But… How did this happen??? Read on…

I don’t know how many of you know of Homestar Runner. Well if you don’t, go check it out now. It’s awesomesauce, trust me. Anyway, a couple weeks ago the inimitable Mike Chapman of the Brothers Chapman who are behind that insane cartoony treat came around the office. Next thing you know we were kneeing each other in the groin to see who could come up with a better voice for a Christmas Elf. It’s just what us video guys do. Don’t ask.

After three rounds in the MMA cage (we keep one in a corner here in VideoLab) Mike Chapman (he demands I use his full name EVERY time) had definitely proven himself the superior elf voice talent and bare knuckle brawler. Unfortunately we had a bet going that the winner of the cage fight gets to make anything they want to humiliate the loser any way they want, and we’ll post it on the MailChimp blog for all to see. And loser has to write a certain statement in the blog post. Ouch.

So yeah, I lost. But I’m a sporting man of my word, so here goes:

I’m Josh, and I make those artsy fartsy Customer Stories of those neat MailChimp customers doing neat things. But Mike Chapman is my superior, and Mike Chapman would approach them in a different way. A better way. The best way.

So there Mike Chapman, co-creator of Homestar Runner! Ya happy now?! Mike Chapman thinks people enjoy the funny! Wutever GOSH! We’ll see about that. I guess you all just have to go judge for yourself. I gotta go practice my choke hold. Enjoy, I guess. <sniff>

Bee careful! Click to watch the video.

I suppose the bee that rammed itself repeatedly into my hat just above my ear was warning me that she and her 15,000 other buddies inside the hive were trying to get some shut eye and were not to be bothered. It was a cold day in November, and bees just clump up and sort of go dormant during the winter months. And whereas I think everybody knows not to wake up a sleeping bear, I’ve never been told not to disturb a beehive in the winter. But like bears, and me for that matter, bees can get quite cranky and short tempered if bothered during their sleepy time.

“Do you want to put on the bee suit?” Roger asked as we got to the gate that separated us from about 20-odd hives which sat quietly amongst the trees in the woods. “Are you?” I answered. He said he wasn’t, so I thought aloud, “Well if you aren’t, I’m not gonna.” I figured I would trust the man who does this year round, and if I just stuck to the rules (move slowly, remain quiet, and no panicking) I would be ok. Everything went well, and when I finally got buzzed I did manage to control my urge to do the Invisible Insect Panic Dance. After a careful check in the folds of my hat, I figured my time was up, so we packed the gear and left.

The Paynes family and staff.

Roger Payne is a tall, gentle fellow who spends his days with bees. Hundreds of thousands of them. He is a third generation beekeeper, and along with his family runs Paynes Southdown Bee Farms. Located in the tranquil Sussex countryside in the south of England, Roger and the rest of the family and staff tend to countless hives scattered around the area and harvest the honey and beeswax that the bees produce. They turn that bounty into a range of products that are both edible delicacies, such as raw honey, jams, and candies, as well as functional accessories for the home and tools and equipment for the practicing beekeeper.

As is typical of the region this time of year, it was grey and a bit drizzly the week I spent there. It was also a bit odd that I was shooting a documentary on a beekeeper during the winter months. Maybe it fits MailChimp’s commitment to being unconventional. Regardless, there was ample activity at Paynes facility to make up for the lack of busy bees flying around practicing their pollen collecting activities that mark the warmer seasons.

Tucked into a cluster of small buildings which used to make up the stables of a larger estate next door, Roger and family are utilizing every square inch of space for the different aspects of running a thriving bee-based business. From small workshops in which they pour beeswax molds or build hives, to a jarring and labeling room, a storefront, a shipping and packaging area, there was not a square inch left unused. There were computers and desks tucked under staircases and squeezed into storage rooms between shelves stacked with cases upon cases of honey products. Yet I felt as though nobody seemed to mind the cramped quarters, perhaps because they spent so much of their time outdoors, year round, tending to their bees.

I spent a lot of time walking while there, mostly between the B&B, the bee farm, and the local pub (best sticky toffee pudding EVER), so I felt as though I got to feel the land a bit. And regardless of the weather being cold or the season grey, I could see how working with nature in such lovely surroundings could be a satisfying choice for three generations of Paynes. And to think that that little operation provides such a vast (and delicious!) collection of products to an entire region of the world really adds meaning to the phrase “busy as a bee.” As far as beekeeping goes, I think the word “keeping” refers more to “keeping-up-with” than any other meaning one might infer. And as Roger put it, with a smile, “they’re in control of us… definitely.”

