EXCLUSIVE – The First Published Interview with “The Man Behind the Vloggy Curtain”

I
had a chance to interview JOE KLEIN the announcer and co-producer of
“The Vloggies” last night’s smash hit event in San Francisco!

The Vloggies brought down the house, while bringing all those in attendance to their feet as the ceremony drew to a close.

I just got off an hour long Skype call with my good friend Podcast Voice Guy,
Joe Klein who had just returned from a long day of rehearsing and
staging the show and then partying into the small hours of the morning
in celebration of the overwhelming success of the event.

Joe told me that the reaction to the ceremony was - to use his words “an army of thumbs up!” He went on to say that “everyone
he encountered after the show was still buzzing and bathing in its warm
afterglow and riding along with him on one big giant cloud nine!”

Joe tells me that PodTech CEO JOHN FURRIER
was also basking and beaming in the spotlight following the standing
ovations and cheers from the crowd as the show reached its climax. The
hugs and high-fives that immediately followed the ceremony continued on
at the party afterward.

Joe went on to say that Furrier interviewed
him at a special video booth at the ceremony’s after party to record
statements from all the Vloggy winners that didn’t have a chance to
come up on stage. “I’d like you to meet the man behind the scenes,
the man behind the curtain, at the Vloggies. This is the Wizard of Oz
that made it all happen”was how John started the interview.

“Frankly, to hear the head
of the company behind the Vloggies describe me in this way came as
quite a surprise and kind of blew my mind”, Joe added.

When Joe and I spoke, he wasn’t even aware
that mega blogger/vlogger ROBERT SCOBLE had already blogged his own
personal kudos to Joe for rocking the Vloggies in a blog post released
just hours ago. Scoble said:

“Joe Klein announced the Vloggies tonight and did an awesome job. He also did it for free. Which I greatly appreciate. He does this stuff professionally. He’s an accomplished voice over guy.“

Other notables Joe encountered after the ceremony had similar raves, including Steve Gillmor who repeatedly told Joe “You did a terrific job!” Diggnation star KEVIN ROSE, one of the celebrity presenters (and winner of the People’s Choice Vloggy for Favorite Tech Vlog) really “dugg” the show himself telling Joe he had a total blast.

I asked my exhausted friend how he personally felt the show went down.

“Of course the ceremony
had its glitches. Every live event like this one does. We had a couple
of major stumbles early on, and it got a little scary there for a
moment but, like the actor who trips and stumbles onto the stage in his
opening scene, we pulled it together, recovered from our minor injuries
and, rose to the occasion. It seemed almost like we had angels on our
shoulders from that point forward. The show just kept getting better
and better. By the last award, people were literally on their feet
cheering, and those of us running the show were, understandably
releived.”

Joe promised there will be more stories in
the days and weeks to come and also agreed to provide me some exclusive
“behind the scenes” photos of the show that you’ll see here first!!

As a close personal friend of Joe’s, I
couldn’t be more thrilled for him and appreciate that he took the time
to speak to me before getting some badly needed rest!

Finally to supporters of me and my endeavors, although I am a bit disappointed that my video “Rock and Roll Heaven”
didn’t win a Vloggy, it was still a thrill to be part of this historic
competition. My heartfelt congratulations go out to the winners to all
the Judges Picks and People’s Choice Vloggy recipients.

Beautiful photos courtesy of Scott Beale of Laughing Squid.