Webcasting Tips and Tricks From the Enterprise

Last month I had the pleasure of participating on a panel session: Webcasting Tips and Tricks From the Enterprise, at Streaming Media West. The panel was comprised of several enterprise video industry veterans from Wells Fargo, Cadence, Oracle, Lockhead Martin and myself, from Kaiser Permanente. While I'd usually say that I'm pleased to share the video from the session, I have to say that I may enter it in The Sucky Video Awards. I say this because from my personal experience, the videographer forgot one of the cardinal rules in video – have good lighting. In this video, it looks like only one light was used to cover the four presenters and moderator and you can barely see me in the dark corner of the stage. I would have used at least two lights in this situation, and also move the podium to one side so that all the presenters were in a row and well lit. Beyond that – I present this video not only for the great content each presenter shared, which is very valuable webcasting tips and tricks from the enterprise, but also as an all important tip – invest in good lighting or your video will suck.



Streaming Media West 2011, Session C201: Webcasting Tips and Tricks From the Enterprise

This session focuses on best practices from enterprise corporations which have adopted and implemented live video across their organization. See firsthand how these companies are using video for internal and external communications and learn how you can better leverage assets already available inside your company. Hear firsthand from those who have been successful with their deployments and learn what advice they have for others deploying live video in the enterprise today.

Moderator: Patty Perkins, Team Leader, Wells Fargo Creative Services Technology, Wells Fargo
Speaker: Michael Chop, Senior IT Architect, Cadence
Speaker: Tony Sehgal, Sr. Manager, Digital Media Operations and Infrastructure, Oracle
Speaker: Eric Hards, Manager, Web, Media Graphics and Streaming, Lockheed Martin
Speaker: Larry Kless, Production Manager, Videoconferencing and Virtual Events, Kaiser Permanente

We started our discussion talking about the partnerships that we've developed within our organizations and how we use all the assets available us to make webcasting work.

Eric Hands shared how at Lockhead Martin, they just completed a architecture design working with each of our individual business units. Each unit currently has its own streaming system. Some from one vendor some from another. It has always been his goal to provide a unified architecture and they are getting close with these new accepted requirements. But it has a long way to go.

Mike Chop's elevator pitch is "To have a strategy around any audio/video that touches our
network". At Cadence, they are pretty strong on the webcasting, telepresence, unified communications, Microsoft Lync and trying to add mobile to the mix. They started building a pretty strong creative production group. Here is a link to their latest podcast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GOPPf_9Vr8

Tony Sehgal discussed how at Oracle, they deliver live streams to both external and internal audiences using two different networks and media platforms. His responsibilities focus on live events, but he works with their broader team on hosting on demand media for Oracle's external audience. They do all their streaming in Flash, both internally and externally, and were one of the first organizations to stream with Flash multicast over their LAN. He's able to get metrics data for live events from Akamai and from MediaPlatform's Webcaster product. They also have a metrics team that implements SiteCatalyst to capture the official metrics data for our team. The SiteCatalyst plugin has been implemented on all of our live event platforms.

My work at Kaiser Permanente is focused on virtual events delivery, through videoconferencing, WebEx and webcasts and the full content life cycle. I partner closely with a colleague in our IT organization who heads up our WebEx rollout and over the last few years we've developed a Virtual Events Delivery Team. Prior to WebEx, we used our videoconferencing network as our internal broadcast network but since we've standardized on WebEx as our web conferencing platform we've been able to get to people's desktops, where they've been asking us to reach them for years. We work with internal business units on enterprise all hands meetings, town halls, educational sessions and since we're a health care organization we've even done live broadcasts from the OR (operating room). We currently don't have an internal video streaming we outsource large webcast events. On demand video is mainly delivered from web servers a progressive downloads and or from internal social media platform that is powered by Jive Software.

An interesting topic we discussed was a question Mike Chop asked about: What are “good metrics” for “stickiness”, his term for improving attention span. At Kaiser Permanente, we use Webex as one of our enterprise webcast platform, and a great tool within Webex, is the attentiveness meter that can tell if people are multi-tasking or paying attention. We've found that we can achieve 75% attentiveness with live video and real-time chat which helps keep the virtual attendees highly engaged. On demand video is not at all as engaging as live video, and having a community manager to respond to chat questions and add color helps keep people tuned in.

See my last post for more webcasting tips and tricks: Larry Kless' Weblog: I'm going to Streaming Media West to discuss Webcasting Tips and Tricks From the Enterprise

I'm going to Streaming Media West to discuss Webcasting Tips and Tricks From the Enterprise

I'll be taking a short break from my intense work schedule next week to speak at Streaming Media West, on a panel session, Webcasting Tips and Tricks From the Enterprise. According to the conference program, "this session focuses on best practices from enterprise corporations which have adopted and implemented live video across their organization. See firsthand how these companies are using video for internal and external communications and learn how you can better leverage assets already available inside your company. Hear firsthand from those who have been successful with their deployments and learn what advice they have for others deploying live video in the enterprise today."

