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

Peter Himmelman, Furious World: Online Video is Key to the Music Industry's Survival

I caught up with Peter Himmelman, independent singer/songwriter, at the Online Video Platform Summit following his panel discussion "How to Choose an Online Video Platform for Your Business", to talk about how video has helped extend his reach and engagement with his worldwide fan base. While Himmelman is not a familiar name to most, he's cultivated a long career as an imaginative rock musician, children's entertainer, TV and film composer, Emmy and Grammy nominee and for the past two year, the star of his own weekly webcast show, Peter Himmelman’s Furious World.

Himmelman is also Bob Dylan's son-in-law, being married to his daughter Maria Dylan, who he counts as one of his many influences. Himmelman is known for his conviction as an independent artist and for his unpredictable performance style (as evidence of this impromptu video interview). Most notably, as an observant Jew he does not perform on Fridays, and turned down an invitation to perform on the "Tonight Show" because it fell on Shabbat.

He broadcasts his musical web variety show, Peter Himmelman’s Furious World, from his Santa Monica, California studio every Tuesday at 7:00 pm PST on Ustream.tv using the Newtek TriCaster. The show features live music and spoken bits by the Himmelman and his cast of regulars, off-the-wall videos, and guest performers. Himmelman says that the portability of streaming production is a key in getting his artistic message out, in lieu of a demanding touring schedule.



As a music recording artist he says that hosting his webcast on Ustream's highly trafficked website has helped increase his visibility and brought him closer to his fans. He's using video because he says that, "the music industry as we had known it is pretty much done, the death knell has sounded," and he decided to try online video as a new and different way to put his product out there.

In an interview with Aiyanna Sezak-Blatt of the Mountain Xpress, he talked about how he got started producing his weekly Furious World webcast.

"It was just a fluke. This guy that works for me, Mark Jacobs, he said, “Hey, there’s this thing where you can broadcast live.” So we set up this camera and thought, “Wow, this really looks good.”  

It hasn’t lived up to where I want it to be right now. It’s not paying for itself, which is a huge problem, and I don’t know if it ever will or not. It’s a really great thing, it’s a cool idea, but without any money coming in — and I’ve done it for two years — I have to constantly say to myself, “What it’s for?”

But I always get letters and a lot of encouragement. Yesterday I met with a guy who was trying to help me with the show and he said (he’s from Israel), “Look, you have to remember what the president of General Electric said: Either fix it, sell it or close it. This is what I’m trying to help you with. Either we’ll fix it, or sell it or we shut it down.”"

Become a Facebook Fan: Peter Himmelman's Furious World
Follow Peter Himmelman's FW (furiousworld) on Twitter

Related:

• Winging it with style: An interview with Peter Himmelman | Asheville Arts and Entertainment | Mountain Xpress
• How-to Create Raging Fans!: Example- “The Song About ‘IV’” LIVE by Peter Himmelman!
• Peter Himmelman - IMDb

Kontiki Enables Reach & Engagement with Enterprise Video Platform

I caught up with Eric Armstrong, President and CEO of Kontiki, at Streaming Media East 2010, to get his perspective on the state of enterprise video communications. One of the biggest challenges for companies of global scale, is the ability for leaders to reach and engage employees. Armstrong believes that CEO all-hands webcasts and video messages from senior leaders helps employees to feel connected to their companies. Since 2000, Kontiki has offered live and on-demand video solutions for enterprise video customers. The Sunnyvale, California-based company has built a SaaS enterprise video platform and a social video portal focused on both extending the reach of executive communications while increasing the engagement of employees.

Koniki also knows how important security and control are to its enterprise customers in the financial services, retail, technology, telecommunications and manufacturing market sectors, and recently achieved Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70) Type II certification, a widely-recognized auditing standard to validate and assure that it has the processes, procedures and policies in place to run a secure data center and video service. Kontiki is the first enterprise video SaaS solution to achieve this certification.

Eric Armstrong believes in the power of video, and explained its value in this way:

"Video allows the leaders of a company to connect in a very personal way to every employee in the company anywhere in the world. Simple media, like email or voicemail is fine for communicating basic facts. But if the message is complex, if there's a lot of changes going on in an organization or if there's a vision or a strategy that needs to be communicated, a leader needs to stand behind the message – and video is the most effective way to communicate those types of messages. Video makes you the owner of the message.

