Thawing Out...in More Ways than One

We're happy to report that the snow, and icicles, are melting thanks to some welcomed sunshine.  For those of you who have never lived in Ohio, you can count on the fingers of one hand the number of sunny days you have during our winters.  We measured about 14 inches of the white stuff on the ground from the first major storm of the winter.  But in some spots, its deeper.  The winter of 2010 will be one we'll talk about for years.

The better news is that the freeze in business is thawing too!  We have a number of projects we're working on.  We'll be writing about them in the coming days.

New Logo, New Workflow, New Mission

Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, we present the new Tarulli HD Media Group logo!

It's our way of announcing that we've added a complete high definition video work flow to our growing list of services. Tarulli HD Media Group: a full service digital content provider.  I know, sounds good but what does that mean? 

First, allow me to digress. There's no doubt that we are in the midst of the  transition from standard definition video to high definition video.  Flat screen 16:9 high def televisions are replacing 4:3 standard def televisions in the home, in airports, in hotel lobbies as well as in corporate boardrooms.  Have you noticed that WalMart has changed their floor plan in many stores so that the first thing that catches your eye when you walk through the door is the back wall of flat screen TVs?  America is quickly becoming a high definition society.  And it won't be long before - in all visual communications - the quality of the images that represent your business will be compared to those of your competitors.   In a high def world, you will be able to see the difference. In this new economy, we have to look for every advantage over our competitors.  And things like image quality now matter, where before it didn't.

So let's return to explain why Tarulli HD Media Group is a full service digital content provider.  It's because any of the high quality digital images we create for you can be used for video, print, and web.  And we can provide all of those services in-house.  Full service at a far less cost than going to three different providers.  Full service that includes affordable high definition video production. As the video editor, that sends chills down my back.

Joel

Working with Preferred Airparts Lifts your Spirits

Kidron, Ohio is located right in the middle of the largest Amish community in the world. Some of you may know that the village is home to a famous hardware store where you can buy the cooking utensils and pot-bellied stoves your great-great grandparents used. Kidron also has a livestock and field crop auction every Wednesday that attracts Amish farmers from miles around. But I bet you didn't know that Kidron is also home of one of the largest aircraft parts suppliers in the world!

Preferred Airparts was founded by Ken Stoltzfus and sons in 1982. The Stoltzfus family has a long history in aviation. Ken's father Chris was a crop duster, flying Stearman bi-planes. The company has been built on Christian principles - and as a result - continues to flourish.

Today Preferred Airparts has the largest inventory of parts for Cessna Twins, Caravans and Citations outside of the Cessna factory. Preferred Airparts daily inventory amounts to over eight MILLION aircraft parts for nearly everything that flies. That includes helicopters, gliders, biplanes and old warbirds. You'll find them on the Web at www.preferredairparts.com.

You can check out the first in a series of videos we're producing for Preferred Airparts on our You Tube channel. It's entitled "Commuter and Business Class Parts." The video targets owners of commuter and business class aircraft - like Cessna Twins, Caravans and Citations - who are looking for sources of repair parts.

Right now we're working on "Preferred Airparts Capabilities": the second video in the series. The other videos will tell the stories of the company's history, how it searches the world for salvagable Cessnas and Preferred Airparts mission to use aviation to spread the Gospel in Africa and other far off places. It's a joy to work with them. Plus we really dig aircraft of all types. So this project is creating more fun than usual.

Joel

Karam's Martial Arts: Taekwondo the Way It Used to Be

We've just finished editing a new video for Karam's Martial Arts. No, it's not a fighting video. Far from it. Karam's teaches Korean taekwondo the way martial arts used to be taught before the military and Hollywood got a hold of them. Karam's taekwondo is taught as a way of life. Focus, discipline and respect for others come before kicking, punching and board-breaking. Defensive moves come as a last resort when the bullies just won't leave you alone. Working on this project has really opened our eyes to the traditions of martial arts and given us a deep respect for the school Matt and Audra Karam operate in Dover. It's truly a family business. All the Karam's children take part in the instruction, as well as Matt's brother Adam. The video features testimonials from parents of current students. We recorded five days of testimonials and used a small cross section of the best comments. But we can tell you all of the parents interviewed raved about Karam's approach to taekwondo and how it has made their kids better students, better athletes and better persons. The interviews left on the cutting room floor will end up in another video or on the web sometime in the future.

