Greg Verdino

CES, here I come...

I'm eyeballs deep in last minute prep for my trip to CES, courtesy of crayon client Panasonic.  As I wrote a couple of weeks back, we're bringing a handful of social media content creators to Vegas, where they'll participate in a variety of Panasonic activities, play with some nice new gear and document it all for their audiences.

For my part, I'll be blogging, tweeting, snapping pictures and shooting video -- and sharing it all with you.  If you're interested in keeping tabs on me, hearing my perspectives and seeing what I see in Las Vegas, here's all you need to do:

Read this blog.  I will publish at least a few posts while I am at CES.

Follow me on Twitter.   I plan to tweet from the show floor.  You can also track my CES-related tweets through Twitter Search.

Keep an eye on my Flickr CES set.

Watch my videos on YouTube.

If CES isn't your thing, bear with me.  We will return to our regularly scheduled blogging next week.  I promise. :-)

What happens at CES, happens courtesy of Panasonic

For the first time in a dozen or so years, I'll be making a pilgrimage to the International Consumer Electronics Show, happening in Las Vegas on January 8th - January 11th.  This time around, I'm going courtesy of crayon client Panasonic and I'll be blogging, vlogging, photologging and Tweeting about my experience the whole time.

Exciting for me but that's not the real story.  The real story is that I will be joined by five social media guests (plus my doppelganger Jaffe) that Panasonic has invited to document and share their own CES experiences with their communities. This program is one of several things that we've been working on for Panasonic -- look for more programs to go live in the coming weeks -- and it's a worthy experiment in how large companies can partner with citizen journalists, if I don't say so myself (which I must since I had a hand in putting the program together.)

Here's the low down:

What We're Doing
Panasonic has invited a handful of guest content creators, culled from the social media rank and file, to join them at CES 2009.  They're flying them out and giving them front row seats at press conferences, new product announcements, exhibit hall presentations and more.  They're putting some of the latest and greatest Panasonic gear -- digital cameras, standard- and high definition camcorders, and more -- in their hands.  They're setting them loose to document their CES experiences.

In marketing speak, this no doubt sounds something like influencer outreach meets product sampling meets branded infotainment.  But it's really more than that.   It's just one of several things crayon is doing with Panasonic to put real people at the center of the company's "Ideas From Life.  Ideas For Life." positioning.  In other words, Panasonic is a consumer electronics company with a decidedly human focus -- to not just make great products but to make products that help people live better.  So who better to tell that story than - you know -- actual people.  And what are so-called influencers but people who like to tell stories to their own loyal communities.

OK. OK. So Who's Going?

We've assembled a veritable content creation dream team that includes a top blogger, a well known vlogger, a professional podcaster, an author and social media CEO, and a documentary film maker.  I think we can look forward to diverse perspectives and content to suit just about any appetite.  You may recognize some familiar faces in a montage below-- but even if you don't, I've laid out their details below.

Stacy DeBroff
Stacy is CEO of MomCentral, and a nationally recognized parenting expert, author and television personality.
Web: http://www/momcentral.com
Twitter: @momcentral

Cliff Ravenscraft
Cliff is a full-time podcaster, whose GSPN network produces nearly two dozen podcasts including series devoted to Hanna Montana, LOST, Heroes and other popular television shows.
Web: http://www.gspn.tv
Twitter: @gspn

Steve Garfield
Steve is a video blogging pioneer and citizen journalist who produces several personal vlogs and contributes to media outlets such as CNN iReport and Rocketboom.
Web: http://stevegarfield.com
Twitter: @stevegarfield

Chris Brogan
Chris is a well known social media veteran whose blog ranks in Technorati’s Top 100, a co-founder of the PodCamp “unconference” movement and a frequent conference speaker.
Web: http://www.chrisbrogan.com
Twitter: @chrisbrogan

Melissa Pierce
Melissa is a creative coach and documentary filmmaker, currently working on her own independent film Life In Perpetual Beta. Web (Life In Perpetual Beta): http://lifeinperpetualbeta.com
Web (personal blog): http://www.melissapierce.com
Twitter: @melissapierce

Fellow crayonista Joseph Jaffe (@jaffejuice) and I will join Stacy, Cliff, Steve, Chris and Melissa. 

And What Do You Get?
Well, what happens in Vegas certainly won't stay there this time. We've asked our guests to create lots of content and share it with their communities -- so if you can't be at CES in January, you'll still get to witness the sights and sounds of the show through the eyes of our guests. Be sure to follow the gang on Twitter and subscribe to their feeds, because I'm sure they'll be blogging, vlogging, podcasting and Tweeting like nobody's business.