Watch the customer story.

Even if you weren’t able to make it this time, hopefully these animated gifs will help you feel like you’re right in the mix.

View from the 5 Seasons Brewing roof deck

The King of Pops helped folks cool off with his delicious, handmade popsicles

Ben chatting

Plenty of monkey hats to go around and swag galore!

The Mystery Men shared stellar surf rock tunes that were totally weather appropriate.

Our beloved Freddie appeared to share hugs and fist bumps with all

We’ve been sending Josh, our video guy, around the world to do these mini-documentaries on MailChimp customers (here’s his explanation). The most recent story is for Vice UK. At first, I thought Vice was just another edgy, NSFW website (which I likey). Turns out it’s this huge CNN-like media company. They’re a record label, a magazine, a music venue, a creative agency, and an online network. They’ve got people in 30 countries, and serve clients like Intel. And they’re growing. Fast.

The interview is pretty hilarious, but it’s actually an awesome business story (especially for creatives and designful companies). How do you grow fast, scale without imploding, stay creative, make money without selling out, and generally not piss off too many people? You work your butt off, embrace chaos, and never get complacent.

Some of my favorite quotes from Andy Capper, their global editor:

Starting around 2:55 -”Feels like a constant state of experimentation…everything changes every 2 seconds…that’s how it’s always felt…sometimes you get kids who work for us — they can’t take the fact that it’s always changing…and all of a sudden there’s a big panic…it’s fun…I think the reason for our success has been that we do work all the time, almost 7 days a week. Even when we’re not working, we’re kind of working…and that’s the only way you can make any business like this succeed these days…I usually talk too fast for Americans…

4:33 – Our opinion has always been to run away from whenever there’s a gang of people forming around you, like a movement, I think it’s good to run away from that..as much as possible…otherwise you get pinned in a corner.

7:31 - It’s fun…it’s just good to get around more and like feeling of world domination, but in a cute way. We’re trying to appear to the world like we’re a respectable company.

Here’s the full interview: Vice UK: Go Big Or Go Home

Related:

• “The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” - Elizabeth Taylor (wikiquote)

For the past couple years MailChimp has been using video in many ways. Short tutorials within the app; educational series in the MailChimp Academy; promotional spots for our new features; and a few utterly ridiculous bits of nonsense that serve a darker, more dubious purpose which I won’t be going into here.

But this year, we’ve initiated a new effort for the VideoLab™, and that is the Customer Story…

We’ve always shied away from the style of video that carries the label of “corporate” for the same reasons that we don’t have a team of salesmen that wear those blue button down shirts. “Selling” MailChimp in traditional ways just doesn’t sit well with us as a general rule. So when we decided it was time to make our own corporate videos, you know, the kind that tell a story of who customer X is, and how happy they are using our product, we decided a more natural approach would be to simply show customer X doing what it is they do. Period.

But wait, no mention of MailChimp? Nope.
Or how they use it to become more successful or efficient? Uh-uh.
No glowing on camera testimonials of how it changed the face of their business and how enthusiastically they refer it to all their businessy friends? Umm… <Cringe> Sorry, no.

We just thought it would be cool to pick some really interesting customers, who are doing some really interesting things, and make these little documentaries. “But why?” you ask. Well, surprisingly it is NOT so we can deploy Ben’s private MailChimp submarine that he paid big money for back during the first dot com bubble. The real answer is a bit less baroque. Essentially, we look at each Customer Story as a depiction of a particular craft-in-practice. I like to think that every business represents a collection of different crafts, with sometimes an especially interesting one at its core. So if we combed through our customer base and found some interesting businesses that were composed of interesting people practicing some neat craft, well, that would make for some pretty cool video.

In the past few months we’ve produced four of these Customer Stories. The first two we kept local, just to feel out the process and cut our teeth a little bit in terms of what resources, time and gear we would need to make them. Batdorf & Bronson coffee roasters was kind enough to let us make our first. Then our friends over at Hop City followed shortly thereafter with a treatise on all things beer.

Then it was off to broader horizons. Having the chance to travel to London to visit the office of [REALLY COOL BRAND WE CANT LEGALLY ANNOUNCE YET] was a thrill. I was nervous that they wouldn’t think I was hip or edgy enough to step foot inside, but I was pleasantly suprised to be ushered in by a kind group of hard working, extremely friendly people who were most accommodating.

