I had the pleasure of attending a great lunch event. YouTube Co-Founder Chad Hurley was the featured guest at the BizWorld.org luncheon on December 4th, 2007. He was introduced by MySpace Co-Founder Brett Brewer and interviewed by Tim Draper, VC & Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
In the talk, Draper asked Hurley questions surrounding YouTube after its acquisition by Google, and really focused on the changing landscape of the online advertising industry and how YouTube was responding to it. Hurley said that Youtube's success rests in the constantly growing inventory of video content that people want to see.
As for the Google relationship, Hurley commented on their food and the large resource base that they have at their disposal for growth and for legal protection, although he didn't say that directly.
Hurley also pointed to YouTube's new relationships with educational institutions like UC Berkeley and MIT, where students can view class lectures online.
There's more in this 20 minutes video and be sure to visit the BizWorld.org website as well. BizWorld teaches entrepreneurial thinking to kids, and Tim Draper's the founder, with Catherine Hutton as its CEO.
Oprah Winfrey goes Web 2.0! Oprah launches her YouTube channel and as our new Internet world would have it, she can't bring her old media control ways to YouTube without protest.
First, the video shown below is actually blocked from view! You may be wondering how I managed to at least show the image you see, and that's because I created my own embed code. Now, it's here, but you still can't play the video. It's disabled from being embeded.
It's not a smart approach as it actually robs Oprah of additional video views -- something advertisers focus on as if Oprah's people are going to embed sponsor ads in future videos, those companies want maximum exposure; the current strategy kills that.
But there's another move by Oprah's YouTube people that's really got the community pissed off. I was alerted to this by my friend Kenrg, a frequent YouTube contributor.
Ken wrote:
Hi Zennie -
I'm sure you've noticed by now that Oprah Winfrey has taken over the front page of YouTube (check out her "welcome message" and her selection of featured videos, including three of her own).
TaraGolden and I are putting together a quick collaboration video welcoming Oprah, and letting her know that YT is about 2-way communication, we're not all wanna-be stars or freak acts, and that we're here because we DON'T want more TV. As politely as possible, of course.
If you have anything you'd like to say to Oprah in our open video letter, please send it to me anytime today to kengoldstein@gmail.com.
I'm going to finish the edit and post it first thing Wednesday morning.
Thanks!
- Ken
So Ken's pissed. Renetto's upset too , although I think it's because he wasn't mentioned on Oprah.
AnimeDudeAsian's reaction was "You gotta be fuc#$ kidding me," and other choice words, referring to "That crapping ass dog on a skateboard" as the video Oprah showed that he wished she'd not have touched. Finally, AnimeDudeAsian thinks each YouTuber should get a car from Oprah.
