I could get some footage of some other white smoke, of the kind that comes out of normal chimneys this time of year. There are several who have wood burning stoves near me and that smoke can take on a fog like quality. Add someone burning leaves and that smoke can play naughty games with my asthma decorated lungs.

Then, move downstream and ask people what they smell?

After that you could interview the owner and ask him about the content of that smoke.

Or are your haunts off limits?

So, if I want to see more people doing locally relevant multimedia work, vlogs, podcasts and citizen journalism using something other than text, I’ve got to demonstrate that it can be done. If I’m lucky, someone else in the community will scoff at my pitiful efforts and do everything they can to show me up, creating a great new project in the process.

First, thanks for the props on the writing. Second, I don’t think you have very much to worry about at all when it comes to the video thing.

Speaking personally, I hate being in front of a camera, and while I’m sure that eventually I won’t mind it so much, I doubt I’ll ever truly love it. I am, first and foremost, a writer, and I don’t intend to let anything take the place of that.

What I hope this new facet of the Spark accomplishes is to encourage more people to participate in what’s going on here. Not everybody can write, but maybe they’re really good in front of a camera or with a microphone. I like fresh and interesting in all shades of media, and while I doubt I’ll be doing anything particularly fresh or interesting on the podcast or vlog, I’m sure somebody out there can.

Maybe we make that a Gold member-only kind of content if it’s really bad. Like, “If you want to hear us embarrass ourselves, you’re gonna have to pay.”