Archive for the ‘Video’ Category

The new Tweetdeck experimental version uses the “User Streams API” from Twitter and it is turbo charged. It’s so fast that my All Friends stream of 7,724 people is almost a blur.

This version is in limited release but you can request access by going to the Tweetdeck site, logging into your Tweetdeck account, and submitting the request. I received an email back from Tweetdeck a few hours later.

If the video demo below scares you, don’t request the new version yet.

This tweet from @Gorillamonk made me want to download the new version and see just how fast it was.

Here’s a view of my Tweetdeck stream. It hauls booty.

Are you likely to download the new version after watching this video? Or does this look out of control fast?

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If you like these types of tech videos, you should follow this blog via the RSS feed and/or by signing up for FREE blog updates via email (see the form at the top right hand side of the page). I only send blog post in the updates.

YouTube announced a new HTML5 video player that works on the Apple iPad device. The player is smart enough to know whether it can display Flash or if it has to switch to HTML5 mode for a non-Flash enabled device.

I tested the new player against the regular YouTube player on an iPad and the new player still needs some work. The new player takes a longer to load, has some funky behavior (a duplicate window appears below the player), and the screen is bouncy when the player isn’t set to fullscreen.

I can see why the new player isn’t available from the regular video page yet.

Furthermore, in order to get the HTML5 version to load, site visitors must have gone to the YouTube HTML5 page and opted in as an HTML5 Beta tester.

This player is basically in development mode. I wouldn’t rush out and start changing all your embed codes but it is worth testing out, especially if it can help you with an existing issue.

This is sample code to embed the new player:

<iframe type=”text/html” width=”640″ height=”385″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID” frameborder=”0″>

“VIDEO_ID” is the ID of the video which looks like an encrypted string. For the videos below, the ID is “FmWNwJRVK_g.”

I embedded a video using the new HTML5 player and also using the standard YouTube player to test on the iPad. I did this for my test but feel free to do the same and test it via your desktop/laptop and via your mobile device or iPad. Remember to opt in to the YouTube HTML5 Beta if you want the player to show up…or you’ll only get a black box in its place.

The New HTML 5 player

The standard YouTube embed method

What do you think? Is the new player useful yet? Will this solve any browser or platform issues for your videos?

This video shows you how to better visualize the key aspects of job by focusing on important keywords.

When is this technique useful?

There are two main circumstances when this tip is useful:

1. Let’s say you’ve identified ten good job opportunities and you have the full job descriptions, but only want to focus on one or two of the jobs. This method of highlighting keywords, using Wordle.net as a visualization tool, will help you see the keywords better. Once the main keywords are more apparent, you can use them to select the top two jobs and create your cover letters and shape your resume to focus on what’s important.

   Remember, the hiring manager created the job description so it is likely she will be looking for those keywords in cover letters to help her filter her stack of applications.

2. Yay! You received an interview and now you need to prepare for it. By using this technique, you can zoom in on the most important job aspects and skills. I used this technique before an interview and it highlighted a key technical skill. I reviewed the technical skill before the interview (I wish I had prepared more) and was asked about it and was tested on it.
   
   
   I hope the video is useful. Good luck on the job search!

Related Posts

• Using Keywords in Your Job Search – CareerBuilder.com
• Online Job Searching – Job Search Words – About.com:JobSearching

[Previously posted on www.jesseluna.posterous.com]

A few months ago, I was talking with a good friend about new technologies and he mentioned Stanford’s video captioning services. I didn’t understand why it was that exciting a technology, at first. After visiting the site and seeing how Stanford was using captions to supercharge its videos, it all made clicked.

Captions turn video content inside out, making them searchable and accessible to the world.

You’re going to learn about three powerful reasons why your business or organization should leverage YouTube captions.

One. Accessibility

Adding closed captions to videos make video content much more accessible to deaf and hard of hearing video watchers. When captions are properly configured, the speech and actions can be mapped to the video’s timeline.

This video was created by the California School for the Deaf in Fremont and describes some of the accessibility benefits of YouTube captions.

