Careers in New Media and Podcasting

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• YouTube to increase upload limit from 10 to 15 minutes – July 29, 2010
• How To Use Your Online Community Skills To Revive Your Local Community – July 26, 2010
• HOW TO: Use Annotations to Promote Your Brand on YouTube – July 27, 2010
• Want a map of your Twitter followers? – July 25, 2010

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• Sony Bloggie MHS-PM5 Review – July 18, 2010
• Nixty Launches With Ambitions to Build Something Huge in eLearning – July 13, 2010
• Phone Your Blog — Blog — WordPress.com – July 2, 2010 – WordPress.com adds audio posting to their hosted sites.
• How to Create a FaceBook Landing Page for Your Blog – July 1, 2010
• How To Make Money In Online Video – February 7, 2010
• Zoom Intros $99 H1 Handy Recorder » Podcasting News – June 2, 2010

Update: I got to try viewing this post on an iPad and, sure enough, it allows for the embedded video to play right in the page, much like we see every other video. Very cool!

In this blog post, A New Way To Embed YouTube Videos, YouTube announced testing of new EMBED codes for your video.

The biggest enhancement I see is that this embed will serve up wither Adobe Flash or HTML5 video depending on the users environment. This should make it easier for bloggers to post one video link regardless of the technology their readers might be using.

There are 2 major limitations. First, videos with advertisements must still be played using Flash and, second, anyone using WordPress.com and other platforms that prevent the usage of “iframe” will not be able to use this new method.

Below I have embedded one of my older videos using the new method. I will then go and check it out on my iPhone and in other browsers to see how well it works.

We recently returned from a trip to the UK and I took several videos while we were there. The 2 videos below show 2 different methods of presenting a location to your viewer.

The first is this time lapse video of a “flight” on the London Eye. It seemed to me that presenting clips from the slow moving ride, or posting the entire ride in real time wouldn’t really give the feeling that I was looking for.

To capture this footage, we immediately placed our Flip Mino HD on a table top tripod on the floor of the capsule. You may notice that there was at least one time when we adjusted the few, but for the most part the video was just captured as we enjoyed the view. The movement of the boats and cars offers a nice contrast to the slow movement of the Eye itself.

In order second video, we did the opposite. Instead of speeding up time, we slowed it down…at least figuratively. Using the concept of a “long picture” I took 3 views of Stonehenge, again using the tripod, but rather than moving around like most videos would, these are 2 static shots.

I believe this gives a great feeling of what it would be like to be sitting there on the grass with us. The audio was captured from a group who were chanting nearby and I thought this added an important element, too.

You can see more examples of these “long picture” videos in this Places UK: Cardiff Bay and Water in Millard Canyon.

Videos don’t have to be like every other video on the Internet. Experiment with movement, stillness, profiles, interviews and any other videos that you can imagine. You never know what you might discover.

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• Apple Reveals New Service for Authors to Sell Their Books Directly in the iBookstore (David W. Martin/Mac|Life) – May 27, 2010
• How To Use Google Wave for Live Blogging – May 26, 2010

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• An Amusing Historical Look At Moral Panics And The Content Industry – May 24, 2010

One of the most common questions I get asked as a New Media consultant is “How do I live video stream my event?” The fact is, the technology part of the live streaming equation is easier than ever before, but it still requires a little bit of equipment and, more importantly, good planning to get your live video stream up and running.

Time to prepare

First, you need to give yourself some time. I often receive requests and questions about live streaming the day before, or the day of, and event. If you haven’t been streaming your events before, this is usually not enough time to do more than the most basic of video streams. This doesn’t usually have anything to do with technology, but more to do with logistics.

Depending on what you are trying to accomplish you might simply have a laptop and webcam which is pointed at a stage or a speaker. Even then, though, you will need to have some basic knowledge of the different types of live video streaming services out there and what they can do. Ideally, you will want to do a “sound check” earlier in the day or even the day before your event to make sure you don’t have any issues with the local network, web cam and service. You will need to set up your account with the streaming service and learn how you can embed and link to your stream during your event.

Time to promote

This points to another issue with time, too. If you want to attract an audience to your live video stream, you need to give them plenty of notice. They will need to place the event in their calendars and plan around it just as they would if they were attending in person. This is one of the limitations of live streams, of course, you still need to be in a particular place at a particular time, even if that place is only on your own sofa.

