unGEEKing It with Jim Raffel

Jim Raffel is a businessman with strong ties to the printing industry. He’s also an avid blogger and speaker. His personal blog can be found at JimRaffel.com and you can find his company blog on the ColorMetrix website.

After taking some time off to recover from unGEEKED, I contacted Jim to see if he’d be willing to answer a few questions. This is what transpired.

Jim thanks for taking some time to share your thoughts and insights and answer a few questions.

Me: Let’s talk about video for minute. You do a lot with video on your blog. You also post your video’s to YouTube. At the recent unGEEKED elite Retreat in Milwaukee, the issue of controlling your brand came up a number of times from different speakers. Do you feel having the YouTube logo on your videos detracts from or lessens your brand? Does it take away some control you might otherwise have on your brand? What are some long and short term concerns others might want to think about with regards to whether someone else’s logo appears on their video?

Jim Raffel: For the personal blog I don’t have a problem with the YouTube logo and actually like using the site because of the other search benefits it provides. I also use Vimeo for longer videos. Both these services are free and as I read the terms of service I’m OK as an individual operating a blog. All that being said for the ColorMetrix site and customer only community we are building the videos will probably be self hosted using Amazon S3 or a similar service. The player will also be one we purchase for use on the site.

Me: Do you see options like Video For Everybody (which offers an unbranded video player that anyone can embed in a web page), or a tool like Shoutlet as enabling you to gain greater control over your brand in the area of online video?

Jim Raffel: Video For Everybody is a new one to me and I will check it out for sure. I also have very limited knowledge of Shoutlet so feel unqualified to address either specifically. The idea of unbranded video is a good one and as I stated in the previous answer is the direction I am going for my commercial endeavors.

Me: Just recently on Twitter you posted about the importance of maintaining control over your content. Given the nature of today’s social web, do you have any advice or strategies you use that you can share to help others maintain better control over their content?

Jim Raffel: Self-host your web-sites/blogs. Trusting another party like WordPress.com Tumblr or even Facebook who can change their terms of service at the drop of a hat is just plain scary to me.

Author’s Note: You can hear Jim speak at greater length about self hosting in his video from his 7/16/2010 Likemind Milwaukee presentation found on his blog here.

Me: Okay. Gadgets. Every geek I know has them and some are their absolute favorites while others double as paper weights. In your day to day work running JimRaffel.com what are the cool tech toys and gadgets you can’t imagine doing your job without? You know, you’re go-to gear so to speak?

Jim Raffel: With my recent switch from a Blackberry to Sprint’s new htc EVO my list is now very short. I need my MacBook Pro and the htc EVO. The Android operating system of the EVO is simply amazing and getting better every day. The size of the screen also has me re-thinking the usefulness of an iPad in my arsenal right now.

Me: iPad envy, do you have it or do you already own one?

Jim Raffel: Guess I jumped ahead of myself with the previous answer. I’d still like one but it’s pretty far down my list right now. I try not to buy gadgets anymore unless I can truly see the purpose the serve. I’m sure before 2010 is out I will have one if for no other reason than to better understand the device.

Me: As a tech guy what changes or influences on the social web do you see technologies like the iPad having?

Jim Raffel: Any changes I see are more focused around the growth of mobile devices like the htc EVO and other Android phones. The power of the new devices makes the use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter easier and easier anytime anywhere.

And that, as they once said in the news game is the rest of the story. Come back soon when we hope to have more interviews people from all around the social web.