Next came a visit with the Mighty Eagle itself, Angry Birds. During a chance encounter in a hotel lobby at SXSW, I pretty much invited myself to their offices in Helsinki, Finland for a shoot a couple weeks later. I had learned by this point that the best way to approach an invite to do a Customer Story is to ask if they would like to do it, then just show up at their doorstep with a camera and a few release forms! It hasn’t gotten me in trouble yet, but it certainly has eliminated a few delays and “scheduling conflicts.”

There are other things I’ve learned along the way. This is, after all, modern film making in the digital age. What you see here is largely the result of one guy with a bag of camera gear and a computer, which as the old saying goes, would have been impossible not too long ago. Which brings me to a short discussion on gear, for those of you who are so inclined to read on and geek out with me…

The Gear
Producing short films on foot requires minimal gear be brought along, but one must not sacrifice quality. So I have boiled down my kit to a few crucial gadgets that fill my bag juuust to the top, and still allows me to produce something that looks and sounds pretty pro:

Camera: Canon 7D
Shoulder stabilizer: Cavision RS series
Various Canon and Ziess prime lenses (rent the really expensive ones!)
Audio: Zoom H4n external audio recorder, with Sennheiser wireless units to either Tram lavaliers or shotgun mic
Davis & Sanford fluid head tripod (trying to find a small one for travel but so far no luck)

Extras include lots of CF and SD cards, a small clapper for manual sync, and a weather protector for the camera in case you find yourself in a small blizzard during a Helsinki winter. Of course spare batteries, chargers, and card readers are mandatory.

It’s basically as much as can fit into one rolling carry on. Like any other trip, its best to bring as little as you can, and I’ve whittled down my kit to the bare essentials of what i need, what i can keep track of, and what i can operate myself.

And let me say, the recurring MVP for each of these excursions has been the Lowepro Pro Roller x gear bag. It would take me several paragraphs to list and describe its invaluable features, and every single one of them has come in handy at some point. Amazing design and quality construction. It’s been a great travel partner.

Anyway, once we arrive on location the real fun begins. Normally a shoot of this type would include a director, producer, grip, audio engineer, and camera operator, and a person doing the interviewing. But in true do-it-yourself MailChimp style, our production team is either just myself, as in the case of Angry Birds and [Cool Brand], or me plus my lab partner Courtney helping out with gear, and Kate or Mark from DesignLab™ handling the subjects and asking questions. Barebone minimums here, people. But regardless of the size of the team, the key to getting good footage is knowing how to get a nice shot with available light, locking in clean audio, and coaxing out a good story by asking the right questions of the subjects on camera.

And all that has to be done on the fly – maybe there’s a little advance preparation in the submarine – but not always do we get to see where we’re going ahead of time or talk to the people we’re going to be interviewing. Its a real adventure, every single time, and a great challenge, and loads of fun.

Then there’s the edit. Cobbling a good story arc from lots of little clips and some longer interview footage is certainly the toughest and most brain intensive part of the process. Like football is a game of inches, editing is a game of frames. 24 of them per second, and each one counts. Especially when cutting for the web, where attention spans are short and 10 minutes is considered long form entertainment. Oddly enough, every one of these has landed just at about 10 minutes in length. I started each thinking “ah this will be about 5-6 minutes tops” but for some reason I’ve found that a story arc naturally falls into place between book ends that are about 10 minutes apart. But as much as I struggle to keep things as short as possible, there still are some fundamental aspects of a story that cannot be left out. Otherwise you get a choppy music video type of thing, which isn’t really what we’re going for. Character and story development development, however brief, and a thread that moves the content naturally from point to point is necessary to come out on the other end with something that maintains an audience’s attention. Rhythm, good sound, and some dynamic to the piece are crucial elements that must be sought in the edit. The final result should grab people’s attention in the beginning, move like a song through the middle, and end on a high note.

I look forward to climbing back into the submarine and visiting more customers who are doing interesting things. Sharing these stories through video is something we do to be human, not corporate. As MailChimp represents a vast community of all types of people in all kinds of places doing all sorts of things, I figure one thing we all have in common is the love of a good story. I hope you enjoy them.

We couldn’t agree more.

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Related: Warning Signs That Your Client Is Spamming

We’re pretty darn excited that one of our all time favorite conferences in the world, An Event Apart, is coming back to our home town, Atlanta. Hosted by web luminaries, Eric Meyer and Jeffrey Zeldman, An Event Apart is an intensely educational learning session for passionate practitioners of standards-based web design. If you care about code as well as content, usability as well as design, An Event Apart is the conference for you.

