Sunday, April 3, 2022

Bulletin to ThinkTech Hosts - Week of April 3, 2022

Dear ThinkTech Hosts:

Host Bulletin, Week of April 3, 2022


Distinguished Guest Nominations

Click here to nominate one of your guests from one of your March shows to be a Distinguished Guest! Only the first 10 nominations will make the ballot. Nominations close next Thursday, April 7 and voting will begin on April 10. The results of the election will be posted in our email advisories on April 20. The winning candidate for Distinguished Guest will be profiled in a short video for our livestreams and social media.


Cancellations

If you or your guest must cancel at the last minute, please plan alternatives:

  1. Have other hosts and/or guests ready as backups.
  2. If host is unavailable but guest is ready, with some notice we may be able to find a substitute host.
  3. If guest is unavailable, host can do a solo show, preferably with slides or other graphics.
  4. Pre-record a show on your own Zoom account. You need approval for this option, because it doubles or triples the staff time and expenses for the show.

If you do end up cancelling, let us know ASAP so we have time to recover and set up an alternative live show.


Questions

Answering viewer questions is important to increasing engagement and building a loyal viewership. When promoting your upcoming shows, ask viewers and people in your network to tune in to the livestream and send questions by

a) emailing questions@thinktechhawaii.com, 
b) clicking "questions@thinktechhawaii.com" in our ThinkTech Daily,
c) clicking "Send a question" on thinktechhawaii.com, or
d) entering them in the chat box on our YouTube livestream.


You can encourage viewer questions during your episode as well. The engineer will send you questions in the Zoom chat, so make sure to keep your chat box open and check for notifications. If you're watching a show and want to pose a question to your fellow hosts, you can send questions to questions@thinktechhawaii.com. It’s easy and gratifying to see your question answered on air.


Fund Drive

Our Spring 2022 Fund Drive: Finding Clarity in an Uncertain World is coming up, so we'll be recording promos before/after your shows. We'll provide you with scripts to read. The fund drive will take place from April 15 to May 31. We hope all hosts reach out to guests and friends, promote the Fund Drive on social media, and donate. More information will be posted in our email advisories.


Promotion Tip

Add your show(s) to your website if you have one. Here's a tutorial for embedding YouTube videos and playlists in your website.

Embedding allows viewers to watch videos without leaving your website, but you can always post the link if you have trouble setting up the embed code. You can encourage guests to add episodes to their websites as well. Here are some examples of ThinkTech Hosts' websites with embedded episodes/playlists:


Questions, please contact hayley@thinktechhawaii.com.

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Bulletin to ThinkTech Hosts - Week of March 27, 2022

Dear ThinkTech Hosts:

Host Bulletin, Week of March 27, 2022


Burning Global Issues

Have you registered for our webinar this Friday? We are facing the most timely question of all - is world democracy in peril? Please join our webinar on Friday, April 1, 10:00 -11:30 am at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xCe8s-6yQA2ntWMmixKGqQ and spread the word through email, phone, and social media.

Flyer: https://bit.ly/BGI-2022-Flyer

Panelist Bios: https://bit.ly/BGI-2022-Flyer

Press Release: https://thinktechhawaii.com/press-release/

Trailer: https://youtu.be/qQpkWKSXNKY


Graphics

Reminder: graphics are due by 10pm the night before your show, same as show information. We need enough time to review and prepare them for your episode. Please see our Graphics Guidelines at http://thinktechhawaii.com/graphics-guidelines/ before submitting graphics.


Filling Time

Make sure to fill the 30-minute time allotted for your show. We don’t want you to stop early. You can take a 1-minute break to collect your thoughts by letting the engineer know through chat and saying "we’re going to take a short break now.” Our script suggestions for breaks are on our website at https://thinktechhawaii.com/hosts-guests-2/script-suggestions/. You can fill time by addressing unanswered questions, talking about future plans and projects, and/or leaving takeaway messages for the viewers. Of course, you will never have this problem if you are prepared beforehand with your own provocative thoughts and comments for the show.


Distinguished Guest

Nominations for the next ThinkTech Distinguished Guest will open on Friday, April 1. We will send all hosts a link to nominate one of their guests from March. The slate of candidates will be the first ten nominations made. Please make sure to inform your nominee of the nomination and that we will be making a short video showcasing the winner for our livestreams and social media platforms. Congratulations to our first Distinguished Guest Alan Brennert nominated by host Elaine Gallant.


Promotion Tip

Select people in your network who would be especially interested in your latest show and write a short 1-on-1 email inviting them to watch on the episode link you provide. This is a successful strategy used by host Rusty Komori that contributes to the wide popularity of his shows.


Questions, please contact hayley@thinktechhawaii.com.

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Bulletin to ThinkTech Hosts - Week of March 20, 2022

Dear ThinkTech Hosts:

Host Bulletin, Week of March 20, 2022


Burning Global Issues

Join us for a timely ThinkTech Hawaii webinar on Friday, April 1. "Burning Global Issues" will examine a burning issue for each continent, how that issue relates to prospects for functional democracy, and what we can learn from them. Please spread the word and register at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xCe8s-6yQA2ntWMmixKGqQ.

Flyer: https://bit.ly/BGI-2022-Flyer

Press Release: https://thinktechhawaii.com/press-release/


Acronyms

When you use acronyms in your shows, such as HPU for Hawaii Pacific University or COLA for Cost-of-Living Adjustment, take a moment to define and explain them to your viewers, or ask your guests to do that.  This helps viewers in Hawaii and elsewhere understand what you’re talking about.


Dates

Don't state the date during the show unless the content is date-sensitive. We want to avoid fixing a date on episodes so they remain timeless and don't appear outdated when we play them as encores.


Eye Contact

Look directly at the camera throughout the show. Please avoid looking at another screen, down, or off to the side. If you have notes, put them in a word-process window on your screen as near as possible to the camera so that you can maintain your eye contact with the audience.


Promotion Tip

If you use social media, post your shows, links or promotional graphics or comments regularly to increase visibility and build a relationship with your audience. Consistently offering new posts shows viewers that they should follow you to stay updated with your new content.


Questions, please contact hayley@thinktechhawaii.com.