Aloha Summit Links: Overview of Online Video

I gave a Video Presentation from Honolulu delivered to Boulder today, for the ALoha Summit conference put on by Andy Beal and Dave Taylor. To speed things along, I am going to post the links mentioned and the recorded Skype video. If you want more info or have questions, please leave them in the comments and I am happy to address them!

Here is the 32 minute Video Chat Interview and iTunes Download Version (32:35 | 334 MB):

How I Made This Video

1. I recorded it in Skype using Call Recorder.
2. I edited it in iMovie HD to add music and credits.
3. I exported to iTunes at 640x480, default settings.
4. I edited the ID3 tags in iTunes and added a graphic to travel with the iPod version.
5. I uploaded the iPod version to Viddler's video hosting service.
6. Viddler did the Flash encoding for me.
7. The 32 minute, 640x480 file was 334 MB; the whole process took a couple of hours. Now you know why Beach Walks sticks to 5 mins a day!

Shows I Talked About:
Beach Walks with Rox
Show and Tell of The Gear We Use
Key to professional video quality actually is having good sound. Be sure the camera you buy has "mic input" jack and then use either a lavalier or handheld mic, wired or wireless, depending on your location requirements. We use and love the Sennheiser wireless mic, and it has been a real workhorse in our high-stress windy and salty ocean environment. All we've had to replace are the mic cable after over 2 years of use; they run about $20 each.
Ask a Ninja
JNJ Health Channel
Book Trailers by Sheila English
Robyn Levin at Wharton and Robyn's home page

Web Cam Recording
Conference Recorder - for iChat Video
Call Recorder - for Skype Video
These give you added flexibility to choose the layout of your videos and instantly produce h.264 quality movies at various sizes.
Seesmic - look for user beachwalks to connect there.
Skype Video Chat Tutorial - The business process.

Video Hosting Services
Blip.tv - designed for independently produced, episodic shows; nice player with embed features.
Viddler.com - great for building communities and groups, embedded comments travel with the episodes; developing B2B features and services You can also do web cam recording right in to the browser at Viddler too.
Ooyala - nice interface; elegant features for dynamic ad service; our viewers had some problems with their player not working. They charge for bandwidth also; most of the other services are free.
Vimeo- High Def videos; groups and memes

Mobile Video:
Qik - for Nokia N95 and iPhone
Flixwagon - Nokia N60 series and iPhone

Many of these services will cross post to other social apps, such as Twitter or each other even. My Qik is configured to post a Twitter message and post my videos to Seesmic. Here is the live-stream video from our TV shoot yesterday at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Distribution:
Tube Mogul

Want to know more? Please join our mailing list at KnowHow Cafe, where we are building a learning and sharing community for people who want to know how to create online video, blogs and podcasts, and use the social web. Or join us at Podcamp + Wordcamp Hawaii, coming soon on October 24 & 25.

Online Video: Can it save advertising?

We are currently in negotiations with a very large global company, inside of which are a very few brave souls trying to bring new media and new thinking into a well-established, well-rated company that moves at a molasses pace like most corporate behemoths. The product in play is online video. My ears and eyes are tuned in to conversations happening about how video "works." So today's post has three points made by others, including two from MediaPost. I hope this client reads our blog!

1: Online video is cheaper and longer lasting than traditional advertising methods
From Bradley Inman, Maximizing Online Video In An Economic Downturn

As the word “recession” proliferates across the media, companies inevitably look to cut spending to stay competitive. However, in their hurry to get financially lean and mean, brands must not forget the importance of having a strong and dynamic online presence beyond a few pay-per-click text ads. One of the best (and cheapest) ways to meaningfully engage with potential and current customers is through online video. With the ubiquitous nature of Internet video, the ad industry has been slowly moving to the Web to meet the demand of a rising audience. According to recent research from comScore, 75% of Internet users watched online video in November 2007.

Knowing where and how to place the video, and capturing that sweet spot of attention? Still priceless.

2 Online video requires authenticity, production quality, and social media savvy to be succesful for business
From Gregory Wilson, In The Digital Age, Failure Will No Longer Be Lucrative

In the non-digital age, we knew that half of all the advertising that ran didn’t work...However, marketing on the Internet calls for a new approach to video - the development of very customized, engaging content that is authentic and relevant to the topics that the user has been searching for. No scripts or actors or clunky amateur videos, but real people telling stories about subjects they are passionate about.

Easier said than done department: finding the right mix of professionalism, authenticity, tech-savvy-ness, and concept execution is the biggest challenge for large companies right now, after they fight all the internal battles against "we've never done that" thinking. Once done though, your videos can play forever and ever for no additional fee, and at least for now, you get double ROI if you count the PR buzz you get from hitting a new media home run.

3 The tech gets better and better; you can now measure online advertising unlike anything ever before in traditional media
(Please refer back to point #1)
One of our favorite new companies now is Ooyala, who is offering what they term "user-initiated advertising." Started by some ex-Googlers, it is a video hosting service that tracks percent of views along with built-in chapter markers and clickable embeds. These features give the content owner best available data tracking and the user maximum control over the viewing experience.

This are just three quick points being made. I'd love to hear what other points you would contribute to the discussion. It takes a village to help companies brave new territory, so your assistance is welcome in more ways than you can imagine.