Streaming Media West returns to Los Angeles and the conference organizers promise it to be even best show yet. Last year more than 2,500 content owners, viral video creators, online marketers, enterprise corporations, broadcast professionals, ad agencies, educators, and others all come to Streaming Media West to see and hear more than 100 speakers and 30 sessions focused on latest online video technology and the business models that are coming of age. In conjunction with the show is the first ever HTML5 Video Summit, which is an expanded two-day summit with how-to sessions, demos, case studies, round table discussions and more.

Here's a short promotional video about the conference which kicks off this Monday with pre-conference workshops and the show is November 8-9, 2011.




My session is scheduled on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 10:30 am and confirmed participants include:

Moderator: Patty Perkins, Team Leader, Wells Fargo Creative Services Technology, Wells Fargo
Speaker: Michael Chop, Senior IT Architect, Cadence
Speaker: Tony Sehgal, Sr. Manager, Digital Media Operations and Infrastructure, Oracle
Speaker: Eric Hards, Manager, Web, Media Graphics and Streaming, Lockheed Martin
Speaker: Larry Kless, Production Manager, Videoconferencing and Virtual Events, Kaiser Permanente

I'll be wearing my day job hat as a webcast producer like I did when I first spoke at Streaming Media West five years ago on a panel session on, Distribution & Delivery of Digital Media. The following year I also spoke on another panel session, Best Practices For Webcasting Production which I blogged about here.

Here are some "best practices" that I shared in that post, that address the technical and logistical challenges for webcasting, and how you put the right team and the right technology in place.

If you are producing a webcast, consider the following:

• Know your role. You may be producer, director and technical director and even camera all rolled up into one. Or you may have the luxury of hiring a full crew.
• Get clients on board with deadlines, financial commitments and better understanding of web cast requirements.
• Audio is the number one killer. It’s an ongoing issue when using wireless microphones, telephone call ins, multi-point conferencing and live PA (Public Address) system.
• Working with a team you know and trust and who knows your business is best. Relationships are vital to your process. Delegation and deference to expertise key to getting the job done. You need to rely on your team to do their job and sometimes take over your chores too when you get called away to manage client issues and handle last minute changes.
• Redundant personnel and technology is a must and equipment failure should be expected. Back up to you back ups really saves the day in a pinch.
• Make every room a broadcast studio.
• Site surveys at least a good 8 weeks ahead to inspect data and A/V ports, power requirements for lighting, ceiling height for rigging, windows and doors for light and noise, bring a digital camera, measuring tape and a continuity tester as part of your arsenal.
• Complete all pre-web cast equipment and connectivity testing well in advance and conduct it on-site for higher reliability.
• Prepare a production summary that includes every last bit of detail that covers the entire production. Give everyone on the crew a copy for reference and lead a production meeting before the works so that all teams are synched up.
• Be prepared for last minute changes and if there’s time just roll with them – update your script, rehearse if possible, but say “No, we’re out of time” when you have to. Really, there’s nothing worse than a major on-air blunder. But as they, “It’s live television.”

Also, be sure to have back up equipment and crew in case of technical or physical problems, and don't forget to test your webcast on location. I'll share more tips following my session next week.


For more information, go to: www.streamingmedia.com/Conferences/West2011/

Resources:
Larry Kless' Weblog: Best Practices For Webcasting Production
Larry Kless' Weblog: Streamingmedia.com: How to Execute a Successful Webcast
Larry Kless' Weblog: Streamingmedia.com Featured Article: Lessons Learned from Live Events

Livestream Launches Live Mobile HD Streaming with Livepack, Say Goodbye to Expensive Satellite Uplink Trucks

Today, Livestream launched Livepack, a totally wireless turn-key hardware solution for live mobile HD streaming. Through a partnership with LiveU, makers of hand-held video uplink devices, Livestream offers a unique bundled solution that combines a hardware device with their live streaming platform. This solution addresses the needs of video producers and video professionals who need to broadcast live anytime, from anywhere and on-the-go with video up to HD quality at 700-1000 kbps. 

Livepack is a portable device that fits into a backpack and includes six load-balanced 3G/EVDO modems for redundancy over three carriers (AT&T, Verizon and Sprint) with data plans are that covered within the price. It allows you to go anywhere with a complete roaming camera setup and aimed to replace the expense of a traditional satellite uplink truck and satellite time. 

While live mobile streaming is not new with companies like Qik.com, Flixwagon and Bambuser having been on the market for a few years, according to Livestream CEO Max Haot, mobile phone streaming is not a viable option if you want to live stream an event. 

I spoke with Max yesterday and he pointed out that, 

"You're not going to stream a two hour event using a mobile phone due to the battery life, the quality of the lens, the zoom, but more importantly also the fact that's it's only one 3G network which is usually unreliable. So the other option that has been available to people needing to do wireless live streaming has been traditional broadcast satellite. This type of equipment is hugely expensive (up to $50,000 a day) and most live streaming events can't afford it. It's usually reserved for television."

Max added that if you're an event organizer and you want to live stream today you either have to make sure you have a wifi connection, laptop, camera or any sort of feed to encode reliably on the Internet using a platform such as theirs. But if you want to do it wirelessly where you don't have a connection available which is the case in most venues, or if you want to be on the move and create a roaming camera feed, there's been no solution out there at the quality you need to live stream something serious like an event. But now with their solution, Livepack is like having a satellite television truck in a backpack.

