Conversationblog

If you would have asked me if I was reading email or watching TV on my mobile a couple of months ago I would have answered you "What... are you crazy ? Never...".

Well, "o tempora or mores" as they say in Latin; yesterday I watched my first Rocketboom episode on my Nokia N93 (aff.link)... And I must admit, I am checking my Gmail account twice a day now on the same phone.

Experiencing this myself was something of an eye opener and leads me to believe that we will see more and more multimedia (sound, video, pictures and text) being created and syndicated over the web.

Rocketboom's production costs are around 25$ per day if I am not mistaken but they have more viewers than the most popular talkshow on CNN. Through Tivo you can watch each episode on your TV and via a great little application called ShoZu I can watch it on my mobile...

This can only spur creativity and innovation. This week I was talking to a client (a PR agency I'll train next year in the use of RSS and other new media) and was saying that it is still possible today for a Belgian company to create their own "TV channel" or "radio station". As long as you have good content...

So my first prediction (and not only mine) for 2007 is that we'll see much more "multimedia" being sent from blogs, websites etc.. to different devices like a mobile phone, TV and portables.

Man... I do need to start this New Media Europe podcast/videocast talk show with Matt soon...

Technorati : 2007, N93, RSS, blog, blogging, gmail, multimedia, nokia, podcast, rocketboom, shozu, tivo, videocast

I haven't been using Google Reader a lot because I rather "monitor" RSS feeds (keyword based alerts) with KlipFolio than I actually "read" content. But this time I think I found the right application for Google Reader.... subscribing and listening to podcasts.

Google Reader not only allows you to subscribe to podcast feeds but also gives you a little interface so you can start playing the podcast file right from your browser.

I know, some of you will say that normal people use their MP3 player but still, about 80% of us use their PC to listen to podcasts. And i must say, in this case the Google Reader solution comes in handy. Just subscribe and refresh and click play.

The only thing is that you need to keep your browser open to listen... So no checking up on Gmail while you're enjoying your favorite podcast. Google Reader is also available for most mobile phones.

Technorati : FIR, RSS, feeds, gmail, google, google reader, klipfolio, mp3, podcast, serence

Would this be a European first ? It is a Belgian first that much is clear...

The public French language Belgian radio station "RTBF" just announced it's Podcast 2 service offering their full radio programming, including music (!) as dowloadable MP3 files with RSS subscription.

According to their announcement they would be the first radio station to have struck a deal with all major music publishers to handle and protect the author and copyrights of the artists they include in their broadcast.

The way the RTBF offers their podcasts is also very user friendly. You can search by keywords, by thematic menu or by combining the 2 search methods. Subscription happens through iTunes or the direct RSS feed.

Way to go for a public mainstream medium. The RTBF is really leading the podcast way in Belgium.

Technorati : RSS, belgian radio, belgium, itunes, mp3, music, new media, podcasting, radio, rtbf
Del.icio.us : RSS, belgian radio, belgium, itunes, mp3, music, new media, podcasting, radio, rtbf

I missed this great article in the Wall Street Journal from July 29 on the new media moguls.

This is very impressive; people who take their creativity to a next level with the latest tools on the web and are very good at it. The article lists examples of people using YouTube, podcasting, videocasting and blogs... and taking their content to the next level. Those are the real trailblazers.

I envy Matt Harding, both for the dancing and the travel...

So I wonder, for when the "Belgosphere list" of creative Belgian new media users ?

Technorati : belgopshere, matt+harding, mogul, new+media, wsj, youtube

The Guardian announced a new service recently; they will offer a free news update every 15 minutes which users can download from their website... The thing is... it is a PDF to be printed.

Users will be able to log on to Guardian Unlimited and download an eight to 12-page A4 pdf document, which can then be printed off. They can select any of the five news streams.

Shows that "new media" are only another way to reach people, but it is the audience that will select the format. Even the way new media are consumed is dictated by the audience; most podcasts are played on the PC/Laptop... not on an MP3 player.

Technorati : Guardian, journalism, media, media+relations, new+media, newpaper, online+communications, podcast

Well here it is, my 2nd podcast interview.

This time with Simon McDermott, the CEO of Attentio a company specialized in tracking online buzz. We covered the following topics:

• Setting up a company in Brussels being Irish...
• Online buzz tracking
• Monitoring social media
• Online monitoring, Marketing or PR ?
• How to cope with language differences ?
• Future of social media

Simon's ten years of business development experience include roles with Cisco Systems and Intel Corporation. He has an International MBA from the Vlerick School (Belgium) and a Business degree from Trinity College Dublin.

His company Attentio provides market monitoring and analysis tools that continuously track a broad range of media for buzz and interests about companies' brands, products or fiercest competitors. Last but not least, Simon started to blog here.

You can download the podcast here (right click and save) or listen to it on Ourmedia.

Simon will be presenting at the IAOC's Brussels Conference on June 16. You can still register for the conference on the IAOC's website.

