Money Rail: YouTube Looks for Next Gen Video Educators with Khan Academy

One of the greatest applications for video of any sort is education. Whether you are a B to C marketer with a product to sell and a need to educate the consumer as to why yours is better or a B to B marketer using video to sell a process or educate existing customers, education works in getting and maintaining users’ attention.

YouTube, who is responsible for the vast majority of viewed videos in the world, is teaming with the folks at Khan academy to help identify and reward the next generation of video educators in its Next EDU Guru program. The YouTube blog explains.

We believe that inspiring online educators can come from all walks of life, and we want to find the next generation of educational YouTube stars – people with a talent for explaining tough concepts in compelling ways, and the passion and drive to assemble a global classroom of students. YouTube educational channels like Khan Academy, CrashCourse, Veritasium, Numberphile, MinutePhysics and Ted-Ed have grown to millions of views and subscribers – could you be next?

Today we’re teaming up with Khan Academy to start a search for the Next EDU Gurus–10 super talented and engaging content creators who we’ll support with training, promotion, and a $1000 B&H gift card for production equipment, so they can take the next step in their YouTube – and education – careers.

So what’s this have to do with marketing you ask? Well, it’s a brilliant play that combines PR with goodwill in a way that is hard to argue. While we like to trash big companies because it is the ‘in thing’ companies like Google’s YouTube are out trying to make a difference. Maybe we could take a break from all the bashing and recognize that there is good out there as well? Or maybe we could cook up similar ideas to promote our products?

What do you think?