BlogKing September 13th, 2007

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This past weekend was PodCamp Philly at Drexel University. Even though I only attended Saturday I made some amazing contacts and learned a few tidbits of useful information.

I had the opportunity to hear CC Chapman expound on audio recording devices and pod-casting techniques. He is one of the first pod-casters I followed with his excellent Managing the Grey. I used to live in Boston for a few years and his show came out of Babson Bentley College in Waltham. The very first podcast I became a fan of was The Hobson and Holtz Report. Another podcast about public relations. I guess PR people excel at talking in an engaging way.

Later at the after party at Victory Brewpub I had a chat with another early pioneer, one of the first video bloggers, Steve Garfield. His original show is The Carol and Steve Show which is a travelogue roundabout Boston with his wife. Very gracious and down to earth. That was a thrill. I tiped him off to using HitTail for tracking long tail terms searchers used to find his sites. Maybe he will discover interesting insights.

Check this video by Steve with Kathryn Jones about 35, her “compelling, character rich, plot driven, scripted webisode to be broadcast LIVE (starting Sept 19) over the internet” at Synchronis.tv. Kathryn is full of energy and is excited about this production that will be filmed with three Panasonic DVX100’s and switched live with a Tricaster Studio.

The session Thinking Like a Producer by Joel Mark Witt from the Maryland Zoo was informative and humorous. Especially filming the camel rides. [Does the Philly Zoo have that?] Take aways: tell a story, create a cinematic moment(change in style), know your audience. You will need release forms for on camera people. He pointed out that 95% of video pod-casting is in getting quality audio. People can put up with varying video quality but if they can’t make out what you are saying you are done for.

Chris Penn spoke at the session Social Networking 101. Social networking sites are software tools where people are the network. FaceBook is still mostly college students with strong collaboration groups. 300,000 new people a day! Be sure to read the terms of service agreement. Most state that they have rights to whatever you upload, so don’t put original artwork that you want to sell elsewhere.

The goal therefore is to get people to visit your own domain where you are in control. Get an email address, sell an ebook or seminar etc. So SN sites should be written with slant to entice the click. For branding reasons, keep your name tag the same at all your SN sites. People may just look you up on the same term at different sites.

People on mySpace are taking their network private so can’t access unless know one of the members. Twitter is good for interaction, get known.

Spoke with Larry Genkin, publisher of the excellent new magazine Blogger and Podcaster. You know an industry is coalescing when specialized trade magazine appear. Every attendee got a free copy of the glossy print version. Read it online.

Attended a session by Apple system engineer Michael Wolf on the new version of Garage Band. When I get my next PC, those gorgeous 24″ iMac’s, the first thing I want to delve into is Garage Band.

Oliver Picher, a PR expert I met recently before PodCamp, won an iPhone at the closing session raffle. Check out his report.

Whew! And I missed the live Best Damn Tech Show,Period production on Sunday.

Other wrap ups: Indy Hall , Flicker group, Search marketing Gurus

Day 2: bliptv

• A-List Bloggers , HitTail , Podcasts
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BlogKing September 7th, 2007

1. To Network and Forge Valuable Connections

At any point during PodCamp Philly you’ll share the room with at least one person (if not a dozen) who can offer you huge value or solve a significant problem for you as a podcaster. It may be a sponsor. It may be a promotional opportunity. It may be someone you can interview. Bring lots of business cards and be ready to network.

2. To Associate with the Podcasting “Movers and Shakers”Those who will attend PodCamp Philly are “in the trenches.” You’ll associate with people have “been there and done it.” These are ideal people to learn from and make connections with as you progress in podcasting.

3. You Can Present to Your Podcast Peers

Any attendee can organize a session to present ideas and/or facilitate a discussion. All you have to do is enter a title and description on the session list.

4. To Promote Your Podcast

PodCamp Philly is a great place to pass out cards and let you know people about your show. It’s a focused audience of podcast enthusiasts. You can also find other podcasters who will cross-promote your show to their own audiences.

5. To Share Your Ideas

PodCamp Philly is a very interactive event. Each session is an exchange of ideas. You have your own tips, tricks that can benefit others. Come and share your expertise and ideas with your podcasting peers.

6. It’s Free

There is no cost to attend PodCamp Philly. Compare that with other industry events and expos which cost hundreds of dollars. You can’t beat free. The event is paid for by our generous sponsors. Please visit our sponsor page if you’d like to contribute. To register, just visit the registration page and add your name and email to the list.