The video will help market their school to parents of school-aged kids. Classes start at the kindergarten-aged level and go up to the high school level. If you're a parent of kids in school in Tuscarawas County, we're sure you'll see this video sometime during the next school year.

As far as the technical stuff goes, the video was cut on an Avid system with Boris effects and multi-track audio.

Joel

What Happens When We Hit the Wall?

Yeah, we know. It's been awhile since we last posted to our blog. But frankly readers, we've been busy trying to find our way through this dark maze known as the U.S. economy. Fighting for survival lowers your sights and changes your vision into near-sightedness. That's not good. And in our opinion, that's not American. We don't want to make it a practice to get political on this blog. But we have to say that the current course the Federal and State governments have us on is heading toward a big, thick brick wall. "Stimulus" was a cruel trick. By running deficits into the trillions of dollars, they've effectively cut the brake lines. So it's now a matter of "when" we hit the wall. Once the smoke clears, what will we all have left? How will we conduct business with each other? What new taxation and regulations will government try to impose on us to try to correct its mistakes. One thing is clear: if all of us don't start confronting the forces who are wrecking American business, few of us will survive the crash. And those who are left won't recognize the American business landscape that lies before them.

Back from a Busy Couple of Weeks

The original idea was to make this a daily blog. But you know how it goes when you're trying to stay in business, particularly in this economy. We're seeing a lot of change by the way, but most of it in the wrong direction.


What's been keeping us away from our blogging is a big editing project with CSL Behring, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies who make what I consider a wonder formula. It's called Vivaglobin and it's a life changing treatment for folks suffering from primary immunodeficiency or PI. PI is a condition resulting from the breakdown of your body's natural immunity. Vivaglobin is made from human blood plasma and restores the lost immunity. It's administered under the skin, i.e. subcutaneously. If you'd like to learn more about it, here's a link http://www.vivaglobin.com/patient/About_PI.aspx. The video will be ready for release in June.

We've also been hard at work on a web video for the city of Marion, Ohio. Yep, the home of Ohio's annual Popcorn Festival. We're working with our good friend and marketing guru Steve Badertscher and his heavy metal agency Badertscher Communications, otherwise known as BadComm. Pay them a visit sometime at http://badcomm.com/. BadComm knocks down several top agency awards every year, testament to Steve's creative genius and heavy-handed management style. I know that last comment will strike me off of his popcorn gift list ;).

Joel

Video Editing is Story Telling

When was the last time you heard someone tell a good story? I mean the way they told it sucked you in, held your attention the entire time and stirred your emotions. Now let me ask you - when was the last time you had the same reaction while watching a sales, training or marketing video? Can't remember? Blame it on bad video editing.
Video editing is story telling. The way the editor lays down the video and audio clips, music and special effects determines whether its a good story or in a client's case - a waste of time and money. So the next time you meet a person who calls themselves a video editor, ask them if they're story tellers. If they give you a "deer in the headlights" look in response, come see me at Tarulli Media Group.

Joel

Planting the Valiant Grape Vines

After editing this video, I have a great appreciation for the Breitenbach Wine Cellar workers who planted the valiant grape vineyard. It was hard work. And it would of been way harder if they'd gone "old school" and dug the planting holes by hand. Thank goodness for the post hole digger!