Two. Internationalization

YouTube also allows caption files for 139 different languages. That means you can create one video and fix one caption file then have it translated into 138 languages.

YouTube’s auto translate feature works fairly well. I uploaded a video, cleaned up the captions, then turned on the Spanish auto translation version. YouTube did a good job translating the text to Spanish with 80-90% accuracy. If you want a precise translation, you can upload a language specific caption file.

Three. Search engine optimization (SEO)

YouTube and Google are both indexing text within closed caption files.

This means all your video’s voice information will be indexed and will show up on YouTube and Google search results. I couldn’t find any official YouTube mention of how (or if) it indexes videos, so I set up an experiment to test things out. See the video below.

SEO PRO-TIP: Transcripts
If you are going to embed a YouTube video on a web site, you can do some additional search engine optimization by adding the transcript to the page. The transcript is the caption text without any of the time code information. Transcripts also allow users to quikly scan content without having to view the video in real time.

Review

We just learned three powerful reasons to leverage YouTube’s Closed Captions features.

• Captions open up the world to deaf and hard of hearing users
• Your videos can be made accessible to the world with language translation, and
• You will get a great SEO bump by having YouTube and Google indexing your content.

Can you think of any other reasons to levarage captions? As always, I value your feedback and comments.

Transcript

The secret is out. Video blogging is a powerful way to engage blog readers. Video adds another multimedia dimension to a blog, it helps create a closer bond to readers, it reinforces your blog’s message, and it is great for expanding your message to other social networks, especially YouTube.

I started messing around with Web video back in 2005 while testing out the kids toy, the Vidster. At the time, I had no idea how to embed the video into a site or blog (I wasn’t on YouTube until 2006). Now, things are much easier and there are a variety of ways to get started.

Getting Started

If you don’t already have a YouTube account, do yourself a favor and go create one now. I’ll add you as a friend and subscriber if you drop me a message (I’m @cinemaluna on YouTube). YouTube is a top 5 global site and has its own rich ecosystem. And, you don’t have to “live there” to get many of the benefits.

Equipment

Dude, I dont’ even have a camera.

If you have a computer and an Internet connection, you can start recording video right now. You don’t even need a camera. You can go to Screenr.com, and do a screen recording of your computer. I do this all the time to create video tutorials and it’s a great way to add video to your site. Screenr allows you to record, embed, tweet out the video link, download the video to your computer, and upload the video to YouTube. Screenr has a 5 minute maximum on screencasts.

The process of recording your screen is called “screencasting.”

Here’s a screencast I did for a WordPress.com tutorial. This video content was actually featured on the WordPress.tv site.

Or, you can go to Animoto.com and create a video based on photos. Animoto uses an ingenious system that can combine photos, video, and text then “automagically” generate the video by matching the multimedia elements to the selected soundtrack. Here’s a simple video I created using pictures (plus a micro video) from my “staycation” a few months back. The free version of Animoto limits the video to around 30 seconds.

Wait a minute, I have a little video feature in my digital camera. Can I use that?

Many newer digital cameras have a video feature. You might only be able to record a few seconds but that’s all we need to get started today. I have an “old” HP Photosmart 320 digital camera that I bought years ago and even that has a 30 second .AVI video feature. You can use a site like http://media-convert.com/ to convert from older and non-YouTube supported file formats to a more current format. Note: I haven’t actually used Media-convert.com so use at your own risk.

In case you’re counting, this is our third way to get video up to our blog today.

I also have an old-school digital video camera. But I’ve only used it to edit things in my computer. Will that work?

If you have the right cable connection for your older digital video camera, you’re in business. I have a JVC digital video camera (model GRDVL517U) that I bought around 2000, that’s 5 years BYT (Before YouTube). I can plug in the digital video cable and connect it to my PC and have access to all the video files.

If you’re going to use an older camera like the JVC then you may run across issues like missing cables, lost mini-dv cassettes, and missing user manuals. If that is the case then you can still find many of those items, but the older the digital video camera, the higher the price you’ll have to pay. My JVC user manual is over $10, and that’s from the JVC site.

