• Izzy Video — How to shoot and edit video. It covers a wide range of topics like cinematography, lighting, recording good audio, gear, editing and distribution.
• Paperclipping.com — This show is hosted by Hyman’s wife, Noell, and it’s all about scrapbooking and design principles.
• Rolling R’s — This show is hosted by Hyman’s friend, Larry Keim, and teaches people the Spanish language.

All three are membership sites where some of the content is available for free, but the majority of the material is available to paid members only. I caught up with Hyman to ask him a few questions about the work he does, and how he does it. Below is an edited transcript of our interview:

Simon: How did you originally get into video? And what made you decide to start blogging about it?

Hyman: I’m one of those people who started with video as a passion. I got my first video camera when my first son was born nearly 12 years ago. A few years later, I got my first Mac and found iMovie, so I started doing some basic editing. Then I upgraded to Final Cut Express, upgraded my camera, and started getting other gear like microphones and lights. Eventually I moved to a Mac Pro, Final Cut Pro, and now the camera I use is the Sony PWM-EX1.

When I got into video, I did a lot of reading on the subject. I was shocked there weren’t a lot of great places to learn video on the web, so I started making videos that showed the principles I was learning. That was how Izzy Video got started. It filled a need.

Simon: What’s a typical day like for you?

Hyman: The days vary, but on days when we’re shooting video (once per week), it goes like this:

1. Clear out the furniture in my living room.
2. Set up my studio gear like lights, C-stands, microphone and background.
3. Shoot video for a couple hours, depending on the subject and what shows we’re shooting.
4. Transfer the footage into the computer.
5. Edit the video, and while it’s rendering I take down the studio and move my furniture back into place.

Between shooting, editing and posting the videos, that keeps me busy for the day. On other days of the week I keep my load pretty light. I work from a coffee shop probably three times per week, answering emails, researching, outlining, writing, tweeting and doing other social media stuff.

I’m also working on creating a resource that shows other people how to create profitable video podcasts like we’ve done. We’ve done it three times, using a business model based on what Don McAllister did with ScreencastsOnline.

One of the reasons I became a full-time video podcaster was so I could spend more time with my family: I do things like take my kids to and from school, help them with homework, and run them to dentist appointments. Also, I exercise every day, and right now I’m participating in NanoWriMo, so I’m writing a novel in November. I frequently joke with Noell that I feel as if I’m retired. When I’m working, I do the stuff I love to do. And my work leaves plenty of time with my family.

Simon: Your blog is based around the message that video is not a “black art,” and is accessible for nearly anyone. The barriers to entry for aspiring video shooters/producers are getting lower. What gear would you recommend to someone just starting out; I’m curious as to whether you’d recommend a video-capable DSLR over a dedicated video camera?

Hyman: The biggest mistake I think people make when they’re buying gear for video is they spend too much time and money on the video camera, and not enough on audio and lighting. What kind of gear should a new person get? That depends on what they’ll be shooting, but for someone who just wants to post video on the web, something like this might work:

1. A basic three-point lighting setup such as three Rifa lights from Lowel. Lighting is critical for a good image, and many people don’t spend any time or money on it.
2. A wireless lavalier (lapel) microphone setup like the Sennheiser Evolution G2 series.
3. Any video camera that shoots HD, has an external mic input, and records to a solid state media like an SD card (I capture to SxS cards). I don’t recommend someone buy a tape-based or hard drive camera. Tape is going away, and hard drives have too many problems.

A video-capable DSLR can be an excellent choice if you’ll always be shooting short video clips and you don’t mind spending more on important accessories that make the camera usable as a video camera. I just bought my first video-capable DSLR a few weeks ago. I love the imagery I get from it, with the shallow depth of field, color saturation and overall film-look. Still, for professional gigs, it’s probably a good idea to stick with dedicated video cameras. That might change over the next couple years, though.

Simon: I suppose it varies with the project, but what gear do you like to use?

Hyman: Some favorite pieces of gear I use:

• My camera is the Sony PMW-EX1, and I adore this thing. It shoots amazing HD footage, and it shoots true slow motion. It’s incredible.
• My favorite microphone is the Sennheiser ME66 shotgun mic.
• For lights I use several Chimera lights inside of Chimera soft boxes.
• I also love my Scrim Jim set of diffusion panels and scrims. I use this for controlling light outdoors.

