The Garden Master Course - Full Video - Kickstarter Prep

Nice ending, it wraps up the whole point.  The first and last paragraphs are great!

I feel like mentioning Fukuoka's name 3 times is a bit much, and that the middle paragraphs either repeat or expand too much for the video blurb.  

Have you tried reading it aloud?  Is the goal under 60 seconds, or is the video longer?  

paul wheaton wrote:

Wow, you have a gift when it comes to brevity!  

I am mashing a lot of this into the script!

I *do* have a knack for English sometimes, but most of the time I’m an over-sharer. But thanks for the boost. It’s much needed today. Super stoked for this Kickstarter! I will definitely be backing.

The goal is:  short.  I think that this script needs to come in under 2 minutes, and we will add some clips to add another minute.

All righty.  I edited a kind of combination of my edits and your original copy and came up with the following which, when read aloud in a normal speaking voice, comes in at about 1:50 -- just under 2 minutes.  You'll still have to tweak it to make sure I haven't overstepped -- but this copy might help you get to where you want to be.  Look carefully at the phrases in red as that is where I approach the limits of my knowledge of the subject, but needed copy to show you what you could say.

I'm paul wheaton, and this is my 12th Kickstarter.

Decades ago, I took Helen Atthowe's Master Gardener and Advanced Master Gardener courses, which were really challenging. Helen is not only a teacher, she simultaneously managed an organic market garden and operated two other market gardens and her 2000-acre organic farm.
 
Since then, I've met hundreds of master gardeners across the United States, and I've come to understand that Helen's course was far richer than most other master gardener courses.  

As I became keen on permaculture, I shared my enthusiasm for it with Helen, who told me that she interned with Masanobu Fukuoka, who taught many of the same methods we use in permaculture today, long before the word was coined.

I got an idea:  wouldn't it be great to have all the good parts of a Master Gardener program but replace all the stuff about pesticides with stuff about permaculture, Fukuoka, market gardening, commercial food forest care, and ALL the stuff I think is really cool?  

I convinced Helen to create a class based on my idea. By Fall 2020, Wheaton Labs held its first Certified Garden Master Course. When the course sold out, we recorded all of it so people could participate online. So, because we recorded the course, we can now create an online Certified Garden Master Course.

We have the raw film, but it needs to be edited and polished, which does not come for free.

And that's the big Kickstarter question:  What are you willing to pay for 30 hours of digital content and certification as a Garden Master? Please give us your comments below.


I am assuming that this copy will be published before the Kickstarter, yeah?  Why else would you end with a question that probably should be answered before you create the Kickstarter? If that's the case, I would also suggest that you cobble together a set of questions with a list of typical answers to them, and include price points.  You already know you can do a lot more with that type of data than you can with random comments.

Let me know if I can help when you get rolling on this project.  Good luck!

I'm hoping to have the script dialed in today and record it tomorrow.  Then we will have an early pass at the kickstarter video.  Then we start putting together the kickstarter page.  With a bit of luck, the kickstarter could launch in two or three weeks.

any more thoughts about these price points?

$50 FULL-EVENT the full event as 360p streaming
- the original raw feed video - unedited

$80 HD-STREAMING: the full event as HD streaming
- all the video is edited, sound balanced and polished

$100 GLORY
- everything in HD-STREAMING
- plus your name on all the vids

 I am really glad to see this kickstarter getting built.  I signed up for the video access to the garden master course because I wanted to help make sure the event was recorded.  Helen's 30+ years of records show amazing results.  I don't retain video learning as well as print and finding a reference if anything in a video is very time consuming.  So I am here to beg,  Please  Please get Helen to publish her book(s). I know it's half way there, the presentation for the garden master course was very complete.  Publish please publish, maybe start with the slides for the videos in the digital market place?  A study guide companion to the video?  Tom

$50 FULL-EVENT the full event as 360p streaming
- the original raw feed video - unedited

$80 HD-STREAMING: the full event as HD streaming
- all the video is edited, sound balanced and polished

$100 GLORY
- everything in HD-STREAMING
- plus your name on all the vids

I'd add the approximate times to each. It might be worth the extra $30 bucks if the time spent watching is reduced by say 15% or so.

paul wheaton wrote:any more thoughts about these price points?

$50 FULL-EVENT the full event as 360p streaming
- the original raw feed video - unedited

$80 HD-STREAMING: the full event as HD streaming
- all the video is edited, sound balanced and polished

$100 GLORY
- everything in HD-STREAMING
- plus your name on all the vids

I do NOT have high speed internet HD is a waste of money for me.  I really want a 360p edit choice.  Tom

Tom Bolls wrote:
I do NOT have high speed internet HD is a waste of money for me.  I really want a 360p edit choice.  Tom

I am pretty sure that when you get the HD, you can choose to watch it in SD.