Armstrong says that many companies have been hesitant to offer high quality video solutions within their organizations based common misconceptions, or myths, about enterprise video being too costly or time consuming to deploy – a gap that Kontiki calls the video divide. The key issues within an enterprise that are different from Internet-delivered video are, as Armstrong conveyed, network WAN constraints, delivery bottlenecks, security and authentication reporting. He maintained that Kontiki’s cloud-based SaaS offering was designed to solve those problems, and can be deployed globally within just a few weeks.

A recent report by the Aberdeen Group titled, “Creating Video-Based Value for the Enterprise”, revealed how business leaders use video in their enterprises to maximize ROI. Aberdeen has seen a trend  from “Video 1.0” to “Video 2.0”, with enterprise video transitioning from simple broadcast and videoconferencing capabilities to business-driven usage of video intended to increase engagement rather than just reach.

The top 5 video technologies respondents plan to implement within the next 12 months are:

• Video-embedded webcasting
• Social networking features integrated with video content
• Video optimized for mobile platforms
• Video broadcast ability throughout the organizations
• Broadcast video for corporate communications

According to Kontiki's Armstrong:

“We see the biggest challenges for enterprise video as the ability to reach all employees on disparate and congested networks or in remote locations and to engage them in a way that inspires and motivates them to work towards a shared vision. We believe Aberdeen has tapped into the most pressing question for enterprise video today - ‘where is the ROI?’ - and uncovered valuable trends that can be practically leveraged by other organizations to build rock solid business cases.”

Aberdeen offered several key takeaways from the report as recommendations for organizations seeking to optimize their use of video and gain business value:

• Consider the value that video can provide to improve employee engagement and retention.
• Strategize a plan for formal video management of all video assets, including a video platform accessible to all employees.
• Improve social feedback for video content, such as ratings, comments and sharing.
• Consider embedded and multi-modal uses of video, including live webcasting of events, such as CEO quarterly all-hands employee meetings

At Streaming Media East, Armstrong also moderated panel session on Consumer-Style Video Communication In The Enterprise, that discussed several use cases for enterprise video and the utilities and tools employees are using both internally and externally.


A203: Consumer-Style Video Communication In The Enterprise
Moderator: Eric Armstrong, President, Kontiki, Inc.
Scott Szczurek, Online Video Specialist, CME Group
Paolo Tosolini, Manager, Social Media, Online Video, Microsoft
Louis Broome, Content Publishing Manager, Microsoft
Tony Raimundo, SVP, Digital Media and Collaborative Technologies, CitiGroup

Learn how companies in the enterprise and education markets are adding familiar social media capabilities to video communication programs including user-generated content, ratings, tagging, comments and search. Come learn if your organization is ready to take the plunge into social video; why your employees may be posting confidential videos on YouTube and other public social networking sites; how to integrate into your existing infrastructure for live video, VOD or videoconferencing; and how to overcome the challenges of securing and controlling this powerful communication tool in a way that is consistent with company policies and culture.

Download the presentations slides here: SMEast2010-ConsumerVideoEnterprise.pdf

About Kontiki, Inc.
Founded in 2000, Kontiki offers an End-to-End Enterprise Video Platform, delivering all of the capabilities you need for a complete Video Communications solution, while ensuring absolute security and control over your network and content. From Live Video Webcasting and Video On-Demand to an Employee Video Portal with Social Media capabilities, Kontiki gives you the ability to build a video culture and align your organization, in the most engaging and effective way possible. Offered as a Software‐as‐a‐Service or Software License solution, Kontiki’s technology is unique in the market in that our customers can securely deliver high‐quality video to all employees globally, without deploying any networking or caching hardware.

Visit http://www.kontiki.com/ for more information.

