Another new year – and this time it’s a change in the senior management at Spectrecom. Because, after nearly 7 years at the company, Sarah Aynesworth has resigned her directorship. Sarah was a founder director of the company and instrumental in getting us off the ground and to where we are today. Anyone who’s ever tried it knows that starting a company without any customers, any significant finance or capital, trading track record or experience, is an incredibly demanding challenge. The early years are as much about survival as they are about growth. Sarah helped to shoulder this responsibility with guts and determination. The hard work paid off and the company is now a successful going concern, but we really couldn’t have done it without Sarah.

For those soap fans out there who love a bit of drama, I’m sorry to report that there, was no disagreement, no falling out, no slammed doors, no spilt blood on the board room floor! Sarah has simply left to start a family. However, she still has a 22% stake in the company and will retain her role as Company Secretary – and I’m sure she’ll be popping into the studios to check up on us from time to time. 

Sarah’s departure means a management restructure at Spectrecom, and now that we’re up to 30 employees and growing, I’ve asked 2 of the longest serving and most experienced staff members to join Steve and myself on the board. Christiaan Harden has been the driving force behind our online marketing strategy and strong sales performance for the last 3 years, and he becomes Commercial Director. His new brief will see him continue to work ever more closely with the production and post-production teams to develop a distinctive identity for our films. To that end, he has recently recruited 2 talented new creative writers to his team. Ben Franklin, who started out as our first editor, has gone on to develop and manage his own  team of 8 full time editors together with the technical infrastructure necessary to harness their collective creativity. Ben is now Director of Post-Production with a brief to continue to raise the quality bar of our output.

Finally, Steve Milton has taken over from Sarah’s role and becomes Director of Productions. The job description is changed slightly from Sarah’s in that we now have a stronger accounts team and Sarah’s company secretary duties will remove the burden of most of the legal admin work. This will leave Steve free to oversee the day-to-day running of all the work in production. And I’ve promised him that he’ll still have time to pick up a camera and shoot his own work, on his own projects, when he wants to. I feel that’s one new year’s resolution he’ll be holding me to!

According to Chris Cardell, you don't need professional video production companies like us to make your business videos, you can do it yourself. And the thing is, I agree with him.

Let me set the scene. Along with 700 other business owners, I attended the Chris Cardell Entrepreneur Summit last weekend to mug up on the latest online marketing trends. And to be fair, Chris certainly didn't disappoint. There was plenty of new stuff on pay per click, which is where I think his strength really lies, and some new material about remarketing and Facebook. Chris is a leading authority on marketing for small businesses and start-ups, and I'm prepared to take onboard what he has to say. 

What I really wanted to know was what Chris thought about online video. And the good news was that he thought that every small business should now be using it on their websites. Hooray! In fact, online video was to be the recurring theme of the summit, and with our own new short form videos (Spectrevids) about to be launched, it was good to hear. It was obvious to me that Chris had excellent marketing foresight – I listened intently. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm was to be short-lived. Smug self-satisfaction turned to horror as Chris went on to recommend that owners of small businesses should avoid expensive video production companies and go out and make their own videos instead. And guest speaker Paul McKenna agreed. Mind you, Paul is a renowned self-help expert, so you'd expect him to declare DIY videos a no-brainer!

User Generated Content (UGC as its known) has the advantage of being cheap, immediate and authentic. In fact, despite a bombardment of different marketing approaches, I only signed up to a Chris Cardell Entrepreneur Summit after being convinced by one of his videos. He gave a straight 20 minute presentation in front of a locked-off camera, no cutaways, and such was his natural style and power of persuasion that I was instantly drawn in. You see, for the first time, I knew what I'd be getting if I attended one of his summits. If the speaker's good enough, then a raw, user-generated video can achieve that. I've seen quite large organisations sending their employees out with Flip cameras to record 'a day in the life' scenarios as part of a recruitment drive, and only this week I was suggesting that a charity should record their overseas projects in this way. The homemade video looks honest and uncontrived in a way that slick production values could never hope to imitate. It's also true that if you need to post a lot of videos on your site, especially if it's required on a recurring basis, then you'll probably need to produce your own out of sheer economic necessity. And if your product is homemade, then there's a certain allure if your videos are too.

