Blog Herald says Loren Feldman Outsmarted me

Matt Craven at the Blog Herald has posted a review of my recent mud wrestling with 1938 Media's Loren Feldman, saying Loren utsmarted me. Feldman, who seems to be building a career on making fun of prominent people in social media, most recently focused on me with the same determination as a dog with a bone. If you missed it, go to ShelIsrael.com, a site run, not by me, but by Loren.

Matt questions how I call myself a "social media expert," a term I have never used, when I was so careless. But he is right. It was a slap-myself-in-the-forehead oversight. Yep, it's true, I never registered my own name domain. I never considered using that domain and I just forgot about something like this happens. Every now and then most of us do forgetful things. Hell, I flew to Boston last December, without remembering to bring an overcoat. I'm human.

But there are larger issues. Matt wrote this morning that my handling of Loren, particularly on Twitter, has been "ham-handed" and he charged the five videos I've produced to be "unwatchable" because I stink with a video camera and my interviews are unfocused, and boring. Matt says that while he has admired my previous work over the years, that the poor quality of my videos and my hostile behavior,  has turned his view of me to the negative.

Thanks for the slap, Matt. I needed that.

It happens that I have a great deal of respect for Matt and the Blog herald. I think Matt is among the most even-handed and thoughtful of news/analysis bloggers, and I have missed his contributions during his recent hiatus to launch a start up.

Let's start with my Twitter posts. I think "ham-handed" is pretty accurate. Again, I am human, and when Loren created ShelIsrael.com, I went pretty ballistic. Maybe, Matt you would have chuckled, but when a couple of people pointed me to the site, because they thought it was mine and they were confused, I got pretty irritated. When I went to the site and saw my photo, and links to my own content. hen I then discovered that he also had started a couple of Twitter accounts, also making it look like me, I went nuclear ballistic, and this was a mistake on several levels, probably much to Loren's delight.

Lets just address Loren for a bit. Before he began to make an apparent fulltime career of spoofing me, I already didn't like him. I don't like humor that ridicules people, spoofs racial or physical characteristics as the overwhelming body of his work does. He reminds me of the schoolyard bully. If you ignore him, he will make your life miserable. If you react, he will probably bloody your nose.

I took the bait. Matt, I consider your post to have been the bloody nose.

I did investigate the law, and on the surface of it, it appears that Loren is in his legal rights and there is nothing I can do about it, without a major legal effort, which I have neither time nor inclination to pursue. I lose. Loren gets to keep the site.  If Loren were a decent sort,  could call as you suggest, and ask him to take down the content and turn the site over to me at cost. I doubt that action would be successful.

What comes out of this is probably a victory for GoDaddy and other domain registrants. I imagine there's a whole lot of people registering their names these days, because now--like me--they understand what malicious people can do.

I am walking away from Loren, at least for now.  He can have fun at my expense without me. If I did tell people a bit about who this guy is and how he operates, perhaps it will help the next kid in the schoolyard when Loren tires of me.

Now Matt, let's talk about GlobalNeighbourhoods.tv, which you deemed "unwatchable" because of my ineptitude as a videographer and because you think my interviews are unfocused and boring.I think you are being a bit harsh on the interview skills. I have lots of experience over a good number of years interviewing all sorts of people and my work has been historically well received. But what is true is that I suck as a videographer and my worries about that have so far hurt some of the five video clips we have posted.

The fact is that FastCompany.TV is being treated as start up, which is exactly what it is. That means low budget. While FastCompany is talking with several companies, there is no sponsor yet. The top priority for what we will do with a sponsor is to get an AV professional to work with me on a format for the show and to be with me for all my interviews. This will allow me to focus on the interviews themselves, and area where I am pretty confident.

Until all that happens, we will produce about one FCTV per week. While Loren may liken the people I interview to roosters and night watchman, the people the show is intended for--professionals trying to figure out how social media can be used where they work seem to find the content pretty useful and interesting.

BTW Matt, next time, you might consider following your own advice. Before you write about me, contact me at shelisrael1@gmail.com. I'm open to the conversation

Comments

[Connie Bensen]

Hey Shel,
I was trying to figure out what the matter was when you were tweeting about it - but I understand now.