That would be the fourth way to add video to your blog.

Wait a minute, we gave my kid a little camera a while back. Would that work?

There are actually several toy cameras out there that record digital video. Cameras like the Vidster by Mattel and RipRoar’s Creation Station sold for around $80 and they both record digital video. I purchased the Vidster, uh, for myself, back in 2005. Both of these toy video cameras come with cable connectors and you’ll need them to access the digital video files. You may also need to download the software for each.

Even though there are two cameras here, I’ll only count this as one way. We’re up to five ways to get video onto your blog.

I do have a web cam, but I’ve never used it.

Now’s the time. Fire up the Web cam, go to your YouTube account, click on “Upload” at the top of the page, then select “Record from webcam” and you should be able to connect and record your video. Your cam will also come with some kind of software. You can use that if you’re not ready to dive into the YouTube pool.

A web cam is the sixth way to add video to your blog.

My cell phone records video. I assume that’ll work?

You betcha. You can record on your video-enabled cell phone and send it to your email or you can post it to one of many video posting services. I’ll list those sites towards the end of this post. I use my iPhone video as a promotion machine.

That was the seventh way to add video to your blog.

I’m hip, I use Flip. Don’t hate, I also use the Kodak Zi8

Flip video cameras are small, easy to use, and very powerful. I’ve been using a Flip Mino HD for the past year and it’s served me very well. Even though the Flips have been out for a few years, they are still very cool and discreet. There’s a big difference between recording using a Flip vs. one of those huge paparazzi cameras. You’re less likely to get the stink eye from people if you’re out recording in public. I just got the Kodak Zi8 (thanks again @sugarjones) and so far it’s the bees knees. I’m still testing it out and have only posted one video to the site so far. Once again, we covered two cameras but we’ll count that as one more way. That was number ocho.

How To Embed Video Into Your Blog

Thanks to YouTube, embedding videos into blog posts is super easy. Once you get your video uploaded to YouTube, all you have to do is get the Embed code and add it to your blog.

Here are some blog by blog specifics.

WordPress.org (custom install) blog

Just paste the embed code into your blog post area and Save. That’s all you need.

WordPress.com

Paste the embed code or paste the video page’s URL into a shortcode field. Actually, if you paste in the Embed code then save the post, WordPress.com will turn it into a shortcode for you. This is an example of the YouTube shortcode:” [ youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1zJJGLJ714&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0 ] ” .

Tumblr

Log into your Tumblr account, click on the “Video” button then paste in the Embed code and create the post.

Posterous

Log into your account, click the Settings button in the upper right part of the page, then click on the “Posts” tab. You’ll see a big “Post by Web” button, click on it. Paste in the Embed code and add a Title then click on the huge “Post” button.

We’ll count each blog type as one way. We’re up to twelve ways.

Blogger

Log into your account. Create a new post, switch to HTML Edit mode, paste in the Embed code and you’re all set.

TypePad

Log into your account, create a new post, click on the Edit HTML tab, paste in the Embed code and that’s it. I haven’t used TypePad for a while so please correct me if this process has changed and I’ll update things.

And, we’re at fourteen ways to add video to your blog. But wait, there’s more!

How do I resize the YouTube player. No offense, but it looks horrible in my blog at the default sizes.

You’re in luck. I wrote a blog post entitled, “How To Create and Resize A Custom YouTube Player.” The YouTube interface changed since the blog post so there may be some differences in the way things work though.

Other Very Cool Video Sites

Do I really have to use YouTube for everything? What are some other options?

You don’t have to use YouTube. There are many other video sites out there. I’ll list a few (so I can get to 20 ways ;) )

12Seconds.tv

This is a great site and one that I have used many times. 12Seconds.tv allows users to record, upload, or post mobile uploads of 12 seconds of video. If you’re intimidated by the camera, this is a great way to do a super quick post. You’ll have to be brief!

