The Potential of Flip Video
Flip Video has an offer for nonprofits. Once approved, a nonprofit can buy two of its cameras for about half price. HHN discovered this offer by way of emails from Phil at Urban Business and Dr. Black at HondurasMD. (Thank You!) We were impressed enough that HHN has obligated funds so that one Honduran organization we value can use and test them in the field.
HHN was impressed because they are extremely portable without moving parts. Video recorders of the tape kind tend to be very intricate mechanically, and a bit fragile. They tend to get a bit heavy, and are vulnerable to dust and dirt intrusion. And the recording media has added vulnerability to moisture, heat, and mechanical wear and tear. And though both are much more compact than before, they are relatively bulky.
The advantage of the Flip Video is primarily that it does not suffer from the disadvantages of the alternative, while offering reasonbly high quality video results. While it does not have the optics and resolution for studio quality video production, it seems to have a future as a video recorder for catching field video, or quick video snapshots of people who are being helped in Honduras. Most TV commercials (except for those infomercials) are under a minute. There's a lot of power in short audio visual spots that are still small enough to be transported by email. And for the larger efforts (still probably less than 5 minutes), YouTube and other alternatives provide a means of publishing them for others to watch at their liesure.
So the first use HHN sees is communication with donors or potential donors. Quick video snapshots have potential to make a quick personal connection between money which is rather abstract and real people or children whose lives may be changed by it.
Many who work in Honduras seem to struggle to get out newsletters regularly. It's probably a combination of time crunches and a strong preference for the work rather than marketing it. Here again, video might help. With the nuances of spoken voice and facial expressions, video can communicate much more quickly and effectively than mere letters on a video tube. People can relate better; people will understand more. We saw some recent photos of a flooded river in Honduras from the recent rains. What if we'd been able to hear the sound of the water? What if we could have done just a 20 second pan with the author to see the boundaries surrounding the flood, so that we would have understood its context. And what if we could have seen a quick (5 second or less) example of the urgency of what needed to be done with a URL to get more information or send help. Video like that won't replace the conventional newsletter/email but it can make it ever so much more effective for the time invested, and can greatly shorten its worded production. And if you want to include the "young" in your audience, ditch the newsletters. The younger generation is a video/media generation. Reach them where they are, rather than trying to convert them to the tools you are comfortable using.
A second use in the field is teaching. It become realistically possible to "show" without being there. These devices could be used as miniature players, compact teaching devices for those in the field who need to remember something, or for a student that needs to hear or see something. It would take a bit of doing, but not much.
A third use in the field is mission related news gathering -- not the kind that's going to be on the TV news that night -- but the kind that allows people in the field to gather information for evaluation or use by those who are not on the scene. For a doctor, it might mean some quick video of someone needing help or an assessment of progress. For a community development worker, it might mean describing an opportunity with video so that others could understand the problem and help formulate a possible solution. For someone who runs an orphanage, it might mean some quick information on repairs needed, an impounded water problem, or some new child that showed up for rescue.
A fourth use is for visitors who come to Honduras -- a sort of short (less than a minute) reminder of their visit, the opportunities discussed, and the friendships made.
A fifth use is as a simple, very portable audio recorder for podcasts, voiceovers, etc. -- far easier than hunting up a microphone and plugging it into a computer, or trying to find that old tape recorder, and then plugging it into a computer to send the file somewhere else. The audio can be stripped from the video rather easily. Think of it as a solid state voice recorder thrown in for free.
Another use ... you get the point. With a little creativity and the discipline to actually use the tool, short videos have potential to reach, teach, and preach in ways that haven't been practically possible before.
The Flip Video offer for nonprofits is at:
http://flipvideospotlight.com/
The Flip Video camera descriptions are at:
