BlogWorld Expo opened today with an afternoon keynote from Mark Burnett. He’s the guy who produced all those hit realty shows like Survivor and the Apprentice. The topic of the keynote was call “Convergence of Media and the Future of Unscripted Drama on the Web.”
This was really more of a fireside chat than a keynote presentation. Mark sat down with Brian Solis and talked about a range of topics. None of which I can really report on because the sound in the ballroom was so bad. I could make out bits and pieces but had a hell of a time trying to get the whole picture. Hopefully, the other sessions will be much better.
The bits and pieces that I did get from Mark included:
- Don’t wait to line up all your ducks. Just bloody hell do it!
- Produce content that people will want to talk about.
- Be a great story teller. Survivor is all about story telling.
- Getting Jimmy Johnson on Survivor was a coup for Burnett.
- Do not change thing that are working. If the formula works, stick to it.
- You have to put yourself out there if you want to be noticed.
- No state tax in Alaska and everyone who lives there gets a check every week. Yes, they have to paid people to live there.
Mark’s new show is call Sarah Palin’s Alaska, a documentary series that take viewers into the country’s final frontier through the eyes of one of it’s most citizens – Sarah Palin. Look for it to premiere on TLC November 14 at 9/8c.