Joe: OK so I didn’t get to explain the class I don’t want to go too much into the class and this one we’re talking about Cloud Wise Academy and why you should do it if you’re a business or if you’re an individual. The class is coming up I think on Nov 6 and you can go to Cloud Wise Academy to find out more. But the idea here is it’s about WordPress. Most of the internet is built on WordPress at least for local businesses. We’re going to teach our students from scratch how to set up servers, build a site, and launch it. Everything you need, you’re going to be shown. Our classes, I think of as like wood shop more than a class because at the end of the class you’re going to have built your website without losing a finger. Our instructors are there to explain the step that you’re going to need to work on that day. Then you go to work on it and they walk around and they help you get things done and other students help you get things done.
We have something in the school called No student left behind which means that some people might struggle with one part while others do well. While the people who are doing well help the person who is struggling and then you’ll notice that the person who is struggling is doing well at another part and the other person struggling. We help each other out.
Everyone gets a website built by the end because I think you learn a lot more by actually doing it. Like I could tell you how to swim all day long, but if I just dropped you in the water, you’d probably sink and drown. You need actually to be out there moving and doing, and so that’s what’s unique about Cloud Wise Academy. That’s why anybody can do it. So it’s WordPress. It’s over there in our location by the Venture Hub and gets started.
Chauncey, real quick, you’ve been an instructor at Cloud Wise. Well, you know just real quick what was your take on the students or about how the class works out. What would you tell people?
Chauncey: Well you know everybody was eager to learn and very helpful to one another. And it was hands on because you know basically in my class I ended up treating my class as though I was a project manager and they were my team. So my class was search engine optimization, and we picked a Web site. And I had like 15 tasks and 15 students, and I said OK you’re doing this and basically pointed them around and if anybody needed help they were asking one another. I was walking around the room, and then we were going over in the end what they did and then we saw the changes in search results. You know, so it was very organic, very interactive, and an enjoyable time.
Joe: All right let’s move on. There there is an ad that I saw. I don’t even know if I’d call it an ad. I just love the new creative ways to be found. Two football players, Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen, well I don’t know a thing about football. I have no idea who those two guys are. They may be somebody important but anyways. These two football players challenge each other to eat a Paquis Hella Spicy Carolina Reaper Madness chips and see who can last the longest.
So these two guys they look like they’re in their home. They got a glass of milk and a Pepto Bismo next to him. This box shows up and looks like it has one chip in it. And there they’re both in their different homes being videoed, and the idea is they are going to eat these chips and see who’s the toughest and who makes it. I don’t know if it’s an ad. I don’t know if the chip manufacturer talked to both into doing this, but it’s great. So you can also catch this article in adweek.com. The author of the article is David Kiefaber. He’s a contributor to ad week. It’s a hilarious video but the reason I brought this up was you know for one I don’t know if a regular AD could make sense for a chip that’s so miserable nobody would ever want to eat it. But there are those niche people who think this is fun. Some people do this, and some people test hot sauce. My son will eat a ghost pepper anytime you ask him to which is mind-boggling to me. What a cool way to get your name out and be seen.
Chauncey: Oh absolutely. And fun you know, anything that you can do to make what you do fun is gold you know.
Joe: Yeah. I wonder if this is just probably two iPhones set up with a $10 tripod video. I mean we all could do this. Nothing is stopping us all from doing this. So I just wonder, as a local business nothing is stopping us. Why couldn’t a local business, let’s say that you’re a Mexican restaurant, walk around with a cell phone and challenge people to try your salsa.
Chauncey: You know one thing that restaurants can do especially a sort of like taco shop kind of place, a little sort of middle ground and below restaurants. I don’t think it will go to the upper class but do those food challenges and then videotaping those food challenges and having them up on the board. I mean there’s a whole social media campaign right there right. You know where you got to eat the six-pound burrito in 30 minutes or whatever you know.
Joe: So it does make you think, well sure you need to still sometimes produce something as amazing as you still need a full production. Sometimes you need a staff to come in to make an ad for TV or whatever. But there are tons of opportunities to make some interesting, valuable things, content, or videos that get your name around or attract the type of customer you’re looking for. And you know this is a great example. I just wonder if we couldn’t challenge our community to try more of these unique and creative simple ways to get more positive attention by making some fun videos or starting some fun little challenges or you know whatever. I’m not super creative so I’m not the guy that comes up with those things, but you know. Couldn’t we do that in this community? What’s stopping us?
Chauncey: Well creativity you know is what’s stopping us you know. We need those people to come out of the woodwork and be those creative people. We need to find an environment for those creative people to work their magic because they’re out there.
Joe: Well and especially until I got connected with the Venture Hub and everything going on there. I didn’t realize there were so many creative forward thinking individuals around and right here in town. For example, Matt Thayer from Spero Pictures is a top production house right here in Redding and all over the United States, across the globe doing videos. And he just did a video for Megastar Financial for Matt Brown which is hilarious and so well done.
OK, so we are coming to the end of this segment. Thank you so much for listening. You’re listening to the Being Found Show.
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