Video

Friday, December 18, 2009

VodBurner: Record both sides of a Skype call

Netralia CEO Jeremy Hague and I chatted for a bit over Skype today while I recorded the call using VodBurner, Netralia’s latest product. It couldn’t be simpler to use. Just click the “record” button on VodBurner when you’re ready to start the recording, have your conversation, then hang up. A box appears to let you know the video recording has been saved; click the button in the box to launch the editor.

You can set the point at which the video switches to you, the person on the other end of the call, or the split screen that shows both of you. When you’re done, you can publish the video to the ASF format or upload it directly to YouTube. Jeremy tells me a lot more features are in the works, including multiple file formats, improved caption capabilities, and more. But right now, in its earliest iteration, it’s still a slick tool for sharing video. Neville Hobson, my co-host on For Immediate Release, and I are planning to give it a try for a five-minute (or so) discussion of the kind of topics we talk about on the podcast.

Here’s the video of my brief chat with Jeremy:

VodBurner is $9.95 per month—the first 30 days are free. You can use it without licensing it after the trail period ends, if you don’t mind a watermark in the middle of your videos. More great work from Jeremy and the Netralia team—I’m already a huge fan of CallBurner, for recording both ends of a Skype audio call.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Domino’s update: Missteps and baby steps

Just some quick thoughts here on the latest developments in the Domino’s story:

First, the fact that you release a video in the Dave Neeleman mode (the former JetBlue CEO who offered a heartfelt apology for the Valentine’s Day 2007 crisis) doesn’t mean you’ll be forgiven—especially if you’re disingenuous in the video.

Using the same YouTube venue his two former employees used to post the clip that kicked off this whole crisis, Domino’s USA President Patrick Doyle apologizes, but also asserts that the company was on top of the crisis instantly. Here’s an audio clip from the opening few seconds of Doyle’s video:

Problem is, not only is this not true but Domino’s communications VP, Tim McIntyre, is on the record in more than one place insisting that the company was not going to address the situation publicly for fear that it would only add fuel to the fire. How credible is Doyle when he says the company did something it did not do? And if he’s not credible about this, how credible can he be about anything else he says?

In AdAge, McIntyre said the company could handle the impressions but that “a strong response from Domino’s would alert more consumers to the embarrassment.” And in an interview with Ragan Communications set to appear on Thursday morning, McIntyre claimed that the story was only getting coverage in the blogosphere. “It’s not on ABC, CNN, or USA Today,” he told Ragan reporter Jessica Levco.

Of course, now the story is all over the mainstream media, which was inevitable and predictable. When I blogged the story yesterday, only the Consumerist was showing up in a Google News search. Tonight, as I repeat the search from my hotel room in Pittsburgh, Google News is showing coverage in The New York Times, UPI, the Chicago Tribune, FOXNews, SkyNews, the BBC, several local TV news outlets, the list goes on.

In his most recent blog post, Edelman President and CEO Richard Edelman offered up a thought about the role of PR and the definition of news. In not so many words, Edelman defined the altered nature of the news machine. No longer does the public catch the news at 6 p.m., then wait for updates at 11 p.m. A variety of sources, from bloggers and Twitterers to journalists and analysts, are covering the news on an ongoing basis; the thirst for news is insatiable and if PR counselors do not satisfy that thirst on an ongoing basis, alternative sources will fill in. Your opportunity to tell your company’s/client’s story is based on your ability to maintain a presence. As Edelman puts it, “We will have to persuade our clients to be more public with more news. News is less an event and more a continuous flow of information informing the ongoing discussion; we must correct misstatement with alacrity.”

The company now has a Twitter account (@dpzinfo), which currently has 271 followers (including me) and about 2-1/2 pages of messages; it’s an encouraging move. Now, McIntyre and his team will have to begin using this channel to address the underlying issue that could cause Domino’s the most damage—the belief that the two employees who created the original video are representative of many Domino’s employees. The crisis was never contained to the North Carolina operation, despite the fact that it’s the only restaurant where these two employees worked, yet the vast majority of the company’s focus is on the actions taken against the employees and the sanitizing of the store.