Vimeo

Vimeo is similar to YouTube only it’s a smaller community. The Vimeo video player is less clunky looking than the YouTube one.

Viddler

Viddler, a favorite site of mega video star Gary Vaynerchuk, is also a smaller video community. A smaller site means you can build a stronger following and have a chance at communicating with the company.

We’re at 17 ways!

I do everything via my iPhone. What do you have for me there? Any mobile app suggestions?

Once again, you’re in luck and these iPhone apps will take us to the end of this post’s journey.

Animoto

Yup, Animoto has an app that allows you to create videos from your iPhone. It works almost exactly like the Web version that we discussed above.

Qik

We didn’t really get into streaming video but the Qik iPhone app allows your 3gs phone to stream live video. You can then log into the Qik site and access the video and add it to your blog. Or, you can get crazy and embed a Qik player on one of your blog pages and have it stream live from your blog!

UStream Broadcaster

UStream is another streaming video site and it has an iPhone app.

Reel Director

Reel Director is a paid iPhone app. It allows you to edit video and combine photos, video, and text. It’s similar to Animoto but bumps things up a notch. This is a bonus “way” to add video to your blog today.

I’m looking forward to seeing your video creations, whether they are life vloggings, sales promos, tutorials, documentaries, or interviews.

I appreciate your feedback and look forward to continuing the conversation in the Comments.

It’s safe to say that there is no one formula for presenting social media to your company. The approaches will differ based on your position in the company, the company’s culture, formal presentation processes, probably on the size of your company, and the receptiveness of the industry to social media. But if you believe, as I do, that social media is here to stay and that your business can benefit from tapping into the social revolution, then you should find some helpful tips here for making your big pitch. I’ll start by sharing my personal experience pitching social media to my previous boss then share responses from across different social networking channels. Just so you know, I think my presentation barely made it to first base. The tips I mention below include “corrections” for things I left out of my presentation. Those bits of extra wisdom plus crowdsourced responses should help your presentation go much further than mine and hopefully you’ll knock a homer. I hope you’ll stick around and add your experiences and feedback in the Comments section below.
The Pitch It was 2008 and I was pitching social media to the company’s CEO. It was lonely standing up there in the conference room. It was just the CEO, me, and the glow of the projector displaying my Power Point presentation. But I knew that folding social media into the fiber of the company was the right path. I presented the benefits and massive opportunities of social media, examples of other companies doing amazing things with it, and showed him Tony Hsieh’s (Zappos CEO) Twitter stream to help him visualize what top-down involvement looked like. Presentation Tips My personal tips for pitching social media to a boss are:

1. Get help from other colleagues. Two or more people pitching a new project is much more convincing than one lone voice. I chose to present on my own after getting lukewarm feedback from potential allies.
2. Schedule a time for the pitch. This conveys the message that you have something serious and important to discuss and it avoids interruptions.
3. Create a formal presentation. I suggest a Power Point or a written proposal. This will give you a clear framework and keep you on track in case your nerves set in. I used Guy Kawasaki’s “10/20/30″ Power Point presentation guidelines to select the presentation structure.
4. Primarily, answer the question “What problems will social media solve?” This was the first question I was asked and my answer was a bit shaky. My presentation had focused on the benefits and opportunities, not as much on problem-solving. The CEO and I ended up coming up with potential problem-busting uses during the meeting.
5. Present the benefits of using social media from different company perspectives. If you are a marketing person, your inclination may be to only focus on the marketing opportunities. Don’t stop there. You can approach social media from an HR, customer service, IT, and sales perspectives as well. During the meeting, we discussed using social media as part of the Web site process improvement cycle.
6. Recommend a concrete plan of action. Ask for resources (time, people, and money) to accomplish an objective and get a commitment. Make sure you recommend a SMART objective – one that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.

As a result of the pitch, I was given time to do some “experimenting” with social media. This was less of a commitment than I had hoped for, but was resolved to make the most out of the opportunity. This would require patience since I had already been very active on Twitter and knew what could be accomplished. A year and a half later I designed and help implement a blogging infrastructure and all product managers are now blogging and sharing great content with customers and the Blogosphere.