The technology was originally built by their partner LiveU really aimed to replace the satellite broadcast truck and the prime market was really broadcasters. LiveU has been building this technology for the last few years and have been selling it to NBC and others. So instead of bringing back an event feed from a truck they are bringing back the feed using a LiveU device. Max said that at Livestream they've paid attention to it and started to integrate it more and more over the last six to eight months. They actually announced the first relationship with LiveU at NAB in March and as both they and their joint customers used it more Livestream realized they needed to integrate it deeply into their service.

They way the service works is that Livestream bundles the hardware and service plan in either a monthly or annual rental fee. The Livepack device is easy to use and accepts a direct DV camera feed into the FireWire port. There's a touchscreen to control the box and three hours of battery life included or you can either have external batteries. Once you turn it on all you do is press the start button and it goes directly live into your Livestream channel. 

Max explained that their unique offering is possible through three real breakthroughs, 

"The first is the fact that it's fully integrated from one vendor including the CDN, the player and all the features of our (the Livestream) platform and the hardware. The second part is that instead of using a laptop at an event you now have a ruggedized piece of equipment with a touchscreen. There's really no moving parts, you can put it in a backpack which is pretty innovative instead of playing with laptops at an event. The third piece is the most important is the technology that we fully integrated with Live U which are six load-balanced 3G/EVDO modems over three carriers which are included, activated and the data plans are covered within the price."

Max noted that with a combination of these modems and the technology it takes the video feed internally from the encoder and splits it over all the available bandwidth on the six modems, sends it directly to their cloud where they recompose the feed and integrate into the Livestream's platform. It's a great application for red carpets, backstage at concerts, sporting events, town hall meetings, ceremonies, transmitting from a moving car, and a variety of enterprise applications. Livepack was recently used for coverage of the MTV Video Music Awards, NY Fashion Week, Harry Potter movie premiere and Pixie Lott Live.

So say goodbye to those expensive satellite uplink costs because wireless live streaming at HD quality just got better.

For more info visit www.livestream.com/livepack

Availability and Pricing

Livestream Livepack is available in the U.S. for monthly or yearly rental directly from Livestream, and includes the hardware unit, custom designed backpack, dedicated IP address for the Livestream channel, all 3G/EVDO network charges, and 30 hours of streaming uplink time per month. Neither a DV camera nor tripod are included. Month-to-month rental without commitment is $2,500 per month plus the cost of shipping. Yearly rental is $1,500 per month plus the cost of shipping. To order Livepack, email: getlivepack@livestream.com

About Livestream
Livestream (formerly Mogulus) provides everything needed to easily webcast live, build an engaged audience and monetize these efforts. Founded in 2007, the company is based in New York and includes Gannett Co. as a minority shareholder and investor. Producers can use Livestream to create live, linear and on-demand Internet television to broadcast anywhere on the Web through a single embeddable player widget. The service comes in two flavors: Free (ad-supported) and Premium (ad-free, white-label, higher-quality). Unique features include the ability to mix multiple live cameras, overlay graphics, and desktop streaming with 3D effects.

Streamingmedia.com Featured Article: Lessons Learned from Live Events

My friend Kevin Shively just published a piece on Streamingmedia.com titled, Lessons Learned From Live Events, and as CTO of TV Worldwide the leading provider of online Internet video delivery solutions since 1999, Kevin is a veteran of live internet broadcasting. He and his team at TV Worldwide have worked independently and in collaboration in the broadcast video production arena for the past 20 years and have been pioneers in streaming media on the Internet since the technology’s inception in the mid 90’s. In October 2008, TV Worldwide announced that it was expanding its existing facility near Washington D.C. to create the largest Internet TV Studio in the U.S.

Kevin says, "It’s hard to believe, but 2009 marks the 10th anniversary of TV Worldwide. Over the past decade, we’ve webcasted more than 5,000 live and archived events and, by necessity, become quite experienced at producing live webcasts—so much so that many of our clients know us primarily as a live-webcast service provider. This experience has taught us many things about what and, perhaps more importantly, what not to do."

I've done my share of live videoconferences, webcasts and webinars for numerous corporate clients over the years, and while webcasting is a different animal than videoconferencing, a lot of the same rules apply. With any successful event you have to plan it all out and expect that something could wrong. So testing, rehearsals and back up contingency planning often saves the day.

In his article, Kevin shares the following "lessons learned" which should be helpful to anyone producing a live event. Read the full article here.

1. Have a Reason to Go Live - Here are two main conditions that, if either is met, are solid reasons for webcasting live: if the event is interactive and participatory on the part of the viewers and if the content is time-sensitive.

2. Don’t Blow Out the Bitrate (or Screen Size) - Streaming anywhere from 200Kbps to 300Kbps works just fine.

3. Test, Test, and Test Again - Any live production is, by definition, a one-shot deal. Either it goes right or it doesn’t. The only way to ensure that it goes smoothly is to test and plan using the exact conditions as the live event

4. Choosing Your Format - While there is certainly some debate about which format is the best for live webcasting, the most important factor to consider is the audience that will receive it. Using Flash video is one way to avoid the Windows/Mac compatibility issue

5. Providing Interactivity - Perhaps the most powerful reason to deliver a live webcast is the ability to enable interactive participation for viewers. There are many ways to do this, from polling and online-form responses to chat-based and email-based question-and-answer opportunities. The best rule of thumb is the tried and true acronym KISS: Keep it simple, stupid.

This is a Qik video I shot of a behind scenes look at TV Worldwide's live streaming set up with Kevin Shively and team with a cameo by Jose Castillo. Kevin was streaming the Keynote by Albert Cheng from Streaming Media West 2008 Day Two.

Here are a few related Klessblog posts on the subject:

• Best Practices For Webcasting Production - by Larry Kless
• Streamingmedia.com: How to Execute a Successful Webcast - by Nico McLane

About Kevin Shively
As Executive Vice President of Business Development Kevin Shively is responsible for creating and maintaining new revenue channels for TV Worldwide, including sponsorship sales for the many live and archived event webcasts TV Worldwide produces each year and the creation of new Internet TV channels. Formerly, Kevin ran East Coast advertising sales for Net Radio Sales, a company that represents over 400 Internet radio stations reaching millions of listeners each month and brought numerous Fortune 500 advertisers to Internet radio. Prior to Net Radio Sales, Kevin served as Vice President of Internet radio station Beethoven.com and positioned that company as a leader in the webcasting industry by negotiating deals with the Coollink Broadcasting Network and Jones' Media America making Beethoven.com one of the first stations on the Internet to successfully employ a targeted ad insertion solution. During his tenure, Beethoven.com was consistently rated among the top 10 most listened-to stations rated by the Arbitron Measurecast Ratings.

About TV Worldwide

Founded in 1999, TV Worldwide developed the first Internet TV network of community-based Internet TV channels, primarily targeting niche professional communities ranging from the Maritime industry to the Digital Media sector. Known by many in the industry as “Internet TV for Smart People”, Fortune 500 companies, 15 federal government agencies, and numerous International associations including the National Association of Broadcasters, utilize TV Worldwide's live and archived state-of-the art video streaming content applications and Internet TV channels. In recognition of the company's unique achievements in new media, TV Worldwide was selected by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) to webcast the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2007 and the 59th Annual Emmy awards for Technology and Engineering in 2008. CEO Dave Gardy has been honored by Streaming Media Magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential People in Streaming Media. Mr. Gardy also currently serves as the President of the International Webcasting Association (IWA) (www.webcasters.org).

YouTube to Stream Its First Ever Live Event

Here's some big news from YouTube that I got from an email the other day. "We wanted to let you know that November 22nd is the day to join your fellow YouTube fans online for a live streaming event that is part concert, part variety show and part party! Celebrate with YouTube live performances, celebrity guests, original videos, surprise collaborations and much more. Visit http://www.youtube.com/live for details and updates.

Expect to see Internet-born stars like Soulja Boy Tell'em, Esmee Denters (viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube), and "Canon Rock" virtuoso Funtwo dazzling the crowd, along with mainstream acts like Akon who has the #12 Most Viewed YouTube Video of all time. There will also be a global b-boy showcase featuring dancers from the movie Planet B-boy; Discovery Channel's MythBusters will add their signature style of explosive experimentation; that humble little instrument, the ukulele (itself a giant YouTube trend), taking center stage; and perhaps a free hug or two. The Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am, three-time Grammy Award winner and Emmy winner for his groundbreaking video "Yes We Can," will unveil a brand new awareness raising video consisting entirely of user generated videos. Just added acts, include Fred, Jon M. Chu and The League of Extraordinary Dancers, Brandon Hardesty, Joe Satriani, Ask a Ninja, Katers 17, and The Spinto Band.

In addition, the "Vlog Squad," a group of long-time YouTube community members, will offer exclusive, behind-the-scenes access from different areas of the venue; William Sledd, Michael Buckley (What the Buck), Lisa Nova, and Tay Zonday have already been named as part of this ace reporting team. Tay Zonday will also put his unique pipes to work as the announcer for the show and Mike Relm will serve as house video jockey. Subscribe to and visit the YouTube Live channel for more updates: http://www.youtube.com/live."

Here are a few videos from a few of the invitees who help explain this landmark event.

From: peron75
YouTube LIVE! Miley Vs Buck Vs Chu AGAIN?!
Please rate/comment/fave/subscribe! Yay!
http://www.youtube.com/live
For more information including who will be there! Make sure you subscribe and watch there for updates!! That is where you will watch LIVE on Nov 22!

From: charlestrippy
RickRolling Soulja Boy at YouTube Live!
So I was invited to the YouTube Live! event this Nov22! Yay, i'm totally going to RickRoll Soulja Boy (that bitch!)

Leave a comment, who else should I rick roll while i'm there?!

Mashable: How to Live Stream Your Life: 20+ Tools and Resources

Mashable writer Sean P. Aune published a new list of video lifestreaming applications in a post titled, How to Live Stream Your Life: 20+ Tools and Resources. He identifies the 20+ popular video platforms used for lifestreaming and live broadcasting into three categories: mobile single platform, webcam, multi-platform streaming and others. I've used a number of these tools and services and have found that many of them have similar features and options for syndication.

Sean writes, "Video lifestreaming has become more and more popular with the increasing availability of mobile video recording technology and the decreasing price of webcams. So why not try it out?"

