I’ve  been producing YouTube videos for a few years now, and 2012 was another BIG YEAR. In addition to producing videos for the JMU612 MeetUp group which I’m a co-founder of, I also produced videos for my restaurant review series called “Land of 10,000 Eats“.  Additionally, in February of 2012, I launched a new video interview series called “Faces of MN“.  All of those videos, in addition to a few others, added up to a very productive and busy 2012 YouTube season.

So which videos of all of those videos made the Top 10 list for receiving the most views? Here’s the complete list.

10) Faces of MN – Rena Sarigianopoulos (Part 3)

9) Faces of MN – Natalie Kane (Part 2)

8) Faces of MN – Jen Sinkler (Part 1)

7) Faces of MN – Laura Schara (Part 1)

6) Faces of MN – Elizabeth Ries (Part 1)

5) Faces of MN – Cory Kampschroer & Jessica Miles  (Part 2)

4) Faces of MN – Rena Sarigianopoulos (Part 1)

3) Faces of MN – Rena Sarigianopoulos (Part 2)

2) Faces of MN – Cory Kampschroer & Jessica Miles (Part 1)

1) Faces of MN – Natalie Kane (Part 1)

About 2 years ago, March 2010, I came up with the idea of a new way for people to share more about themselves on Twitter, called Twitterviews. It would consist of a 1hr interview, conducted totally on Twitter. It would allow them to share things about themselves such as where they grew up, their interests, hobbies, passions and their goals for themselves for the future. Not only did it provide more exposure for them to other people, it turned out to be a great networking tool for myself and for them as well. I’ve currently conducted over 300 of them, and am still benefiting from them. In fact, it led me to now conducting them on behalf of the locally based magazine, Minnesota Monthly. What an opportunity!

This leads me to my next venture. Starting this Thursday, February 16th, I will be starting a NEW YouTube series of interviews with people in Minnesota called: Faces of Minnesota.   It will be interviews conducted with people in a variety of fields of work and backgrounds. You may have seen, heard or read some of their work, but these interviews will let you learn even more about them. I’m also pleased to announce that my first guest will be Elizabeth Ries of “Twin Cities Live” and the “Dirt Alert” on My Talk 107.1 FM. She’ll be a great start to this brand new series.

Joel Carlson & Elizabeth Ries

I hope that you enjoy this new series as you get to know more about the featured guests. If you have a suggestion or an idea of someone that you feel would make a great featured guest, please Tweet me, send me an email or call me. I’d be happy to hear and take your suggestions.  Enjoy!

From about the very beginning of conducting Twitterviews with people, there was an added feature that  some were open to, which was creating a “teaser video” regarding their upcoming Twitterview (Twitter+Interview). This video would generally be them answering 1 question that dealt with something about themselves that not a lot of people knew about them. It created another layer in the “getting to know me” experience of Twitterviews. Here were the most viewed videos of 2010.

1)    Chikage Windler Intro video – 1,070 views

2)    Elizabeth Ries Intro video – 572 views

3)    Natalie Kane Intro video - 261 views

4)    Sarah Kay Hoffman Intro video - 220 views

5)    Jenna Bennett Intro video – 175 views

6)    Andrea Kopfmann Intro video – 160 views

7)    Mike Rynchek Intro video – 147 views

8)    Meghan Wilker & Nancy Lyons Intro video – 137 views

9)    Elizabeth Ries 2.0 video – 125 views

10)    Lindsey Seavert Intro video – 107 views

(As of MON Jan 3,2010)