We experimented with some video training back in 2004/2005 on SSC, but we just didn't have the time/energy to pursue it, and we didn't see at that time a lot of interest. Eventually Brian decided to put some time into it solo and out of that came JumpstartTV.com. It started well with a decent infrastructure, but never quite took off the way he hoped - mainly due to lack of time/resources. We rearranged things earlier this year to make it an "us" project, and for the last couple months we've been busy decided what needed changing technically as well as on the business focus.

Chris (Rocks Thoughts) has implemented almost all of the technical changes, ranging from replacing all they dynamic sql with procs (hey, we are SQL Guys) to adding some new functionality such as 'Watch It Later' which lets you easily tag content you want to watch but don't have time for right now. We've added a daily newsletter and more are on the way. We're not (yet anyway) trying to build a community, SSC and others do a great job of that. We think we can fill a nice gap by providing a service to those communities, and we'll also be reaching beyond SQL to other subjects. Yes, you can host video on Youtube, but the noise level tends to be very high.

Yet, cool features aside, as a video based site it's all about content. We've just added about 60 new videos by Grant Fitchey and Tim Mitchell, with several hundred more scheduled before the end of the year. Our vision is to spend a lot of time showing people 'how' to do tasks and avoid the long winded webinar/webcast model. Nothing wrong with the latter for learning, but it's not what you need when you just want to shrink a log file right now.

If you click the Grant link above you can see a terrific shot of our "recording studio" that illustrates well the challenges of the small business. When we moved/upgraded offices this year we made sure had space for this, but we ended up acquiring more...stuff...than we expected, so our extra work space doubles for now as storage while we try to figure out how to add more space to our office. It works, but I can't wait to have it look just a little more professional! Not that it matters, because for the latest round of content it's screen capture plus voice, not full video of the presenter.

I'll only be occasionally posting about JumpstartTV here (just as I sometimes mention our other business End to End Training). You can see a little of the behind the scenes at JumpStarttV with our blog, a project started based in part on our appreciation of translucency, and in greater part to ideas that Steve Jones brought back from the Business of Software Conference.

We'll be reaching out to many of you over the next few months to see if you would like to work with us to add more content, and you can reach me any time at awarren a-t fourdeuce.com.