I met Beau Sharbrough at the recent Who Do You Think You Are Live/National History Show in London. Beau is the Senior Director of Content Strategy and Acquisition at Footnote.com. He is also a good friend of mine and a person I love to talk with. The Roots Television crew also had a camera crew nearby and they were kind enough to videotape my conversation with Beau.
In this interview, Beau gives an overview of Footnote.com's many offerings and mentions some of the features that are not well known. He talks extensively about the features that will appeal to genealogists and also goes into some detail about how anyone can contribute even more information to the site.
You might like to watch two Americans in London discussing an American web site that contains U.S. documents. It strikes me as being a bit strange that we are almost oblivious as to our overseas location at the time.
You can see this video by clicking on the link below:
If the above link does not work for you, you can also view it by going to http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid464120989/bclid240119644/bctid979196317.
Disclaimer #1: Footnote.com is the sponsor of this newsletter so I am always delighted to interview one of the company's senior managers on-camera.
Disclaimer #2: This interview was videotaped a few days before Footnote.com announced a significant price reduction. Beau mentions prices that were current at the time and then says things such as, "Some people have seen test pricing as low as..." The prices he mentioned that were "as low as" became the standard prices a few days later.
Disclaimer #3: Beau is an old friend and I must say that I really enjoyed "interviewing" him on camera. This man has taught me everything I know about the Southern Claims Commission records and much more. After watching this video, I think you will agree that he is an excellent instructor.
Hint: If you are on a dial-up Internet connection, you may encounter "jerkiness" as the video downloads and tries to play. If so, simply click on PAUSE. You will then see the video continue to download in the background, and it will be stored temporarily on your hard drive. Then click PLAY once again, and it should be much smoother as the video is retrieved from your hard drive at full speed.
If you have not seen Roots Television recently, I would suggest that you go to http://www.RootsTelevision.com and see what else is available on this growing resource. The owners of the site have been adding a lot of content and it is now becoming both an entertaining and educational site for genealogists in many countries. I think you will be very impressed with the many offerings available at http://www.RootsTelevision.com.
I was able to get it to work with no problem. It is a very informative interview. I wonder if they rehearsed it. The interview went very smoothly and no camera shake either.
Make sure your speakers are not on mute. The sound is very good.
Posted by: Kelly | June 17, 2007 at 08:01 AM
There was no rehearsal. Beau and I have known each other for about fifteen years. We don't need to rehearse these things. (smile)
- Dick Eastman
Posted by: Dick Eastman | June 17, 2007 at 10:03 AM
I would like to work with a camera crew conducting genealogy interviews. Do you know if the Roots crew could use any additional help? (Or would you know of any other similar productions companies?) If someone needs to be interviewed and there is funding for a camera operator and editor, please keep me in mind. Thank you.
Posted by: Tim S. | June 28, 2007 at 05:12 PM
I have no idea if the RootsTelevision crew is hiring or not, but you can contact them at http://www.RootsTelevision.com
- Dick Eastman
Posted by: Dick Eastman | June 28, 2007 at 07:50 PM