I could go on and on, because I do tend to be a gear hound. I enjoy the tools probably a little too much. Here’s a list of most of the gear I use. By the way, I’ve created video tutorials on how to use all this gear. They’re on my web site.

Simon: With modern computers and software, video editing and production can be added to the list of careers that are “web worker compatible.” What’s your office setup like, and if you work on the road, what makes it possible?

Hyman: My office is in my bedroom. I work at a table with a Mac Pro (8 cores). I edit in Final Cut Studio, which means Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, Compressor, and other tools. I have a closet full of gear, and as I mentioned earlier, I periodically convert my living room into a studio.

If I’m just doing Internet work then I use my MacBook Pro and a Verizon card, and I’ll usually head to Starbucks for that. Sometimes I’ll do mobile video editing, but not often. That’s a good thing, because I have an old 17″ Macbook Pro, and it’s a little slow for video these days.

Simon: Finally, video is being used in a lot of places on the web now (on web sites, in advertising, as part of multimedia projects). What is an interesting use of commercial video you’ve seen recently?

Hyman: One of the most interesting things I’ve seen lately with video is the Apple ad running on major web sites like the NY Times. Along the top of the page there’s a video banner, and in the sidebar there’s another video ad that interacts with the video ad at the top of the page. That’s brilliant.

He knew of the company, met multiple times with different team members, had been taken on a tour of the office space, and was happy with the offer they’d negotiated. It all looked good. But before he jumped in and signed up, he made one final check that all web workers should undertake.

He called a friend of his who used to work for the company to get the inside story on what it’s like there.

His friend had left the company, but he trusted her opinion, so he spent an hour discussing the company culture, the attitude to various aspects of the work that were important to him, what she’d liked and disliked about working there, and so on. In some ways, this conversation was almost like a sort of reverse job interview. And it confirmed many of his thoughts on the organization while alerting him to other aspects of the place and people that he hadn’t been aware of.

By the end of the conversation, he felt he had a clearer, real-world view of his potential employer from someone who knew the company well, yet had no personal or business interest in whether or not he took the job. And he decided to accept the position.

How to Find Out What It’s Like On the Inside

Obviously it’s important to get to know the company you’re considering working for as best you can. But if you haven’t had any experience with the organization yourself (for example, as a customer or client), you may fear you’ll be left with its web site and your interviewer as your only sources of information.

There are a few other ways you can research your potential employer. The first is, of course, to ask someone who’s worked at the company how they enjoyed their time. Of course, their reasons for leaving the place may skew their answers to your questions, but this is a good starting point — if you know such a person. If not, don’t worry: there are other tactics you can use to get past the company sales pitch and find out what life’s like on the inside.

Speak to a Current Employee

Ask if you can speak to another person who works for the company about what it’s like there. You might suggest this to your potential employer as a way to get a feel for the company culture from an objective party who doesn’t care whether you join the organization or not. Of course, you’ll want to keep in mind that the details of your conversation may well be fed back to the staff that are considering hiring you.

But spending half an hour with someone who works in the organization can be a useful way to gain insight into the way the place functions, how it demonstrates that it respects and values staff and clients, and so on.

Speak to a Current or Past Client

If you were considering contracting your potential employer to do some work for you, you’d undoubtedly check their references. So why not do the same if you’re considering working for them? Most organizations will already have a few referees on hand for prospective clients to speak with, and they may be happy for you to speak to one of these individuals.

Speaking to a client can give you an insider’s view of how the company treats clients and delivers its services. You may gain insight into the processes the company uses to manage clients and complete projects, or the swiftness with which is responds to client complaints, inquiries, and reported technical issues. Again, keep in mind that the details of this conversation may well be reported back to your potential employer.

Review Community Discussions

Most company web sites have a blog, discussion forums, reader comments or a combination of these. Check these sources to see how the company deals with its audience, responds to their comments and thoughts, and deals with negative feedback.

The way a company interacts with its public online may give you rare insight into deeply-held attitudes that underlie the company culture, as well as things like complaint resolution procedures, how involved the broader team is with customers and clients, and how open the company is to new ideas, technology, and so on.