If you do plan to be at CES, we're also organizing a Thursday night Tweet Up on Panasonic's behalf (January 8) where you can hang with our guests, each other and all your newfound CES buddies.  Stay tuned to this blog and my tweets for the details, as we make them available.

For my part, I'll be sharing my thoughts on this blog of course, but also plan to set up a dedicated lifestream-like object so that you can see everything as I upload it throughout the show.  I hope to share lotsa cool stuff in January and hope I'll have the chance to meet some of you at CES.  Let me know if you plan to be there.

Stay tuned for more details as they become available. 

My ooVoo Day highlight reel

I'm in Cairo on business this week, so my updates might be spotty.  But I do want to take a few moments to share a new highlight reel from crayon's recent My ooVoo Day program.  I'm sure that some of you had the opportunity to participate, but whether or not you joined in the fun, the reel provides a nice program recap.  So check it out -- can you name all the bloggers and podcasters that make cameos?

[Feedies and emailies, click through to the blog to watch the video.]

Be the content redux

It has been more than a year since OMMA published my online video column, "Be The Content," about the need for marketers to look beyond the obvious but ultimately misguided approach of putting repurposed TV spots on the web and, instead, look for ways to create (or curate) and distribute compelling brand content that people might actually want to watch. 

It seems that this message is no less relevant today, and its always good to hear other industry types beat the same drum.

In a clip shared by AlwaysOn today, Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff talks about how any company -- regardless of size, budget or inherent sexiness -- can tap into the inherent pull of interesting or entertaining video content to attract an audience and drive real business results.

Click through to Beet.tv to hear what Josh has to say.

(Sorry to make you click but for some reason Typepad keeps eating Beet.tv embeds and presenting blank space instead of the video.)

If you're new around these parts and would like a copy of "Be The Content," you can grab the PDF here.

Hoo will yoo ooVoo on My ooVoo Day?

One of the best things about being a crayonista is that we get to work with really cool clients that have great products.  One such client is ooVoo, a provider of internet video technology that lets up to six people chat in real time.  All you need is the free software, a broadband connection and a web cam.

As a virtual company, we use ooVoo to connect with one another and our clients every day -- and we love it (I'd say that even if they weren't a client.) So we wanted to come up with a way to demonstrate just how cool, fun and useful ooVoo can be.

Enter My ooVoo Day With...

My ooVoo Day is (to my knowledge) a first-of-its-kind event that let's twenty or so bloggers, podcasters, authors and fixtures of the digital media scene connect with their fans in a series of multi-user video conversations.  Not (as the name might apply) just one day, the 20+ hosts will hold dozens of 6-person sessions over the course of a two week period beginning this Sunday, February 10th.

To be clear, these aren't meant to be conversations about ooVoo (that would be sooooo 2007) - these are meant to be great, informal conversations covering just about anything the hosts and participants are passionate about, simply made possible by ooVoo and it's latest generation of video technology.  Whether you're into business, social media, advertising or technology, are interested in parenting, politics or publishing, or just want to chat with someone cool, there's sure to be a session for you.   

The hosts are:

Internet "it" girl iJustine

Steve Hall/AdRants

Ad critic Bob Garfield/AdAge & On the Media

Author, blogger, podcaster & crayonista Joseph Jaffe/JaffeJuice

John Wall & Christopher Penn/Marketing Over Coffee

Mitch Joel/Six Pixels of Separation

Marshall Kirkpatrick/ReadWriteWeb

Irina Slutsky/GeekEntertainment.tv

Connie Reece & Susan Reynolds Every Dot Connects / Boobs on Ice

Chris Thilk/Movie Marketing Madness

BlogHer's Erin Kotecki Vest/Queen of Spain

Parenting podcaster Dave Delaney/Two Boobs and a Baby +

Jack Myers & Friends/Media Village

David Meerman Scott/The New Rules of Marketing & PR

Geoff Livingston/Now Is Gone

Business author Allan Cox/Your Inner CEO

George Parker/Madscam

Horror author and podcasting pioneer Scott Sigler

Relationship builder extrordinaire Chris Brogan

Social media maven C.C. Chapman 

Business presentations expert Laura “Pistachio” Fitton

But wait, there's more!  To thank everyone for their time, ooVoo will be donating money in the hosts' names to the charities of their choice.  ooVoo and most of the hosts have chosen to pool their money to support the Frozen Pea Fund, a fund established to support the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign, in honor of blogger and cancer patient Susan Reynolds (who is one of the My ooVoo Day participants.)