Maybe you can view it as - you've achieved a high status in people's eyes so someone chose to do the parody. The rest of us have only to dream of this.

I feel for you! I don't know why people need to be so obnoxious. A few weeks ago my company's forums were hacked. That created a lot of work for me.

Just ignore him & he'll move on to the next person. And your videos are very informative. It's easy for people to be critical. (Are they posting theirs?)

Happy Saturday,
Connie

[Mike Power]

You made a big point about 'your brand' but you had overlooked the most obvious domains. A pretty big mistake for someone in your position to make. To then equate it with forgetting your coat is risible and doesn't make you look any better, believe me.

But, ultimately, you have lost credibility because all that you have achieved is to damage 'your brand' much more than Loren could have managed on his own. You walked right into it and that made you look foolish, humourless and petty. At one point you even asked for free legal advice on Twitter! Not the way!

Loren's latest Tweets 'from Michael Arringtons house' have been hilarious and show just what Loren can do with nothing more than a few short messages.

I know there is a great deal of personal baggage between you all and I find that aspect of it pretty tiresome. But don't underestimate Feldman. He's got talent and he knows how to use it.

[Aaron Brazell]

Dude. Relish the attention. In my history of watching and observing Loren, he picks on the people he likes and/or wants to see succeed. Think the "Jason's House" series ridiculing Calacanis.

The fact is, this enhances your brand and if you're willing to not be pissed at Loren, you can probably leverage the attention to your own gain.

Make some parody or small acknowledgement to Loren's videos in your FCTV show. Self deprecating humor is a badge of honor.

Cheers

[Kathryn Jones]

frankly I think this whole debacle is a failure of the social media community at large. We condemn main stream media on one hand, and on the other we celebrate people who use the same cheap fox news tactics that we new media folk say we deplore. As I have said on twitter and on seesmic, I will not tolerate, associate with, read, tweet about or follow people who use hate, bullying and intimidation to get attention. Period.

[Ria Kennedy]

I think you're doing a good job, amazing in many respects, so don't let this tank you: try to see it as just momentary unpleasantness.

Maybe you could figure out if there is anything to salvage about the situation -- if you can turn anything to your advantage -- and if any feedback is accurate and how to improve with it (you may have to ask for specifics).

[Remembering High School]

Loren couldn't cut it as a real actor in LA, so he's decided to be a video blogger and pick on us nerds.

I remember his type in high school, the guy who got cut from the track or football team, so decided to come around and pick on the intellects.

Judging by his 'corporate videos' he's made from clients, I can see why he's gone the negative route and copies Andrew Dice Clay.

[Kami Huyse]

Truth is that the more successful one gets, the more likely there will be a target on your back. I think that it is big of you to admit your faults, learn lessons and use them in the future to do better. It speaks well of you. Who cares if Matt doesn't see it that way, or anyone else for that matter.

As Aaron says, it is true that laughing at yourself is the best medicine. Tune out Loren and tune into the soundtrack of success, which is clearly the theme of your career at this point.

Otherwise, Loren wouldn't even care.

[Bill Cammack]

Shel,

I'm interested in this "video show startup" model you've mentioned.

Clicking the link you supplied to "Global Neighbourhoods", one notices a Seagate advertisement that's larger than the thumbnail for your most recent episode. It's in a column called "Advertisements", and the text on it reads "Seagate: Launch sponsor of Scobleizer TV". However, you posted above: "While FastCompany is talking with several companies, there is no sponsor yet".

If that's the case that there's no sponsor for your show, that advertisement makes it LOOK LIKE there is. The point being that anything someone does regarding video production is going to be scrutinized according to the budget. If you had done the same videos and posted them yourself to youtube, there would have been nothing to make fun of, because it would have been just like any other UGC.

On top of that, as far as I can tell, there's no such thing as GlobalNeighbourhoods.TV ... Which I suggest you rush out and purchase if you intend to continue branding under that name. This means that your "video show startup" was launched under an already existing brand, FastCompany. Fast Company is heralded for their magazine and text blogging, so people are going to expect quality from anything appearing under their brand name. More scrutiny for you. Plus, GlobalNeighbourhoods came to FastCompany under Robert Scoble, whom everybody knows was hired (read: Gets money) to do whatever he does for FastCompany.TV... More scrutiny for you.

