...the road to Canberra: Lessons learned

Three hours south of Sydney is the sleepy city of Canberra - home of our nation's Prime Minister and meeting place for Australia's parliaments. It was also my meeting place with various keynote speakers who will present at IQPC conferences in the near future.

Last week, armed with a schedule of meetings, the video equipment, and a GPS navigation system, I set off in the wee hours of the morning to my first destination - an interview with Andrew Livingston, the Renewable Energy Regulator, speaker at our Wind Farms Development, Design & Construction 2010.

This interview, conducted in an empty office space under fluorescent lighting was ultimately the driest of the day. Though very knowledgeable and comfortable in front of the camera, I felt Andrew kept giving me answers of a similar nature. Lesson #1 - arm yourself with lots of questions and know your topic before commencing the interview so your video has variety.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rF_M9qsSRM

Soon after, I drove to CNOC (Centrelink Network Operations Centre), for my exclusive interview with John Wadeson, Deputy Secretary ICT Infrastructure, Department of Human Services, Centrelink - a big title for an important figure within a Federal Government agency. John is presenting at our Government Contact Centre Summit 2010.

Before the interview, I was fortunate enough to get some footage of their operations centre to use within my interviews. I found John to be a very charismatic person who was completely comfortable being interviewed, though he often rambled in his responses. Lesson #2 - don't be afraid to ask your interviewee to paraphrase in order to get a more succinct answer!

Link: This video was too long for Youtube. Visit www.govcc.com.au to view it or email me

A short drive out of the city to my next interview with Peter Major, Senior Manager ICT Security, Intact ACT. This interview explored the integrity of government websites against cyber threats and security (for e-Security for Government 2010). Another consummate professional in front of the camera, the entire interview was filmed in one take. This allowed me to produce the final version in a unique way - no dissolves or fancy edits, the interview runs from start to finish with no stops.

Lesson #3 - if you find the interviewee engaging, so will your audience, so don't be too concerned with re-framing. Once you're confident with your initial video set up, keep rolling!
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNPzJp-QNow

Close by to Canberra's iconic Parliament House was my final interview of the day with Paul Madden, Project Director, Standard Business Reporting (SBR), Australian Treasury, for Australian Regulatory Reform 2010.

There is a fine line between being informative and being sold to - this particular interviewee pushed these boundaries with a few clever inclusions of their website, email, and contact details of how businesses can learn more about their services. Ultimately though this allowed me to compromise with him, Lesson #4 - have confidence to play 'Director' during your interview. There's no harm in encouraging them to advocate for your conference, e.g. 'I'm looking forward to speaking at the conference because...' or 'The value in attending the conference is...'

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZGl5_kAu-E

A highly successful day in Canberra and the post-production of the videos has been challenging but a great experience. Feel free to let me know your thoughts - any tips or tricks you might have, or feedback (positive and negative!).

Until next time
Chris Archer
Online Communications Manager
IQPC Australia