This week was crazy. Not only are the holidays coming up and everyone is wrapping up the year to welcome 2011, but I launched my new weekly series on YouTube called, “The Partners Project”. The show is the talk interview show of YouTube and each show profiles one of its stars. For the first episode, we spoke to Daneboe who has built his character The Annoying Orange into a full out brand with over 1 million subscribers, over 6 million fans on Facebook and over 300 million upload views.

Here’s the 1st episode:

But go to our channel to watch behind the scenes footage and subscribe to stay up-to-date with upcoming episodes. Plus, every Tuesday we’ll be releasing Partners Pro Tips aka YouTubers tricks of the trade.

http://youtube.com/partnersproject

You can also check out our site at: http://partnersproject.com

Facebook and Twitter too!

Ok that’s enough site linkage for now.

First and foremost, I want to thank my amazing team who helped to put this whole project together. My co-creator and EP Damon Berger (the show is produced by our company Disrupt/Group) and Christian Bretz for producing and editing up a storm.

Thanks so much to Dane for being so awesome and making me a Peach in an episode that aired yesterday with the incredible James Caan:

Thanks to all our interviewees you’ll be seeing in the next coming weeks for their time and fantastic contribution to this new series.

Thanks to Tubefilter.com for a fantastic writeup of the show and to everyone who has showed support by watching, tweeting and spreading the word.

Tags: annoying orange, daneboe, james caan, the partners project

Thanks to Kurt the Cyber Guy and his awesome producer Darwyn Metzger (@darwynstheory) for having me on a segment yesterday to talk about online holiday shopping and deadlines (Sorry folks, national Free Shipping Day was yesterday)

Other recommendations: Zappos.com is a great site that always provides free shipping. You should also check out FreeShipping.org, which has a list of other places you can shop online and get free delivery before Christmas:

Happy Holidays and happy shopping!

Tags: holidays, ktla, kurt the cyber guy

I have to admit as a broadcaster and brand, Ryan Seacrest, is an idol of mine. So I was really excited to see that he had posted a recent video interview I did with YouTube viral star Graham Stookey on his site.

The 18-year old singer/songwriter/high schooler from Littletown, Colorado was taped playing an incredible acoustic guitar set, which he then posted on YouTube. Someone sent me the link and after watching the video it was easy to acknowledge the amazing raw talent and chops this kid had. After seeing the views begin to rise, I knew it was time to snag the story before it hit the morning and talk show circuit. So I found Graham where every teen is these days—on Facebook (thank god for social networks).

Due to the fact that I’m a web savvy digital reporter, I also don’t need to wait for my ideas to get the green light by execs for TV. If I see something I want to cover, I can jump on it and post the story as quickly as possible and get that so-called “exclusive” or story before it really hits the mainstream.
This year specifically, I’ve become really fascinated by viral culture and stardom online and its proliferation on sites like YouTube. From Double Rainbow to Antoine Dodson and Graham, I’ve had the opportunity to share the stories of these personalities that have since embedded themselves into the pop culture ether. Some are just that– personalities—and others are truly gifted. In the past, they would have no opportunity to be heard, but we have entered into a different time where you don’t need to come to Hollywood to get discovered. Instead, they might just come to you, blog and tweet about your video. And so the domino effect of online discovery begins and continues to spread. That’s why I love the Internet!

Tags: graham stookey, ryan seacrest