Coast Guard Channel Weblog

It was an interesting and exhausting day yesterday with the Commandant in Texas. We started our morning on Wednesday having breakfast with the Commandant at our hotel in Corpus Christi. We learned that he spent his high school years only 20 minutes from where I spent the first 18 years of my life, heard about his youth traveling with his Dad who was in the Coast Guard, and discovered why he went to the Academy. We were then told to load up because we needed to head off to our first all-hands of the day at Air Station Corpus Christi.

After our first day, we already knew that we had to move fast so headed quickly to our van to join the convoy headed to the Air Station. In an auditorium filled with Coasties, we captured the Commandant making a short presentation then he and Skip Bowen, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, took questions from the audience. As the questions started to flow, Regan and I were escorted out of the auditorium, leaving Tam behind to finish up with the meeting. The plan: Get us, and the rest of the travel party, to South Padre Island ahead of the Commandant who was flying there (with Tam) on an HH60 helicopter. One reason for the head start was for us to beat them there so we could tape him landing and getting of the helo. Unfortunately, even with our 30 minute lead time and certainly faster aircraft, we didn’t make it. Of course the fact that we had to land in Brownsville then drive for a half-hour to South Padre Island didn’t help. The Commandant was on the ground before we arrived.

Once at the station, we had to hurry to get set up with the camera so we were ready to go for the second all-hands of the day. Same process - short presentation then Q&A. It was instantly clear how different the questions were between the two audiences. The Commandant adapted immediately.

Next up? Lunch, followed by a pepper ball demo–a new non-lethal way to stop those trying to evade the Coast Guard. A ball is shot from a Coast Guard boat and when it lands, it explodes with a flurry of pepper spray. Makes the evaders more than a little uncomfortable.

After a short interview, we all headed back to Brownsville and back to CG1. We were off to Houston. As we landed, we watched the entourage leave without us. It was kind of sad. We would have another morning with the Commandant but our time to fly in CG1 with the big dog was over. We were all kind of sad but, at the same time, worn out from a day going at warp speed.

Those were the three words I learned yesterday on our first day with the Commandant. We’re pretty quick but have never had to move so quickly under ‘orders’. It was clear that if we weren’t where we were supposed to be when the entourage was ready to go, we would be left behind. When the top dog moves, you better be ready.

We had a great interview with the Commandant. It’s the second time we interviewed him - the first time at the Innovation Expo in New Orleans. The man is incredibly intelligent, totally ‘on-message’, and has a commanding presence. But, at the same time, he’s in awe of Coast Guard people - past and present - which is part of the reason his people have so much respect for him.

Today it’s breakfast with him in Corpus Christi, an all-hands at the air station, then we’re off to South Padre Island for another all-hands, lunch, and a Pepper Ball demo. No, it’s not a new recipe from Emeril. But it does go Bam and kicks non-lethal use of force up a notch!

It feels like that at least. We’re leaving tomorrow to catch up with the Commandant and then we’ll spend two days embedded with him. It was really his idea. He proposed we do this back in September and it’s taken this long to get it set up (he’s kind of a busy guy). I’ll do my best to blog from the road…in case anyone is reading.

We’re REALLY excited. I’ve met a lot of CEOs over the years and he’s one that I truly admire for not only having a very clear vision of what he wants to see get done but also understands what he needs to do to make it happen and is going after it full speed ahead. Keep in mind he has only four years to make it happen…unlike many CEOs that can build or, in this case, rebuild an organization over a lifetime. He also has earned the respect of his people from top to bottom. And he’s willing to own up to mistakes when they happen and do what’s necessary not to repeat those mistakes. He inherited Deepwater that certainly had problems but is also an extremely vital and much overdue program to modernize the Coast Guard. Instead of pointing fingers, he accepted that mistakes were made, but continues to impress upon people that it doesn’t mean the original need isn’t valid. Somehow - despite the fact that we’re talking about a 200 year old government entity - he’s been able to turn the program around and get it on-track so that the good work intended by Deepwater can be done.

So hopefully our trip to Texas will be as eye-opening as Dorothy’s trip to Oz…and I’ll be home before I know it. No ruby slippers required.

In our business–web, multimedia, video, television–there is A LOT of technology to keep up with. Those of you simply worried about buying a new PC and whether it will be obsolete before you get it into your trunk or whether to buy LCD or Plasma have it easy . We have those concerns and more. Much more. One debate seems to have been decided today, however. The battle between BluRay and HD-DVD is over. BluRay is the winner as Toshiba announced today it will quit the HD-DVD business. My sympathies to all you early adopters out there. Please know that you are well-loved and very much appreciated by all the technology companies in the world.

While this will certainly make one decision easier as we start releasing titles in HD, we’re also spending a lot of energy trying to sort out the whole broadband video/internet delivery puzzle to make sure we can deliver the best user experience possible for, of course, the least amount of coin. The landscape is changing every day and that’s just on the question of streaming media. Then there’s podcasts and paid DVD-quality video downloads–other pieces of the puzzle. All the while we’re developing new content as quickly as we can to satisfy what seems to be an insatiable appetite for more, more, more. Factor into the mix that a portion of our audience is connecting to the site via dial-up (more sympathies without the love from the tech firms) and you can understand the dazed and confused looks on our faces whenever we sit down to figure out where we should go next.

It’s kind of a wild ride–like a 47-footer hitting the surf off Cape D! Hold on tight.

I probably have the greatest job in the world. I get to do research about a topic that I’m passionate about (the Coast Guard), get to figure out what I want to write and when (with almost complete control). I have fun writing about it and have “met” (only through email in many cases) great people who are either currently in the Coast Guard, formerly in the Coast Guard, have a loved one in the Coast Guard, or just feel as passionate about the organization as I do. I know that’s probably weird to many people who are not in the Coast Guard but hey I don’t mind being called weird. I’ll wear the moniker.

