I’ve Been Scobleized

Late Tuesday afternoon, Robert Scoble dropped by Amazon to capture my boss and I on videotape for future presentation on Channel 9. We had a lot of fun as I talked about the Amazon Web Services and showed off a number of inspiring demos built by the AWS developer community.

I am looking forward to watching the video with a mix of curiosity and dread, of course. I am somewhat self-conscious and I hope that I won’t cringe when I see myself on screen.

Robert works in a very interesting way, basically showing up, turning on the camera, and asking a leading question to get things started. In a sense he’s running the ultimate reality TV setup: no script, no editing, no out-takes, and no second chances.

If you are ever lucky enough to find yourself staring into the lens of Robert’s camera, here are a few handy tips to make sure that it all goes well:

1. Check your office in advance to make sure that there’s nothing embarassing laying around.
2. Have your opening statement ready to go — introduce yourself, your organization, and your company.
3. Think first, then talk. It is easy to get nervous when you are being taped and to say whatever comes to mind, just to fill the tape. I’ve had some media training as part of my job, so I know to take my time and to be careful about what I say.
4. Look at the camera!
5. If you are going to do any demos, have them pre-staged and ready to roll. In my case I simply opened up a whole bunch of Firefox tabs with the sites that I was thinking about showing. As the conversation wandered from point to point, I was able to pick sites out of my repertoire to illustrate my points. I did this without having to type or to visit my bookmarks menu. This kept things flowing along.
6. Relax, be yourself, and don’t be too serious. Have a good time and keep Robert laughing.
7. Try not to get into any technology ratholes on-screen. I may have done this, we’ll have to see.
8. If you mess up, just keep on going. Remember that this is “geek to geek” communication; not some scripted Hollywood show.

So there you have it. The complete guide to being Scobleized.