Bitcoin Video Series Available

[SgtSpike]

I tried to get past this, but it just bugs me...

Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but...

CBT Nuggets (IT Training video company), has made a series of videos about Bitcoin!  There are a bunch up already, and more on the way.  I have only watched the first couple, but they are pretty in-depth and cover a wide range of useful topics.

http://ittraining.cbtnuggets.com/bitcoin_training/

Best part, is that they are free (normally their content is only available with subscription).  There is an ask for bitcoin donations, but it looks like that's more a way to measure interest in making more videos in the series.

It's a great introduction for new users, and even though I have actually learned some things, I feel like this is one of the best places to start someone who is interested in learning about BTC.  How do we use this as a resource for newbies?

gweedo, what Mac OS/version of flash are you using?  It seems to work for most in Chrome on OS X 10.6-8 with flash version 11.5.31.xxx

We may be able to recode so that it will fallback to HTML5, but I have been leaning hard on the dev team for this already, so I can't promise that's at the top of their list...

@franky:  That's exactly what we were going for, something that would be informative enough to get past the "what is it?" point and help users get the most out of Bitcoin.  Glad you like it, and feel free to share it anywhere you want.

gweedo and others: We are currently adding HTML5 backup and re-encoding the videos so that they should stream in any browser and on mobile devices. 

Why the facade?  Why start out pretending that you just stumbled across this resource, when in fact it sounds like you are very involved in its publication?  Why didn't you start your first post with, "Hey, we've published these videos geared towards new geeks and developers just discovering Bitcoins, check them out and tell us what you think."?  Who receives the Bitcoin donations?

[Matthew N. Wright]

I tried to get past this, but it just bugs me...

Why the facade?

This being the bitcoin forums where potentially a majority of accounts are sockpuppets of other users, it might be a better question to ask "Why are you so bad at this facade?" instead. Everyone does it.

[Zebulon Pike]

Hi gweedo (and everyone else).  Sorry for the usability issues you have been hitting, it was because we were in the process of moving all of the files from the lander initially mentioned to a new subdomain on our site:

http://bitcoin.cbtnuggets.com/

All the videos will be hosted here now, giving us the flexibility we need to ensure that the videos play in all browsers and on all devices.

So I apologize again for the issues you ran into today, we were just trying to get this launched quickly, but there should be no more problems moving forward.

We also appreciate the feedback, and we want to get these right.  We will be collecting all the information that we hear from you guys and will make sure that it gets addressed, even if we have to make extra videos to do it.

We're learning this stuff too, as is Keith, so bear with us.

[SgtSpike]

I tried to get past this, but it just bugs me...

Why the facade?

This being the bitcoin forums where potentially a majority of accounts are sockpuppets of other users, it might be a better question to ask "Why are you so bad at this facade?" instead. Everyone does it.

True.  I'm still gullible/naive enough to believe that most people don't do self-promotions without labeling them as such.

[DannyHamilton]

Why the facade?  Why start out pretending that you just stumbled across this resource, when in fact it sounds like you are very involved in its publication? . . .

I started out interested and even bookmarked the page to watch the videos later.
Then in the very next post after mine, I saw:

. . . which we are looking into . . .

At that point they lost me.  I'm not interested in anything coming from a business that is going to engage in deceptive practices.  I won't be watching the videos, I won't be recommending them to anyone, if anyone asks me about them, I'll be letting them know that I find the company to be deceptive and untrustworthy.

[Matthew N. Wright]

I tried to get past this, but it just bugs me...

Why the facade?

This being the bitcoin forums where potentially a majority of accounts are sockpuppets of other users, it might be a better question to ask "Why are you so bad at this facade?" instead. Everyone does it.

True.  I'm still gullible/naive enough to believe that most people don't do self-promotions without labeling them as such.

All you need to do is go look at a thread where a newbie is asking for Paypal transactions and you'll see another newbie backing him up like clockwork. I suppose there is significantly less self promotion here than on the /r/Bitcoin reddit though since the userbase is more transparent here and needs to be held accountable for their actions as a community whereas on reddit, they can hide behind down/up-vote spam bots etc.

I'll be letting them know that I find the company to be deceptive and untrustworthy.

Harsh. Does poor judgement close doors so easily for you?

[gweedo]

I didn't even notice that, but it is sad, they are trying to play both sides of the fence, they want to be involved in bitcoin and not at the same time. Too bad time to let them think about how they screwed up.

[Matthew N. Wright]

Harsh. Does poor judgement close doors so easily for you?

What I meant by that (I wish I could edit my comments instead of reposting ) was do you let opportunities left untouched whenever there was poor judgement involved? What if Satoshi had lied about one of the aspects of bitcoin? Would that make the entire community not worthy and bitcoin a sham? I'm just saying, everything good in my personal life has come from seeking out opportunity despite the presentation.

[DannyHamilton]

Harsh. Does poor judgement close doors so easily for you?

What I meant by that (I wish I could edit my comments instead of reposting ) was do you let opportunities left untouched whenever there was poor judgement involved? What if Satoshi had lied about one of the aspects of bitcoin? Would that make the entire community not worthy and bitcoin a sham? I'm just saying, everything good in my personal life has come from seeking out opportunity despite the presentation.