So does that mean that I need to look for another job? Well, not quite. Most of us have a relative or friend who can work out of a bedroom and knock up a website, but would we want them to do ours? It depends on your business of course, but if you want SEO, distinctive branding, a good CMS, in other words, a professional website, then you'd probably want professional help too. And the same goes for video production. There's no shortage of people who think that as long as you've bought an HD video camera, then your video's pretty much in the bag. Wrong! The invention of crayons didn't put artists out of business, and cheap cameras won't do likewise for professional videographers (it should, however, enable them to reduce their prices!).

Say you run a small hotel and you want a video on your home page (as well as on other online travel sites). If the video looks amateur, how's that going to make your hotel look? So to give yourself a fighting chance, you buy a half-decent HD camera. Then you discover that you need a few extras like a tripod, lights and microphone. Remember, you're doing this yourself because you want to save money, so you're going to be doing quite a bit of shopping around to get the best deal, right? Now you need to learn how to use your new kit proficiently. Do you know how to compose a shot, light a room, interview your general manager? You will also need to spend time learning new software so that you can edit your material into a slick promotional tool; you will have to choose some royalty-cleared music; and you will have to know how to place your video into a media player and upload it onto a number of different websites. It can take professional videographers years to learn how to put great-looking films together, but you could certainly give it a go. Even if it turns out you’re the next Spielberg, think how long all of this would take, and what that time is worth to you. How much would it be worth to have someone else do the work so that you can do something far more productive, something that you're really good at, something that only you can do?

So in conclusion, it's absolutely fine to make your own videos if the rough and ready presentation style lends itself to your message. But from a marketing and branding point of view, it's probably not going to be fine if you want a professional-looking video that's going to support and reflect your online identity.

I think Chris really gets why video is so important for small businesses and understands how it should be used. But he’s a marketing expert, not a film producer, and he can’t teach his audience how video communicates, and how it can influence people’s thinking and change their behaviour, because frankly he hasn’t had the experience. That experience has to be won after years of practice, and years of exposure to different business models and ideas. For that reason, I think that video production companies will be providing an important business service for some time to come. 

The last 6 weeks at Spectrecom has seen a rapid growth in our staffing levels – we're now up to 20 people and double the size we were a year ago. Scary! I'm relieved to say this marks the conclusion of the expansion plan for the time being. After our move into Waterloo Film Studios it's now time to consolidate our new position – no more hiring or major procurement for the next 6 months.

So, a bit about the new team members. In the order of their arrival at Spectrecom:

Ash Flight (21) is the youngest member of the team. He joined from a marketing role at Ravensbourne College and is providing able assistance to Christiaan, supporting him in marketing research, new social media, and the maintenance and updating of the website. Don't be fooled - he's a wise head on young shoulders.

Suzanne Baker-Downes joined from Green Screen Soho and is helping Jonny to manage the studio; Jonny's in charge of the technical operation of the studio whilst Suzanne heads up marketing, bookings and studio hospitality. This Canadian lady is a very tough cookie and with over 15 years experience in the industry, she seems to know everyone worth knowing. How come she'd never heard of me?

Paul Moses was shortlisted from over 200 candidates for 2 new camera / editor posts, and we interviewed him via Skype at his old base in Australia's Snowy Mountains - a technological first for us as well as Paul! His fantastic showreel and affable personality won us over and he's already proving hugely popular with clients.

Alex Hinx was the second lucky recruit for the camera / editor post. As with Paul, we brought him in because he had the friendly, capable attitude we look for in all Spectrecommers, and because we needed to strengthen our team of multi-skilled operators. We also needed to bolster the company's vegetarian membership.

Jacqui Petrie has replaced Gill in the book keeping role. Gill was working part time with Sarah in the Yorkshire office, but the as the financial operation's grown, we needed someone full time in the London office. Jacqui's stringent review on outgoings and expenses has proved frightening for some (!), but we still manage to keep the Stage Door pub busy on Friday nights.