So whatchuwaitingfor?  Surf to MyooVooDay.com to get the details, download the latest ooVoo client for PC or Mac, and sign up to chat with one of our hosts.

Virtual Wii-ality

What do you get when you take one Carnegie Mellon student, a Wii remote, head-mounted infrared sensors and a television? Quite possibly a peek at the future of gaming and virtual worlds -- coming soon in three-dimensions, right in your living room.  Genius...

[Feed and email readers click through to watch the video.  Definitely worth the click and a few minutes of your time.]

Hat tip to Doug Meacham and the eightbar blog. 

Q&A with Podaddies' Nate Pagel, part 2

This is the second installment of a 3-part interview with Nate Pagel, CEO of video ad network Podaddies (pictured to the right). 

You can read part 1 here.

Greg Verdino: Let’s talk a little bit about the network itself – how much inventory do you have? Who are some of your key publisher partners?

_

Nate Pagel: Our key publisher partners are Blip.tv, Guba and Userplane (an AOL company with widgets on 200,000 blogs) but we are working with about 15 others as well.  We have worked with agencies to get content on MySpace and Facebook.  We serve millions of video ads per month.

_

GV: What’s in it for the publishers?

_

NP: Money.  Also: metrics, reporting, and analytics that gives insight into what works and what does not on their own site.  Keep in mind that we cater to video, to video aggregators or sites that host mostly video (typically and increasingly with social networking features) and publishers that are looking for both new audiences and new ways to distribute their content.  Online video advertising is very simply one of the best ways for these groups of companies to monetize their video content.  A text ad or a banner pays 10 or so times less – and for good reason.  Imagine a banner or text ad on TV.  Nuff said.

_

GV: What are the key benefits for advertisers?

_

NP: We are getting a 2% click through rate, optimize on the fly, target in ways that no one else does (to my knowledge) and understand this stuff (UGC, video, distribution) better than most.  We have a tongue in cheek tagline that says that we "go where no online ad network has gone before."  We certainly can help advertisers reach key desirable demographics that are watching less TV, listening to less radio and reading fewer newspapers.  It is fertile ground.

_

GV: Let’s look beyond pre-roll.  I’ve been pretty consistent in my position that porting the 30-second spot and its step-children (the 15-second spot, the 10-second spot, etc) to online video is lazy and ultimately ineffective. How can Podaddies play a role in helping media and advertisers move beyond interruptive ad models and toward new formats that might be better suited to web video (or at least represent something other than sticking the increasingly ineffective tv spot format on a new platform)?

_

NP: I’m with you here 100 percent.  Ultimately from the pure business perspective, as a technology and network, we have to be agnostic.  Having said, that we want to do the best thing for advertisers, agencies, publishers and viewers.  And I don’t think at all that these things are mutually exclusive.  No advertiser wants to piss off the folks to whom they are advertising.  But it happens. How many times have we all been annoyed by an ad, and not, of course, only with online video.  We all get that a 30 second pre-roll, especially a repurposed TV spot, before a one or two minute clip of user generated content is not optimal.  I still see agencies who are selling  this kind of online video ad exclusively because that is what has been around since 2000 or so – and because they are not innovating, are not keeping up with the marketplace, are not testing and are lazy.  This will change.  What’s better than that?  A well-targeted video ad, that is context-appropriate, that allows users to opt-in to deeper engagement and that includes a definitive call to action.  Say I’m looking at European car races shot on handycams, How much would I mind an offer to test-drive a BMW at a local dealership, and $50 and a free BMW keychain if I do that in the next 24 hours – all delivered in a 15 second post-roll spot.

_

Read Part 3.

Q&A with Podaddies' Nate Pagel, part 1

This post presents the first part of a three-part interview with Nate Pagel, CEO of innovative new video ad network Podaddies.  As you'll see, Podaddies is carving out a pretty unique space in video advertising that works (and measures) across both streaming and downloadable media formats. 

Look for parts two and three tomorrow morning and afternoon, respectively...

Greg Verdino: The name Podaddies would seem to imply that you are mostly focused on podcast advertising.  Is that a fair assessment?

_

Nate Pagel: Nope.  We are focused on video, because that is what we know.  We are focused on areas that others are not really approaching in a way that is compelling or robust – and that includes podcasts and other downloadable media like P2P – but it also includes UGC, Social Media, viral video and (I hesitate to say this word as we all do with the phrase ‘Web 2.0’)… widgets.  We started with podcasting, in a way, but see a broader market that our technologies and expertise lend themselves to – like the iPhone - at the same time (and this is crucial for a startup) we are focused on stuff that was simply not monetized two years ago at all.