Then I also get to see the immediate feedback on everything we do. When I send out a newsletter, I can see how quickly it gets read and by how many people. We look at our web stats daily (hourly) so we can see who is watching/reading what and the reception we get to new additions. And I get so many wonderful emails. I’ve never had a job where I get thank yous and kudos just about every day…some times many in ONE day.
The downside is that I do take it all very personally. So some times someone will send a not so nice email and it’ll hit me hard. I even take it personally when someone unsubscribes from the newsletter that I’ve worked so hard to create. I know it’s silly but you get the yin and the yang. To get my the investment of my passion and my time, you’ve got to live with the emotion…

It’s always interesting when we launch a new series or feature to see what clicks with viewers. Some times we’re surprised by what becomes wildly popular and just as surprised from time to time by things we THINK will be viewer favorites and are not. We’ve had a number of big hits in the last two weeks.

The posting of the historical feature about Coast Guard surfmen and the Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station received a lot of raves, especially on various forums. Then that same week, we uploaded the official Coast Guard introduction video to their Deployable Operations Group--the D.O.G. That one is still getting a lot of hits. I don’t think either of these were surprises, although other historical pieces we’ve done haven’t yielded quite as much buzz.

This last week we also debuted the first episode of the new series “It’s Just Eight Weeks” about Coast Guard basic training. We knew this was going to get people talking and it has. It quickly moved into the Most Watched video category. That was UNTIL we launched the video feature on the National Security Cutter on Monday. It has only launched in our sneak preview player, which is supposed to only be available to people on our mailing list, but the link is obviously getting shared because we quickly had more views than we had people clicking from the mailing list. We absolutely knew this was going to generate a lot of interest because of the curiosity in this new Cutter and the overall Deepwater program.

And the best part is we were the first media agency to get a tour of the ship. So while we were on board when a lot of the Cutter was still ‘undercover’ as finishing touches were being done, some of this video has never been seen before. We’ll roll out the episode on the home page later this week so when you see it, let us know what you think.

I know…it’s been a long time since I’ve last posted. I don’t know that I have a really good excuse except to say that it’s not like we haven’t been producing a lot of STUFF. We’ve been running around like chickens with our heads cut off for a year now. We spent several weeks in production from coast to coast and are in post-production every day.

Tomorrow, February 5th, is the one year anniversary of the Channel. It has come so far since we launched that it’s amazing. Today we have hours and hours of video live on the Channel–we’re posting between 3 and 5 new videos each week and we’re getting tens of thousands of views. We have hundreds of photos, pages and pages of trivia, links to all things Coast Guard, and lots of people contributing personal stories and photos. Our dedicated viewership is growing tremendously every month. And there’s a lot of buzz. People are writing us saying “Sign Me Up” for the mailing list and for our weekly newsletter (which is tapping a lot of my writing energy).

I do hope that as we enter our second year that you’ll be seeing a lot more from me on the blog front. And that I can get the rest of my team to start contributing again as well.

Meanwhile, I hope you’re enjoying all the new videos and series we’ve added. And that you count us in your list of fun things to do. We’re having a lot of fun doing it.

It’s good to be back in production. Well, I’m not actually in production but we have a team that is (someone has to hold down the fort). A few weeks ago we shot at the Coast Guard Training Center in Petaluma and this week Tam and Regan are back at Coast Guard Heaquarters and then are making their way north tonight to the Coast Guard Academy. They’re pursuing a couple of stories for the Coast Guard Channel News including an upcoming feature on Deepwater. They also took a ride-along today with Coast Guard Station Washington DC. I would have liked that…to see Washington from the Potomac.

We were thinking we could do a series like Stephen Colbert’s “Better Know a District” since the Coast Guard, like the House, is broken into districts. Except it could be a short series since the Coast Guard only has nine districts versus the 435-part series on the Colbert Report. But it would be fun to have reports from the “Fighting Fifth”.

We do plan to get out and about all summer long bringing you new stories (and news stories) from across the Coast Guard. If you’re a Coastie, maybe we’ll be at your unit in the months ahead. So maybe we’ll have to do a series “Better know a unit?” Just how many of those are there anyway?

I realize it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything on the blog. My expectation is that the frequency of posts as well as the variety of posters will increase in the days ahead. I hope that you’ll agree that we’ve accomplished a lot in the last two months (since launch) even while this blog has been static. We’ve aded significantly to the body of videos available from the website–launched two new series, new video features, an author’s corner and a reunion page, added weekly to our trivia, our links, and all of our viewer submission areas (videos, photos, stories). Something new is added practically every day. It’s been great to see the site grow and grow.

And then there was Tam’s brilliant idea about six weeks ago that we should do a weekly newscast. And yes it was brilliant although I’m not sure we comprehended how much work it would be. But more about that later… In any case, we did it and Monday we’ll post our fourth newcast. Each week it gets a little easier and a little bit better.

So, sorry for my silence. I hope to be more prolific in the future. After all…I have a lot to talk about. We have some big plans ahead and look to all of you to help us build the Channel.

At 12:01 this morning, David from my staff “flipped the switch” as he was calling it, changing our url from www.coastguardrescues.com to www.coastguardchannel.com. Not that it was quite as easy as flipping a lightswitch but he was actually snoozing by around 1 a.m., which is amazing and a testament to what a great job he did getting us ready for launch. Tam and I, on the other hand, didn’t hit the sack till closer to 2:30 a.m. working out a few last minute bugs that we discovered in our own portions of the project. That’s still pretty darn good. I love the web!

Thanks again to all of you that have been sending your encouragement! This is already one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever been involved in and we’re just getting started.