Technorati : attentio, buzz, interview, marketing, monitoring, online, podcast, public+relations, simon+mcdermott, tracking

Podcastday2006 has ended and I am happy to have been there, even if it was a very short trip. It is always interesting to meet other people who are involved in the same broad area of new media.

This time I shared a panel debate with Neville Hobson, Sven Dörrenbächer from Mercedez Benz, Julian Regenthal-Patzak from Audioetage and Prof. Dr. Thomas Pleil from the Hochschule Darmstadt was the moderator.

One of the central questions that popped up during the panel was how to make podcasts interactive; how to allow for direct feedback and comment ? The most logical approach would be to allow for comments on a public wiki or blog related to the podcast. But some people want to make it even more direct.

Pictures from Podcastdays2006 here.

Neville and Shel Holtz from FIR will be trying out a Skypecast Podcast on June 1. This will allows for immediate interaction with listeners. Although this looks more as a hosted online conference call the audiofile will be available for later download which I guess makes it a podcast as well.

Online audio recording of conference calls is certainly an area where we will start to see a lot of movement. But up till now there still is not a simple 1-2-3 service out there (at least, not that I know of). If you want to know more I suggest you read this interesting comparison article on Skypecast/Skype recorder (instruction in PDF here) and iVocalize.

Technorati : conference, forimmediaterelease, ivocalize, koln, podcastday, skype, skype+recorder, skypecast
Flickr : podcastday2006

I am off tomorrow to the German Podcast Days conference in Koln.

I'll be talking about IBM's efforts in the area of podcasting, both external and internal. I'll be stressing the fact that even though blogs, wikis and podcasting are rather "easy to use", they are not adopted instantaneously in a corporate environment.

It takes more than a "click to download" button to incorporate "new media" into an enterprise culture. Lots of education, information sessions and hand on training are needed to fit these technologies into an organisation. Most importantly, they need to fit with the corporate culture or/and the company needs to understand and agree on the fact that new media will change their current culture.

And I'll finally meet up with Neville Hobson who will speak at our IAOC Brussels Conference on June 15 and 16. (Still time to register !)

And here's a story I want to reference because it goes into a rather detailed overview of the results of a blogging campaign; the Hill & Knowlton "LG blogger program" called The Chocolate Blog. Detailed results, documented return, and a good scope of the project. That's what we need more in this business. Good job from Nial Cook to post this.

Technorati : Brussels, IAOC, LG, blog, blogging, case+study, conference, germany, hill+knowlton, neville+hobson, niall+cook, podcast, podcasting, the+chocolate+blog

Great example of "innovative" marketing: Castrol the motor oil company is using podcasts to talk about music, cars and... motor oil of course. The company has launched a series of podcasts with a real DJ host called "Funkmaster Flex" (love that name).

"This series of podcasts gives you insights on racing, cars & music, and motor oil facts, benefits, and history." states their website. The podcasts are a mix of interviews with car racers and motor oil experts and music.

Other fellow bloggers have picked up on the story although I found it through this Business Week article. (Notice the name change of the company in the article to "Castro Motor Oil" ;-)

Constantin Basturea, who created a wiki page to collect good (and bad) case studies on the use of blogs for marketing/PR purposes could have to start a podcast page as well...

While at his blog I see he just blogged about a new research report on corporate blogging, co-sponsored by my former employer Porter Novelli. The first results are in but it seems that they are still taking input.

Technorati Tags : castrol, podcast, marketing, business+week, wiki, porter+novelli, constantin+basturea, motor+oil, funkmaster+flex

PS: join us at the first european IAOC Online Communications Conference, June 15/16 - Brussels

Here it is, my first Podcast !

I am honored that my first podcast interview is with Anne Gregory, Professor at the Leeds Metropolitan University and Director of the Center for Public Relations Studies.

You can download the podcast here (MP3 - 22,8 MB)

Or you can listen to it online at Our Media.org

I met Prof. Gregory (virtually) more than 2 years ago when posting my thoughts on Anti-Spin.com, a website dedicated to PR, media and spin/anti-spin. We did this interview in Antwerp where Prof. Gregory spoke about PR, the Media and Democracy at an event organised by VEPEC, an association for Belgian PR,  Advertising & Marketing Practicioners.

During the interview we covered the following topics (in chronological order):

• Creating informed consent
• PR needs to look at larger impact on society
• Communicators have a responsibility
• PR leading reconciliation/building bridges
• Online communications & social control
• Building trust
• Fact checking & online media
• Who checks the Bloggers ?
• Multiple sources = better point of views
• PROs should defend Journalists
• The pressure on Journalism/the Media
• Importance of PR education

We could have gone on for about an hour or 5 but Prof. Gregory still had to present to VEPEC's guests so we kept it to these 20 minutes. I hope you enjoy this and please feel free to comment, give feedback.

A big thanks to Anne Gregory for the time she freed up, to Sam Versluys for the audio/technical support and VEPEC for letting me do this interview just before their conference.

You can download the podcast interview here (MP3 - 22,8 MB)

Or you can listen to it online at Our Media.org