Ideally, you want to promote your event 2-3 weeks ahead. Then you will also want to remind people 1 week before the event, 1 day before the event and finally, right before the event starts. You will want to embed the player for the live stream on your blog and/or web site so people can easily find it and even stumble across it if they have forgotten about the event.

Adding complexity

Live video streaming from one location is the simplest to set up, but often show hosts and producers what to take live callers, or even live video calls, during their event. While it is possible to do this in a number of ways, be aware that the complexity of your production will increase dramatically.

You will probably want, if not need, additional computers, higher speed Internet connections and more people to handle the technology…at least initially. Once you get things up and running, you might be able to produce your show by yourself, but allow yourself some “helping hands” at the beginning.

Saving it for later

You will also want to make arrangement to capture the video from your event for those who weren’t able to watch it live. The fact is, the size of this audience is often much larger than the audience watching live. You can deliver this video via YouTube or other video sharing site, embed it on your web site or blog or even sell it on DVD to those who might want to own a physical copy.

Do you want to learn more about live video streaming and how to get it working for your event? Add your comments here or email me at me@douglasewelch.com to set up a phone or in-person consult.

Remember, allow yourself plenty of time before your first event so you aren’t struggling with the technology while also trying to organize your event.

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• How to Promote Your Blog on TV for Way Less Than You Think – May 19, 2010

Since I was there at the beginning of Podcasting and New Media, it only makes sense that I have a lot of friends and acquaintances in the New Media world. In fact, several of these friends have authored, or co-authored very useful New Media books. Below are some examples.

Friends Evo Terra, Tee Morris and fellow Friends in Tech members, Chuck Tomasi and Kreg Steppe all collaborated on 2nd Edition of this excellent Podcasting guide book. All were there are the beginning of podcasting 5+ years ago and they have a host of knowledge between them.

Chuck and Kreg also co-authored Sams Teach Yourself WordPress in 10 Minutes. WordPress is an integral part of New Media today and many podcast producers use it to host their web sites and blogs and also release their podcast shows. Anyone who wants to get started in New Media would be well advised to check out this book.

Evo Terra and Tee Morris, along with Ryan Williams, also created a followup to their Podcasting for Dummies book entitled Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies.

Book Links:

Podcasting for Dummies: Paperback | Kindle Edition

Sams Teach Yourself WordPress in 10 Minutes: Paperback | Kindle Edition

Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies: Paperback

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• Repeat Offenders | Fast Company – May 4, 2010 – Interesting story from Fast Company
• Twitter Cooks Up The Blackbird Pie Tool To Bake Tweets Into Your Website – May 4, 2010
• How to Build Your Free Email List with WordPress – May 2, 2010

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• Small businesses need to claim their spot on Foursquare – April 26, 2010

I will be presenting the workshop below during the mLearnCon Conference in San Diego, California.

Audio Podcasting A to Z for Mobile Learning

Monday June 14, 2010 08:30 AM
Douglas E. Welch, The WelchWrite Company, Inc.

Podcasting is the epitome of m-Learning in that education and training can be “pulled” to your audience at the time and place of their choosing. While many organizations could provide educational, training, and informational content via Podcast, the subject just seems too complex and outside the “comfort zone.”

This workshop will demystify the subject, and provide participants with clear direction and guidance that will allow them to go home and get started. You will get step-by-step instructions on the design, development, and delivery of an audio Podcast, and explore recording software, microphones, and headsets as well as other equipment.

In this session, you will learn:

A thorough understanding of the structure of a Podcast
The Podcasting design process
The Podcasting production process
The Podcasting delivery process
The Podcasting distribution process

Audience: Participants at all levels who have general computer knowledge and a willingness to be recorded.

Technologies Discussed in This Session: Delivery platforms include the Web, iPhone, iPod, and CD or other portable media device.

I will also be presenting a current conference session on Tuesday, June 15 @ 230pm…

Mobile Audio Recording: Let Me Count the Ways

Tuesday June 15, 2010 02:30 PM

All too often, great content is “lost” simply because people don’t realize they can capture it. Now new mobile recording solutions make it possible to capture content “at the source” wherever and whenever it might appear. In the past, audio production, especially mobile audio production, was complicated and expensive. Today, new and inexpensive tools make high-quality audio recording available to everyone so that even the home/office user has access to technology that lets them create amazing audio presentations even while on the move. This session will open doors for those who have been considering mobile audio production, but haven’t yet taken the first step.