The following is written by Sean P. Aune for Mashable and originally published on July 15, 2008 as: How to Live Stream Your Life: 20+ Tools and Resources

Mobile single platform

• CometNow.com - Allows you to stream using your Windows Mobile device to other cell phones or to computers by going to your streaming page. Works with Windows Mobile devices.
• Flixwagon.com - Allows you to stream video live from your phone, save it for later and even alert Twitter to who you are recording. Works with Symbian based phones.
• LiveCastr.com - Works with any 3G enabled phone and requires no download to work. Stream can be embedded into social network pages and all videos are automatically archived.
• Vox.com - The Vox blogging community also allows you to upload video directly from your N Series Nokia phone to your account. The service is Symbian based.

Multi-streaming platform

• Justin.tv - Made famous for the fact that the founder, Justin, streamed his life 24/7 when the site started up, and was followed by iJustine spending six months streaming her life. The service can be used with webcams and mobile devices.
• Kyte.com -Kyte can be used from webcams or mobile devices, and allows you to brand your channel as well as monetize it.
• Livecast.com - Formerly Comvu, Livecast lets you broadcast your life from a wide-range of mobile phones from carriers all over the world, as well as using your own computer.
• Mogulus.com - A video streaming service that focuses on desktop services, but does have a complicated looking workaround for mobile streaming.
• Qik.com - Qik is available on multiple mobile platforms, including the iPhone, with more planned to come. Stream live from your phone to their site, allowing you to broadcast from anywhere.
• Shozu.com - Shozu enables several models of mobile phones to upload and tag photos you take to over 30 social networks including Facebook, YouTube, Blogger and more with just a couple of clicks.

Webcam

• BlogTV.com - Allows you to broadcast live or pre-recorded shows, embed them on your blog, download favorite shows, and more.
• Live.Yahoo.com - Yahoo’s live streaming service that sends messages to Twitter, embeds selected videos on MySpace, and offers an API for those who need it.
• NowLive.com - Features personal channels as well as a heavy focus on scheduled shows and live coverage from events like movie premiers.
• Seero.com - Mixes video streaming with geo-tagging to show you where the feed is coming from as well as factoids from that location.
• Seesmic.com - Referred to as “the Twitter of video”, Seesmic is a micro blogging video service for use with webcams.
• UStream.tv - Popular with people wishing to do personal webcam shows as it also provides an embeddable chat room you can put into your own site.
• Yaika.com - A European streaming service that makes your streaming page look like a blog

Others

• EarthCam.com - More of a repository of old school webcams. People also use the service for shows.
• HelloWorld.com - HelloWorld charges for their streaming service, but offers a lot of other services like private video IMs and more.
• Icecast.org - Allows you to set up your own live streaming system, but is for more advanced users.
• RantTV - Scheduled live streaming shows with a heavy focus on music.
• ShoutCast.com - Allows you to set up a video stream just like you do with audio over the ShoutCast system.
• Stickam.com - Focuses a bit more on a scheduled show format than other services, but

How Do You ooVoo? Getting to Know The People Behind ooVoo

Last week, following my video conversation with ooVoo CEO Phillipe Schwartz, I met with several others who work behind the scenes at ooVoo as part of their How Do You ooVoo? event. I learned more about their marketing efforts, upcoming events and product enhancements. I'd like to thank them all for their time to meet with me (Marty, Greg, Phillip and Lisa) and I look forward to more ongoing conversations.

My video conversations last week started with Chief Operating Officer Marty Walker on the business side of ooVoo. Marty joined ooVoo a few years ago from the Iams pet food brand for Procter & Gamble where he was vice president & general manager. Iams marketing strategy was was more "word of mouth" and they didn't spend millons of dollars on focus groups which he said is similar to ooVoo's current efforts. They started working with Joe Jaffee and his team at Crayon, who include Scott Monty, Greg Verdino and Deb Wiseman, on outreach and connection with social media influencers. The successful My ooVoo Day With... event is a product of that relationship.


Later in the video chat we were joined by Mansur from Saudi Arabia. It proved to be a challenge though to communicate with him since Mansur was 60% deaf and couldn't see us but we could see him. We both appeared as icons on his screen and he was only able to text chat with us. After a few minutes of attempting to troubleshoot the issue he signed off saying, "I love oovoo."

The next day I met with Greg Sobiech and Philip Robertson. Greg is responsible for marketing programs to attract and retain customers and Phillip is Director of Marketing Communications. We had a great discussion which included the upcoming My ooVoo Day With: Political Edition that's planned for late July. That event will be represented by 23 bloggers from all over the political spectrum (liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Independents) talking about politics. Stay tuned for more information.

I asked if was possible to do an "ooVoocast" where a multi-party ooVoo chat could be broadcast to many and be interactive through chat. Phillip said yes it was by using SplitCam to broadcast your desktop to uStream.TV or any other broadcast solution. Tom Herman, Vice President of Product Development, has a detailed post on the ooVoo blog that describes how to Stream ooVoo Live.


My last ooVoo conversation of the week was with Lisa Abourezk Vice President of Marketing. We talked about what ooVoo is doing to get their message out how ooVoo is "an enabler of conversation." She said words really don't describe that "wow moment" of a multi-party ooVoo call and I have to agree, it really is a cool experience. (I recommend headphones though to avoid the echo.)

