A version of this post first appeared on Anne Clelland's corporate blog.
With regard to making a corporate publicity video, I probably should have done a cost-to-benefit analysis. But I didn't.
Why are we having a video made for Handshake Media, Incorporated and Handshake 2.0?
It’s a matter of the heart.
Have I mentioned I was born the oldest child of two oldest children, both known for minds beyond measure, one particularly for analysis, one for creativity? The genes for the smarts got lightened, the genes for the creativity got magnified, and that drivenness of the oldest child? Thank heavens for weight-lifting. I can push and hold still a minute.
I have said and written that I live acutely. That means I am acutely open to being moved. I am moved by art. I have rounded a corner and seen a sculpture, observed the look of the eye in a painting, heard one note sung by one voice, and been moved almost beyond bearing.
Can I just say this way of living has its beauties, but it’s not the easiest way to go? Do the words “intense,” even “overwhelming,” come to mind? Well, you and me, too, bro.
I had an idea that I thought and felt could change the way things were done and have a positive impact on people, even the world. I started a company to make it happen. That’s pretty much the definition of entrepreneurship.
As a person who knows, somewhat, my limits and expanses, and has learned in bitterly hard ways the value of running my ideas by others before implementing them, I applied for my company to join technology incubator and business acceleration center VT KnowledgeWorks. My company was accepted and I have found being a member similar to weight-lifting. I can still push, but have a moment to pause and reflect.
The smarts side and the drive side of me get the necessity of formulating a business model, identifying a value proposition, forecasting revenue, expressing a corporate message, all that stuff, and they do it.
The creative side of me is appalled by all this intellectualism, stands tall as only the truly convinced can stand, and says, “The idea! The idea! The idea is a matter of the mind and of the heart!”
So, I saw some YouTube videos. I was moved. To tears. Some people trust their guts. I do, too, but I really trust my tears. If I’m crying, I’m feeling a truth.
I have a camera that takes good videos. I can make a cool YouTube video.
But in the videos that moved me, no one said anything. They were doing things to music.
My friends and colleagues have told me they’ve learned to feel both excitement and dread when an email arrives from me with “Wild and crazy idea” in the subject line.
A musician friend received a “wild and crazy” email. With heart, he wrote the song. This video has heart. I replayed the end of the video until I could make out the logo of who made it. I met with him. He’s making the video.
Although my smart side, my drive side, and my creative side have all tried so hard to express my company’s idea in words, I think the idea has to be heard and seen. With heart, through art.
And that’s why we’re making a video.
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Video credit: Z. Kelly Queijo
VT KnowledgeWorks is a unique growth enhancement program open to entrepreneurs in the New River Valley of Virginia and beyond. Acceleration center and incubation facilities are located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia.
VT KnowledgeWorks sponsors include Attaain, Inc., BB&T, Handshake 2.0, Harris Office Furniture, Hodges, Jones & Mabry, P.C., Latimer, Mayberry & Matthews IP Law, LeClairRyan, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and The Becher Agency (TBA).
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