You'll see Breitenbach winemaker and owner Duke Bixler directing the placement of the planting holes. He is one of the most driven and forward-thinking entrepreneurs we've ever met. It's exhilarating to work with him. It was evident that everyone working on the side of that hill knew what they were doing was very important. By the way Duke has officially named the vineyard the "Roadhouse Red Vineyard" after his signature red wine. If you've never tasted Roadhouse Red, you need to get your hands on a bottle as soon as possible. It's a red that goes well with every food. Duke says that's the reason Roadhouse Red has become so popular, to the point it almost has a cult following. Matter of fact I'm going to try it with Beer Nuts when I sit down to watch the next Cavs game.

Joel

TALU Technologies

If you work with gas chromatographs and mass spectometers, then you know accurate results depend on a perfectly sealed column. If you don't, then what I just wrote has you scratching your head (or in my case, I rub my chin). Google "gas chromatography" to learn more. Graphite, polyamide and teflon ferrules manufactured by TALU Technologies of New Philadelphia produce those tight seals under high temperatures. That's why they're used by most major research facilities in the United States. We're helping TALU to globally expand their market with the creation of new marketing materials.



This speaks to why we're renaming ourselves as the "Tarulli Media Group." Video production remains our core business. But over the years we've expanded our capabilities into print, multimedia and web creation. That gives our clients the advantage of having all their video, multimedia, print and web needs plus marketing consultation taken care of by one company - Tarulli Media Group. And within the past month, we've brought more marketing firepower under our roof. That's a subject for discussion at a later date. And believe me, there will be a lot of discussion about it beyond this blog. But back to TALU, we've created a very cool die cut brochure that will separate them from their competitors. It's the first step in positioning TALU for future sales opportunities. TALU is one of those American companies few people know about. But it plays a key role in research testing, which benefits all of us.

Joel

The Valiant Grape Vines are Planted and Ferrules For All

Here are a couple of photos of the valiant grape vines being planted last week at the Breitenbach Wine Cellars new vineyard. Now its time to wait and let the vines grow. Breitenbach winemaker Duke Bixler said it will be four to five years before the vines will yield usable grapes. It will be fun to watch the progress and document it here on the TMG blog and the TMG You Tube channel. I'll edit a new video this week and post it this weekend.



The last photo has nothing to do with grapes. It shows an assortment of graphite ferrules produced by TALU Technologies of New Philadelphia. "What the heck is a ferrule" you asked? Well, these tiny fellows are used in the scientific community in gas chromatography and mass spectometry instruments. TALU is a new client and we're having a lot of fun learning about ferrules and how they are used. TALU is located in the same building as Denney Plastics Machining, a high performance plastics business that does some pretty amazing stuff too. We'll tell you more about them in our next blog.

In the meantime, continue to check out the Tarulli Media Group You Tube channel. We'll soon be posting some more video from our TV-2 archives as well as new corporate-industrial videos. BTW, the Gradall videos on our channel are getting the most views. They're making field rep John "Dog" Menapace an international star. And he likes that!

Edgetech Sustainaview

If you want to make "green" improvements to your home, start with the windows. But make sure the windows you buy are made with Edgetech's "Super Spacer." Not only will you cut carbon emissions, you'll also save money because of Super Spacer's energy efficiency.

Buy our Photos at SmugMug.Com

If you're in the graphic design or publication business, Tarulli Media Group has a photo file for you! We've just opened a new outlet for our photography archive at SmugMug.Com, or specifically at this URL: http://tarullivideo.smugmug.com.



Included in our SmugMug galleries will be "The Max T. Miller Collection": a compilation of photo files created from the works of Max T. Miller of New Philadelphia, Ohio. Max is best known as the retired president and CEO of Miller Studio and Miller Products Incorporated. He's had a love of photography throughout his life. But it wasn't until his retirement years that he was able to devout time and travel to his photography. And the result was some of the most compelling shots of architecture, people, wildlife, flowers and landscapes we have ever seen. Max's world travels took him to Africa, Anarctica, Australia and New Zealand, Burma, China, Europe, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the western United States. And I know I'm leaving out a few. Many of his trips were made with National Geographic photographer Ray Manley, who tutored Max on the fine points that define a master photographer. The Max T. Miller Collection will be available for a limited period. We hope you will take advantage of its availability and share his love of God's creation through your designs and publications.