As part of their outreach efforts ooVoo is sponsoring 20 PodCamp 'scholarships' to college students interested in attending the PodCamp Boston 3 unConference scheduled July 18-20. Details are on the ooVoo blog. ooVoo also enables conversation by "ooVooing in" remote presenters at conferences like the annual BlogHer Conference in San Francisco which is actually scheduled this weekend as well. ooVoo also donated $20,000 to the US Air Force in a similar outreach as Cisco has done with their Telepresence suite.

Lisa emphasized that ooVoo's value is far beyond what you see. The more you use it the more valuable you find it. I plan to use ooVoo more often and I'm looking forward to the new features. In an upcoming ooVoo update it will include Java applet 1.7 version which will let you send a url to a friend who doesn't have the ooVoo client but does have a web cam to join the video chat through a web browser interface.

Thanks again to all my new friends at ooVoo for your time and conversation. I look forward to another ooVoo with you again soon.

UPDATE: From the ooVoo blog Phillip Robertson wrote this about PodCamp 3:

"While I'm at PodCamp, I'll also be joining crayon's Greg Verdino, SHIFT Communications' Doug Haslam and Morpheus Media's Adam Broitman in a session about "Smart Social Media Marketing." We'll chat about how ooVoo has been using social media channels to promote and implement programs like My ooVoo Day With... and the forthcoming My ooVoo Day: Political Edition, and to engage directly with both influencers and customers on a day-to-day basis in addition to social media and marketing with Greg, Doug and Adam – they are the experts and worth coming to listen to. I hope to meet some of you at PodCamp - so be sure to join us for our session. We'll be in the HIM Room from 11:15am to noon on Saturday, July 19. You can get all of the event details at the PodCamp Boston site."

Streaming Media East 2008: Live Broadcasting Over Mobile and Wi-Fi Networks

Here's one more Streaming Media East video from the collection videos available from the conference courtesy of Scribe Media. This panel session also focused on live broadcasting over the internet with demonstrations using both Mogulus and Qik. Several videos were recorded live during the session by Max Haot available here, Bhaskar Roy's are here and Steve Garfield's are here courtesy of SteveGarfield.com.

Another video by José Castillo is available here courtesy of ThinkJose who says, "Steve from stevegarfield.com moderated a great panel at Streaming Media East 08 on mobile video. Using both mogulus.com and qik.com to show off his Nokia N95 skills he surprised us all when he left the room mid-panel and went on a tour of the show. This was a highlight of the show for me!"Publish Post

Live Broadcasting Over Mobile and Wi-Fi Networks Track C: (C104) 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM While big media tests the waters of mobile broadcasting, many web video producers are already out there doing it live from the street with a cell phone. Others are joining in and experimenting with two-way broadcasts via streaming video over cell phone networks and via Wi-Fi, wherever they are. Viewers can chat while the broadcast is going on and affect and sometimes even direct the content being produced. Come to this session to hear Steve Garfield talk with other pioneers in the live broadcasting space about their experiences on the forefront of this new technology for sharing their stories over the web. Moderator: Steve Garfield, Mobile Video Journalist, SteveGarfield.com Presenters: Max Haot, Founder, CEO, Mogulus Bhaskar Roy, Co-Foudner, Qik.com

Streamingmedia.com: How to Execute a Successful Webcast

This article comes from Streamingmedia.com and was written by Nico McLane. It first appeared in the February/March 2008 issue of Streaming Media Magazine ( Table of Contents • Digital Version) and is described as, "A primer on selecting the right equipment, making the right production decisions, and establishing a solid webcasting plan."

While webcasts are generally a considered a business tool for corporate presentations they are fast becoming a way for content producers to widen their reach to a global audience. Oprah's 10-week web cast series "A New Earth" is a prime example of how an existing brand can embrace a new medium and garner success as a live and on-demand webcast.

McLane writes that, "While a webcast is, by definition, a live event, a key part of a webcast’s success is the value it retains when it is accessed and repurposed after the fact. An effective webcast will live on long after the event has ended, and it has the potential to be repackaged across infinite channels that have a deeper “measure” of return on investment. If you deliver a meaningful, quality product in the live webcast, these are the opportunities that should not be missed or mismanaged."

Within the business setting it's all about numbers and ROI (Return On Investment) and McLane points out that the companies can save significant annual costs by replacing expensive operator-assisted conference calls with live webcasts and webinars. In additional, the viewers of these web-based presentations become active participants in a rich media experience through the use of live chat, document sharing, full motion video and other features which you won't find in an audio-only teleconference feed.

In her article, McLane highlights several key components on how to execute a successful webcast, which are:

• The “Grade A” Live Webcast Experience: Click and Go (more...)
  
• Respect the Product (more...)
• Site Inspection (more...)
• Learn the Jargon (more...)
• Equipment Check (more...)
• Other Elements of Best Practice Preparation (more...)
• Monitor Your Webcast Onsite (more...)
• The Walkthrough Checklist (more...)

Her "Walkthrough Checklist" offers practical tips for success and are all important considerations when you produce a webcast. Such as, lighting, backdrops, what type of microphones to use, projection, camera positions and room layout. Whether it's a webcast or not, these are all fundamental details I cover with each of my productions.

