... and not really do much more. However there are a handful of you faithful members that post and are active members of the Glowsticking.com forums. This rant is for anyone who has downloaded a video and then posted on the thread, "That was cool thumbsup.gif " and then nothing more.

The first thing that I'd like to remind all of you, is that videos take time and effort to make. As much as everyone would enjoy another Chicago Compilation with people like Wes, Will, Myron, and others it would be almost impossible to pull it off because they're off living their lives and doing more than playing with glowsticks all of the time.

Not only is it difficult to arrange a video or to find time to actually record it, it also takes time to put it together. Editing takes time. There are very few cases where editing is completely finished in less than an hour. Editing usually includes taking about a half hour of video and dropping it to only about three and a half minutes. Not only is it hard to edit down that much material, then there is the selection of music. The music playing during the video can change the feel of the entire thing.

With all of this editing done, the title screen made, the Glowsticking.com water mark in the corner, the music picked and the video hosted online, the video finally finds itself on a thread on Glowsticking.com and the only comments the person gets is, "WoW tHaT wAs So KoOl!!11!!" All of that time used, for what comes out to be nothing more than another post for the person that replied.

This rant is about how to give a proper review of a video in two easy steps. There are a lot of new members out there who don't know hot to write a good review and there are us older members who need a good reminder of what to do when a person actually does put out a video.

Step one: Start with praise. Find anything and everything that you liked with the video. Even if it is horrible quality and all they are doing are figure eights for three minutes, find something to compliment them on.

Step two: in those compliments try to fit in a few constructive criticisms. Be nice and remember your PLUR during this step. You're reviewing their video to help them grow, not so you can make your own ego grow even bigger. There is a big difference between, "Hey newbie, stop wasting your time and learn something more than a butterfly" and "I liked the music you picked and it's really nice to see that you’re consistent with your moves. You seem like you really like the butterfly, and I think that it'd help make things look really good if you tried learning some variations on the butterfly"

For a good showing of this, read any review from RG, she's one of the few people left on the forums that write a kind review that helps your know what you need to improve on, without making your feel like dirt.

If needed, give time stamps when following these two steps. It's much more helpful to say, "The combo at 1:20 was really good," instead of, "I like that one where the glowsticks went around your body"

Remember when you write your reviews to be nice. I am sure that all of us can remember or imagine how stressful it is/was to put up your first video and how nervous you can get whenever anyone replies to it.

For those people that make videos, remember that people who write reviews are doing it to help you. Do not get offended if someone tires to suggest something. No one is perfect. People are just trying to help, so don't start arguing and get upset with them.

For those people who don't know where to start on reviewing a video, here are a few places you can start...

Lighting: can you see the person or is it too dark?

Music: does the music work well with the glowsticking?

Editing: is there too much editing or too little editing? What can they do better?

Style: do you like how they dance? Does it look good? Why or why not?

Combinations: do they do the same move 50 times for two minutes straight? Do any combos need improvement? Which combos did you like? What do you think they could do better?

Everyone can do this; even the newest member can write a review of a video of a veteran glowsticker, so go and give it a shot. Next time you watch a video, try writing a short review on it.

Hopefully this rant will help out someone and good reviews will return to the video threads of Glowsticking.com.

Also, so you kids can have some practice, hopefully within the next week, I'll release a video and you can try your new found reviewing skills with that one, but we'll see if it makes it past the fearful Glowsticking.com media administrator...CLERIC