| Hank Green | |
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| Background information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | William Henry Green II |
| Born | May 5, 1980 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.A. |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | Katherine Green |
| Relative(s) | John Green (brother) Henry Green (nephew) |
| Web alias(es) | Vlogbrothers |
| Genre(s) | blogging, vlogging, |
| Subjects | Green Technology, Singing |
| Notable work(s) | Brotherhood 2.0, EcoGeek |
| Official site | www.HankGreen.com |
William Henry "Hank" Green II (born May 5, 1980 in Birmingham, Alabama[1]) is a professional blogger and the founder of the environmental technology blog EcoGeek. He is also a singer/songwriter, as well as the co-owner of DFTBA Records. Hank Green has achieved Internet fame through his day-to-day video blogs, known as the Brotherhood 2.0 Project, along with his brother, author John Green.
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Soon after birth, Green and his family moved to Orlando, Florida.[1] There he attended Winter Park High School from which he graduated in 1998. He went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in biochemistry from Eckerd College and later a Master's Degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana.[2] He currently resides in Missoula, Montana, with his wife "The" Katherine.[3]
In high school, Green was fascinated by Mars and the prospect of human colonization. This led to his first publication, a piece for the Marswest Project,[4] titled "Let's go to Mars" which was re-published as lead editorial in Space Times Magazine[citation needed]. According to his vlog on April 2, he was also one of the 'founding members' of the Mars Society.[5]
In Grad School, he created EcoGeek, the Web's first environmental technology website.[6] Starting out as a class project,[7] EcoGeek has evolved into a major environmental blog,[8] possibly the largest blog on environmental technology.[3] The EcoGeek group now includes four other environmental blogs that he helped start[9] - Carectomy, Envirovore, Envirowonk and Wearing the Future - each of them focusing on a different aspect of environmentalism.
Green used to be occupied as a freelance web developer, designing websites for non-profits. He has also developed the webpages for projects of his own, including Brotherhood 2.0 and EcoGeek. The latter is now his full-time job.[10] EcoGeek is well respected among environmentalists and even caught the attention of Time,[11] where it was described as "porn for hardcore science, tech and enviro freaks". Writing about environmental issues, Green has been published on numerous environmental blogs, including Treehugger.com, Yahoo! Green, The National Geographic Green Guide and Scientific American.
His expertise is often requested across the media, ranging from appearing on The Weather Channel to occasionally writing for the New York Times,[12] or even just providing news commentary for NPR.[13] His blog posts are often quoted in various publications.[14][15][16] Green also writes for The Huffington Post and regularly appeared on Planet Green's TV-show G Word for a while. Green, as well as his brother John, has written several articles for Mental Floss magazine and both participated in writing the book Mental Floss: Scatterbrained.[17]
Hank and his brother John ran a reasonably popular video blog project called Brotherhood 2.0.[18][19] The original project ran from January 1 to December 31, 2007, with the premise that the brothers would cease all text-based ("textual") communication for the year and instead converse by video blogs, made available to the public via their YouTube channel Vlogbrothers and on their website. The initial idea for the project was created by John, because, during an instant messaging conversation between the two, he pointed out they had not gone past the realms of communication via phone conversations, e-mails, and instant messaging for nearly a year.[20]
Recurring themes included "Nerdfighters", adding the phrase "in my pants" to book titles, "Song Wednesdays", "Question Tuesdays", punishments for breaking the rules and featuring giraffe sex as the thumbnail for videos. First intended as a joke, it soon became apparent that said thumbnail substantially increased the number of views. With over 12 million combined views, their top three most viewed videos all use the giraffe sex thumbnail.
In their December 31, 2007 video, it was revealed that the brothers had decided not to stop vlogging even though the project had ended. In 2008, John and Hank met up with their fans, known as "Nerdfighters". The first gathering was a last minute decision, but despite the short three day notice, nearly a hundred people attended. In August, John and Hank were invited to the Google office in Chicago to talk about the project.[21] That same day, they filled the Harold Washington Library with some four hundred enthusiastic young adults.[22] Following John's tour, promoting his most recent book, Paper Towns, the brothers went on a national tour in November. With events in 17 different cities, they met thousands of Nerdfighters at local libraries and community centers. During this tour, Hank released his first album of Nerdfighter-themed songs, entitled "So Jokes".[23]
The Green brothers have been interviewed on PotterCast and were keynote speakers at the Harry Potter fan convention LeakyCon 2009.[24]
In addition to spawning an intense adoring online fan community and sparking extreme YouTube popularity, the Brotherhood 2.0 project has also succeeded in its original mission. The two brothers have come to communicate more thoroughly with each other, and have a larger influence in each others' lives than before the project was initiated. The brothers talked on the phone once or twice a year before Brotherhood 2.0, but, according to Hank Green's wife Katherine, they now "talk almost every day." [25]
John and Hank continue to post vlogs several times a week, on their Youtube account, Vlogbrothers. With over 200,000 subscribers, they are the 33rd all time most subscribed directors on Youtube. Their videos have been watched over 60 million times.[6]
DFTBA Records is a record label co-founded and co-owned by Hank Green and Alan Lastufka. Its main focus is music generated by prominent YouTube stars. The label was founded in 2008. Distribution of records by DFTBA Records is largely independent; Lastufka himself generally oversees most of the distribution. The label's first signing was Hank Green in 2008. The initialism "DFTBA" in the record label's name stands for "Don't Forget to Be Awesome".[26]
The goal of the record label, as Lastufka stated in a video on the subject, is to provide a distribution network for talented artists of YouTube and to make sure their music reaches out to the "largest audience possible."[27] The record label claims to aim to aid a bigger audience in connecting with the artists, and make the "YouTube experience" more lucrative, more exciting, and more fun.
During Hank Green's year-long run in the Brotherhood 2.0 project, he accepted the challenge to perform an original song biweekly and he continued, though less frequently, to write songs during 2008. By the spring of 2009, he was once again writing and performing songs on a biweekly basis. The songs he writes, then sings and records are often humorous ditties, such as "I'm Gonna Kill You", "Baby, I Sold Your Dog on eBay", and "People Who Love Giraffes Who Love Giraffes". Hank's most successful song to date is "Accio Deathly Hallows", which was featured on YouTube right before the release of the last Harry Potter book.[28], and has been viewed over one million times.[29]
The vast popularity of Green's songs prompted the introduction of his first album. So Jokes was released whilst Green was on tour with his brother, promoting the book Paper Towns. The album reached number 22 on the Billboard top 25 revenue generating albums online.[30]
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