When I was young, and still living in Denver, I spent many school nights kicking around in downtown coffee houses. Paris on the Platte was a favorite. The Market in LoDo and St. Mark’s (around the corner) were habitual haunts of my friends and I. Whenever the Psychodelic Zombiez or my pals in On Second Thought played the Mercury Cafe, I’d certainly be found there.

On more than a few occasions, I played the open mic nights at “The Merc” myself.

The video above brought memories flooding back, as I watched Elizabeth Kucinich speak to supporters at The Mercury Cafe. Lord knows what a blubbering, emotional mess I’ll become when the convention takes me back to the city that raised me.

The Washington Post has a story on Presidential online videos. Today’s angle, the folks who critique them. Prominently featured are Jeff Jarvis (of PrezVid and scholarly fame) and James Kotecki (the man who was answered by Kucinich!):

Kotecki has one recurring message to the candidates and their expensive media advisers: “The Web isn’t TV.” As in, Web viewers don’t expect to be spoken to, they expect to be spoken with. It’s a passive experience vs. an interactive one.

Other students of the genre have similar advice.

“Look at how the candidates are talking in their videos. With a few exceptions, they’re mostly looking sideways, not talking directly to the camera,” said Jeff Jarvis, who heads the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism and started PrezVid.com, a blog dedicated to watching the campaign through YouTube. “The important thing about this medium is it’s very human and intimate. A voter comes across and clicks on you. You should talk to that voter and look at him in the eye.” (Candidates Try Web Video, And the Reviews Are Mixed – washingtonpost.com)

From here on out – or at least until I land a gig that precludes blogging – I’ll be joining Kotecki and Jarvis in their efforts to chronicle the evolution of videos online. Coming from a slightly different point of view – as someone whose actually made these things! – consider this space for the next few months as my pro-bono advice for those who care what I have to say.