The Feedback So Far...

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Wow, we have survived four weeks!

James commented on his blog [clang] that embarking on HashBang.TV is like walking around naked in public. We have really pushed ourselves out of our personal comfort zones to do this but are having so much fun, which was our mission after all. So much fun that James literally fell off his chair yesterday and smacked his head on the wall. Rock 'n' Roll!

We thought it was important to share some of the great feedback we have been getting. What has really blown us away is:

a) The amount of messages telling us it is a great idea
b) The offers of help we have been getting

Looking back at the Preview Show, it really was two idiots in a room without a clue. The idea was more of a screen test than an episode. We did debate if we should even publish it, but we decided, why not? Like riding a bike, you have to fall off a few times. Lets do our falling off in public.

We are big fans of exaggerating, but we think Episode 1 was a gazillion times better than the Preview Show. We hope you agree. The initial reaction certainly seems to support that: Less than 48 hours after publishing it we have gone well over 300 views. Not a bad start considering we are building this from scratch.

So diving into the feedback...

Episode length
Lets start with the one that has generated the most comments. A couple of people have commented on the play length, saying it needs to be shorter. We have really analysed this.

To take a step back for a second. When we came up with the idea for HashBang.TV we really wanted to create something that has the feel of a proper show, rather than short form YouTube clips. For example one of our inspirations, This Week In Start Ups, runs for 90 to 120 minutes per show!

We set out aiming for something around the 30 minute mark per show. The framework being an interview lasting around 15 - 20 minutes, plus conversation around a couple of current topics. Our feeling is if we dropped down to sub 10 minutes per clip we would lose the essence of a "real" show, and be left with something more akin to vox pops.

The YouTube stats seem to show the vast majority of people are staying with the full show, but of course we want to listen to your opinion. We don't want to lose you after just two episodes! One suggestion is we could clip the interview segment as a stand alone video so you can dip in for the good stuff and skip the inane babble from us. Alternatively we could reduce the Chris and James chat to one topic per week. What do you think?

Audio only
Some have told us that they listened to the Preview Show in the background whilst working. In addition somebody we love dearly seems obsessed with audio services, so we are excited to launch a companion Podcast starting from Episode 1, which will be an edit of the audio feed from each episode. Its even on iTunes (click here), which made us feel all grown up.

So now you can take HashBang.TV with you on the train or while you go for a run. That should give you a warm fuzzy feeling!

Window Lickers!

Now we have the Innovation Warehouse as our beautiful location to film each show, Episode 1 viewers will have noticed that we have decided to shoot against the backdrop of the office space. We think this adds some dynamism to the shot and some unintentional, but valuable, comedy opportunities at the same time.

A few people have commented on the passers by, but our favourites are the lingerers who stare into the room while making calls or walking past. We will have to keep track of our favourites and offer a reward to the longest stare.

Hopefully they don't detract from the content, we just felt it was more interesting than filming against a blank wall.

So....

We hope you can see we are working hard to improve every time we do this.

We have brainstormed a huge list of potential guests and are starting to put the feelers out. No one has said no so far, in fact people are volunteering, which is frankly mind blowing! If you want to be on, just let us know.