Tom Bolls wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:any more thoughts about these price points?

$50 FULL-EVENT the full event as 360p streaming
- the original raw feed video - unedited

$80 HD-STREAMING: the full event as HD streaming
- all the video is edited, sound balanced and polished

$100 GLORY
- everything in HD-STREAMING
- plus your name on all the vids

I do NOT have high speed internet HD is a waste of money for me.  I really want a 360p edit choice.  Tom

You could get the "tiny download" level, then download and watch it without worrying about your bandwidth speed.

Jeff Bosch wrote:
You could get the "tiny download" level, then download and watch it without worrying about your bandwidth speed.

Yes, when my connection was dial-up,  over-nite multiple restart/continue downloads were common.  But "want"....  :)  Tom.

paul wheaton wrote:

Candace Williams wrote:Your statement too wordy. If you edit out "ands"   combine some of the sentences into one instead of two you could more precisely say the same idea with less words. I could edit it that way tomorrow or the next day. Looks interesting to me!

I edited the first post and found a way to get rid of two "ands".  

Can you give me a couple more lines to massage?

Here's how I edited it. See what you you think...
I'm paul wheaton and this is my 12th kickstarter
[show images of past kickstarters]

Decades ago I took a  really challenging master gardener course with the *advanced*  the next year  (certified! [show cert - direct attention to helen's sig and add text "taught by the amazing Helen Atthowe!"]). Over the years, hundreds of master gardeners have given me the impression that course was far richer than most.  

Eventually, I became keen on permaculture.  I shared my new enthusiam with my master gardener instructor [show helen and me; text "me and my instructor Helen Atthowe"] --  who told me she was an intern for the great Masanobu Fukuoka! [show the playing card]

What if we replaced all the stuff about pesticides, in a Master Gardener program, with permaculture, Fukuoka, market gardening, commercial food forest care and ALL the stuff *I* think is really cool.  

During the 17 years Helen taught master gardener courses, she simultaneously managed an organic market garden, two other market gardens, AND a 2000 acre organic farm since then.  

After years of planning, Helen came to teach "The Certified Garden Master Course."  The class sold out! I am REALLY glad we recorded it!

A resident video editor whipped up a sample full-length edit.  Wow! So the big kickstarter question is: are there enough people wanting video of the whole class to pay for the editing?

My edited version:
Decades ago I took a master gardener course which was really challenging. The next year the *advanced* course (certified! [show cert - direct attention to helen's sig and add text "taught by the amazing Helen Atthowe!"]). Since then, from hundreds of master gardeners, I’ve had an impression, the course was far richer than most.  

Eventually, I became keen on permaculture.  I shared my new enthusiasm with my instructor [show helen and me; text "me and my instructor Helen Atthowe"] -- that's when she told me that she had interned with the great Masanobu Fukuoka! [show the playing card].  

I already knew she used her market garden for rigorous scientific research on techniques far beyond organic, with massive emphasis on insects and merged crops -- she is "expanding on the work of Fukuoka"! At the same time, she taught 17 years of master gardener courses.  Now I am learning the details of her work before and after that.  40 years of different market gardens, commercial food forests, in many climates, plus managed a 2000 acre Colorado organic farm.  

Could we replace all the pesticide stuff with permaculture, Fukuoka, market gardening, commercial food forest care and All the stuff I think is cool?!

After years of planning, Helen came to teach what I call "The Certified Garden Master Course."  The class sold out! And I am REALLY glad that we recorded it!

A resident video editor whipped up a sample full-length edit.  Wow! So the big kickstarter question is: are there enough people wanting video of the whole class to pay for editing?

Just to clarify a bit.. My first edit today was of an earlier version. The second was of the last version you, Paul, posted. So that gives you two slightly different edits. Hope it is some help. Sorry I didn't have time and resources to respond quicker. Looks like there has been some really great conversation on this thread though!!

certified!



mega jumbo version: https://permies.com/t/25621/a/106554/paul-wheaton-certified-advanced-master-gardener.jpg

Candace,

I recorded a new voiceover for jeff today.  If we need another one, i will go through your suggestions.  Thanks!

What do people think would be a good title?  

And the Kickstarter-y blurb-ish sorta deal.  

We usually come up with 40 bad ideas, which makes us think of 15 medium ideas, which gives us the elements to look at 3 good general trajectories, which we may run through 10 or 15 iterations, pruning out the less nommy ones 'til we're down to one, then we really put some elbow grease into that last one standing to make it shine.

Title 60 characters max.
Blurb 135 characters max.

Here was the title & blurb for Free-Earth-Friendly Heat:

Title:
a movie about free, earth-friendly heat

Blurb:
Some call it "carbon neutral," others "carbon negative." Heat your home with yard waste and cardboard while reducing global problems.