These are the methods I use to research potential employers. Have you used any of these approaches — or others — to get a clear view of what your life might be like if you worked for a given employer?

Imran: Could you outline the new features announced in the latest edition of Yuuguu?

Anish: This new edition was all about making it really easy for Skype users to instantly screenshare and collaborate in real time with anyone, on any major IM network, not just Skype.

So our unified instant messaging platform has now been extended to include Skype. This means a Skype user can now chat with colleagues on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk and ICQ, all from one client. You can chat one-on-one, or in groups — even across different IM networks.

On top of that, we allow Skype users to instantly screenshare and collaborate in real time with any of those contacts on any IM network. All it takes is one click, and you can have one or more of your contacts join you in viewing your screen in real time, and even share control of your keyboard and mouse to work together. The really cool thing here is that your contacts have nothing to download or install!

We also added the capability for Skype users to easily host web conferences. So if you want to arrange a session to talk your clients through a pitch or give a training webinar, you can now do that with just one click as well.

Imran: Can you tell us a little about the motivation you had for creating Yuuguu and why it’s a valuable tool for web workers?

Anish: We built Yuuguu to solve our own problem. As a company, we all wanted to work from home, rather than all sit in an office. What we found was that it was very difficult to recreate the ad-hoc interactions that happen naturally when you’re all sitting together — things like tapping your neighbor on the shoulder and asking for help, then huddling around your screen to work something out together. It was this that we set out to recreate over the web. Our vision is to make working together remotely as easy as working side-by-side.

Imran: There are a lot of screensharing products available. What’s unique about Yuuguu?

Anish: The key thing is our focus on instant, ad-hoc interactions between people who are remote from each other. We focus a lot on presence, instant messaging, and on allowing our users to leverage their existing contacts lists for real-time collaboration, without those contacts having to download or install anything. Other services focus more on pre-planned webinar-type sessions, which is a completely different problem to the one that we focus on.

Imran: Other than using your existing buddy lists, is Yuuguu also a replacement for regular IM clients?

Anish: Definitely — we developed the technology around our IM platform to make it easier to use in business environments. So while it is as easy to use as a consumer IM service, Yuuguu is an enterprise-grade IM platform. We are big believers in the importance of unified IM as a way to allow collaboration between teams and across organizations.

Imran: Can you tell us more about the future direction of the product and perhaps even the company?

Anish: You can probably guess from what I’ve been saying that we will be extending the IM and real-time communication services we interact with. We also think that the extension of collaboration onto mobile devices is going to be big, so there are some very cool things we are doing there as well…Watch this space!

Have you tried Yuuguu’s new Skype support? Let us know what you think of it in the comments.

I first met Linda Broughton — head of NTI Leeds, part of Leeds Met University — in May 2007, at a meeting on the use of open-source software in the public sector where I planted the seed of an idea to develop a coworking community in Leeds in Northern England.

Within a few months, Linda had launched the “met:space” coworking community at Old Broadcasting House, which has now become the hub for most of the city’s web and new media community (also see my previous interview with OBH resident, James Ward).

I spoke with Linda about the development of OBH and her thoughts on coworking.

Imran: Tell us a little about the background of OBH. What were the motivations for coworking in Leeds?

Linda: It started out as an idea space for our graduates to move on to. We recognized that many of the students’ final year projects had the potential to become commercial businesses, so we wanted to develop a space that could support them in the early days.

I think our views on supporting the graduates have changed as we now recognize that our role is to create a climate where ideas flourish. That means the space needs to attract more experienced freelancers and businesses as well as graduates. I don’t think it would work if everyone was at the same level.

Imran: Do you see much collaboration between residents?

Linda: Yes, definitely. FriiSpray, from Jam Jar Productions, is a collaboration between three members who met here at OBH. Also the Cardboard Laptop Stand is a product developed by two of our members. We are also seeing quite a number of examples of where work is sourced between members. So we see our web designers working with our programmers, and our filmmakers working with our social networking experts. Startups, in particular, need access to good freelancers to help them grow. A coworking community helps to build trust between members which makes collaboration more likely.

Imran: What were your greatest challenges and surprises in bootstrapping Old Broadcasting House – and the largest operational challenges.

