I have a few observations about the new format. Mind you, I have been a follower and supporter of your tutorials for years and continue to be. So don’t take this as negative, just what I have observed lately.
The new format is impersonal compared to the hour long format. There is no reason to bill it as “live.” By the time, I see a notification, it is over. This is just a re-branding of your “Mike Russell VIP” channel There isn’t any interaction with the viewers. So just post a video without the illusion of a live show.
The impression that I get is that you just want to get it done and uploaded. You go through the video as fast as you can, to the point that many of the nuances are lost and many replays are needed. It is almost like you forget you are teaching.
And this community has suffered. Posts are way down with very little interaction. A big part of that is that you haven’t been participating until very recently. I’ve managed a very large community forum for over a decade and it is time consuming.
I get it, if you don’t have the time. But just communicate that.
A daily live show is a huge under taking. The new format has lost its magic, the community here is dying probably as a result of the change of the stream.
My guess is the current videos are bulk recorded and then streamed as live? That being the case it must take time to record them all? How about re-allocating the time that takes?
Bring back the highly successful old format with interaction. Let people see the live comments coming up like they used to, feature questions like you used to do, open up the phone line, fire off the jungles. But, if time is the reason for the stream change, rather than dedicating an hour a day which I guess became too much commitment what about a weekly hour long show? Surely this wouldn’t take much more time than creating the current daily shows?
People could then get enthused about the live show again because it would be something to take part in and the community may well kick back into life too.
As someone who runs an internet radio station (with its own MRC Jingle) I’m well aware of the work that goes into that. I imagine the live streaming of these videos takes a considerable amount of time too and it’s probably heart breaking for you to put in the effort now and see the these video views drop in comparison to the views of the first series and the community die off too?
The trouble was that the bar was set crazily high with the original live stream. A bit like an artist who blasts on to the scene with a huge debut hit, it’s always hard to follow that up. You set yourself a huge task to follow up the first season.
In case you guys have wondered why I’ve been more distant, it’s because of the new format of the live show. I just don’t see the point watching live, as it’s really just a video tutorial, not a live stream.
I loved how this community used to be, so please @Mike, listen to your community.
Well @Mike, I watched a lot of your videos on YouTube before joining the community here. I think of your channel as a great, reliable source of up to date quality tips and tricks for audio production in Adobe Audition. I love the positive energy in all of the videos as well. I learned a lot from you, so I’ll try to give something back now.
Here’s the thing. When someone searches on Google or YouTube “how to do x in adobe audition”, they get a list of results. Sometimes, one of the results is one of your 1 hour long videos, and other results are on average 3-10 minute videos. They want their info quick and to the point. These people are much more likely to watch one of the shorter videos. Unfortunately, they are not aware yet of how great your content is!
I also get the point that the current 10 minute live sessions may not be long enough, to dive deep into a certain topic, attract enough live viewers and really engage with them as well. And covering the same topic in a long format and then again in a short format just feels redundant and takes more time.
Here are a few ideas:
Have live streams clearly marked, something like: “MRC Live: This and That Topic”. This way, people will be immediately able to figure out: “A ha, it was a live show, that’s why it lasts so long.”
Have something like a “MRC Live Q&A Friday #45: Audio Production in Adobe Audition” where you focus only on questions and engage with live audience more.
Start with answering short questions from the community here, continue by answering questions in the live chat, from phone calls,… When people catch up to this, they’ll likely wait for the next friday and join the live stream to ask their questions.
When the live session is over, rename the video on YouTube to something more searchable / descriptive, like “MRC Live Q&A Friday #45: Adobe Audition Sidechaining, Keyboard Shortcuts, Stutter Effect and more”.
Add a clearly marked category here on the forum, like “Questions for Live Q&A Friday”. Add the ability for people to vote on the questions. If their question is picked for the next live stream, notify them here in advance.
Try to engage more with live viewers. Maybe let them pick a music bed, take straw polls or ask for their opinions on a topic more, show contact information on screen, maybe add the ability for people to voice/video call in live sessions via Skype.
Have all live streams last around 45 minutes. It should be enough time to cover a topic and not get too tired in the process. People are more likely to watch later, because they’re most accustomed to the 45 minute format from TV series and they associate 45 minutes with something that goes by relatively quickly, while 1 hour feels a lot longer. Also, average attention span drops significantly after 45-52 minutes.
At the end of a live stream, where you’re showing people how to do something, try to summarize and show all the steps again in about 4 minutes.
Quick summary is always good.
Be careful about your wording, because you can later cut out that 4 minute summary from your recording, add your regular intro & add outro with a link to the whole 45 minute episode, inviting people who want more in-depth information about the topic to watch it. Render & upload to YouTube, labelling it something like “Quick How To #165: This and That Topic”.
This way you can serve more people who are looking for a quick guide on a certain topic, while also unobtrusively expanding your brand and promoting your live stream and community.
You can also add an overlay at the beginning of the 45 minute version on YouTube after it “aired”, with a link to your shorter 4 minute version, in case someone, who just wants quick information, starts watching the longer version.
The #number is also important. Everyone is asking people to subscribe to their channel these days. It’s becoming something like an auditory banner blindness. But if someone watches a “Quick How To #165”, they’re gonna notice: “Great info, great delivery. Number 165? So this guy has 164 other tutorials this good? Oooh, I better subscribe so I don’t lose this channel!”
You don’t need to have a live stream every day. On the days without the live stream, anticipation from your core community for the upcoming live stream builds.
Maybe mention more often that you used to work on a radio. It sounds cool, might increase the perceived professionalism of your content for a certain type of newcomers.
Just some of my thoughts in no particular order. Hopefully I managed to spark a good idea.