I say all that to say... By all the window-dressing, advertising, branding and people getting paid that surrounds your content, as well as the fact that FastCompany.TV was announced MONTHS before the site was actually launched, your show is going to receive more scrutiny than it would have if you had done it yourself. It certainly LOOKS to the casual observer like you're getting more help than you actually are.

In my "understanding" of startups, which is extremely limited compared to yours... The model is that people work on something on their own... A site, an app, a video show... and if it's good enough and a larger company sees the benefit of bringing them in under their umbrella, they acquire that startup. Being that there *is* no shelisrael.tv or globalneighbourhoods.tv or redcouch.tv, your show appears to be a well-funded company's attempt at branching out from print and blogging into video on the internet. Therefore, it's going to be compared to shows from Revision3 or Veoh. Unfortunately, it's also going to be compared to no-budget shows posted to youtube. That's more Fast Company's problem than yours.

I felt like posting this because with all the hooplah about what's been going on recently, people seem not to be focusing on the fact that this is a triple-branded show, so quality is going to be expected. There are lots of shows with no brand names, no publicity and no funding that produce well done content on a weekly basis. If you had done the exact same shows on youtube, all anyone would have been able to say is "he's doing what he can do" and applaud your efforts. All this window-dressing put a hotter spotlight on your videos and opened the door for the recent shenanigans.

[shel israel]

Bill, in retrospect, I would have been more comfortable had I started this on YouTube rather than at FC. It's like making an acting debut on Broadway. But here I am and here, I'm going to stay, improving as fast as I can. FYI, Seagate sponsors Robert Scoble's show, not mine. If one TV show is well-funded the money does not spread to other shows at least on this scale. I am working on my own dime regarding GNTV. FCTV thinks enough of me and the potential for the program to be covering the production costs.

[John Evans (Syntagma)]

I had the same shabby treatment from Loren against me and Syntagma Media a while back. When I responded I was accused of making an anti-Jewish joke. Actually it was a date joke about 1938. You can't win with this guy except by fighting fire with fire, humour with humour. Smile him to death. :)

[Anon]

Shel a few months back when I was being attacked by Arrington and the other trolls you posted here your scathing thoughts.

You had never spoken to me, had no facts but you decided to attack me and my company because Scoble and Arrington (your friends) had jumped on the bandwagon.

So now the pain is on the other foot and you are suffering from the slings and arrows of people with little knowledge or facts and you now are crying foul.

The next time you attack people on your blog maybe you will think twice and not just join in with the mob.

[shel israel]

Anon,

Since you have opted to not identify yourself, I cannot comment on the incident you allege occurred here. But I rarely launch scathing attacks in this column and I could not find anything like that in a quick register check. I am prone to disagree with Scoble and Arrington as much as agree with tem in my writing, so if you would like me to either apologize or respond, you need to tell me what you are talking about.

[Bill Cammack]

Shel... Staying and Improving is an excellent plan. I wasn't suggesting that you do anything else. :)

Essentially, your show should have been Executive Produced, which of course requires funding that hasn't been allocated to your project. I think your Broadway analogy is spot-on. There's much training and coaching involved in an actor making it to and then starring in a Broadway show. By the time the actor's on stage, he/she knows the script and the stage directions. If you didn't walk in the door with those understandings, someone should have been assigned to inform you about how to make your production to a certain standard of quality.

Basically, not providing you with training or at the very, very least constructive criticism after seeing your first videos and still featuring your show "under their brand" is the equivalent of commissioning someone to create a sign for one's storefront, yet failing to inform them of how the company's name is spelled. You can't stack up ALL the blame on the sign-creator for a less-than-stellar outcome if nobody from the company took responsibility for Quality Control.

[Robert Scoble]

Bill: much of the blame lands at my feet. When Shel approached me to do the show he DID have a sponsor, who then got cold feet which threw some of our plans to hire people and get support into heck. These things will all be worked out, you'll notice that newer shows are better quality (like the one at Seaworld).