You'll be able to meet all of the new team members very soon because we're already working on producing our next series of staff profile videos. They'll start appearing on this site in 2 week's time.

Yesterday at Southampton the Queen officially named Cunard's new liner, Queen Elizabeth. 

Spectrecom has been recording the building of this magnificent ship every couple of months or so, ever since her keel was laid down at the Fincantieri shipyard at Monfalcone, Italy, last year.

We have also been documenting the painting of a portrait of the Queen that now hangs in the ship's Grand Lobby. The portrait was painted by Isobel Peachey. At 31, Isobel is the youngest person ever to have been commissioned to paint the Queen, and she had to do so under a cloud of complete secrecy.

Whilst we first filmed Isobel at work back in February, and then on several successive occasions over the summer, it was not until 1^st September that it was officially announced that the Queen would be naming the ship. The portrait wasn't due to be unveiled until later that month. So Isobel couldn't tell even her closest friends what she was up to. She effectively went into seclusion and had to forsake her artist's studio for her mother's attic in south west London, and that's where the work took place. Over the months that followed, Isobel produced a painting that was both traditional and regal, and yet with enough character to reflect the artist's own interpretation of her subject. The picture shows the Queen wearing the necklace and earrings she had worn at the Coronation in 1953 and which had formerly belonged to Queen Victoria.

The portrait was unveiled to the world's press on 20^th September at the National Portrait Gallery, but perhaps the real highlight was yesterday, when Isobel showed the painting to the Queen in person. The Queen had seen some of the preliminary sketches Isobel showed her during the sittings, but this was the first time she saw it finished, resplendent in it's modern gilt frame, and hanging in its new home. The portrait will be a magnificent feature in the Grand Lobby for the entire life of this new ship, and then who knows, perhaps in 30 or 40 years time another Cunarder will proudly bear the Queen's name and the portrait will be transferred to that liner. Isobel has created a valuable addition to the Cunard legacy and I feel privileged that Spectrecom was there to record her achievement.

It's perhaps surprising that in the 21^st century, in an area so close to the centre of London and within good earshot of Big Ben that so much poverty still exists here. The cliché of a home being a cardboard box under a Waterloo Bridge is sadly not a myth. So when Spectrecom moved to Waterloo at the beginning of the year we knew that we were going to want to support a local community initiative. The Waterloo Quarter Business Improvement District (BID) has provided us with the perfect opportunity. This organisation works to bring the local community, businesses and charities together for mutual benefit.

At a meeting in August, Spectrecom pitched against other local businesses and organisations for the opportunity to help drive a new community initiative – and won!

We proposed a challenge modelled on BBC's 'The Apprentice', the intention being partly to help raise money for charity, but primarily to raise awareness of local issues and to get businesses and charities working together for the common good. A number of teams will be formed of individuals from different organisations, and Spectrecom has offered to film each team as they try to raise funds for a chosen charity. The precise nature of the challenges is yet to be announced, but it's going to be involving, fun, and ultimately profitable for the charities concerned. The resulting film will be shown to all the members of each team at Spectrecom’s Waterloo Film Studios in Studio 1, just before Christmas, and the participating organisations will then be able to use selected material to highlight their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities on their own websites.

This community project is going to require a significant investment in our time and resources. We're looking at 10 shooting days, multi-camera shoots, a considerable amount of editing time, and a major studio event. However, I'm comfortable with the idea that businesses can profit from their altruistic activities as much as the beneficiaries – there's no harm in there being a two-way deal. And in this instance, filming the project will very quickly make every local business in Waterloo aware of our presence and capabilities. It should also provide yet another excellent example in the use of online video in bringing communities together.

The videos for this project will be ready to view on the Spectrecom website on 4 January 2011.

In the meantime, here’s a video produced by the Waterloo Quarter Business Improvement District (BID) about Lower Marsh, a truly historic street, plus a great place for shopping, eating and drinking. Just 8 minutes walk from the London Eye.