7. To Learn the Latest Tips and Tricks

PodCamp Philly is an ideal place to learn how to start your own podcast or to discover the latest tips and tricks for taking your show to the next level. The presentations offered will cover the whole spectrum from content production, technical how-to, business podcasting, marketing and monetization.

8. Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love

PodCamp Philly is all about sharing ideas and resources and building community. That the podcaster brand of broterly love.

9. You’ll Get Food and a T-shirt

As if the value you’ll get from the presentations isn’t already worth attending, there will also be free food and t-shirts for attendees.

10. To Enjoy the Energy of Philadelphia Podcasters

You can count on a unique mix of individuals and opportunities at PodCamp Philly.

• Podcasts , Public Relations
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BlogKing January 2nd, 2007

B to B The Magazine for Marketing Strategists

New online survey of more than 4,000 b-to-b buyers that indicate podcasts are beginning to have an impact on this hard-to-reach audience.

While podcasting among b-to-b marketers is still in its infancy, it is becoming more popular. Advertisers such as General Motors Corp., IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Whirl- pool Corp. have tested podcasts, as well as audio advertisements for podcasts produced by business publishers such as CMP Technology, ESPN.com, Forbes.com and IDG.

According to the KnowlegeStorm/Universal McCann survey, which was conducted in June, 32% of the respondents said their usage of podcasts has “increased” or “significantly increased” in the last six months. Overall, 41% of respondents said they had listened to podcasts on more than one occasion, while 13% said they “frequently” downloaded them. Yet there are still many b-to-b users unfamiliar with podcasts: 34% said they have “never used” one.

Because marketing materials such as white papers and research reports all have an important role to play in the b-to-b buying process, the survey asked how respondents would react to these items being made available as podcasts. The survey found a podcast presentation of such traditional marketing materials would be appealing to some users, Lohman said.

“Someone may have the opportunity to read a few things at their desk but also take a podcast and listen to it away from the desk,” he said. “It’s another alternative.”

Going deeper into the survey results, 69% of b-to-b respondents said they listened to podcasts at their computer rather than away from their desk using a portable device such as an iPod. That seems to go against the podcast grain and may reflect a real behavioral difference among b-to-b podcast users. Podcast length also didn’t seem to make a difference to b-to-b users. Only 14% preferred short (less than five minute) podcasts. The largest percentage (32%) said a podcast could have no limit if it was interesting.

Even more revealing, 58% of respondents said if information on business or technology topics they currently receive as a white paper or analyst report were delivered as a podcast, they would expect it to be “more interesting,” while 55% said they would be more likely to consume such information as a podcast rather than in white paper format.

Not surprisingly, podcasts today seem to have limited impact on b-to-b buying decisions: Only 26% of respondents said podcasts had an influence on work-related IT buying decisions.

B-to-b podcast potential

But the potential for b-to-b marketing influence is there, said Stacy Malone, VP-interactive media director at Universal McCann.

“It appears that podcast adoption is occurring [in the b-to-b area], but a lot of people haven’t used it yet or aren’t entirely comfortable with it,” Malone said. “Now’s a good time for marketers to get a feel for it by getting out and doing some testing.”

• Blog Trends , Podcasts
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Michael Klusek February 7th, 2006

iWon News.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Psychology students and fans of Apple’s popular iPod can now listen and learn at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Calvin Garbin is one of the first instructors at the university to harness iPod’s versatility and use it as an educational tool.

"For 30 years, I’ve said if I could just touch my forehead to theirs and pass on the information …" Garbin said. "This technology, to me, is an approximation of that."

Garbin uses a wireless microphone hooked to his shirt to record the 50-minute lecture, then downloads the recording onto his computer. He cuts the lecture into short audio chunks and puts it on his Web site for downloading.

Students confused about certain parts of the lecture can click on a link and listen again. And podcasting makes studying for tests easier for those students who are auditory learners, Garbin said.

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Michael Klusek December 31st, 2005

‘Podcast’ Has Been Chosen as the Most Popular Word of 2005.