Linda: We were fairly empty at first. It took time to persuade people that coworking might work for them. But what’s great is that now people love it! I am constantly surprised by how much our members really love the space. Also it was a revelation to me just how vibrant the Leeds scene is, with so many groups meeting  regularly.

The largest operational challenge is long-term sustainability. We want to keep the rates at a level which does not deter people, while still covering our costs. This is likely to mean attracting more members, and we need to manage this without detracting from the experience for members. Overall, the space just about manages itself. Personally, I really don’t like rules and regulations so everything works on a trust basis. That seems to work just fine for everyone.

Imran: What’re your plans for the future?

Linda: I’d like to grow the community, with more physical space.  I’d also like to see a pipeline of startups from the University and the city using the coworking at OBH as  a stepping stone for growth.

Imran: What’re the key pieces of advice you’d give to people thinking about coworking and people thinking about establishing a coworking space.

Linda: To potential coworkers I’d say think of it as  joining a community. Be prepared to give something to that community. Make some time to get to know other members.

If you’re thinking of establishing a space, don’t expect everyone to join at once. You need some patience to get things going. Go out and find the groups of people who are your potential members and encourage them to try out coworking (offer introductory rates or trial memberships). You need some “fans” to get the community started; they will act as your champions. I would also say be quite flexible, if you can be, on the offer.

The relationship between OBH and the local university is unique, enabling a large institution to access grassroots entrepreneurs and innovators. Coworking can help achieve social goals. We’d love to hear your comments on other community-building offshoots from coworking.

I spoke with Alex about his motivations for bootstrapping IndyHall, the experience of running the community, his hopes for the future and advice for others. Incredibly, Alex recorded an extraordinary and engaging 30 minutes of video for us, telling the fascinating story of IndyHall’s history and future.

We edited together some highlights on the background of IndyHall, along with plans for the future of Philadelphia’s coworking community as a single video here for readers who want a brief introduction to the IndyHall story.

You can find the full set of questions, answered as short video clips, over on YouTube:

• Introducing Alex and IndyHall…
• Tell us a little about the background of IndyHall – what were the motivations for coworking in Philadephia?
• What’s the breakdown of residents in terms of permenent residents, drop-ins, part timers. What kind of work are they involved in? Do you see much cross-fertilisation between residents?
• What were your greatest challenges and surprises in bootstrapping IndyHall? And the largest operational challenges?
• What’re your plans for the future?
• What’re the key pieces of advice you’d give to people thinking about coworking and people thinking about establishing a coworking space?

Incidentally, the relaunch of the IndyHall web site site just a few days ago is noteworthy in its approach to cohering and aggregating the community of coworkers in the city, providing a platform and a voice for their agenda.

If you’re interested in the experiences of coworking community founders, you should also check out our earlier interview with Stephanie Booth, founder of Lausanne’s Eclau coworking community.

Like Stephanie, Alex’s insights and experiences are invaluable. Do share your own experiences of coworking or founding a coworking community in the comments below.

Imran: How did you first encounter coworking as a concept and what drew you to it?

James: I heard about an event for freelancers, GoingSolo, being held at OBH in Leeds. I had started working freelance just a few months earlier but from past experience working on my own I had learned the importance of getting out and making connections with other people. Working on your own every day in the spare bedroom can get pretty lonely and soul-destroying.

For me, attending this event was one of those serendipitous moments in life that lead to changes more profound and beneficial than I could have imagined. First off, it was my introduction to a network of professional peers all talking about the same challenges and issues as I recognize: managing finances, clients, confidence. The exchange of ideas was exhilarating. I came away from the day on an absolute high…and I had also discovered coworking.

NTI Leeds, who run OBH, have given over a large part of the building to coworking, a concept I hadn’t really heard of before. I had assumed that my only option for working away from home was to rent expensive office space or spend my days working on my lap in coffee shops. But here was a place where for a very small cost I could work  at a proper desk, in a professional environment, surrounded by other freelancers. And, to top it all, the coffee is good — and free!

Imran: What have been your greatest challenges and surprises in coworking?

James: There can be tensions in this kind of environment, especially where the culture and expectations of the members are evolving and changing as the space grows, the population changes and members’ businesses needs develop. It can sometimes be quite noisy in a shared space and I think that’s something that you pretty much have to just tolerate, just as you do in any shared environment. We recently started holding a semi-formal meeting once a month to give us all an opportunity to discuss with each other and the managers of the space any issues or ideas that we have. Like any community — and it really does feel like a community — we need opportunities to communicate with each other.