Many moons ago, I attended AEA when it was held at the home of the Atlanta Braves, Turner Field. It was smaller then and it was just one day, but it made a huge impression on me. The sessions were filled with practical information that I was able to use in my work, but I also had the opportunity to talk to and hang out with my web idols. It’s an event that is as much about community building as it is learning. That experience left me inspired and ready to do cool stuff. Since then I’ve been to AEA about a dozen times, and I still walk away with a pocket full of inspiring gems.

We’re really proud to be sponsoring AEA this year along with our friends over at Typekit. We hope to see you in Atlanta, or at one of the 5 other AEAs around the US. In fact, you can save $100 bones off any two- or three-day ticket with code AEACHIMP.

http://aneventapart.com

I’m hungry. Anyway, social media plays a huge role in Naked Pizza’s business plan. They have an awesome blog called LivNaked and almost 10,000 Twitter followers—they even put up a billboard outside one of their stores to tell people they’re on Twitter.

And they use MailChimp. Naked Pizza’s email newsletters feature coupons, announcements, nutritional info and links to the LivNaked blog. They recently started using MailChimp’s Chimpadeedoo app to gather signups at the counter. Here it is in action at their New Orleans store:

Their iPad wallpapers make the experience even more fun for their customers. I checked in with Naked Pizza’s interactive strategist Ron Domingue to see how Chimpadeedoo is working for them.

How did you collect email addresses before Chimpadeedoo?

Through our website and our POS system. The Chimpadeedoo app has helped immensely during our soft and grand opening. Our Miami Grand Opening harvested 500+ emails in two weeks. Unfortunately it’s more difficult to track now because I pull them all into one master list. The iPads have helped in general regarding dwell time as people wait.

How have your customers reacted to the newsletter sign-up kiosk?

Enthusiastically—it’s a hit and will only get better. We’ve actually been experimenting with a counter with slots configured specifically for the iPad.

How did you secure your iPad to the counter?

A combination of custom carpentry, good advice from Apple (thank you, Steve) and the brilliance of NakedPizza’s own Ron Domingue and Vincent Vumbaco. We use a device that adheres to the back of the iPad made by company called Se-kure. The Apple store uses a similar model. It is a small white cable tethered to the USB cable and plugged into an alarm. Once either side is detached an alarm is signaled.

How has Chimpadeedoo affected your email signup process? Have you had many more signups because of it?

Yes, we’ve had more signups. This process meets people in the way they want to engage with us. We’re highly sensitive to our customers’ preferences regarding information and interaction—this way, they drive.

What features would you like to see added to Chimpadeedoo?

I would like the ability to add more fields other than just email address. I currently have groups created for different cities and would like to be able to have the option for customers to select the appropriate city. And flying cars!

We’ll get on that. We heard you’re expanding nationwide. What’s next?

That’s plenty for now, but additionally we’re establishing an international base in Dubai. We also have a few complementary products planned, but if we told you, we’d have to….

What else are you using the iPad for in your store, when you’re not running Chimpadeedoo?

Online ordering and access to our digitally based publishing platform. We’re all about content.

A pizza company that’s all about content—we like the way they think. Thanks to Ron and the rest of the Naked Pizza staff for making us look good.

If your company is using Chimpadeedoo, let us know in the comments. (And we’d love links to images of Chimpadeedoo in action.)

First, they’ve started with a pretty basic form.
Rather than using a single header image for each step, they’ve kept the form plain and customized every page with a different photo in the body.

Here’s the Thank You page:

Look at those adorable kids!  It gets better from there.

When I check my email for the confirmation link, there’s another fantastic shot:

Clicking the link takes me to the confirmation page and, yep, another photo:

This is a great way for you to showcase your work while getting new subscribers to your list.   This could be a great option for designers, photographers and artists who want to engage subscribers right away and provide them with a more interesting signup process.

You might also want to check out:

Tracking Signup Locations via the MailChimp Embedded Forms
Better Embedded Signup Forms
How Adding Product Photos Bumped Click Rate Almost 50%

Pretty nice, eh?  Notice the social sharing icons right under it, too, so people can encourage others to join the fold. I was curious about the rest of their signup process, and wanted to get their cool daily emails, so I went ahead and signed myself up.

The form leads me to this pop-up confirmation message, which also provides an opportunity for them to learn a little more about me as a subscriber.  I also have the option to leave this page totally blank if I feel like it, but I gave them my info so they can send me more targeted messages.

And we’re done!  Notice how they’ve included another social sharing bar — a great way to spread the word about your newsletter and grow your list naturally.

Have you tried social sharing in your subscribe process yet?

You might also be interested in:

Better Embedded Signup Forms

MailChimp’s Facebook Signup App

Tracking Signup Location via MailChimp Forms