ditch your backpack and laptop for this bag + iPad Mini

I read Bijan Sabet's (@bijan) gift guide in December and thought there were really cool suggestions on it.  One of them was for the Jack Spade Port Case Messenger Bag.  Bijan said:  "When I run around the city or make day trips to New York, I leave the MacBook behind. This bag is perfect for my needs and fits my camera, Field Notes, iPad mini, sunglasses, headphones and a few pencils and pens."

I added iPad mini and the Jack Spade Port Case Messenger Bag to my Christmas wish list and through the magic of my wife and my Dad, both were under the tree in 2012.  Gotta say, this bag + iPad mini is a really, really good idea.  When I went to CES in Vegas, I put my laptop & charger in my checked luggage buffered by clothes and I brought only the messenger bag on the plane.  Once in Vegas, I set the laptop up in my room for working when I wasn't in meetings and I only carried the messenger bag.  

What was Inside the bag?  This:  three KIND nut bars, a small Panasonic camera (mine's a ZS7 but link is to the updated version), iPad Mini (WiFi 64GB) and capacitive stylus, Star Wars Moleskine (thanks @jchackert!) and a pen, chargers for the iPad Mini and my camera battery, HDMI out cable for the iPad, Oakley Holbrook sunglasses, and a couple of USB thumb drives.

It worked wonderfully saving my back some stress and making me look more like an adult than a high school student.  I highly recommend the bag and the iPad Mini.  The smaller form factor is just perfect for the iPad and the bag is just enough for just what you need when you're on the road.  Thanks for the suggestion @bijan!

video interview at ad:tech NY

Just came across this iMedia Connection interview online thanks to @jdoohan's Google search for me+machinima.  I always love talking with Bethany (@bethanysimpson).  She's the best.  ad:tech was a great event as always.  I learned as much (probably more) than I shared, I reconnected with old friends and I made some valuable new ones.

3 tips for an explosive video strategy from iMedia Connection on Vimeo.

Machinima featured in today's New York Times

So stoked that this article came together the way it did.  It's the biggest PR win for us since I joined as the marketing leader in September.

I was really hoping that Brooks Barnes (@BrooksBarnesNYT) would be stoked on what's happening at Machinima.  He totally got it.  I'm honored that he took the time to learn about our business and our deep connection with our young male audience.  The Machinima team works our asses off to deliver value for our viewers, advertisers, and partners.  Recognition like this means a lot. 

A significant passage:

But Machinima has rapidly evolved into a must-visit site for young men by improving the quality of its programming. The company’s mission is not dissimilar to that of cable channels: gain a foothold with inexpensive content (in Machinima’s case it was user-generated videos) and then use that perch to attract higher-quality programs, as AMC did with “Mad Men.”  Ultimately, Machinima intends to produce its own long-form episodic series.

Look at many networks through history and you'll find they didn't have much of their own intellectual property when they started.  Machinima uses MTV in the 80s a lot as a comparison but think about it... MTV started out as only music videos and VJs.  They built a brand on that content and evolved the brand and network to a place where they developed their own formats and series.  The original MTV series are what define the network today.

That's the track Machinima is on.  We have a loyal global audience built across a diverse base of content.  We are now introducing our audience to longer form narrative content that's on point for our brand and their tastes.  Across formats, devices, and channels.... Machinima is advancing the first dominant global video entertainment brand born in the 21st century on the YouTube platform.  I'm honored to be a leader on the team.

Click on the image below or click here to read the whole piece.

Guys Drive a Network on YouTube - Machinima feature in the New York Times

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome Debuts on Machinima Prime

I haven't had time to write much because my role at Machinima consumes virtually every moment of my time.  It's tough to learn and execute at the same time and our business is fairly complex.  Still, I have a better handle on it every day and I'm excited for the future.

Despite the furious pace at work, I made time to take a moment and post our latest long format original content release here on kevindoohan.com.  We partnered up with SyFy to be the exclusive premiering digital distribution channel for Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome.  This is a first in terms of pre-airing a television series on YouTube before airing on linear and selling on DVD.  

The combined Machinima and UCP teams jammed on PR and promotions around the series launch.  As I type, a little over 24 hours after launch, we're at about 465,000 views.  This compares really favorably to the first 24 hours for HALO 4 Forward Unto Dawn considering the tactics we used for each.  I cannot wait to see how the whole series performs.

HALO 4 Forward Unto Dawn - only on Machinima

Machinima and Microsoft collaborated to create and distribute something amazing this month.  Microsoft produced a BEAUTIFUL web series as a prelude to the November 6 HALO 4 game release.  This is quite possibly the most beautiful scripted drama I've ever seen produced for the internets.

The first couple episodes were bumming me out.  They were kind of like something you would see on the CW.  Teen angst in the military academy....yawn.  This is HALO!  Where is the action?  Episode 3 delivered though.  The action really picked up because the Covenant arrived.  I've seen episodes 4 and 5 as well and let me tell you, they're even better.  The episodes are MUST WATCH for any HALO fan and they can be enjoyed by anyone even if you're not a HALO fan.

Episode 1 just broke through 5 million views.  Episode 2 is at 2.7 million views and Episode 3 is already at 1.4 million views within 2 days of publishing.  Check out episode 3 embedded below or if you want to see the whole series, which I highly recommend, you can do that here.