Howcast’s summer-long How-To Video Challenge is coming to a close…but that opens the door for viewers to finally have their say! Voting opens tonight at midnight (EDT) and runs all the way up to August 24th.
That’s twelve days to vote for the videos you think are the most creative and most original, or as we like to put it, the “coolest, baddest and flat-out flyest!” You can vote as many times as you like and for the same video once per day. That means if you’ve entered, make sure to tell all your friends and family to visit and vote. (Try using Howcast’s sharing tools for Facebook, Twitter, Digg and MySpace on the contest page to make it super simple.)
There are more than a hundred awesome videos competing to be in the pool of top ten finalists. Getting into that exclusive top ten means that our stellar jury panel including Peter Baxter, Slamdance Film Festival; Jeff Cooperman, The Colbert Report; Katherine Sharpe, ReadyMade Magazine; Tim Sullivan, Magical Elves (Project Runway, Top Chef) will decide who is first, second, and third for the entire Challenge.
Remember: $2000, a Sony Webbie HD camera package, and a Nano and Apple Store gift certificate are at stake — make sure you cast your votes and have your say in who takes home the loot!
At Howcast, we’ve grown with our users since day one, poring over data about how you use and interact with our site. Our tech team takes all this good data, adds some of their secret sauce, and turns out awesome new features. We now present to you the fruit of their labors: a new and improved experience on Howcast.com!
You can see the difference as soon as you land on the home page. We’ve streamlined our layout so you can find both how-to videos and text guides in one place. On the video and guide pages themselves, we’ve made it easier for you to share content with friends, and our voting button is front and center, so you can let other users know when you find a How-To useful.
One thing that hasn’t changed is our enthusiasm for content that comes from you, our users. With that in mind, we’ve made it easier to upload text, video, and–a new feature–images, all from a single page. The new upload interface automatically creates steps as you type, making it even simpler to share your knowledge with others.
Finally, we’ve taken our original, award-winning video player and given it a fresh look. The slow-motion and zoom controls have moved to the upper-left corner to make them easier to find, we’ve added a toggle in the player to turn HD quality playback on and off, and an icon that allows you to embed the video and the player on your own site.
Last night Jason, Heather, and Darlene showed off Howcast to the 250 participants (and even more people watching via the web on LivesStream) at the Web Video 2.0 Meet-up at Columbia University. One of only three presenters for the evening, talked about why we started the company, how we partner with content creators and even managed to squeeze in a video, all in under five minutes.
At the end of the three presentations, a text vote, a la American Idol, was opened up both the participans and web viewers to vote on the most compelling presentation of the evening. And… Howcast won! Pretty awesome, especially since the other two companies that presented, Brightroll and ZampMyTV, are super super cool.
Much mingling was done after the presentations and the Howcast crew was able to talk to a lot of people personally about how they can participle with Howcast. Everyone at the event was extremely nice and I think it goes without saying that we can’t wait until the next meet-up!
We’re excited that we’ve launched our own channel on Boxee today. Boxee is the cool free software that allows you to mix and match your favorite online content with your own personal collection of movies, TV, music, and photos, and then share info about what you’re watching with friends. What does Howcast coming to Boxee mean? You can browse and watch your favorite Howcast videos, recommend them to friends on Twitter and Facebook…. all from the comfort of your couch.
If you don’t have Boxee, you should check it out - it’s free and super easy to install. To get Boxee you will need to register at the Boxee website and download the application. Once you’ve loaded Boxee (or you’re already a Boxee user), go to the App Box on the left menu, and add the Howcast app. Now you can watch Howcast videos whenever you want by going to Applications, then Video, then Howcast!
To get Boxee on your TV, you’ll need to first connect your computer to the TV screen. Check out this helpful Howcast video on the best way to do this (we recommend Monoprice.com for new cables).
It’s not too late to submit the winning how-to video to Howcast’s How-To Video Challenge! We’ve received tons of requests to extend the deadline. It’s not something we planned for, but seeing so many competitive entries seems to have increased the frenzy around entering!
The new deadline for uploading the video that scores $2,000 is August 11.
That’s two extra weeks to put the finishing touches on your entry or two solid weeks to get started if you haven’t already. Spend a little time getting creative in these next two weeks and come September, you could be 2,000 bucks richer, playing with your new Webbie HD camera, or going on a little shopping spree in the Apple Store, all on Howcast.