What really surprised me was that I hadn’t expected the extent to which working in a space like this would improve my life. I have gained so much: friends, business contacts, skills, opportunities for work, ideas and inspiration. Joining OBH has accelerated the speed at which I have come to know and be known on the local network and has enabled me to get involved in events and activities that I simply wouldn’t have known about otherwise: Twestival, Think Visibility, Business Link Enterprise Shows, to name a few.

Imran: How would you like to see coworking evolve, globally and locally?

Locally, I would like to see the coworking community here in Leeds grow and become more flexible. OBH is extremely well-equipped — 30″ Apple displays, Mac Pros, Adobe CS3, etc. — but not everybody needs these facilities. Some people just need a place to connect to the web and sit at their laptop. I can see scope for different membership options, depending on your requirements, although I wouldn’t necessarily want hugely complicated tariffs and per-hour charges. I like the simplicity of a monthly fee.

Globally, some people have talked about a “coworking visa”‘ that would allow members to use facilities in other cities when traveling.

Imran: What are the key insights and pieces of advice you’d offer to those considering coworking as a mode of work?

James:

• Be tolerant. If you need peace and quiet to concentrate, consider getting some decent noise-canceling headphones.
• Be respectful. We all have deadlines to meet. Try to be sensitive to other people’s needs.
• Be generous. The more you share, the more you will get back

Share your coworking stories in the comments.

Eclau

WWD: Tell us a little about the background for Eclau — what were the motivations for coworking in Lausanne?

Booth: I’d heard about coworking, and visited Citizen Space in San Francisco. I thought it would be lovely to have a coworking space in Lausanne, but at the time, I was quite happy working from home. A couple of other people in the area were interested, but I was in “follower” mode — not “leader” [mode].

In autumn 2007, a friend of mine approached me. He had some free space in one of his shops that he wanted to transform into a community office for freelancers and other local innovators, and wanted to know if I could take care of it. I told him about coworking and he said, “That’s it!”

Unfortunately the idea fell through (he finally needed the space for something else), but by then I had started imagining myself as the initiator of a coworking space in Lausanne, and had discovered that there were actually quite a few interested people who might join such a project. In spring 2008, I created a mailing list and a blog to talk about local coworking or coworking-like projects in the Lake Geneva area, and gather interested people in one space.

By then, I had burned out a little preparing the Going Solo conference and was motivated to find a solution to work elsewhere than home. There was an office space in my building, which had been empty during most of my years living there. Skipping a few adventures along the way, eclau opened there in November 2008.

A few more words maybe about the Lausanne context: Lausanne is the fifth most important town in Switzerland. However, I’d say that Swiss people are not that gregarious, and getting a local community of freelancers, small business owners and social media people to start bubbling somewhere is not an easy task. Not that there aren’t many around! But I feel the culture here is still quite traditional and old-school.

WWD: What’s the breakdown of residents in terms of permanent residents, drop-ins, part timers? What kind of work are they involved in? Booth: Eclau members fall in two categories: “membres fixes” (“fixed” members, who have their own desk) and “membres volants” (“flying” members, who hotdesk). Some “flying” members are here very often, whereas some “fixed” members are seldom in the office — so it doesn’t really equate to “full-time” or “part-time”. Right now, I’d say we are running at about 50 percent capacity.

We don’t really have any drop-ins yet, but maybe the monthly eclau breakfasts will bring us some. There’s a variety of jobs represented here, and not all IT-related: an architect, a print designer, a web TV association, a web consultant, a medical translator, a game designer, a relationship coach, an investment adviser, a web startup CEO, another designer…am I forgetting anybody? Ah, yes, me; I still don’t know what to call myself. And the cat doesn’t do much work apart provide some coworkers with welcome exercise — getting up and opening windows.

WWD: Do you see much cross-fertilization between residents?

Booth: Quite a bit, actually! In addition to “real” work projects that residents have ended up working on together, I think everybody really appreciates having such a diverse set of skills in the office. We help each other out regularly — for example, I’m the resident spellchecker.