Since it's related to this post, I included the video from the Streaming Media West panel discussion that I participated in "Best Practices in Webcast Production" which I had previously featured here.




UPDATE: (More from Nico McLane)

• HOW TO: Choosing and Comparing Webcasting Hardware
• Download the presentation (6.9MB PPT)
  Download the Excel spreadsheet (36KB XLS) (Streaming Media East 2007)
• PANEL SESSION: Unique Challenges To Enterprise Streaming
  Audio Stream (Streaming Media East 2006)
• PANEL SESSION: Using Live Webcasting As An Extension Of A Brand
  Audio Stream Video Stream (Streaming Media East 2005)
• Creating An Internal Streaming Infrastructure
  Audio StreamAudio Stream (Streaming Media East 2004)
• Panel: Developing a Streaming Strategy for a Corporate Environment (Streaming Media East 2002)
  (more...)
• How to Execute a Successful Webcast (4/18/2008)
• Futurewatch: Enterprise (2/15/2008)

Skype Now Broadcasting on a TV Near You

I use Skype all the time to video chat with my family who live many miles away across the country. It's so much better than a regular telephone call since you can see and hear each other and the video and audio quality is fine for this personal use. The kids love to see their cousins and Grandparents and it's become quite routine to "Skype" each other on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. You know the old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" and although it's cliche, it really applies well when using Skype. I haven't had an opportunity to use Skype in a professional setting but it made the new headlines last week for its emerging use in live broadcasts.

In his March 13th post on TechCrunch, Duncan Reily wrote, "Marked as a first for national TV, CNN used Skype Video to conduct a live interview Monday." According to Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter, CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who went to Harvard Law School with deposed New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, joined the CNN broadcast via Skype from Maui." When the Spitzer sex scandal broke on Monday Toobin was on a family vacation and had participated in a phone interview. Reuters reported that, "CNN executives wanted to use a video feed but were stymied by the fact that they didn't have the equipment to make it happen."

CNN Senior VP David Bohrman said, "I didn't want to take this guy and his family away from vacation and send him to Oahu (where there would be other facilities) I thought it would have been really annoying."

So Toobin used a laptop and web cam borrowed from the hotel business center the hotel and created a makeshift studio on location. The lighting was one of the only drawbacks but CNN Execs found the video and audio quality to be acceptable. According to Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter, "Bohrman said he was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the video. It didn't make "The Situation Room," but an interview was featured in CNN's primetime political programming, and Toobin later took part in a roundtable discussion on "Anderson Cooper 360." CNN called Toobin's cell phone with the audio feed, and he used his cell phone earpiece to hear what was going on."

This actually was not the first use of IP Video in TV news as Gough continued, "Other networks use broadband technology and, in some cases, Treo or cell phone video for live reports. Fox News Channel used live video from a cell phone for Spitzer's initial news conference when no one else was able to provide live video. Fox News Channel regularly uses VoIP technology, notably in its mobile election units. MSNBC's campaign embeds and correspondent Lee Cowan use ComVue video technology to file live reports. A Fox TV affiliate, WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Ala., used Skype last year to file live reports from a tornado scene."

Andy Plesser of Beet.TV spoke with CNN U.S. president Jon Klein who commented that use of the Skype videophone is another technology advancement for news reporting. The video below is from his post TV News Breakthrough: CNN Uses Skype Video Chat for Spitzer Scandal React.



Cory Bergman from Lost Remote also has a good technical description of how news station KRCA in Sacramento, California used Skype to go live from a moving vehicle. In his post, Going live on TV via Skype, Joe Rosemeyer, KCRA’s Digital Executive Producer write “Our photog had a little 3CCD DV cam plugged into a Macbook via Firewire; he sent the video back to the station using Skype and a Verizon aircard... Back at the station, we pulled it up fullscreen on a PC that has a scan converter and routed it through the control room... The video quality isn’t perfect, but, that’s really not the point.” Bergman continued, "Rosemeyer sent us a link to a video clip so you can take a look for yourself." There were some good comments on this story and one from mekahlo said, "we, nbc los angeles’ digital channel, use skype nearly dialy to interview bloggers and some guests live on the air. we also used a similiar system to broadcast a new verzion live broadband phone during the LA Mararthon."



Skype is also a sponsor of Oprah's big 10-week web cast event "A New Earth" with Eckhart Tolle. In his post on the Skype blog, Skype "a good thing" for CNN, Villu Arak said, "Things get even better with High Quality Video, which requires Skype, an optimized Logitech webcam, a computer with a dual-core processor, and a reasonably fat internet connection. Nothing extraordinary for 2008, but it’ll deliver up to 30 frames per second at 640x480 pixels. With proper lighting and micing, the experience isn’t too far removed from regular TV. Little wonder, then, that broadcasters are experimenting with Skype. I have a feeling that things won’t end with CNN using Skype to interview a vacationing analyst in Maui."

