Channel Update and May Hangout

We’ve have a lot of new Patreon patrons joining the community in the last couple of weeks (hi, and thanks!). I thought it would be a good time to share some updates on the channel and set a time for the May Google Hangout.

May Hangout: Late Night Edition

I’m trying to do my monthly Google Hangout at different times to give everyone an opportunity to make one. This month I’ll be doing my Hangout on Wednesday, May 30th at 8:30pm PT/11:30pm ET. It’s late, but if that doesn’t work for you, I’ll do an earlier one next month. I’ll post a link to the Hangout on here on Patreon on the 30th.

City- and Metropolis-Level Rewards

For those of you who support the channel at the highest two levels, stay tuned to the end of future videos for your shout outs (either from me or in text). Thanks for your support!

Next Video: Street Trees

I’ll be posting a script preview for my upcoming video on street trees in the next few days. The video will discuss all of the benefits trees give to cities. If you have a favorite fact about trees you want to see in the video, leave it in the comments!

Next Next Video: LA’s Sustainability Plan

I’m developing a script that will discuss LA’s plan to become the greenest city in the United States. This plan is really fascinating because it is so focused on metrics, both in the planning and implementation phases. I want to highlight how plans get made and implemented and this is a great case. 

Policy on Sponsorships

The LA Sustainability Plan will be sponsored by Siemens. This will be my second sponsored video (after the gondola video). I do not take sponsorships lightly, nor do I let the sponsors dictate the content of the video. When I consider a sponsor, I ask, “What value will the sponsorship bring you, the viewer?” For the gondola video, they sent me to Medellin and I was able to show you gondolas in person. Furthermore, I was able to do another non-sponsored video in that location. That was a really cool benefit that I could pass on to you. Siemens is providing me with access to the people who wrote the sustainability plan and developed the tools for tracking metrics. This will allow me to give you an inside look at how the plan was made. 

I also want to underscore that I don’t let the sponsor dictate my opinion. If I have a positive view on a topic, it is because I had that opinion before the sponsorship.

The bottom line is this: I won’t do any sponsorship unless it makes the video better for you. If you have questions, let me know in the comments.

Meet Me at Vidcon!

I will be attending (part of) Vidcon at the Anaheim Convention Center in June. I will be in LA from June 19-22. If you’re also attending Vidcon or will be nearby and want to say hi, send me a message!

New Gear: A Gimbal

I try to shoot my own video whenever it’s feasible, and you may have noticed that the footage is a little…static. I recently purchased a gimbal so I will be able to take more cinematic, interesting shots of cities. I’m going to try to incorporate those shots into the video on street trees. Next piece of gear: a drone, maybe? For those aerial city shots?

Again, thank you all for supporting the channel. I work every day to make quality content on cities and city planning and hearing from the community is what keeps me going. Thank you thank you thank you!