Here was the title & blurb for SKIP:

Title:
SKIP: A book connecting industrious people with land owners.

Blurb:
A framework to connect industrious people with elderly land owners. Skip the rat race, skip the college debt and skip the mortgage.

Some blurbs to play around with

The Ultimate Guide to Gardening: The Garden Master Course - Full Video - Kickstarter

The Garden Master Course - Full Video - Kickstarter is a great way to learn about gardening. The course is designed for new homesteaders, and it covers everything from choosing plants to maintaining a garden. The video is witty and informative, and it's a great way to get started with gardening.

Garden Master is the most comprehensive gardening course available, and it's now available as a full video. In this Kickstarter, we'll take a look at what makes this course so special, and how you can get involved

Title:
The Garden Master Course: Be a Garden Ninja without any gick

Blurb:
The Garden Master Course on video: Ecosystemic gardening at any scale, without synthetic inputs, using plants instead of petroleum.

title:

the garden master course: a permaculture twist on a master gardener course

74 characters.  Gotta get it down to 65 ...

a full garden master course with an emphasis on market gardening and permaculture

.... ug, that's even longer ...

a full garden master course with market gardening and permaculture

60 characters!

Garden Permaculture Master Course:  All the Insight, No Ick  (59 char's, including spaces)

(or a few variations, putting Permaculture first, or in parentheses...)

Blurb: All the video for the full course. Permaculture Market Gardens, Commercial Food Forests

T:
Garden Master class: master gardening through a permaculture lens

B:
This complete video will help you learn to feed yourself and the world without destroying the land.

I'm intrigued by this, and will definitely back it at some level.

It would be lovely if the tiny download option were cheaper. It seems like a huge price jump up from the HD download/glory option. At the end of the day it is 30 hours of content, and people are getting a lot of value, so I can understand the prices, it is just harder for people with dodgy internet.

Titles:

Mastering a permaculture garden'

'grow confidence in gardening'

a truly organic gardening movie.'

blurbs:

A) Green, no-till, organic ways to build relationships with the Earth while raising food for your family.  

B) Call it green, call it organic, call it veganic! Learn to garden naturally and escape food supply uncertainties!

_The Permaculture Garden Master Course_.  

Or you could just call it _Helen Atthowe_!!

Garden Master Course: Master Permaculture techniques for your home or market garden.

"A certified, pointed and in-depth course to add bountiful permaculture design to your garden projects. Learn no-till methodology, soil science, plant guilds and more from a Master Gardener".

earlybird stuff is getting a good start:  https://permies.com/w/earlybird

kickback page is set up: https://permies.com/w/kickback

Title: Garden Master Class: all we are saying is give bees a chance (60 char)

Blurb: A truly organic garden master course movie: no gick or ick, just green goodness. All sorts of organic and no-till gardening techniques. (135 char)

paul wheaton wrote:

Erik Ven wrote:Maybe I am just missing something here, but this is what it looks like to me:
In the script it sounds like this event had already happened and it was recorded, and now you have the files and all you need is putting it together into an edited version of the class - which is what you need the money for.
The rewards show that for $50 you can Zoom in (meaning live) to the event.
For me it's a bit confusing.

Maybe we change the name of that level from "ZOOM" to "360P"?  Or maybe "ROUGH"?  Or maybe "FULL-CLASS"?

Or maybe it should be called "RAW FOOTAGE"?

Hey! I am trying to come up with the FAQ page for this Kickstarter. Anyone have any questions needing an answer that they think others might also have? ASK AWAY!!!

Its time for us to decide on the KickStarter Image!

We’ve norrowed it to three options, each with and without text. Im asking for your help with this through a poor mans poll!

Please vote for the image you like the most by giving thumbs up to one of the following posts.

Have these in mind:

1. This image is the prettiest and visually its very appealing to me
2. This image makes me want to support this KickStarter
3. This image tells the best story;
4. “I know nothing about gardening (very unlikely here at Permies :) ) but somehow this makes me want to find out more”
5. I would definitely click this image

Thanks a lot!!

This image shows us one of Helen’s gardens. Click thumbs up on this post if you think this image is the best!

This image shows us one of Helen’s gardens with a big integrated title. Click thumbs up on this post if you think this image is the best!

This image was taken at Wheaton Labs by the awesome boot Magdalene showing us a bunch of growies coming up.  Click thumbs up on this post if you think this image is the best!

This image was taken at Wheaton Labs by the awesome boot Magdalene showing us a bunch of growies coming up including a big integrated title. Click thumbs up on this post if you think this image is the best!

This is an illustration of Helen throwing seeds in a complex and varied food crop. Click thumbs up on this post if you think this image is the best!

This is an illustration of Helen throwing seeds in a complex and varied food crop including a big integrated title. Click thumbs up on this post if you think this image is the best!