[Matt Craven]

Shel,

Thanks for the reply post - which I found graceful and spot-on. And I appreciate you pointing out that I should eat my own dogfood and email you - like I recommended that you do to Loren.

In any event, I have no doubt that you'll get better - and I think several commenters here have it right when they say that the hype probably put you in a rough spot to begin with.

Like I said, I think the show will get better.

The real piece here, though, is how to respond when you have someone who uses parody or satire to attack you - as Loren has done. I'm glad that the self-reflection has led you in a different direction.

Matt

PS. Thanks for the kind words - I'll try to live up to those expectations in the months ahead as I blog away.

[shel israel]

Hey Scobleizer, Thanks for the support but you take too much credit. I'm responsible for the sucking part. Just help me with the getting better part.

-S.

[John Koetsier]

Shel,

Great response. I'm impressed.

It's hard to respond with that level of authenticity and humility, and yet make it know that you're committed to success.

[B.L Ochman]

shel - as I've told him on twitter, i think loren went too far with his criticism, and it went from being funny the first time to just plain mean. i don't understand that kind of behavior. loren's a friend of mine, and i was surprised.

i count you as a friend as well, and i understand how upset you must have been when the ribbing continued. not surprising that you lashed out. but that's just what loren hoped for, and it just fueled the fire.

your pledge to keep working to make your videos better is spot on, and we've already seen, in the latest one, you're doing just that.

treat loren with a sense of humor. a lot of us are rooting for you. you can tell the story some day when you get an award for one of your videos.

[Ontario Emperor]

I'll admit that I don't really know any of the personalities involved here, but certainly "public figures" can be the targets of parody. And the parody can sometimes be scathing; some people claim that Chevy Chase helped to bring down the Gerald Ford administration.

But in the end, any parodist (whether it be Rich Little, Fake Steve Jobs, Scobieizer, or a Shel Israel puppet) will be judged on the quality of his or her parody. If the parody is thought-provoking and funny, it will be honored. If the parody is base and unfunny, it will be forgotten.

[bruce]

Guys, guys, no need to stumble over each other taking the blame.

There is a enough "sucking" to go around.

[SearcH◆ EngineS WEB]

He was wrong to go after you, you were in your right to fight for your dignity!

[Chris Yeh]

Loren definitely crossed the line (registering ShelIsrael.com to host satirical videos is just plain mean, and could also hurt your traffic).

That being said, the Streisand effect applies here--I don't think anyone would have cared (and I don't think Loren would have put much effort into this) if you hadn't aggressively reacted.

You're far better known than Loren, and mixing it up with him just gave him more credibility.

This may still be a case of alls well that ends well--there is almost no such thing as bad publicity (for an exception, go talk with Mel Gibson), and the fracas has probably boosted the number of people who are aware of you and the video series.

Arrington himself rode a series of fake feuds to prominence. It's unfortunate that venom and bile are so successful online, but if it does occur, you can at least look for the silver lining.

[Adele McAlear]

Shel, as I told you back in March on Twitter back when GNTV launched, you've got guts! There are not many people at any age who would, or could, try something new, let alone do it in such a public fashion. Yes, there's a learning curve, but, I look forward to your long and industrious new career in video.

[Ike]

Shel -- allow me to chime in here.

Television news isn't rocket science, but it IS a completely different language. I expect you to "suck" for quite some time, because it takes time to learn how to exploit the conventions and nuances of the medium.

There's a reason reporters and videojournalists start out in the smallest of markets -- so they can screw up when it matters less. You jumped onto a big stage, and you need to expect criticism at that level.

What we're dealing with is a technological revolution that has put the gear in a very affordable range, but the gear alone does not equate to quality visual storytelling -- the melding of the words and pictures to become something greater than each alone. Give it some time.

[brian]

i actually think Loren will be reasonable enough to give you back your domain if you asked him, person to person, man to man no business speak, PR speak or social media speak.

Loren's style i think, is to speak the other end of the spectrum. i think he calls the bluff with the tough guy-ness to prove a point, and to be the other voice to keep this "social media thing" in check. -)