Eventure NI Presentation | Five Things in Six Minutes

there’s more, but that will do. I'm not even thinking about the Digital Radio channels available here.

Twenty-five years ago it was impossible - without Government legislation - to start a new and legal TV or Radio Station. Even 10 years ago it would have been difficult and expensive.

We could all go off today and set up a new TV channel – we’d need some investment and a few easy to get licenses. But we could set up a TV channel by the end of the month.

We could – if someone was to take a run into town and buy a few pieces of kit – set up a radio station — oh, if we worked through lunch – by 1.30 today. The both the radio station and the TV station would run on the Web or on Satellite, Cable or Terrestrial Digital platform.

From Analogue to Digital

When media took the step from Analogue to Digital the hurdles that were access to the means of production and the means of distribution disappeared. And the costs ranged from cheap to free.

The YouTube Phenomena

There are the usual silly clips of silly animal videos, kids miming to songs - almost all pretty bland stuff. But no one in the mass media with any sense dis-regarded it. We all only have one pair of eyes. If you're watching YouTube, you're not watching TV

Yes there is dross, but there is some original and entertaining content, too. Evolution of Dance

Cost of production - a guy with a domestic camera. Cost Zero most younger people have that technology to hand.

An uplink to You Tube - you can probably get a friend to do that for you if you haven't got your own. Cost Zero

Within 4 months "Evolution of Dance" had 31,729,649 views. The growth is now slower; last time I looked there were more than 35 million views in 7 months. But Judson Laipply has now launched his own internet TV channel. There's nothing much happening on it (19 November) and it appears to have missed its first deadline.

Until recently, one of the most expensive parts of a web site was the cost of hosting Streaming Video. In "Non-commercial" use, that is now free through well known sites like You Tube, but also specialist sites like Blip.tv. All you need to do is post your video onto one of these sites. The system automatically converts it to Flash - and you can link that into your site or your Blog.

In September 2006, one of their most popular videos was for Dove beauty products.

So I'm not sure how that stacks up against many videos on YouTube which "promote" without being overtly "commercial" There are some BBC videos there which promote programmes.

So there are "Commercial" videos there - as well as promotional. If you do plan to use YouTube to promote your business, think about the vernacular of these sites, make videos that fit and suit. And remember above all, YouTube and the others are Community sites, too. There are a place to build community and to speak with your friends, customers and clients.

Most of us have the kit to record a video at home and the program to edit it on our PC - or we can down load one free. The Jeremy Paxman video was recorded on a phone. Of course there is an impact on quality, range, purpose; hardly minor things. But the objective is different. Internet New Media with its return path - a line of direct communication with others and the potential for community building - that is the new objective.

Put in it's simplest terms, "We are All in the Media Now" means that anyone with a mobile phone made in the last 18 months has access to the internet and is "in the media" if they want to be.

The world's second most popular entertainment is Story Telling. There’s not much point of a TV station without programmes, or a radio station without music or presenters or conversation or stuff that will attract people to listen.

There is nothing new about interactive media. The first letter of complaint or praise - but I bet it was a complaint - that arrived at the first BBC Director General’s desk that caused a change in the programme content was interactive media - although not Digital Interactive.

We’ve just got more sophisticated and as consumers we have learned to expect more. And we have better kit and ways to communicate. We are also better equipped to originate our own content, place it on our own platforms and engage with our own new audience.

The role of the audience is changing and the definition of the audience is changing to. The audience is now the customer, the client most importantly Part of the Community.

So if the world's second favourite entertainment, what's the first? Conversation.

If you or the people who work with you go to a party and chance into conversation about what you do, you are going to talk about your job, the work you do and the business. And you are going to be passionate about it. You won't be trying to sell anything - you'll just be passionate about what you do.

Here I'm going to talk about Blogs a lot. Let's start with this statement - I'll end with it too. As Kevin Anderson says on his blog "It's become a new mantra for me: Blogging isn't a publishing strategy; it is a community strategy."

He is a leading Blogger, an original, thinker in Blogging and his book Naked Conversations will change your mind about the value of Blogging. Let's start with the book which he coauthored with Shel Israel.

From the Barnes and Nobel site:

People don’t want to hear from your PR people: They want to hear from living, breathing you. Blogs let you humanize your company and discover exactly what your customers are thinking right now. Microsoft’s Robert Scoble, arguably the world’s best-known corporate blogger, says it’s time you joined the conversation.

Scoble’s passionate about the power of corporate blogs. He thinks Microsoft’s 1,500-plus bloggers have fundamentally changed the market’s perception of his company, and he’s probably right. He has plenty of potential benefits to discuss: obvious, and less obvious, such as blogging’s benefits for staff recruitment. And he has plenty of case studies, from big companies like IBM and McDonald’s, midsize companies like Stonyfield Farms, and even neighborhood restaurants trying to fend off the mega-chains.

But he’s candid about the challenges, too: negative comments, confidentiality issues, resource commitments, trouble demonstrating ROI, and so forth. (And, whatever else you do, make sure to read his guidance on avoiding trouble with the corporate mucky-mucks. More than a few folks have gotten fired for ignoring these rules.)

You don’t need to be familiar with blogs or blogging to read this book: Scoble and coauthor Shel Israel patiently explain all the basics, tell you how to get started, and point you to the resources and tools you’ll need. Then, if you buy in, they offer dozens of dos, don’ts, and pointers. (Stay away from phony "character" blogs. Demonstrate passion and authority. Post fast and often. Tell a story. Include comments.)

This from Scoble's Wikipedia entry:

By "Naked" he means communications that are not filtered through an employer’s marketing or public relations department—a key part of its appeal. He argues that every business can benefit from smart "naked" blogging. "If you ignore the blogosphere… you won’t know what people are saying about you. You can’t learn from them, and they won’t come to see you as a sincere human who cares about your business and its reputation."

The very freedom that allows you to use emerging media to talk about your business, gives others the opportunity to do the same - not always complimentary.

While businesses can take advantage of New Media tools to communicate with their customers - and by "communicate" I mean speaking and listening, not just talking at them, customers and clients also have New Media tools to talk about businesses. This excerpt is from San Francisco Chronicle's site sfgate.com

That's all very well; some of these campaigns take off, others don't. They are not always powerful. Then Someone who has a massive readership posts a message on their Blog. This is from Jeff Jarvis

Jeff's Buzz Machine is one of the worlds leading blogs and Mr. Jarvis has a good reputation. What he says matters. There are 253 comments at the time of writing this. Yet I can't find a blog on the Dell site which engages with the customer.

BTW I have a very nice Dell which (touch wood) has given years of perfect service. I think it's great.

Savvy organistations can help create customer loyalty and trust - build brand if you wish - by taking online customer relations seriously.

Blogs are only one way to grow a relationship with your clients. And there is one simple key to success – honesty.

So Who Should Blog?

Everyone - you, your staff, your friends, your customers. If someone in Marketing or PR want to blog, let them, but make sure they talk "Blog" not "Market". Blogging is about conversations with people - and conversations are as much about listening as about talking or writing.

But as Kevin Anderson says on his blog "It's become a new mantra for me: Blogging isn't a publishing strategy; it is a community strategy."

"Ohh, that sounds expensive; people giving over their time to write about their jobs." But shouldn't they be talking about their jobs and being passionate about their work and business outside the office? Do they bill you overtime if they go to a party and say what a wonderful business this is and what a great employer you are?

"Ohh, what if they say something bad about the business?" Well, if they are being honest - then you have a problem with your business that you need to fix - thank them for pointing it out. If they lie, they've probably been lying to everyone. What would you do? The blog is not the problem.

How do you do that? Use new media as an opportunity for a conversation not a conversion.

And should your audience take you off the linear path you had planned – go with them.

Using New and Emerging media means you are able to make use of the first and second forms of entertainment; Conversations and Storytelling.

How new is that? It's what we've been doing since we sat in our caves and talked about what was over the horizon.

Five Things in Six Minutes

• The Future is Here

• We’re All in the Media Now (About YouTube, Blip TV and putting videos online)

• Content Drives Media (We are about to talk about Blogs)

• Content is (almost) always driven by Stories (Time to talk about Blogs)

• The Key to Storytelling – KISS

We’re All In The Media Now

Do you remember how it was?

From Analogue to Digital

The YouTube Phenomena

Content Drives Media

Content is (almost) always driven by Stories.

From the Barnes and Nobel site:

This from Scoble's Wikipedia entry:

So Who Should Blog?

The Key to Storytelling – KISS