ChefHangout is a genius use of Google+ Hangouts and could actually make money

Can the technology support hundreds of viewers? Can you moderate people piping up with questions so it doesn't get out of control?<p>If so, celeb chefs even just in Australia could rake in money using this. Cooking reality shows (MasterChef, Kitchen Rules) are very popular and the chefs are often household names. I am not one for mainstream television, but the Friday night Master Classes during the MasterChef season are great.<p>If you put one of those names like Gary or George from MasterChef (and there are a number of Australian celebrity chefs ahead of them) in a Friday night class doing 2-3 dishes for $15, you could get 1,000 signed up if not 10-30,000 with a bit of promotion.<p>Imagine a season pass with a chef doing Friday night dishes. Tune in when you can or have access to archives if you're otherwise occupied. Suddenly the market for cooking classes booms.<p>I've done in-person cooking classes here in Australia and also in Turkey and could see myself trying out on-line streams.<p>Further than cooking classes, imagine name musicians teaching signature tips and tricks with a guitar or effects. Imagine Trent Reznor, or Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, doing live Friday evening jam sessions to viewers. They set up the camera, open a bottle of wine, and start mucking around. Moderators could enable fans to butt in at the right times to suggest a style or ask a question. "Hey, can you drop-D and stuff around for a bit - would love to see what you create!" Make it affordable at $10-15 and you could get hordes.<p>In each case, do special/limited shows for $80+ with more access to interact and get personal feedback.<p>Could it work? I'd love to build it.

It's clever, and I hope it succeeds, but:<p><i>This site could also be a great way for chefs to get the word out about their respective restaurants and book ventures</i><p>... well, for generating awareness of a restaurant or a book, isn't a simple broadcast video of the same content more effective?

I think this is an excellent use of the G+ technology stack.<p>For certain dishes or chefs, I easily see foodies and aspirational gourmands paying the price of admission.<p>The viability of ventures like this are very dependent on the underlying technology, but more importantly they are subject to the legal attitude of the host company - I was about to say that I would be nervous trusting my product to such a high level of vendor lock-in, but I use PaaS products as often as possible (speed kills)...

Seems interesting, but overpriced. I wouldn't pay $25 for a video conference with a chef - I'd probably just find a video on youtube of how to do it for free. That said, I think it's a cool idea, and I'd love to host my own cooking sessions if I could list it for free (not sure if you can or not, didn't see any classes that were free). It'd be a fun social interaction site, but I wouldn't pay for it directly.

This could apply to other services, like www.tangomeet.com, or others where they offer online video lessons.

Strange, I follow the instructions to apply as a chef, but when I get to the step that says click on My Account, all I see is Manage Account. If I click on that, I don't see the Application option anywhere on the page. I'm trying to help a couple of chef friends sign up.

I think this is great. My wife and I can't get out much due to the baby in the house, plus there aren't a ton of private cooking classes to be had in Wichita, KS. But we'd love to learn some more advanced techniques. We'll definitely pick out a class and give it a try!

Why do I see this expanding into other "lessons". I can completely see doing something like guitar lessons this way. Or college classes, or study groups...

Seems like they shouldn't have just focused on chefs, however could be a good market to test before opening up to other areas of interest. Great work!