Description: This is my application submission to the Youtube Next Up Creator Camp.

Below are two 400 word essays I had to submit in addition to the videos.

If I were to win the YouTube Creator Program, I would create a Sneaker-Themed Film Series and Festival to celebrate and acknowledge all of the amazing creativity currently on display from the sneaker community on YouTube.

Since I posted my first video on YouTube in 2008 of me opening a box of sneakers, hundreds of fellow sneaker heads have been inspired to create and share their own passions.

I want to spearhead a series of events around the country to showcase their hard work and ingenuity. This series of events would further inspire people to pursue and share their passions with the world via video.

This year of video showcases would culminate with a larger festival. The smaller events as well as the Film Festival would provide physical meeting place at which YouTubers could come together to honor the art of video and to share and encourage one another.
 
The recognition that winning this award would bestow would give my venture a seal of approval that would allow me to pursue corporate sponsorships from major brands seeking to target the young, urban demographic with a positive message that celebrates their interests. The money would of course help me to secure the actual venues as well as a budget to publicize and promote the events well in advance to ensure the largest possible turnout.

I see these events as commemorations that would in turn invigorate even more people to follow their passions and become YouTube content providers. 

Why Do I Want to Be Part of the Next Up Program and What I Hope to Learn at Creator Camp
?

I uploaded my first video of me opening a box of sneakers to YouTube in 2008 and since then, I have posted 249 in total, with 6,285,523 views, 23,803 subscribers, 30,000 email subscribers, 13,000 Twitter followers and 8,000 Facebook fans. I inspired hundreds of other sneaker heads to record and share their passions as well.

I did all of this with absolutely no multimedia or web training, literally learning as I went along, buying equipment as I could and watching and emulating other YouTubers whose work I admired. Not only do I not have any formal video or web marketing training, I grew up in the projects of Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn, in a Spanish-speaking household headed by my two hard working parents. I left school at 15, earned my GED, went on to the Navy and eventually became a personal trainer. In 2006 I started my own local business, Maplewood Boot Camps, offering exercise classes in our town.

As YouTube was gaining in popularity, I saw an opportunity to share a passion from my youth and to connect back with the community from which I came. The response and recognition that followed has been beyond what I could ever have imagined.

But I can't stop thinking -- what could I have accomplished, what could I accomplish still, with actual training in how to shoot and edit? What could I do under the work of a mentor I admire, who could guide as well as challenge me to approach my videos in ways I can't even imagine? I welcome the opportunity to learn alongside others, hone my craft, and push my game. As a trainer I'm always asking my clients to push beyond what they perceive to be their limits --

I want someone to push me to move beyond my limits. And I want to be part of YouTube's next chapter and generation.

Channels: SneakGeekz 

Tags: YouTube Next Up Creator camp