Sources and related:

• Skype Sponsors Oprah's "A New Earth" Web Event- March 3, 2008 from Skype Journal by Jim Courtney
• Going live on TV via Skype- March 12, 2008 from Lost Remote by Cory Bergman
• TV News Breakthrough: CNN Uses Skype Video Chat for Spitzer Scandal React - March 12, 2008 from Beet.TV by Andy Plesser
• CNN puts Skype in Picture - March 13, 2008 from Hollywood Reporter by Paul J. Gough

• Could Spitzer Scandal Take Skype Video Mainstream?- March 13, 2008 from TechCrunch by Duncan Reily
• CNN Joins Oprah; Puts Skype in the Picture - March 13, 2008 from Skype Journal by Jim Courtney
• Skype "a good thing" for CNN - March 13, 2008 from Share Skype Blog by Villu Arak

Live from Your Mobile with FlixWagon

Rory Cellan-Jones from BBC News recently asked, "What would happen if everyone, anywhere, could have their own live television station from a mobile phone? So I could broadcast something as banal as my walk with the dog, or citizens could go live in conflict zones?"

He posed this question in his March 10th post Live from Your Mobile on BBC's technology blog dot.life, and after several days of experimenting with Flixwagon he concluded, "The difficult thing to work out is - what is the point? Yes, you can see my live dog-walk - but do you really want to?"

On The Flixwagon Blog, Xen Mendelsohn responded to Cellan-Jones' skepticism by rephrasing his question to make a point asking, "What would happen if everyone, anywhere, could have their own blog/online news site on the internet? So I could cover something as banal as my walk with the dog, or citizens could go live in conflict zones?"

Cellan-Jones discussed Flixwagon and live mobile webcasting with Eran Hess, Flixwagon's Co-Founder and CEO in the video interview featured below (courtesy of BBC News.) Hess explains that with Flixwagon it’s easy to produce video and broadcast it live anywhere and only it's only “one click away.”

Cellan-Jones asked "So, who really wants to go live?" Hess insisted "People do." and added that you can communicate instantly and upload video immediately without the need to transfer video to your PC and upload it to YouTube. Mobile video makes it easy to express yourself and build a social networking community. Regarding the competition Hess asserted that Flixwagon has the best video quality and that will be an important factor when choosing between platforms. He wasn't worried about YouTube and said, "YouTube going live is an opportunity – not a threat. The whole idea of live is getting validation.”

Going back to Cellan-Jones' original question "what would happen?", Xen Mendelsohn emphasized that "change would happen. It means that we will probably witness the proliferation of the new technology, bringing alongside huge amounts of video contents with it... even a 'walking with my dog' video will probably be relevant to someone, it may be my immediate circle of friends, dog lovers and people who want to get closer to me..."


Rory Cellan-Jones acknowledged that "a phone and a piece of software - and a 3g network - are you all need now to start putting your message across to a live audience. It promises to give new vigour to the whole idea of citizen journalism, and poses a challenge to existing broadcasters. Because of course these citizen journalists are not bound by any code of taste, decency, truth or impartiality, which could give their broadcasts a dangerous, edgy quality which might appeal more to viewers than the professional version of television news.Welcome to a future where everything may be televised - live. I'm not entirely sure I like the idea."

Related:

• Flixwagon Adds Mobile App and Twitter Integration - March 6, 2008 by Kristen Nicole from Mashable
  
• 3 Products That Will Change 2008 - February 8, 2008 by by Allen Stern from CenterNetworks
• MTV, Flixwagon partner for Super Tuesday mobile news - February 5th, 2008 by David Adewumi from VentureBeat
  

*Update: photos*

My ooVoo Day With... Robin Good

I was back for another session of My ooVooday With... and I had great video conversation with Robin Good and social media and blogging guru Sherman Hu and Allen Mostow who manages LA music artist Audra Hardt. I had been looking forward to this opportunity to meet the Master New Media guru and I also met a few new friends. We had a lively discussion about online video publishing tools and strategies. Some of the video tools mentioned included Qik, Mogulus, Kyte with ooVoo now joining the mix since you can both conduct and record a live multi-party videoconference. Robin added that Mogulus and Qik has integrated so producers can now stream live from their mobile phones directly to their Mogulus channel with Qik.

In additional to our live ooVoo session, Robin was simulcasting a live feed of our videoconference to his Qik page and you can view the archive recording below.



For some, videoconferencing technology can be cumbersome and awkward to use, but it was real easy to have an open group conversation using ooVoo. The user interface is both slick and intuitive in design and both the video and audio quality is actually quite good. The video runs at about 10 frames per second (fps) so motion is pretty smooth and I saw very little tiling or motion artifacts. The audio is quality is crisp and it works best if you have headphones as that helps to eliminate the echo. Good lighting is essential too so that your participants can see your facial expressions. The ooVoo web site has some good information on video quality.

I've been in the videoconferencing industry for 18 years and I find it remarkable that you can have a cross platform multi-party IP videoconference with up to 6 people... totally free!

My ooVooday With... seems to be a big hit for many bloggers as I've seen a number of ooVoo comments and reviews over the last week. Chris Brogan posted an interesting review on his blog and I second his kudos to Scott Monty of Crayon for organizing this incredible social experiment. You can also see Sherman Hu's post which includes a video recording of his ooVoo videoconference with Joseph Jaffe (JaffeJuice.com)

My next scheduled My ooVooday With... is this Sunday with iJustine.