What happened next was that in 2005 every major news program, talk show, or superstar musician got into podcasting, or sending their audio content through their own home grown RSS feeds right into people Mac’s, PC’s and mp3 players. Then iTunes and Yahoo got into the podcast business over the summer of 2005 and podcasting went main stream. It literally exploded. User’s mp3 players were suddenly filled with Rush Limbaugh, ESPN, Tech TV, talk shows, new music shows, even audio porn/sex shows, and many other mainstream media programs and corporations were sending out audio mp3’s to their loyal fans for free. People were filling up their iPod gigabytes faster than one could say “podcasting revolution.”

It has been a wild year for the word “podcast” and when you type it currently, at the time of this writing, into Google.com, “podcast” now has over 81,300,000 sites linked to that word. Because of the popularity of Podcasting in 2005, Erin McKean, editor in chief of the New Oxford American Dictionary, said: "The word has finally caught up with the rest of the Apple iPod phenomenon."

According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, “Podcast” is now the word of the year 2005. Right on the heels of "Podcast" making the word of the year, Yahoo quietly launched a new search function to try to corner the AUDIO search market.

As people were doing their last minute shopping and frantically getting ready for the holidays, Yahoo added a new search tab on their popular search menu called, “Audio.”

A Yahoo spokesperson said, “I wanted to spread the word that we’re turning up the volume a bit on audio search by adding a new "Audio" tab to the Yahoo! Front Page. Since launching Audio Search in August, user response has been great; proving yet again that the Web wants its audio. So, it is time that a larger audience gets to enjoy the sound…”

Whatever Yahoo isn’t indexing with its Audio Search can be submitted by the creators of audio files, so podcasters may want to quickly get their shows listed in there, and gain top spots, while the gettin’s good.

• Podcasts
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Michael Klusek November 22nd, 2005

The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Harvard Offers Course Via iPod.

In addition to tuning into National Public Radio (NPR) broadcasts and episodes of FOX’s television show “The OC,” iPod users all over the world can now listen and watch a Harvard Extension School class. This year, lectures of Computer Science E-1: “Understanding Computers and the Internet” are available in audio and video Podcasts on iTunes, free of charge—the first time a Harvard course has been offered through this medium.

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Michael Klusek November 8th, 2005

NPR to Produce Podcast-Only Shows || iPodObserver.

National Public Radio (NPR) will be rolling out three original shows distributed only as podcasts, Frank Barnako reported for MarketWatch on Tuesday. He noted that the shows will have an "alt.NPR" label and will cover gambling, classic rock music and the creativity of young radio producers. NPR currently offers 189 podcasts that have been downloaded four million times in the past two months, according to Mr. Barnako.

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Michael Klusek November 3rd, 2005

Big Blue dives into podcast waters | CNET News.com.

IBM is jumping into the podcast stream by creating Internet radio shows on technology trends and encouraging its employees to create their own podcasts. The move comes less than six months after the company launched an initiative to encourage its more than 300,000 employees to write blogs. Podcasting "is a cheap form of communication; it’s economical compared with other ways of communicating," said Ben Edwards, who works in strategic communications at IBM. "You can download it, it’s on demand, and you can take it with you wherever you go."

The growth of broadband connections has paved the way for a proliferation of broadcast-type media applications over the Internet, particularly podcasts, which are audio, and sometimes video programs that allow users to subscribe to feeds and access them when they want. Unlike text-based Web pages, podcasts have been difficult to search for. But that is changing. Blinkx launched podcast search in June; Yahoo launched a similar service last month; and America Online plans to launch podcast search this fall.

IBM’s investor relations department has produced five podcasts as part of an ongoing series featuring executives and visionaries discussing how computing is changing the future. The topics so far have been about banking, shopping, the networked home, automobile technologies like voice recognition, and the Genographic Project, a five-year study IBM and National Geographic launched to collect a massive sample of human DNA to map how humans populated the planet.

The most recent podcast, "IBM and the Future of Banking," was ranked No. 55 out of more than 20,000 podcasts posted to Apple Computer’s iTunes system, IBM said.

Future podcast topics include computer gaming and privacy issues, Edwards said.

IBM also is providing its employees with software and information that will allow them to easily create their own podcasts. "People are using it for work force training and as marketing material for sales forces," as well as to communicate with customers, shareholders, suppliers and partners, Edwards said.

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Michael Klusek September 14th, 2005

Strategic Public Relations: 20 Creative Uses for Podcasts.