I would also hope that the next time a crisis hits Domino’s, the “let’s wait and see if this warrants a resonse” mentality has been shelved in favor of a “let’s get our story into the the continuous flow of information to inform the discussion” approach.

There will no doubt be more to discuss as the public and Domino’s continue to react.I’ve recorded some comments for Neville to use in tomorrow’s FIR as part of his commentary on the story.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Dallas IABC targets new members with YouTube, CGM

Here’s an example of using a social channel for quick-and-dirty marketing in the nonprofit world:

Reaching out to prospective members has always been a challenge to IABC chapters. Even with the association’s record membership, which recently exceeded 16,000, finding people working in communications who can benefit from membership in a professional organization isn’t like, say, finding people who can use a better deodarant. Local chapters have it toughter than the international association, which has more resources to devote to marketing, including a professional staff; chapters are entirely volunteer-managed.

One chapter has found a channel—literally—that could boost its membership prospects. Dallas/IABC, which is in the midst of its membership month, has set up a YouTube channel and loaded it with short videos that include member testimonials and
reviews of the benefits of joining.

Most of the early crop of videos seem to have been shot at Houston and Dallas chapter meetings, but the hope is that individual communicators will produce their own. In a press release (emailed to me, but I can’t find a copy online), chapter president Julie Songer invites communicators—local or not—to upload three-minute-or-less videos addressing a communications horror story, personal communication accomplishments, the value of IABC membership or an IABC moment. The chapter has produced a PDF quick-start guide. (A web page might have been better than a PDF and I didn’t see any tagging requirements that would help the chapter identify the video.)

Getting a channel with multiple videos on YouTube makes sense for a number of reasons:

• Any member can embed a video in their own blog, exposing the chapter to a new audience
• Tagged well, the videos can attract attention through searches on YouTube
• It gives the chapter some cred as a leader in the use of new communication channels (Dallas IABC also has a LinkedIn group)
• It gets members who may have been looking for a short, simple activity the opportunity to get involved

It’s certainly an idea any local chapter of any association—professional or charitable—could adapt.

Here’a sample of what you’ll find on the channel:

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Web 2.0 in the workplace

I’ve been noodling around with a PowerPoint-slash-video approach to explaining the value of Enterprise Web 2.0 (or whatever you want to call social media behind the firewall) ever since I read an article that rejected its usefulness. The presentation has been evolving over the last couple months, and I finally decided to just finish it rather than continue trying to tweak and refine it. It is long—nearly 25 minutes, too long for YouTube—so be warned. I’m hopeful it will prove useful for someone somewhere.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

LinkedIn in Plain English

The CommonCraft blog today unveiled a new PaperWorks video: LinkedIn in Plain English. As usual, Lee and Saschi LeFever have done a first-rate job. At presentations, it’s become typical for me to hear from people who have LinkedIn accounts but aren’t sure what to do with them. This video—which CommonCraft produced as an assignment for LinkedIn—does a bang-up job answering that question.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Lee Lefever strikes again: Social Media in Plain English

This one would have been just as good with audio only, but it’s still another great entry to CommonCraft‘s collection of “Plain English” videos explaining the various elements of new media:

Social Media in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Blockbuster is clearing out Flips

When I talk about employee-generated video for intranets and the Web, I usually pull out my Flip video camera. Some people have seen it, but most ooh and aah. “How much?” they ask. “Where can I get one?”

About $149, I answer. Best Buy, Target, and the Flip website.

That was the conversation at a talk I gave recently in Phoenix. Shortly afterward, I got an email from Al Shiya, who had remembered seeing the Flip at Costco. He headed to his local store only to learn Costco no longer sells them. An employee, however, told him Blockbuster carried the camera. So Al headed to Blockbuster, where he found the model that stores an hour of AVI video for $100. Blockbuster is clearing them out. “Bought two,” Al said, then added that he thought I might want to pass that along.

Thanks, Al. I just did.

I’m not sure if these are the regular Flip cameras or the Flip Ultras like the one I have, but either way, it’s a bargain.