5 Funny SharePoint Videos

Many people use YouTube strictly for its entertainment possibilities. You can also use YouTube for learning or educational purposes. Or, if you're like me and want to take the edutainment route, you can put both types of content together—like the makers of the following videos for SharePoint did (whether or not they intended to). Enjoy!

1. SharePoint in Plain English—This video is a product of the SharePoint End User Content Team at Microsoft, and I'm pretty sure it's not really intended to be humorous. In fact, the video presents a good, basic description of what SharePoint is and how end users can benefit from it. It's just rather corny. The storyline has Monique starting a new project and quickly realizing how difficult it is to share information and get team members all on the same page. But when she finds SharePoint, "common interests" create "a solid team foundation," and the project comes off swimmingly. And for some reason, Monique looks decidedly mannish.

2. SharePoint Governance Dont get stung!—In this video, solutions architect Sean Bordner dons a white protective suit and hangs out by a stack of beehives to make a point about SharePoint governance. Bordner even makes a point of pointing out that he's deadly allergic to bee stings, but the topic is just so important that he's willing to put himself at risk to make his point. (Of course, it might actually be a bit more of a risk without the suit, but I'm sure no one wants to die just to make a point about SharePoint.) Although the analogy of SharePoint compared to a beehive is a little stretched (I mean, queen bees making new information workers? What?), the brief overview of SharePoint governance itself is quite useful.

3. SharePoint Saved My Puppy...—This short clip is intended to be funny, and it succeeds fairly well. If you've ever been frustrated with SharePoint—with it not performing as advertised, with it being difficult to implement or difficult to get users to adopt—particularly when it's talked about as the salvation to all your business problems, you'll understand completely where Mark Rackley is coming from in this one. Rackley tells the story of having a puppy diagnosed with a terminal condition (at which point, cut to the cute shots of the puppy playing, complete with happy music). Nothing helps the poor pup until someone suggests giving SharePoint a try. When Rackley shows the sick dog SharePoint Designer and Visual Studio, suddenly the dog grows stronger! SharePoint really can do anything. See this inspirational story below.

4. inxs.wmv—I've never been a fan of the band INXS, and the particular song parodied in this video might even be a reason why. At a SharePoint Saturday session, speaker Tiffany Songvilay describes the abilities of SharePoint, in song, to the tune of "Mediate." And did I mention there's dancing? I mean, sort of—there are some bodily gyrations, anyway. I'm sure Songvilay is very good at what she does, and using a familiar song as a teaching mechanism can actually be a useful technique. However, I come away from this one with one word that doesn't fit the rhyme scheme: Embarrassing! See what you think.

5. MS SharePoint Funny Explanation \[RUS\]—And finally, does anyone out there speak Russian? Even if you don't, I'm sure you'll have fun with this little animated gem used to promote SharePoint Server 2007. Although the only word I can make out is SharePoint, I believe I've learned a few things about office life in Russia. For instance, apparently, internal organs might float aimlessly through the air, and wrestling with octopuses is a possibility. Also, administrative professionals might catch on fire if placed under too much stress. But not to worry: The SharePoint Fairy, some sort of cross between Wonder Woman and Tinker Bell, is there to save the day.