_

GV: There are plenty of video ad networks and there hardly seems to be a shortage of inventory, especially among tier 2/tier 3 publishers – so what makes Podaddies different from the others?

_

NP: Hmm. Maybe I’m not hearing the question correctly.  There is definitely a shortage of ad inventory.  In fact, that alone is one of the key things to understand what is happening with online video, UGC and really (a majority of traffic and GB) on the internet today.  I define inventory as ads.  There are not enough ads to monetize all of the video being watched on the internet today.  We may be the only video advertising technology company that (a) works online and off, (b) works with both Flash and QuickTime, (c) can distribute and track viral video and files on P2P network, (d) has its own network and ad sales team, and (e) works with third party ad networks.

_

GV: What do you think are the key challenges that keep more advertisers from investing more money in podcasting as a media channel?

_

NP: There is really one.  Agencies.  Ok, there are two.  Podcasting is not that big (compared to web-based online video consumption).  Yet.  What do I mean?  It’s easier for a bigger agency to spend money in more traditional, broader-based channels like TV.  So they do that.  Innovation is being driven more by advertisers than agencies on the whole.  Having said that, we’re working with some larger agencies that certainly are beginning to get it.  And certainly publishers and broadcasters all have podcasts and are looking into ways of measuring and creating more value around this newish mode of distribution.

_

GV: What is Podaddies doing to make that happen?

_

NP: Lots of things.  We have technology and are an ad network.  The technology does the tracking and ad serving for both online and downloadable media.  But a parallel and important part of answering this question is understanding that we have some experienced, creative folks on our team that have done things like this before – created compelling advertising and marketing products and campaigns for major brands, created technology for rich media delivery for multiple networks.  Our founding team of three has over 30 years experience combined in these areas.

_

GV: Tracking ad supported media after download seems like an obvious innovation, but most of the “biggies” seem to be ignoring this space --  or incapable of addressing it.  Why has this been so challenging and how did Podaddies crack the code?

_

NP: They have been ignoring it because: it has not been their focus, it is a different way of thinking, it would require a retooling of all of their technology, it’s a different sales process and it’s not yet a billion dollar market.  A half billion dollar market is big enough for any startup.  It’s also a new way of thinking, it took a long time to crack the online media ad code – and it’s still being cracked – and we are one of the few companies doing that right now both online and off.

_

Read Part 2.

Verizon markets like a house on FiOS

Well, it would seem that Verizon has been reading the Verdino Canon and taking notes. OK, allow me to delude myself -- but when former crayonistas C.C. Chapman (the cuddly bear of social media) and Steve Coulson (the Huggy Bear of Second Life) alerted me to a VZ marketing program they're involved with, I thought, "hey, wait a minute..."

I'll explain in a moment, but first, let me tell you what Verizon is doing with My Home 2.0, a program that hawks their FiOS IPTV and broadband services.  If you are a luddite living in Pennsylvania -- or even if you just know one -- listen up: Verizon is offering technologically challenged PA families an opportunity to get a complete home technology makeover, which in turn serves as the source material for episodes of a home makeover-style reality show that will air on tv and the web.  Anyone can submit an audition video -- or show up at a Verizon sponsored event to plead their case.  Think you're worthy of a technology makeover?  Go here...

But for the rest of us, let's see how Verizon is kicking it Ver(izon)dino style.

At its core, My Home 2.0 is a branded entertainment play -- a small handful of families will get their home network pimped but thousands and thousands can watch the process and see the results in a reality TV show that will run on spot television, FiOS VOD and online.  This last bit means that the program is (at least to a degree) platform neutral and ripe for web-based distribution (clips are already seeded into YouTube and embedded into the show's Facebook group.)  See "Be The Content."

And My Home 2.0 is also about community, but despite its social media trappings, Verizon is putting an old school spin on community and taking it back to the streets.  The internet didn't invent people connecting with people and what better way to activate a community than by giving people that actually live near one another a way to come together.  Case in point, every technology makeover is capped by a killer block party to celebrate the completion of the project and show off the new gear.  How interesting... in my Age of Conversation chapter I wrote about how real world connections with living-breathing people trump digital 'connections' any day.

