Photo by Mike Ambs

We’re big fans of Project Pedal, an upcoming documentary (and current videoblog) that will chronicle a two month bicycle trip across North America, after having learned about them on one of the first episodes JETSET did with Next New Networks.

When Mike Ambs reached out for a little help kicking off his trip, which starts next week, we were really happy for a chance to support the project. So we’ll be sponsoring the Pedal Push kickoff party this coming Saturday, May 26 (here’s a link to RSVP on upcoming.org) at the Little Radio Warehouse in LA. If you’re in the area, please come out and meet some of our favorite people.

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To snoop or not to snoop?

It’s the big fat dilemma my newly vidblogging siblings have so rudely placed on my ethical plate.

You see, I’ve been tinkering with online video for the past 7 years … when YouTube was just a glimmer in some soon-to-be-filthy-rich adolescent’s mind, HD didn’t extend much past the Hollywood back lot, and “my space” was something girls told me they needed way too often.

When I began to toss crudely edited clips of my personal life up on the sprawling tubes of the interweb, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect (I called it “Docutainment” at the time). Not like I had millions of fascinated fans, a couple dozen at best, but frankly it was quite a bit easier to just shoot stuff that was going to happen anyway, rather than fabricate a scenario and plunge headfirst into the world of fiction. Friends can be actors without knowing any lines, and there’s opening credits when you wake up in the morning (you can only see them if you look really hard).

My vidblogs grew over time from just ‘look at this fun stuff we did at the bowling alley, internet!’ to something deeply personal, real, and really public.

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Recently got back from one of a number of trips to San Francisco as of late; I’ve been there more times in the last six months than in the previous six years combined, and my last company had its second office there. That says a lot about how much is going on in the Bay Area right now, and how important it is for a business like ours to understand it.

I got in on Friday afternoon, and after a nice coffee and talk with Nicholas Quixote, creator of Rabbit Bites and one of my favorite people in videoblogging, headed to a party thrown by Om Malik to celebrate the launch of his company’s new website, FoundRead, a resource and forum for entrepreneurs. Judging from the packed room at the venue, there are a lot of people choosing to found something these days.

(Top, Om Malik; Above, GigaOm’s Liz Gannes, Katie Fehrenbacher and Joey Wan with Kevin Rose. Photos by Thomas Hawk)

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Watching Thursday’s episode of our latest network, Veracifier, was one of the core principles at Next New Networks. Josh Marshall, host of TPM TV and publisher of Talking Points Memo, brings us on a tour of his headquarters and tells the viewers how they can help TPM cover the news.Truly the community in action. And in their case, action that can change the world. No joke.

And it happens on a less lofty basis across our other networks too. All the cars on VOD Cars come from our viewers. And all the cartoons at Channel Frederator. The Threadbangers are constantly fielding tips as to the best DIY designers in the country. And JETSET? They are their community.

So, if any of our blog readers are wondering what’s the big deal with internet TV, just think about the last time NBC asked you to help them cover the news.

“…as great as YouTube is, YouTube IS NOT the future of TV on the Internet. There will be different segments of video online…”

I think I would have enjoyed this post even if it hadn’t picked up Jeff Pulver’s old post asserting Channel Frederator was worth watching.

Photo by Steve Woolf

JETSET is one of our favorite online shows, so all of us at Next New Networks are really delighted that we’ve entered into a relationship with creators Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolf to license the show and support their vision of a new kind of internet and pop culture show for young adults.

JETSET ups the ante every week on how good an independent, online show can be: all you need to do is watch something like last week’s episode from New Orleans to see that. We’re really happy for the opportunity to learn from and partner with two of the leading voices and standout talents in the videoblogging movement, with a complementary philosophy to ours, as we all try to figure out the best ways to approach this space.

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Click To Play

Friends of Alive in Baghdad, a group of high-powered fans of the award-winning videoblog which features reports from citizens in Iraq, has produced a number of great short video pieces to raise awareness of AiB’s need for equipment donations to support the very cool and important work they’re doing. The great compilation piece above has a little bit of all of the 13 videos, which feature super talented online video people like Kent Nichols of Ask a Ninja, the guys from Invisible Engine, and Micki Krimmel . The amazing Sarah Szalavitz worked tirelessly the past few weeks to get the videos out all over the web. Look for them running on many of our networks today when their new episodes go live, including Pulp Secret, VOD Cars, and Fast Lane Daily, with more to come.

We’re big supporters of the work AiB is doing, and happy to help spread the word. If you’ve got equipment or funds you’d like to donate, or want to help in any other way, please do so using the contact info on their website.

Josh Leo is one of the most creative videobloggers out there, and a number of us here are big fans of his work. We’re very excited that he’s agreed to do some work with us on Channel Frederator.

In this week’s episode (which also features Dan Meth’s awesome Live Natty! commercial), embedded above, we’re running the first promo created for us by Josh, as he helps show viewers some of the great, and not so great, ways to “Spread the Fred!” Look for it between segments, and let us know what you think!

The new episode of Galacticast (now officially the one I “instantly produced“) is up this morning, and it’s a doozy, a funny mashup of Super Mario Bros and The Sopranos. Since I helped launch The Sopranos mobile content for HBO, I especially dig being connected to this one. If you don’t love this, well, something’s just not right with you. Special thanks to Casey and Rudy for being cool and offering for me put a plug in for our next network, PulpSecret, launching March 8th.

VOTING IS NOW OPEN for the latest Vlog Deathmatch, an independent competition between videobloggers featuring some people we like. This time, “the glamazons of the vlogosphere” are in an all-out silent air guitar battle. Casey McKinnon lays out the challenge above:

• Silent air guitar performance
• No music (if you’re listening to music, you must listen through earphones)
• No cuts, no edits (except to add titles)
• 30-60 seconds
• Female contestants only

The line-up besides Casey includes some of the brightest stars of the videoblogging world, including CNET’s Veronica Belmont, JetSet’s Zadi Diaz, Micki Krimmel, Noodlescar’s Bonny Pierzina, and D7’s Sarah Meyers.

The first vlog deathmatch, unofficially springing, like this one, from the vlogging community with the help of Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolf,
featured teams of brothers battling it out.

Watch and vote today and tomorrow — but whatever you do, don’t miss the trailer videos that were posted over the weekend, which featured some awesome trash talking by the ladies.