Comparing life at eclau with my years as an employee in a big company, where we also had an open office, I find that coworking brings out the advantages of sharing a space with “colleagues” like having people available to bounce ideas off, company for lunch or sometimes breakfast, without having the disadvantages like not being able to go to lunch without “talking work”, bosses, and people you need to get back to when you go for coffee break.

WWD: What were your greatest challenges and surprises in bootstrapping Eclau — and the largest operational challenges?

Booth: The biggest challenge was — and still is — to actually get people to commit. It was a big issue in the weeks before I actually signed for the space. It’s a five-year lease in my own name — the best solution, given the Swiss context — and I didn’t have any spare cash to inject in the project. So it needed to be financially autonomous from the beginning.

After many days spent writing ads for the local papers, emails to people I knew, blog posts and making people visit the space, I finally found enough people willing to sign up and pay in advance to make it possible. I also had a little unexpected help along the way, which solved the problem of the rather large deposit I had to put down for the lease.

I think my biggest surprise was how many people can come and visit, say they’re interested, sure, and back out without a word. Some even sign, and then disappear! This tends to validate my impression that today’s world is a world where true commitment is hard to come by.

WWD: What’re your plans for the future?

Booth: Now that we finally have a “real Internet connection,” rather than a long ethernet cable dangling from my balcony two floors above, the next step is to have the meeting room walled off from the rest of the space.

Thanks to our resident designer, we’re starting to have some promotional material, and a few local journalists have expressed an interest in covering our space, so this should help us in our efforts to bring in more residents.

We’ve started organizing what we here call an “apéro” every three months (the next one is in June). An “apéro” is basically a quiet party where people gather for drinks and some nibbles — sometimes before dinner, sometimes instead of dinner. As I mentioned before, this month we’re starting to hold an eclau breakfast (on the 10th of each month), where people can drop in between 8 and 10 to have coffee, croissants, and even an Indian breakfast I like to cook.

In the long term, I’d like to see more drop-ins, and events like small *camps or conferences taking place at eclau.

WWD: What’re the key pieces of advice you’d give to people thinking about coworking and people thinking about establishing a coworking space? Booth: Keeping in mind that this advice is the result of one unique experience in a particular cultural setting, I’d say the following:

• Get money up front: when people sign, make them pay too (at eclau, people pay three months’ membership at a time, in advance, and they get a one month discount if they pay six months in advance)
• If cash is an issue, don’t invest in furniture. By asking around and taking a trip or two to the local dump, we got almost more furniture than what we needed, for free. Some residents also brought their own furniture with them.
• It’s about people and relationships — that’s what determine the atmosphere. Take time to make things clear — what people can expect and what is expected from them — and time to get to know the people and chat with them. Some “house rules” are always a good idea.

Have you started a coworking space or do you plan to? Share your experiences in the comments.

Got Flickr? Amber does and here’s how she uses it.

What’s Your Favorite Web App, Amber? from WebWorkerDaily on Vimeo

Follow @webworkerdaily on Twitter for soundbites, SXSW follow-ups and more.

His favorite web app? BatchBook by BatchBlue. Haven’t heard of it yet? Take a listen. You need to know about it.

What’s Your Favorite Web App, Chris Brogan? from WebWorkerDaily on Vimeo.

Follow @webworkerdaily on Twitter for more videos and posts from SXSW and beyond.

Nisha gives a little insight as to why Google Docs is her favorite Web app.

What’s Your Favorite Web App, Nisha Chittal? from WebWorkerDaily on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for links to upcoming video sound bites from SXSW by following us at @webworkerdaily. This is part of a series of short interviews with a variety of web working types.

Here is the first of a series of short interviews with a variety of web working types, starting with venture capitalist and co-founder of Alltop, Guy Kawasaki, who reveals his favorite web app: the “ultimate marketing tool for Twitter.”

What’s Your Favorite App, Guy Kawasaki? from WebWorkerDaily on Vimeo.

You can find Guy Kawasaki on Twitter: @guykawasaki. Stay tuned for links to upcoming video sound bites from SXSW by following us at @webworkerdaily.

