LIVE  UNITED  VIDEO  CHALLENGE

United Way has launched a national challenge to advance the common good by providing opportunities for a better life in our community. The building blocks for a better life are education, income and health - a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. By focusing on these areas, and working with our communities to Live United, we can make a lasting change. Our community has embraced this challenge to advance the common good and Live United - be a part of the change!

We Know You’re Out There!

No one person, nonprofit, or business can handle this challenge alone. We know there are many of us working for the common good in our communities. People like YOU. So, how do you Live United? That’s the question we’d like you to answer – in a video.

Maybe your family is dedicated to cleaning up a portion of your local park or neighborhood. Perhaps you tutor children in reading, or volunteer at your church or as a coach for your kid’s soccer team.  Perhaps you donate both time and money to your community. Whether at work or at home – if you Live United, you’re making a difference and we want to know about it.

Share Your “Live United” Story and Win

Create a video – no more than two minutes, please – telling or showing how it is that you Live United. You can even recruit your friends and co-workers to be in the video with you, and tell us how you Live United as a group. A committee of community volunteers will review all submissions and will select the top five videos to be featured in our Annual Video – featured online and at workplace campaigns. You can upload your video to our YouTube Group (www.youtube.com/group/liveunited). Deadline for consideration for our contest is August 15, 2008 (deadline extended) but you can submit your videos year round. (If you win, you’ll need to give us access to your video files so we can edit them onto the Annual Video).

So, what does it mean to Live United?

“Live United” is an invitation to make a change in our community by advancing the common good. It’s a constant reminder that when we, as individuals, think outside ourselves, we have the power to facilitate change. When we think of others' lives as linked to our own, our compassion grows. When we reach out a hand to one, we influence the condition of all. We build the strength of our neighborhoods. We bolster the health of our communities. And we change the lives of those who walk by us every day. Everybody wins when a child succeeds in school. Everybody wins as the members of our community gain financial stability. Live United is about the power of unity.

NOTE: By submitting a video, you give permission to United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra to use your video, or edited pieces, in future promotional materials.

YouTube step-by-step upload instructions

FIRST, YOU’LL NEED TO SIGN UP FOR A FREE YOUTUBE ACCOUNT:

1)     Click on “Sign Up” in upper right-hand corner of http://www.youtube.com.

2)     Fill in all fields to create YouTube user account.

3)     You’ll need to check your email immediately after submitting your account information to verify your email address.

4)     Just click on the link sent to your email from YouTube to verify you email address.

MAKE SURE YOUR VIDEO IS IN A FORMAT THAT CAN BE UPLOADED:

YouTube accepts a wide range of video file formats such as .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG transferred from most digital cameras, camcorders, and cell phones. You can use a number of video editing software on your computer to save your video file in a format that will work for YouTube. This includes, but is not limited to Microsoft Movie Maker, iMovie (Mac), etc.

AFTER YOU CREATE AN ACCOUNT, YOU CAN UPLOAD YOUR VIDEO:

1)     Visit http://www.youtube.com/group/liveunited to get to the LIVE UNITED group.

2)     On the tab bar, click the yellow button that says, “Upload.”

3)     You will need to include a title, description, video category (choose from a list of provided options) and tags for your video. Tags are keywords used to help people find your video.

4)     You can also choose broadcast, date/map and sharing options, but these choices are not necessary – just added features.

5)     Click on the “Upload Video” button.

6)     Use the “Browse” button to choose a video saved on your computer to upload.

7)     Click “Upload Video.”

8)     Uploads usually take 1-5 minutes per MB on a high-speed connection, and converting your video takes a few minutes.

For more assistance or information on Terms of Service, visit www.YouTube.com and visit their help section. They have plenty of resources to assist you in getting your video up and ready.