The only say I have in another person's behavior is whether I want my actions and words to encourage that behavior or discourage it.  In an environment with so much anonymity trust is hard to come by.  If Satoshi had been acting in an untrustworthy manner when he was revealing bitcoin, and if I had been involved in the discussions about bitcoin in the beginning, then yes I probably would have walked away from it.  Of course if someone else who had earned my trust and respect later suggested that I look into bitcoin, I'd probably give it another look and see if the design was open and clear.

A few months back a significant bitcoin based business violated their stated privacy policy.  I continue to avoid the services that are still run by the person who was responsible for the violation and I won't recommend their services to anyone.  Do they provide a great product or service? They used to, I'm not sure if they still do because I haven't checked it out. It doesn't matter. I won't reward what I consider bad behavior with profits or word-of-mouth advertising.

Isn't that how the free market is supposed to work.  Businesses are supposed to behave in an ethical manner because if they don't they'll lose customers and profits.  By engaging with businesses that are known to behave unethically just because we think it would result in something good for us personally, we eventually break down the feedback loop and end up with companies like Enron.

[Zebulon Pike]

Hi everyone,

This was not an attempt to deceive, this is just a segmentation issue.  We have a social team who is responsible for handling all of our social media efforts, while I am just the web analytics guy who is also a Bitcoin enthusiast.  I'm not in sales, and the series is free, which I tried to emphasize, so I didn't mean any harm.

I knew that this link was going to go out on the official channels on Twitter, FB, and reddit, but I was afraid that it wouldn't hit the places I personally thought that it would be most valuable, in these threads where I tend to be.

I thought that from my posts it was clear that I was involved, but I could have done a better job of making that clear at the beginning, which also would have made it obvious that my posts here were in only a semi-official capacity as a guy who loves Bitcoin and is excited that his company does too.

This is why we have people who do this professionally, and I shouldn't have stepped on their toes, but I assure you that I just wanted to make sure more people saw that we had a free Bitcoin video series.

Mea culpa, but I would still love to see feedback on the actual video content.

[Zebulon Pike]

TL/DR on my previous post:  These posts were from me as an individual "going rogue" and not official company posts.  The social team will hang me by my tendons when they see all this, but don't blame them or the company. 

[Matthew N. Wright]

Isn't that how the free market is supposed to work.  Businesses are supposed to behave in an ethical manner because if they don't they'll lose customers and profits.  By engaging in business with businesses that are known to behave unethically just because we think it would result in something good for us personally, we eventually break down the feedback loop and end up with companies like Enron.

I'd like to think that true free markets are run at least in part by logic, not emotion.

[Matthew N. Wright]

TL/DR on my previous post:  These posts were from me as an individual "going rogue" and not official company posts.  The social team will hang me by my tendons when they see all this, but don't blame them or the company. 

For what it's worth, the opinions are correct and it was a big mistake. On the other hand, I enjoyed the video and I would have enjoyed it even if it were later found to be done by Tom Williams. Many of us are used to the superficiality of content over the function, and perhaps that makes us better at marketing consultants, but your video will live on despite the feelings in this thread. Try not to let it get you down and I'd say just avoid any such mistakes in the future. 

[DannyHamilton]

Isn't that how the free market is supposed to work.  Businesses are supposed to behave in an ethical manner because if they don't they'll lose customers and profits.  By engaging in business with businesses that are known to behave unethically just because we think it would result in something good for us personally, we eventually break down the feedback loop and end up with companies like Enron.

I'd like to think that true free markets are run at least in part by logic, not emotion.

My response isn't emotional.  It is logical.  I'm not acting the way I am out of spite because they "hurt my feelings" or "offended me".  I choose my actions logically and intentionally to influence behavior.  If a company is known to let ethics slide in one area, then there is reason enough to believe that they do so in other areas as well.

I see that Mr. Pike has expressed regret and has indicated that he took it upon himself to attempt this advertisement without the permission or knowledge of the company he is representing.  If so, and if the company culture provides a reasonable expectation of ethical trustworthy behavior of their employees, then his employer will probably be making it clear to Mr. Pike that his actions were unacceptable.

Social media can be a powerful advertising medium, but when not handled properly it can be a P.R. train wreck. For a great example of how not to handle P.R. via social media see here:

http://rlstollar.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/applebees-overnight-social-media-meltdown-a-photo-essay/

[gweedo]

TL/DR on my previous post:  These posts were from me as an individual "going rogue" and not official company posts.  The social team will hang me by my tendons when they see all this, but don't blame them or the company.  

Rouge employees is never a good look for a company...

[Matthew N. Wright]

Isn't that how the free market is supposed to work.  Businesses are supposed to behave in an ethical manner because if they don't they'll lose customers and profits.  By engaging in business with businesses that are known to behave unethically just because we think it would result in something good for us personally, we eventually break down the feedback loop and end up with companies like Enron.

I'd like to think that true free markets are run at least in part by logic, not emotion.