So it’s interesting to read this interview with Todd Jackson, Gmail Project Manager, from our good friend Kevin C. Tofel over at jkOnTheRun. It turns out that the mass of updates in February was simply good timing, not “Gmail month,” as you might have thought. Many features were planned for release in February, anyway, while at the same time a number of Labs features that might have been percolating for a while saw the light of day. It’s also interesting to get some more insight into the Labs idea — I really like the way Labs enables Google to add useful “power user” functionality to Gmail without cluttering up the interface for regular users.

Kevin also chatted with Todd about the the unique Gmail organizational model of labels versus folders and how users deal with it, Gmail on mobile devices, and Gmail video chat. Go check out Kevin’s post for more detail.

Audrey Eschright is a programmer and self-described geek, who works as a web developer for Elevated Rails. She published a science fiction magazine called Yog’s Notebook, leads the open source calendaring development group Calagator, and is an accomplished crafter. She is also a founding board member of the Legion of Tech. She curated a panel at OSCON on tools that local communities use and is a fixture in the Portland user group community. She was recently featured in the Oregonian’s Ultimate Northwest Magazine as one of Portland’s 25 Most Creative Thinkers.

Dawn: Why do you think community organized events are important enough for you to spend your evenings and weekends organizing them?

Audrey: I find community tech events incredibly important to my own professional development, so it just made sense to get involved and help with things. It’s very rewarding to help people make connections and find resources they can use.

Dawn: What community events have you helped organize and in what ways were they each different or the same?

Audrey: I’ve worked on FOSCON (a free Ruby event that took place during OSCON in previous years), BarCamp Portland, Ignite Portland, WhereCamp Portland, and now Open Source Bridge. The camps (unconferences) were all quite similar to each other to organize, but Open Source Bridge is much bigger than anything else I’ve worked on. There’s a lot of extra planning involved in doing a 1,000-person conference compared to a 300 person BarCamp. You can pull off an unconference in a short period of time, with fairly limited resources, but a big conference requires more structure.

Dawn: What advice would you give to someone who wants to organize their first community event?

Audrey: Don’t try to do it all yourself. Once you have an idea of what kind of event you’d like to have, get other people with similar goals to collaborate — and make them equal participants. Sometimes it can seem easier to just take care of the work yourself than to get other people to help, but that won’t build community. Plus, if you recruit people who’ve run other events in your area, they’ll have leads on spaces to use, sponsors and other people who might want to help.

Once you have collaborators: write down what you want to do and what you’ll need to do it, and go. You’ll learn along the way.

Dawn: Looking into your crystal ball, what do you see as the future of community organized events, and how do you think they will impact more traditional conferences?

I think community organized events fill an important niche. Traditional conferences are built for traditional organizations, and can give wider legitimacy to the technologies represented, but that can also make them less accessible to smaller companies or independent workers. With more people freelancing and moving from place to place, community events are essential to help us keep up to date on our skills and find out what other people are working on. I don’t see one completely crowding out the other; I think both are here to stay and support different sorts of needs.

What questions or tips do you have about community organized events, unconferences, and BarCamps?

Zachary works with investors, startups and established companies on iPhone strategy and product development. He has directed the launch of two “Top 20″ iPhone applications: Obama ’08 (for Obama for America) and Nearby (for Platial). Raven is the founder of iPhoneDevCamp, a not-for-profit iPhone developer conference, and a contributing analyst with The 451 Group, an IT industry analyst firm and works closely with O’Reilly Media on iPhone and mobile technology-related events and coverage. Raven is regularly quoted by the press about the iPhone and is a frequent conference speaker on the topic.

Dawn: What does an iPhone Strategy & Product Development consultant actually do?

Raven: When people think of the iPhone opportunity, building and launching apps immediately comes to mind. While this is the bulk of the economic opportunity today for consultants (product development), there is opportunity between inception and execution (iPhone strategy). Not every engagement I do with clients is about building an iPhone app, in the same way that not every web project is about building a web app. In some cases, I am working with organizations, individuals, and investors on understanding the platform, evaluating opportunities, and helping to refine ideas around the market.

Dawn: What are your biggest challenges with working remotely while balancing your work and spending time with your wife and four boys?

Raven: The remote aspect of my work is less of an issue now that I have hired three amazing people to work alongside me, two of whom reside in Portland. I still travel a lot, but I am moving more towards day trips, especially with my clients on the West Coast. Having been a telecommuter for over three years, I am looking forward to daily contact with my colleagues. My wife is a saint — that’s the simple answer to the second part of your question. My kids are easily bribed with candy.