While I’ve been listening to podcasts and following the technology’s uber fast-paced evolution, I’m now considering ways to integrate it into a communications plan. Based on target audience and strategy, it can be a very effective communications channel. There are plenty of ways podcasts might be implemented.

1. Airlines: Travel and destination guides
2. Apparel/Retail: Behind the scenes at fashion shows, interviews with models and designers, guide to the season
3. Automotive: Test drives of new models with team drivers, interviews with designers, race reports from behind the scenes-NASCAR, F1, rally
4. Beverage Stores: Festive reviews of selected wines, spirits and beers
5. Books/Music Retail: Guides to summer or Christmas releases, interviews with bands and authors, sample readings from authors to promote an in-store appearance
6. Financial Services: Retirement guides, investing tips, planning for college education
7. Golf Equipment: Guides to courses, interviews with sponsored athletes
8. Grocery Stores: Interviews and recipes from well-known chefs
9. Health Insurers: Wellness tips, meditation guides, nutrition guides
10. Home Improvement Stores: Step-by-step guides to home improvement
11. Hotels: Destination guides, jogging routes, music to jog to, walking tours of cities
12. Micro-Brews: Interviews with the brew master
13. Movie Studios: Interviews with actors or directors, movie making production diaries 14. Sportswear: Interviews with sponsored athletes, event diaries (Olympics, World Cup), and interviews with designers, fitness and training tips
15. Travel and Tourism: Guides to destinations, travel tips
16. Vineyards: Interviews with wine-makers
17. Whisky Makers: Interviews with the makers, tours of the distilleries
18. Video Games- Interviews with game designers, production diaries
19. Higher Education: In a recent show, Shel mentions how Duke University uses podcasts to communicate with incoming students and provide them with lectures. Duke University is one of many schools podcasting.
20. Investor Relations: Consider how many earnings webcasts are out there. Consider how much more cost-effective a podcast can be. A podcast also gives the listener several options on how/when/where they listen to it. Shel also mentioned this in his recent presentation about two seconds after I also considered the idea.

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Michael Klusek September 11th, 2005

United Press International - Author interview: Podcasting biz.

"More businesses should get involved with podcasting for a number of reasons," Ciccarelli told UPI. "Podcasting is direct, is time-shifting, and is highly targeted, not to mention a cost-effective means to market a product or service to people who are listening on their own accord. Podcasting can also bring attention to electronic materials available at a given site, such as summaries of white papers that can be downloaded, tutorials, support aids, and announcing upcoming events."

Already many companies and organizations have begun podcasting ranging from IBM to the White House, CNN and FOX News. Businesses are podcasting to reach their audiences on a more intimate and personally convenient way, Ciccarelli said. As subscribers are more loyal to the podcast of a particular business — becoming a captive audience — the company then has the ability to "influence and convert them from a cold lead to a customer."

According to Ciccarelli, the most lucrative way to make money from podcasting is to open up airtime to advertisers and sponsors. "A loyal audience combined with good content is a prime opportunity for advertisers to seize," she said. "Podcasting is ripe with potential, and advertisers know it." Currently, the trend for non-profit podcasts is to accept micro-payments to cover expenses, a trend adopted now by commercial podcasters, Ciccarelli said.

"In time, charging a modest fee for a podcast subscription will become standard, just as a customer pays for a magazine subscription or cable television," she said. "’The Podcasting Ebook’ has an entire chapter devoted to making money from podcasting, exploring advertising opportunities and other financial avenues to pursue."

But business podcasting continues to be on a steady climb, says Ciccarelli. As she sees it, business podcasting will include series, symposiums, conferences, training sessions and workshops, which will be available for both commercial and internal use.

In addition, companies will also produce commercial podcasts directed at their customers from question-and-answer podcast or "a sales pitch meant to close the deal with an individual or group of customers."

In fact, the podcast listening base is getting bigger. An estimated 12.3 million U.S. households will use their MP3 players to listen to audio podcasts by the end of the decade (vs. listening on the Internet), according to the April 2005 report "The Future Of Digital Audio" from Forrester Research Inc.

"Podcasting is gaining momentum rapidly," Ciccarelli said, in due part to the heavy promotion and easy access for iTunes users. "Within the first two days that iTunes offered podcast subscriptions, over 1 million people subscribed through their service to podcasts online. The number of podcasts and listeners continues to grow at an incredible rate as more individuals embrace this new information and entertainment medium."

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