My response isn't emotional.  It is logical.  I'm not acting the way I am out of spite because they "hurt my feelings" or "offended me".  I choose my actions logically and intentionally to influence behavior.  If a company is known to let ethics slide in one area, then there is reason enough to believe that they do so in other areas as well.

I see that Mr. Pike has expressed regret and has indicated that he took it upon himself to attempt this advertisement without the permission or knowledge of the company he is representing.  If so, and if the company culture provides a reasonable expectation of ethical trustworthy behavior of their employees, then his employer will probably be making it clear to Mr. Pike that his actions were unacceptable.

Social media can be a powerful advertising medium, but when not handled properly it can be a P.R. train wreck. For a great example of how not to handle P.R. via social media see here:

http://rlstollar.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/applebees-overnight-social-media-meltdown-a-photo-essay/

Thank you for clarifying further, I do agree with your sentiments entirely and now that I understand the bigger picture of your response I suppose I support it. Just out of curiousity, if the employee has been reprimanded and is no longer able to make such a mistake, would there still be grounds enough to avoid this particular video for you for any reason other than personal taste or message content?

[DannyHamilton]

Thank you for clarifying further, I do agree with your sentiments entirely and now that I understand the bigger picture of your response I suppose I support it. Just out of curiousity, if the employee has been reprimanded and is no longer able to make such a mistake, would there still be grounds enough to avoid this particular video for you for any reason other than personal taste or message content?

The fact that the Mr. Pike has explained that he was acting on his own without permission of the company goes a long way toward rebuilding trust in the company.  There isn't much more that the company can do to rebuild trust quickly.  To publicly state that Mr. Pike has been reprimanded would be a bit like a child apologizing after they are caught with their hand in the cookie jar.  There is no way to know if they are just posturing to appease or if they are sincere.

As long as there aren't future actions from other representatives of the company that indicate a systemic problem within the company, over time trust will be restored.  If this is the first time that Mr. Pike has found himself involved in a situation like this, then the best thing the company can do is probably to explain their policy clearly to him and let him know that while one time is a mistake, a second similar event would require significant consequences (and make it clear to him what those consequences would be).  Then leave it up to the social media team to figure out how best to handle the situation.

At this point, assuming I don't see any further indications that the company is untrustworthy, given Mr. Pike's explanation and apology, I don't expect to "be letting [people] know that I find the company to be deceptive and untrustworthy".  I probably won't go out of my way to tell people about the videos, and I probably won't bother watching them right now.  If the company continues to put out a quality product, and I hear others talking about them I'd be willing to give it another look in a few months.

[Matthew N. Wright]

Thank you for clarifying further, I do agree with your sentiments entirely and now that I understand the bigger picture of your response I suppose I support it. Just out of curiousity, if the employee has been reprimanded and is no longer able to make such a mistake, would there still be grounds enough to avoid this particular video for you for any reason other than personal taste or message content?

The fact that the Mr. Pike has explained that he was acting on his own without permission of the company goes a long way toward rebuilding trust in the company.  There isn't much more that the company can do to rebuild trust quickly.  To publicly state that Mr. Pike has been reprimanded would be a bit like a child apologizing after they are caught with their hand in the cookie jar.  There is no way to know if they are just posturing to appease or if they are sincere.

As long as there aren't future actions from other representatives of the company that indicate a systemic problem within the company, over time trust will be restored.  If this is the first time the Mr. Pike has found himself involved in a situation like this, then the best thing the company can do is probably to explain their policy clearly to him and let him know that while one time is a mistake, a second similar event would require significant consequences (and make it clear to him what those consequences would be).  Then leave it up to the social media team to figure out how best to handle the situation.

At this point, assuming I don't see any further indications that the company is untrustworthy, given Mr. Pike's explanation and apology, I don't expect to "be letting [people] know that I find the company to be deceptive and untrustworthy".  I probably won't go out of my way to tell people about the videos, and I probably won't bother watching them right now.  If the company continues to put out a quality product, and I hear others talking about them I'd be willing to give it another look in a few months.

Let's not forget that they don't appear to be selling a product and that this is a free video for the benefit of educating outsiders on bitcoin. Seems like that should also count for something positive!

[DannyHamilton]

Let's not forget that they don't appear to be selling a product and that this is a free video for the benefit of educating outsiders on bitcoin. Seems like that should also count for something positive!

They do sell a product and a brand.  These particular videos are being used as a method to draw more eyes to their brand in the expectation that they will gain publicity and in turn increase sales of the stuff that they do sell.  By "spreading the word" about these videos, we reward the company bringing them the increased publicity and sales that they are after.  There are plenty of ways to learn about bitcoin, and if these videos aren't seen someone else will make equally good (or better) videos in the future.  If they were creating these videos solely for the purpose of educating outsiders about bitcoin, then they wouldn't attach their brand to it at all.

There is nothing wrong with this motive.  Building a brand and gaining publicity are essential parts of creating a successful company.  Providing "free" samples or services are a great way to build awareness of a brand, and have the nice perk of benefiting a community at the same time.

[bitfreak!]

I watched about half of the first video. It's not bad but I found it to be a little over simplified and as someone else mentioned, he does take too long to get to the point.