[This post is from a {now, 2} year{s} ago, today. Feels like a good annual tradition. A few updates in brackets sprinkled throughout] {further updated for 2010 with these fancy curly brackets}
Happy Independence Day. It’s also now the month of our company’s birthday. Operations started on July 30 of last year [now nearly 2 {3} years ago], so Market7 traces back to 7/07. And today’s holiday during this seventh month of the year is closely connected to our name. The essence of Market7 is to enhance collaboration on creative projects by diverse working groups. It turns out that American independence provides an elegant metaphor.
To draft the Declaration of Independence, the Second Continental Congress designated a “committee of five” selected for geographic diversity including Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson, John Adams of Massachusetts, and Pennsylvanian Benjamin Franklin. Feedback from Adams and Franklin on Jefferson’s drafting was incorporated into the final document. {effective negotiations — current congress should perhaps check it out!} A process similar to how we incorporate feedback at the various stages of video production such as conceptualization, scripting and footage review.
A diverse committee under tight time pressure collaborating on a notable creative endeavor. Nice parallel. But why “Market7″? The intersection of those two streets in Philadelphia is where Jefferson boarded and probably did most of his drafting work. There are some additional cute connections of the name to what our company does and plans to do, and some of the motivation is incorporated in our logo as well, which I’m sure will be touched on in future blog posts, so please come back! [we still haven't really done that but good reminder that alternative connections to our name + inspiration for our logo can motivate a blog post some future rainy day] {done!}
A last note, on the above painting by Gerome Ferris. It’s the exact story behind our name, including the crumpled up drafts on the floor before the founding fathers. I happened upon a jigsaw puzzle of this painting during a family excursion last year [again, now more like 2 {3} yrs ago], and the partially constructed puzzle has occupied a spare table in our office ever since.
[Puzzle's now completed & displayed in our office, check it:
]
{completed puzzle is now binder-clipped to the wall — maybe next year it will be framed}
Video extraordinaire and guru Larry Kless did an in-depth interview with Market7 CEO Seth Kenvin, along with a great blog post to accompany it. Larry gets to the heart (& several other organs) of what Market7 is all about, and talks how and why the company got started, how Market7 addresses the very different manner in which teams must collaborate when producing video and the many different environments for which the video.Market7 software is built.
Check out the video below and head over to Larry’s blog to read more.
What’s the buzz? CEO Seth Kenvin recently took to the air waves (or is it broadband waves?) to talk to the crew at the Digital Production Buzz about the latest on Market7. Esteemed video pros Larry Jordan and Mike Horton got the scoop on how Market7 works, new features, customers and more for Market7′s fourth appearance on the show this year! Check out the whole show here or just Seth’s interview here.
ReelSEO also checked out Market7 in what is probably the most thorough review of our software to date! They like a lot of what we’re doing and point to some ways that we can improve the service even more. The good news is that many of the features or functionality that they’d like us to address are already on the road map, and the review also provides some interesting new ideas for us to consider. So, plenty more to come, as always.
Ann All over at IT Business Edge recently spoke with Seth to learn more about video collaboration in the enterprise. As video production becomes increasingly paramount for any business, there is a lot to consider. Seth’s interview makes for a great primer on what companies should be thinking about when it comes to utilizing video.
Thanks to @Cirina and the rest of the Digital Production Buzz team, Mark Robertson and Christophor Rick at ReelSEO, and Ann All over at IT Business Edge for taking the time to talk and learn more about Market7.
Spidvid founder Jeremy Campbell recently asked Market7 founder Seth Kenvin to participate in brand new podcast series Spidcast. Hop over to the Spidcast site to check out the pretty in depth interview covering the genesis of Market7, Seth’s philosophies on the collaborative video space and what challenges/opportunities are coming down the road. Warning: Seth’s vocal chops get seriously upstaged by those of great interviewer Michael London.
