Animotorizing - A New Way to Start a Presentation

On the relentless quest to banish the boring and try something different in business meetings I ran across a new company called Animoto.com. The creators of Animoto probably never envisioned their application being used in a business environment (I asked -- they hadn't), but I saw it and thought, what the hell? I gave it a try.

Animoto Easy
Took me about 5 minutes to figure out. Easy to use. Quick to learn. I had a few questions, emailed the folks at Animoto and they responded almost instantly -- even at 1:00 am. So, not only a good new tech application, but some responsive folks that understand customer service.
Animoto has the potential of being a real ice-breaker in business meetings. You may harrumph and bloviate ... too goofy, too in-your-face, but at least it's not boring.

Opening with an Opening
Opening a meeting with a funny or poignant look at an issue with a quick 30-60 second video overview will differentiate you from about 99% of others giving a business presentation at any given time. I'll give you a "briefy" (neologism for a "quick overview").

Animoto makes it 1-2-3 easy

Step 1 - Upload your images.
Step 2 - Select your music ( I like their selection, good mix of styles) ...
Step 3 - Then Animoto analyzes the images and music and creates a customized video.

The end result is a 30-second or 60-second movie-like trailer.

Two Types of Edits
You can go back in and move images around any way you want, change the music, or do both.
Now here's the really cool part. They have a one-step remix process so you can essentially make 10-20-30 different versions of the same presentation. You just press the automated remix and a new version of your video is mixed. Not boring.

Some REALLY Valuable Additional Uses
You can also use it to suck up to the Boss's secretary. Alice, my boss's secretary, makes the world go round. She gets things done when all hope is lost. She's the helping hand out of the quicksand, and on and on. So, when I realized I forgot to get her a birthday card I was frantic. I quickly resulted to unplanned sophomoroic cartoonializing that are character flaws of the truly disorganized. I did the 1--2-3 step Animoto boogie and it morphed into the semblance of a well thought-out personalized birthday card. I emailed it to her. Waited for a digital pink slip to ping my email inbox. But .. she loved it. It has now gone down in corporate history books as the day "Steve won over Alice."

See below.

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