms and had even given her a rose before she stomped on his wittle bitty Texas heart.

See my prior post to see why I would even waste any pixels on this.

As for my own pick for Jake, so far I’m putting good odds on Ali to go all the way…so to speak.

But a seemingly nice girl like her had better grow some claws and soon if she wants to survive the vicious UFC Tiger Cage Fighting likely coming her way soon.

The fact that an unscripted reality TV show (read: cheap to produce) about a guy trying to find a wife on national TV is now two hours long is a barometer of exactly what the commercial broadcast TV industry has come to.

That, and the recent snafu with trying to figure out exactly what time slot would best work for Jay Leno…err, the local NBC affiliates.

Which, in turn, has led to lots of discussions about which network Conan O’Brien may best be suited for — after the suits at NBC have thrown O’Brien once again into Leno’s exhaust.  “Conan, what are you doing under that Leno bus!?”

As for what to show in the coveted 10 PM time slot that allegedly serves as the savior for beefing up the ratings of your late local news, well…good luck with that.  Maybe some “Seinfeld” reruns?

They’re calling that slot the “DVR hour,” although that’s what I’m calling every hour of television I watch these days. The only thing I might remotely watch live anymore is news or sports, and usually even sports these days is delayed so I can watch at my own pace and sans commercials.

Does nobody on Madison Avenue own a DVR??

No, John Boy and the rest of the Waltons can say “Goodnight” all night long to appointment television, and it’s high time that the commercial TV programmers start to rethink the entire programming slate.

Also, they might want to work more closely with their interactive teams, and Heaven help ’em, please update the Web page when something happens on the TV show.

Let’s face it, that’s about the closest thing to appointment TV you’ve got left, a bachelorette getting booted for philandering with the staff, and just because the show was taped last June doesn’t dismiss the need to keep the Web tie-ins in synch.

As for NBC’s empty TV time slot, perhaps Rozlyn could jump over to the Peacock network and strut her stuff and suggest her own new reality TV show there.

The pitch? Disgruntled ABC “Bachelorette” breaks Bachelor’s heart and sets out to date underemployed NBC executives trying to find ways to keep Conan O’Brien from going postal at 30 Rock.

I’d watch every second of it…on my DVR.