A Life in Beta

I was in my local coffee shop the other day and inadvertently found myself in the middle of an image rights issue.

A gentleman who is filming life/operations in a range of local businesses in Brixton wanted to know if he could have my written permission to use footage he had taken in the coffee shop for a posting about the business on Yell.com.

Having gained the necessary assurance that he captured my best side, I acquiesced.

Yet while he was worrying about me agreeing to Yell using his footage, I was more worried about why Yell had him there at all.

I’m assuming that Yell have employed people like this all over the country to film video snippets of businesses listed so that people can view the footage while browsing. While its great to add some richness to Yell’s typically static directory listings that cannot be an inexpensive exercise. It must also take some time to manage the logistics associated with such a national effort.

It seemed to me a much more cost effective and efficient – as well as engaging way to do this would be for Yell to invite Business owners listed with them to film some footage (guidance could be provided I’m sure on do’s and don’ts) of their business using anything from their own camcorders to a very simple – yet effective – phone app like Qik. These could then be submitted to Yell to edit and post.

Sure, they might lose a little in quality but they will probably make up for it in authenticity and insight…if I’m a business owner going to post some video about my business on Yell I’m going to make it personal, engaging and stylish. I’m vested in that. And as a user of Yell that’s also what I’d rather see – something informative sure but something from the heart. In few instances would I chose something cool and polished over something engaging/personal with a few rough edges.

And the cost saving are significant for Yell.

Maybe I’m missing something but it just seems like a better way…did Yell try this and it didn’t work? Are there unforeseen legal or technical issues? I’d love to know…it just didn’t seem to stack up.

Still, the coffee was good and he did get me on my best side.