We'll also be posting many of the photographs we've taken in Ohio's Amish Country, plus some cool and relevant corporate and industrial shots.

Joel

The Reinvention Process Continues

So how are you adapting to this "change" in America's economy? We like to hear from you. As we've be writing on this blog, Tarulli Media Group (aka Tarulli Video) is adapting by reinventing itself: becoming experts in e-marketing and adapting our craft to the surging interest in social networking as a business tool.

Video has a new use as an enhancement to your profile on social networking sites like Facebook. Video can help describe who you are, what you sell (in the case of businesses) and your interests. And the video doesn't have to be a Hollywood production. For social networking purposes, we've learned to keep it short and simple. As it turns out, that's a powerful formula for Internet or e-marketing. Drop me a line at joeld@tarullivideo.com if you're interested in learning more.

For your weekend entertainment, we've uploaded a new Breitenbach Winery video that features the construction of the new "Valiant Grape Vineyard." An earlier video showed the beginning stage. This new one shows the whole shootin' match and includess running commentary by Breitenbach's owner and winemaker Dalton "Duke" Bixler! The valiant grapes will actually be planted later this month. We'll be there with cameras in hand to capture the event and show it to you. Stay tuned for that and much more to come. Don't forget to visit the Tarulli Media Group You Tube channel often to view new stuff from our vast video archive.

Joel

TV-2's Special Report: The Flood of 2005

The Flood of 2005 was a history-maker. It destroyed property and isolated communities throughout Eastern Ohio. Heavy snowfall followed by heavy rain in January of that year created perfect flooding conditions. Dams held back as much water as they could. There was even a scare of breeches at the Bolivar Dam and Zoar Levee in Tuscarawas County. Zoar was completely surrounded by flood water, isolating residents and shutting down Tusky Valley High School for over a week.

At the time, TMG was programming local origination cable channel 2 for Adelphia Cable. Tim Tarulli wrote and produced this video, which features aerial views of the flood's devastation in the Bolivar and Dover Dam areas. He got a personal ride in one of the Ohio Governor's helicopters dispatched to carry state and federal emergency response officials to a meeting at the Bolivar fire station. Look for more "TV-2 Classics" to be posted here and on TMG's You Tube Channel in the future.

Joel

Update on What We've Been Up To...

Today should be our final trip out to Breitenbach Winery to capture the last scenes of the new vineyard's construction. Having never seen a vineyard built (how many of us have?)we were surprised by the science behind the layout and the materials used in its construction. We're going to start editing another progress video once we get back to the studio, so look for it to be posted here soon.

Yesterday we posted new videos on our You Tube Channel. We started a new playlist featuring what we consider to be "classic" programs and sporting events from our days of programming local origination channel Cable TV-2. The first video we posted to it was the "Flood of 2005" special report, which was written and produced by Tim Tarulli.

The second video was a web video we put together for Breitenbach for the winter/spring 2009 season. It features photography by Jim Celuch, who we consider a master of his art form and one of the world's best shooters. Jim captured the photograph of winemaker Duke Bixler you see above. Watch the video and tell us what you think!

Joel

Time to Catch Our Breath

The week comes to an end with a flurry of business activity. And that's a good thing!
Over the past four days we've launched new projects that will unleash our graphic design, printing, video and multimedia skills. And believe me, those dogs have sat on the porch for too long! It's time to turn them loose and let 'em run. That means next week I won't have a whole lot of time to spend updating the Tarulli Media Group You Tube Channel and this blog. But that's a good thing $$.