Related:

• Aberdeen Report Reveals Video-Based ROI
• Aberdeen Research: Creating Video-based Business Value for the Enterprise
• Kontiki - Company Information on Kontiki
• Kontiki’s SaaService
• Kontiki And BT Conferencing Tackle The Enterprise - StreamingMedia.com
• Kontiki Introduces End-to-End Enterprise Video Platform | TradingMarkets.com

Talkpoint Powers Enterprise Communications with Webcasting Solutions

It's been more than a decade since the Victoria’s Secret online fashion show became the first major webcast event with a record-breaking 1.5 million visitors worldwide. In 1999, an event of that proportion could not scale to support the audience size and necessary bandwidth requirements to provide a quality viewing experience on such a large scale. Nick Balletta, CEO of TalkPoint Communications remembers that webcast, and says that back then webcasting was more of a novelty with a poor end user experience. But today, webcasting for enterprise communications may finally be reaching a tipping point.

At Streaming Media East 2010, I spoke with Balletta about how his company powers enterprise communications with its webcasting and virtual meeting platform. New York-based TalkPoint Communications has been around since before 2000, and provides a browser-based Software as Services model (SaaS) for online meeting and presentations. The company is very active in the enterprise space with a global base of Fortune 1000 customers in the health care, pharmaceutical, life sciences, financial, technology and publishing markets. The original company was founded in 1997 as a joint project of Dow Jones Interactive and Microsoft desktop video and was previously known as NextVenue and later iBEAM. In 2001, iBeam launched TalkPoint as a web-based, self-publishing presentation product, the company later went private under the name TalkPoint.



Balletta says that Talkpoint's clients are most interested in using their large-scale global webcasting services, which incorporate audio, video, slides, and other interactive elements. These virtual events can be delivered as either an audio or video webcast, or webinar events for internal and external communications. Security and interactivity are important for Talkpoint customers, which Balletta maintains is Talkpoint's sweet spot.

Balletta summed up the value of webcasting for enterprise communications:

"We see webcasting more as a business tool, it's a workflow tool. Years ago it was something nice to do, now it's become a critical part of people's businesses – and now it's either driving revenues, supporting their brand, communicating with their different constituencies, whether they be shareholders, clients, employees – so it's clearly a business tool that's here to stay. We also see a trend to much more adoption of video – both at making it easier to view and easier to present. So we think video is something that's clearly going to be here for a long time."

See Balletta's related blog post: Is Corporate Use of Internet Broadcasting Approaching the Tipping Point? | TalkPoint Blog

Also, see The Webinar Blog: Web Conferencing Kicks Ash, for examples of how two Talkpoint customers used webcasting to reach stranded travelers.


About TalkPoint
TalkPoint provides Web-based audio and video Webcasting solutions that enable companies and organizations to communicate more effectively. TalkPoint's easy-to-use applications incorporate audio, video, slides, and other interactive elements to deliver high-impact presentations cost effectively. TalkPoint offers both self-service and full-service solutions.
For more information on TalkPoint, go to http://www.talkpointcommunications.com/

Follow TalkPoint (TalkPointDotCom) on Twitter
Connect on Facebook | TalkPoint Webcasting
Subscribe to: Talkpoint Blog

Live from Streaming Media West 2009 and the Online Video Platform Summit

Streaming Media West will be delivering live coverage, keynotes and Red Carpet interviews starting this morning. Keynotes from Bill Stone, president of FLO TV at 12 p.m. EST/9 a.m. PST on Tuesday, Nov. 17, Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allaire on "Setting the Stage for 2010 and the Future of Online Video" from the Online Video Platform Summit at 4:45 p.m. EST/1:45 p.m. PST, and Emil Rensing, chief digital officer of Studio 3 Partners/EPIX at 12 p.m. EST/9 a.m. PST on Thursday, Nov. 19. The Red Carpet interviews will be throughout the day and through the week, sponsored by Brightcove, with dozens of prominent online video industry leaders on the Streaming Media TV page

Then, Wednesday night at 10:30 p.m. EST/7:30 p.m. PST, the presentation of the 2009 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards, followed by a performance from video remixers Eclectic Method will be streamed live. Watch it here or on the StreamingMedia.com home page as well as in larger-screen format here.

Stay tuned for more ongoing coverage of the events!




Update: Deleted "For the first time," at the lead since Streaming Media has been doing live web casts for years. Specifically, for the first time Streaming Media West be delivering live coverage of some of the events taking place in San Jose! ;-)

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).