Plus, by literally turning each made-over home into a Verizon two-screen showplace they are (1) turning every selected household into a bunch of brand advocates and (2) creating a tryvertising experience for their friends, family and neighbors. 

And then finally, they've wrapped it with what seems to be the de facto social media outreach program -- just like crayon has done for Firebrand, Coke and other clients -- to get geeks like me talking about it.  There's outreach, a social media press release, their Facebook group, the YouTube channel, a del.icio.us linkroll and Flickr photostreams.  So they're tapping into the power of influencers to help spread the word.  And according to C.C., they're even giving bloggers and podcasters ways to play with new Verizon gear and create content right at those block parties (mind you, I haven't gotten my offer for an all-expenses-paid trip to Pittsburgh yet, but I'm sure it's on it's way.)

Now, I'd be really impressed if the folks at Verizon could figure out how to deliver broadband and IPTV to my house but maybe that's asking too much.  Well, at least they've got some new marketing mojo going on.

Facebook mobile OS released (dispatch from 2009)

Guest Blogger: Matt Dickman

Matt offers up a press release from the near future...

San Francisco, CA - Earlier today Facebook released their much anticipated new mobile operating system (OS). The OS will run on any phone from the major US carriers including handsets currently running Palm and Windows.

The difference with this OS is that the entire phone works as part of the Facebook network. The connectivity options of the device (WiFi, GPS, 3G) all connect it to the platform and to other Facebook-enabled devices. Here is a rundown of how this works.

• Centralized contacts - One of the biggest challenges for years has been keeping contacts updated and centralized. Facebook mobile allows users to pull in multiple contact sources from different social networks and applications. Users can upload files from Outlook or sync with LinkedIn. Each application that follows leverages this repository for contact data.
• WiFi/3G - The device is “always on” and automatically toggles between WiFi and 3G networks to offer the quickest, most stable connection. The connectivity allows for messaging, web browsing, GPS tracking and supports connectivity to Facebook’s main platform.
• GPS - The phone’s GPS receiver connects to Facebook and allows users to find friends when they are nearby. Users can set up proximity alerts and be notified when a friend is close by. Location is automatically fed into search and mapping systems as a shorcut to make things local. The GPS unit also allows for voice-guided turn-by-turn directions when in the car. On the marketing side, GPS allows for targeted advertising to be directed to users on an opt-in only basis.
• Camera - the camera in the device is automatically synchronized with Facebook’s photo sharing account, which allows publishing to other photo systems like Flickr. As soon as an image is taken, tagged and approved it is uploaded to the site along with geo location data from the GPS unit.
• Video - Video, like photos, is synchronized to Facebook and then published to other video sharing sites as defined by the user. Once video is captured it is tagged and edited then uploaded to the site along with geo location data.
• Photo/Video alerts - photos and videos from friends are automatically downloaded to the user’s device once published. Downloads happen in the background when the device is inactive. Users can reply to videos with videos of their own.
• Video conferencing - All users with video cameras can initiate video conferencing with one or more parties. Audio-only users can be dialed in to participate in the absence of video.
• Instant messenger - Facebook mobile supports all popular IM clients including Jabber, MSN, ICQ, AOL and Facebook’s own client. Users cross network seamlessly and can share files and initiate voice and video conferencing from the IM client itself.
• Email - The Facebook mobile email client integrated with all popular POP services (AOL, Yahoo, MSN, GMail, etc.) as well as with IM. Users who are active on the IM client are highlighted in email to enable real-time chats. Voice and video messaging can be initialized from email with one click.
• Presence applications - On top of Facebook’s own status updates, this mobile OS supports Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku and other presence apps are coming on line soon. These tie together into one interface with video, photos and copy.
• SMS - SMS is supported, but most users have moved to IM for real-time chatting. SMS is used for alerting and other one-time contact options.
• Browsing - The web browser in Facebook mobile is powered by Firefox’s mini browser. After years on the sideline, Firefox has come up with a small, quick browser that syncs with its desktop partner to transfer bookmarks, RSS feeds, passwords and browsing history.

This revolutionary platform embodies the true mobile, social web. Developers can easily leverage the assets (GPS, 3G, IM, etc.) to build powerful applications that move with the user and connect them to their contacts when on the go.

---

So this is what I hope will happen with the mobile social web. It has potential. I already see some companies moving their devices in this direction, but only a truly integrated system will provide the best benefit to the users. Mobile in the US is clunky and slow compared to the rest of the world, but that’s changing. Once technology companies understand that the value of mobile is the content that’s created by the people that use the devices we’ll see more changes like the iPhone.