Here are all the new dates:
Deadline: August 11 Voting Period: August 13 – August 24 Jury Deliberation: August 25 – September 3 Winners announced the week of September 7!
Good luck!
Check out these links to read the guidelines and rules, see the prizes, and meet the superstar jury panel:
I’m Charlie Gimber, the editorial intern here at Howcast. As my fellow intern Jack explained previously, we’ve been hard at work on collective how-to video projects as part of our internships. We’re doing absolutely everything – from writing the script and recording the voice-over to filming and editing the footage.
In New York, we chose “How To Stand Up For Yourself,” and I immediately started working on the script by checking out some related titles for inspiration (How To Stand Up To A Bully and How To Overcome Fear). Sticking to Howcast’s sourcing guidelines (all scripts are fact-checked), I researched self-improvement advice, chose a few key pieces, and transformed the information into a step-by-step script in the Howcast format. Once that was approved, we moved on to the voice-over.
Those who were brave enough to face claustrophobia head-on got a chance to try out the tiny recording booth. After analyzing everyone’s attempts, we decided that Morgan, an Emerging Filmmakers Program intern, was clearly a cut above when it came to narrating skills, so we proudly elected him to be the official voice of our video.
The next step was to start filming. The production intern, Kelsey, took the reins on the storyboard and served as our director. Prior to our shoot in Washington Square Park, I had no idea how much time and effort went into each and every shot. For example, if the sun disappears behind a cloud (which happened often), it’s vital to wait until it reappears, or it throws off the lighting of the entire video. It’s often the little things that make filming a challenge, which I didn’t realize till I was on set. The whole project has been a great learning experience, allowing us to participate in every step of the process – something that doesn’t often happen for interns.
Now the video is in post-production, where it gets edited and finalized. Look for Jack’s next blog entry, coming soon!
My name is Jack Mullan and I’m an intern here at Howcast. Welcome to the first of our summer 2009 Howcast intern blog posts. (I wanted to name the series something like — Amazing Posts from the Superstar Interns, but they tell me it’s a mouthful.) Starting today, the interns will be offering up a day in the life of a Howcast intern. Howcast’s New York office houses 10 all-star interns, who collaborate with four fantastic interns across the country in San Francisco. One lucky intern has even been promoted to an official position at Howcast — a testament to our status as superstars and to how cool it is to work at a start-up like Howcast!
Having completed our first few weeks of official intern duty, we’ve finally settled into the world of Howcast. Although the job title is “Internship,” our work hardly resembles the commonly perceived intern duties of fetching lattés and picking up supplies. Along with our daily Howcast assignments from every department — Editorial to Distribution, Production to Post-Production — we’ve even begun creating how-to videos of our own. How To Stand Up For Yourself is being made by the NYC intern team and How To Play Twister is in production out in San Fran. (Watch out for me when the NYC video goes live. I’m tackling a difficult, seen-but-not-heard role.)
Making the video opened my eyes to all the details and pre-production required in producing web video and my short tenure at Howcast has already taught me some of the skills needed to hit the ground running at a media company. From brainstorming sessions in the conference room to our work on the streets putting up fliers, being a Howcast intern so far has been a fast-paced, exciting glimpse into the work that goes into a rising media start-up.
Look out for our videos soon, and stay tuned for our next post from Editorial intern Charlie Gimber, who will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the shooting of our video in New York City!
As the darkness approaches Hogwarts and we hear rumblings that “He Who Must Not Be Named” is officially back, all of us at Howcast are wrapped tight in our invisibility cloaks, munching on our chocolate frogs and every flavor jellybeans. Never fear though, as we’re sure Dumbledore’s army has things under control. If you dare drink from the penseive punch and start a game of Quidditch, we have a few tips for you to ensure that you catch the Golden Snitch and become victorious.
Howcast was featured in the Sunday Business section of the New York Times. We’re all super excited by the piece - check it out! How To Start A Company.
A photographer from the New York Times had the hardest job of the week, photographing “How to Choose the Right Sunscreen Lotion,” in Los Angeles.
Look how we’ve grown! The chart in the article shows how many views Howcast videos get per month. Pretty awesome!
Daniel, Jason, Sanjay, and Darlene in photo opp. Note the deer head on the wall-an old prop from How To Pack For College.
We’re excited that we’ve launched our own channel on 
I’m Charlie Gimber, the editorial 