Session participants will explore the equipment and software available for mobile audio recording. You’ll learn about the reasonably priced or free software available for producing your recordings and how to use equipment like your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’ll learn how to capture audio with USB microphones or high-quality shotgun microphones used for film and television production, and even doing online recording via phone. You’ll learn the tools ranging from Audacity and Apple Garageband to ProTools.

In this session, you will learn:

* The wide variety of mobile audio recording options available
* The ease with which you can collect high-quality audio content
* How to use online recording and teleconference services to capture your audio
* The variety of inexpensive microphones available for specific uses
* About free audio software such as Audacity and Garageband
* Why you should be capturing audio at every event and opportunity

Audience: Novice. Very little previous knowledge of audio recording and production required.

Technologies discussed in this session: Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, Audacity free recording and mixing software, Apple Garageband, portable recorders such as the iRiver IFP-795, Zoom H2/H4, Edirol R09, iPhone/iPod Touch, cell phone, online recording systems, phone-based recording systems, teleconference systems like Talkshoe.com and BlogTalkRadio.com, a variety of microphones, and USB mixing boards.

Location is hot in the technology world lately. As new services are created and achieve some sort of traction it is always a good idea to try each one. You never know how useful any particular service might be, especially until you give it a try.

Recently, both Foursquare and Google Places (originally Google Local) have opened up a new selection of services for business owners. You can now “claim” your business, your store, your venue and control the information that is shared via Foursquare check-ins, Google Search and Google Maps. Location is destined to be the next big thing, so organizing your own piece of location “real estate” could pay big benefits in the future.

How to claim your Googles Places listing?

• Visit http://places.google.com and login with your Google Account
• Click Add Listing
• Enter in your business information
• Google will perform a search looking for an existing business in your location
• Select your business and Click “Claim Listing” or, if your business was not found, select “Add Listing”
• Complete the questionnaire regarding location, hours and more and click “Submit”
• You will then be asked to verify your listing by phone or mail. I used the automated mail system to verify my listing in about 2 minutes.
• Now your Google Places listing will include  the label “Owner-verified listing”
• If you perform this verification first, you can use your Google Places page to verify your Foursquare venue in the next step

How to become a manager of a Foursquare Venue

• Visit http://foursquare.com
• Search for your business or venue
• If found, click the link “Are you the manager of this business?”
• Step through the 2 steps, using your Google Places URL, Yelp URL and others to verify your “ownership” of the Foursquare venue.
• As of yet, my Foursquare registration has not been confirmed or denied, but they also don’t list a timeline for confirmation of that registration.

Any questions? Drop a comment using the link above and I will offer whatever information I can.

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• Google Buzz layer now available for Google Maps on your computer – April 21, 2010
• Revisit Lets You Create A Beautiful, Animated Twitter Wall – April 20, 2010

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• Study: Twitter Usage Doubles Lead Flow for Small Businesses – April 16, 2010

Community service site, Ning.com, announced today that they are removing the free option for their services and requiring all free sites to move up to their premium plan or move off the service.

“So, we are going to change our strategy to devote 100% of our resources to building the winning product to capture this big opportunity. We will phase out our free service. Existing free networks will have the opportunity to either convert to paying for premium services, or transition off of Ning.”

As it is, I will be closing the 2 Ning.com sites I run as they are for free groups without a means to support the premium payments. There are several alternatives including using existing Facebook Fan Pages.

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• Music video with a whole school as the instrument – April 6, 2010

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• The reality of digital content (lose the cookie, lose the fortune?) – March 29, 2010

Fast Company has an interesting story on Adam Corolla and his turn to podcasting after the ending of his traditional radio show. This is an interesting look inside the world of entertainment-oriented podcasting — podcasts that seek to make money as entertainment in their own right, as opposed to shows used to support a company, product or service.

How Adam Carolla Became a Podcast Superstar
BY: ELLEN MCGIRTApril 1, 2010

Adam Carolla is a master builder who created this glass office. His next project? Building his podcast network to profitability. | Photographs by Jeff Minton
Radio-and-TV personality Adam Carolla stumbled into podcasting and immediately became its No. 1 star. Now he’s launching his own broadcasting network. Inside the messy birth of a new medium.

Read the entire article

A collection of New Media items I found interesting this week.
• Learn a New Photography Trick or Two; Entire BBC Photo Masterclasses Now Available Online [Photography Tip] – March 22, 2010
• 5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page – March 19, 2010