Lastly, Spidvid themselves have some pretty cool thoughts around collaborative video efforts and you should definitely take a look at what they’re up to as well.
PS – Hey, nice to meet you all. I’m M7’s faithful PR guy and you’ll hear from me every now and then with updates like these moving forward!
Your entire production team will know more (about what is going on in your video production) as a result of our most current release. To start with, our Activity Feed was the recipient of a much needed makeover. Now, right from the project homepage, you can instantly see exactly what has been happening on your video projects.
Has the customer viewed the video? Find out!
Was the script updated? Find out!
Are they reading anything I am writing? It’s right there in the Project Activity Feed.
And if that wasn’t enough, the Event Management page now has an easy to read calendar view to ensure you don’t miss or double book over those important production meetings.
And finally, as a bonus, we added an rollover image viewer to allow you to preview images with their relevant data right within the list, accessible from the activity feed, main File Management page, or media column in the Collaborative Script (no more clicking and waiting to get a larger view).
Here we demonstrate the highlights of the new features:
Our 4th (and final) in the series analyzing how Market7 provides a return on investment. We examine how collecting timely and accurate feedback through the Annotative Player module provides for a streamline process that cuts overhead out of post-production. [Click image to enlarge]
Our third in a series analyzing how Market7 returns on investment. This time, we focus on how money and time can be saved through the project management features of the Event, Task, and Resource modules.
We continue our series this week on exactly how Market7 saves time & money, this time by looking at our scripting tool, the Collaborative Script Editor. [click on the image to enlarge & be able to actually read]
Google in-house video team adopts video.Market7 web software for better production,
streamlined project management, enhanced communication about content creation
SANFRANCISCO, August 18, 2009– Market7, Inc., a provider of web-based software for collaboration in the development and management of creative content, today announces Google Inc. as a customer. Google is using video.Market7 software to better manage production of video about the company, its offerings and activities, for distribution to multiple audiences. A team of video production specialists within Google has used video.Market7 to complete more than 120 productions so far during 2009.
“It is excellent validation for video.Market7 to be selected and used by Google, especially considering its record of bold achievement in technology and media, and its fundamental dedication to enrichment of web-based activities,” says Seth Kenvin, CEO of Market7. “Google is an invaluable partner for Market7, with interactions ranging from integration with Gmail and Google Maps to brainstorming about ambitious new features we are launching, all with shared motivation of efficient production of great video content.”
Google is working with Market7 to manage frequently simultaneous projects that involve constantly rotating teams, often with participants spread worldwide who are from both inside and outside the company. Google employees have expressed appreciation for video.Market7 fully addressing every aspect of production efforts, and for Market7 as a company being dedicated to customer success with a constant stream of innovative advances that reflect deep understanding of interests and needs in producing video.
video.Market7 is being used by Google to schedule project milestones, script what’s to be shot, and share content with organized feedback that guides editing and post production. Highlights of the service include:
Production Brief planning to determine strategy and tactics of a project from the outset;
Collaborative Script that allows web based development of content to be shot,including integration of storyboard and other visual elements;
Project management tools for Tasks, Events, Files, Team and recently launched Resources assuring coordination throughout production;
Annotative Player for collaborative review, communication and approval among team members about video content throughout all stages of production.
About Market7, Inc.
Market7 addresses needs of corporations and other organizations as they expand use of video for content commercialization, marketing, recruiting, support, training and other purposes, but often find the production processes to be confusing, inefficient and expensive. The company’s online environments are for all of the collaboration between video producers, their clients and any other parties involved in the process. This includes features for overall project management, conceptualization, script development and footage review. These aspects of video.Market7 web services have been used by dozens of organizations for hundreds of production projects. More information is available at www.market7.com.
Its clear how using the Market7 Creative Brief in the planning stage of your video production saves headache and time but what about money? We have been giving this some thought and decided to put together a little explanation on exactly how. (Pretty pictures drawn by yours truly)