Today I had time to upload a new video to the TMG channel (http://www.youtube.com/TarulliVideo). It's a five minute overview of Cardington Yutaka Technologies, a manufacturing plant full of robots in Cardington, Ohio. CYT builds parts for Honda cars made at the Marysville plant. The robots are beyond cool.

Joel

The New Vineyard at Breitenbach Winery

This week we've been making daily trips to Breitenbach Winery to record the progress of construction of a new vineyard. This is the first vineyard that Breitenbach owner and winemaker Duke Bixler has built at the Winery/Der Marktplatz location on State Route 39. Duke says he'll plant valiant grapes in the vineyard - which you see pictured here - and it'll take four to five years before the first fruits will be ready to pick. Today we conducted an interview with Duke at the vineyard site. Click on the video to get a preview of what he had to say and to view the beginning stage of construction.



We'll give you periodic updates of the vineyard construction project: which is another good reason why you should subscribe to this blog.

Isn't it amazing how warm, sunny days in March can lift you out of the winter doldrums quickly?

Joel

New Videos Posted on TMG's You Tube Channel

The latest additions to our "TarulliVideo" You Tube Channel are two examples of travel and tourism style videos.

"David Warther Carvings" introduces you to the world's finest ivory carver, who is in a midst of a capital fundraising campaign to build a permanent home for his ship carvings. David's grandfather was Ernest "Mooney" Warther, once considered the world's master carver. David has taken the inherited talent to a higher level.

"NTR Canoe Livery" paddles you on a leisurely trip down the Tuscarawas River. Whether by canoe or kayak, the river holds a special tranquility that awakens your senses and takes you back in time. The background sound you hear during the paddling instructions are locusts - lots of them.

Share this blog and TMG's You Tube Channel with your family and friends.

Joel

Can Video Help My Business ?

You betcha! What better way to explain your business to people than to actually SHOW them. It's tough enough to close sales as it is...particularly in these tough economic times. Video can do that for you. Show your potential customers what you mean. Show them how they can profit from your business. Show them actual processes, products and outcomes. The persuasive power of video is second to none. And now the full potential of video is being unleashed on the web through such social networking site as You Tube, Facebook, and Blogger.com. In their infancy, businesses rejected such sites as being for "kids." But now they've entered the global mainstream as an effective means for businesses to communicate and network with each other and with their customers.

If you haven't already, it's time for your business to climb on board. Let Tarulli Media Group develop a video presence on the web for you. Email us at info@tarullivideo.com or use our land line at 330-364-8273. We travel anywhere, anytime.

Joel

The Amish and Zoarites

Even if you're not from around these parts, I'm sure you've heard about the Amish. But who are these "Zoarites?" Well they didn't land here from a distant galaxy. They were a group of German Separatists who settled in northern Tuscarawas County in the early 1800's and built the communal village of Zoar. They had a lot in common with the Amish. They spoke German. They dressed alike. They lived off the land. They made furniture. And they wore big hats. But the Zoarites had one up on the Amish in the construction category. The Zoarites built their own lock on the Ohio and Erie Canal. Soon the canal turned Zoar into a tourist attraction and by the late 1800's, the villagers quit their communal-style living and went their own ways. Funny how history repeats itself. That's exactly what's happening in Ohio's Amish Country today because of the explosion of tourist stops along State Route 39.

But back to the real reason I wrote this post. Today's addition's to TMG's You Tube channel (TarulliVideo) are "The History of Zoar," "Weaver Leather," and "Coblentz Furniture." The Zoar video was created for the Zoar Community Association, a very hardworking and dedicated group that is trying to keep the village's historical significance alive. You owe it to yourself to pay a visit to Zoar, if for nothing else, to meet these people and let them share their knowledge and love of their village with you. You can purchase this video and others when you visit the Town Hall. Don't forget to go upstairs in the Town Hall to see some really cool artifacts.

Weaver Leather and Coblentz are two companies who take great pride in their Amish heritage. We hope you'll enjoy learning about them as much as we did.

Joel