I had an interesting experience earlier today, appearing for the first time on television to talk about CSS and web standards on Canada's G4TechTV show "Call for Help". I was invited to come to the show by co-host Amber MacArthur and I agreed to appear because the novelty of the whole situation was intriguing. A few observations:

1. Seven minutes is a very short amount of time to describe anything meaningfully. We covered the basics of CSS and basically just pointed people to other resources to learn more.
2. Everything runs late when filming television. I showed up promptly at eleven for the taping and was informed beforehand that I'd be in and out in an hour. I finally went on the show at three.
3. TechTV's studios have open wifi. Nice to see that they're up with the times and this allowed me to get some good work done during the long wait.
4. "Call for Help" and such shows take advantage of free guests. I don't really mean this to be snarky, but shows like this survive by asking people to donate their time to be on a for-profit show. If you're on the show talking about your own product, you've got some investment, but otherwise you're donating your skills.
5. Television make-up isn't that bad. Unlike stage make-up, television make-up is just a light dusting to smoothen your skin. No thick foundation or anything goopy. According to the stylist, it's all in the lighting of the stage.
6. Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur are great interviewers. They ask good leading questions that allow you to easily elaborate and they manage to keep the flow of the conversation feel very natural.

All in all, it was indeed an interesting, though prolonged, experience. I'm not sure when the show will air, but I already dread hearing my own voice on the tube.