Quick Jump Menu to this Month’s Articles Batter-up: Three Telcos Tout Their Triple Play Success: The Telco Jukebox: Something Else to Think About A Day with Dave Now, for a really big show – the Fall, iTVcc Questions, Questions, Questions .
by Ken Pyle
August, 2003 Issue
It seems like my four year old teaches me more than I teach him. For instance, he is always telling me interesting trivia about monster trucks, spaceships and bulldozers. One of his heroes is a character named Dave. Dave is the star of a video series, called, “There goes a ……..” Through his entertaining and educational antics, my offspring has learned a great deal about machinery, career opportunities and the importance of doing something you love.
It probably took five or six times of watching, before I started to really appreciate the value of these videos. With over five million of these videos sold worldwide, Dave Hood has found a formula that spans child, parent and grandparent. What impressed me most is that the actor who plays Dave is also the director, writer and producer of the video series.
So, I was thrilled to have the chance to spend the day with Dave earlier this month. What was supposed to be a 30 minute meeting became a three hour education for yours truly. It is probably no coincidence that Dave exhibits the characteristics of an independent telco, as his dad, Richard Hood {a.k.a. Dick} was an independent telephone man. His dad spent time with telephone companies in Hood River, OR, Lima, OH, and Lebanon, OR prior to his retirement. Like the independent telcos, Dave Hood’s efforts were focused on creating a quality product for a market that was somewhat ignored by the existing providers.
In his quest to create a better product, he has created a series that is unique as it avoids talking down to kids, while, at the same time, teaching them valuable lessons. And the learning is more than just information about bulldozers, airplanes and fire trucks. With his entertaining hi-jinks, Dave manages to provide memorable examples as to the importance of teamwork, listening, following directions and perseverance. More than anything, these videos show kids to dream big, and they always emphasize the importance of staying in school and staying off drugs.
The other subtle lesson for kids is to be passionate in whatever they do. Obviously, I like his work. What impressed me more, however, was getting a chance to meet the real Dave and his Vice President of Administration, his wife Rebecca. Like many of the independent telcos, Dave Hood Entertainment is a mom and pop shop and Dave and Rebecca are gracious and down-to-earth leaders of their multimedia empire.
And like independent telcos, he does it all. He writes, directs, produces, acts and edits his work. He even is involved in the marketing and promotion and of his work. In fact, his efforts led him to a guest appearance on the television show, The View, a few weeks back. His perseverance led PBS to pick up his series for the upcoming fall season.
Speaking of promotion, he has developed a live show, “Daves Big Toy Show” that combines theatrics, real tractors and interactive fun. Spend a few hours with him, like I did, and its easy to see that he has plenty of dreams that he still wants to turn into reality.
So what does this have to do with independent telcos? Simply, it will become more and more critical for telcos to get closer to content sources – particularly content sources that are aligned with the wants of the customer base. And using that content to find unique promotional opportunities will help differentiate the telco from their competition. I will elaborate more on these ideas in subsequent issues.
Copyright 2003 Viodi, LLC. All Rights Reserved
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