Dawn: You recently started this new consulting practice. What advice can you offer to other web workers who are thinking about starting a new business or offering a new service?

Raven: This is a crazy time to start a business. We’re in one of the biggest economic downturns in recent history and it just happens to be a dramatic growth phase for the iPhone market, a technology that is less than two years old. I struggled a lot with the notion of staying an independent adviser vs. building a consulting company and having employees. After dragging my heels for months, it was, finally, a few deals on the table that forced the issue — grow to accept the work, or pass and take a different path. I am happy that I chose the growth path. As I am bootstrapping the business, I am growing with the demand, not ahead of it. I’d love to make some strategic hires in advance of the work coming in, but that’s just not possible when bootstrapping. That remains one of the benefits of taking on investment.

Dawn: How do you see web working evolving over the next few years, and how will mobile applications and technologies play a role in the future of web working?

Raven: I still love kicking off new client engagements with an in-person meeting. This is not an essential part of a project, but it tends to start things off on in the right direction. I would hope that increased comfort and use of video conferencing would reduce the need for in-person meetings. I know my wife and kids would be happy about that. Yet we’ve had video conferencing for decades now and it doesn’t seem to be catching on. It remains a novelty. I do think that pervasive technologies like the Internet and mobile telephony are decreasing barriers to telecommuting and virtual teams. I suspect we will see greater decentralization in the information economy. It’s a proven model.

Who would you like to see interviewed on WebWorkerDaily?

1. As part of your preparation, search out previous interviews the guest has done. Look for topics “the guest really likes to talk about,” advises Miller, and the topics that “fall flat.” The goal: To find a balance between what your audience wants to hear and also what the guest wants to talk about.

2. Create a list of 10 questions to ask the guest. Next, ask a fan of the guest to put together 10 questions. “Then combine them to come up with a list of 10 burning questions,” she says. The goal: To ask the questions your listeners or readers would want to ask.

3. Ask open-ended questions. Don’t pose questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no. As Miller explains, “You’re looking for stories and surprises.” The goal: To get your guest to tell a story.

Potential lead-ins include: “Why did you decide to…” “What was the biggest reason you…” “When did you realize that…” “Where were you when…” “What experience did you draw on for…” “Tell me about…”

4. Let your research show in the way you pose your questions. As an example, Miller cited an interview Fresh Air’s Terry Gross did with Johnny Cash in 1997, in which she said, “When you got to Memphis, Elvis Presley had already recorded, ‘That’s All Right.’ Sam Phillips had produced him for his records, Sun Records. You called Sam Phillips and asked him for an audition. Did it take a lot of nerve to make that phone call?” The goal: To absorb the facts of your subject’s background and find ways to drill down to make the topics come alive.

5. If your guest wants to see the list of questions beforehand, politely decline. Miller suggests in such cases sending general topic areas. (I’ve found this approach to satisfy even the most intractable of PR people.) The goal: To avoid having the interview sound like it’s being read from a script.

6. The day before the interview, send an email reminder with four key pieces of information: a) Confirm the scope of the interview; b) Confirm the date and time, including the time zone; c) Clarify the procedure — you’re going to call on Skype; you’re going to call their land line; d) Confirm that they will be on a land line — no cell phone or cordless phone. (This latter point is less important for non-broadcast interviews.) The goal: To avoid simple and obvious glitches.

7. Start the interview with softball questions. Ask their name, title, courtesy questions about how the flight was, or what their role in the company is. The goal: To get your guest warmed up.

8. Don’t stick to the list of questions you’ve created. Here, advises Miller, “Shut up and listen.” Has somebody just mentioned that they have a favorite tool they like to use in a given instance? Respond, “Really? Tell me more!” The goal: To get examples and anecdotes that will engage listeners and readers.

9. Don’t assume you’re the only one in the world who doesn’t understand something your guest is talking about. If your interview subject is using “corporate-speak,” said Miller, “ask again. ‘Explain it to me like I’m five, or explain it to me like I’m your mother’” The goal: To have the guest explain the concept until you can understand it. Your readers will appreciate the effort.

You can download an outline of Miller’s entire presentation here.

Do you have a favorite interview story or tip to share?