Other “Pitch” Stories and Approaches

As I closed up the blogging project, I wondered how other people fared making a similar social media pitch. I jumped on my social networks and asked them. I went to Twitter, Facebook, Aardvark, and LinkedIn and posted the question: Note: This was the question posted to LinkedIn. The Twitter version was much shorter as was the Aardvark version. I blogged about using LinkedIn and Aardvark for doing in depth Internet research earlier this month (includes a video demonstration).
Crowdsourced Responses
There were many different approaches to pitching social media. Here are some of the responses:

Present a binder containing examples of all the things that are being said about the company, industry, products – even about your boss – on social media. Also include some LI Q&A, tweets, blogs etc. by employees, key customers, competitors. This can be a real eye-opener that brings home the lesson that the train has left the station, and though you can’t control the chatter, you can be influencing the discussion – but only if you get in there and play. Some great examples to include are situations where a customer was upset or misinformed about something, and got satisfaction through a social media response.

-Rob Duncan, www.robduncan.com, via LinkedIn

Developing a tracking system for social media is imperative for measuring the efforts put in by your social media manager and ROI. While it may not always be concrete numbers, there is something to be said for sentiment, reach, and passion for a company.

- JNR from San Diego

I have never had to pitch my boss on social media, but I have had to pitch social media to very stubborn and old fashioned people before. I really like Rob’s suggestion of showing examples of where people have talked about your company. When ever I have done that for potential clients, they are very impressed. It helps them to see the vision of what social media is. I posted a link below of a great video by Socialnomics that I’ve found to be pretty effective. It displays a bunch of impressive statistics on how social media is here to stay.


-Chad Mustard, Owner Blue Helm Communications, www.bluehelm.com, via LinkedIn

A couple [of] suggestions based on my 4+ years experience pitching blogs/SM to clients.

1. I’ve had much more success sitting with decision makers, one or two at a time, in front of a computer, actually showing them what can be done on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. I agree with others here that showing mentions of your company are powerful – even more powerful if you show them these mentions in real time on one of the monitoring sites. For people who aren’t engaged in SM on a regular basis, it all sounds strange and highly theoretical when discussed in a meeting. You have to make it real.
2. Be crystal clear about your SM objectives. If you’re not sure what purpose SM serves in your organization, discussing engagement tactics and even strategy are premature. SM can support many organizational goals – branding, thought leadership, SEO, customer loyalty, lead generation, etc. The top people may not understand SM, but they understand more leads, happier customers, more prominent brands. I think it’s much better to internally position SM as a tool to support initiatives rather than an initiative in itself.

-Brad Shorr, Director of Content Marketing, Straight North, www.straightnorth.com, via LinkedIn

…In order to “sell” my boss on social media it was pretty easy conceptually, just drive traffic from these social media activities to our website. Actually delivering on the results is the hardest part. … It’s just getting past that first hump that is the hardest part when you’re relatively unknown in the SM world. Getting the first visitors are always the hardest, but it is something that can provide exponential gains with growth. … So the best way to start out is to set some obtainable goals, go ahead with your plan, measure the results and control the expectations with your boss.
-Chris Rizzo, from a Michigan data center, Online Tech, via LinkedIn.

Present the rationale backwards. Start with the benefit of social networking (interaction with brand, profit generation, lead generation, etc.) and leave the execution to the end. Most people can get bogged down in explaining how social networking works which can be a heavy learning curve for some non-tech savvy people.

-Ed M., Hoboken, NJ, via Aardvark

I’ve presented twitter as a valuable primer for research by searching for tags, organizing the results into columns, and highlight key phrases in peoples’ posts. This enabled my boss to see it as both qualitative and quantitative, but also synthesized into something that seemed meaningful, just by providing simple headings like “many women feel guilty when taking time for themselves” with supporting tweets below. Make it look substantial, but highly organized. Avoid the overwhelming clutter appearance of social media. That’s what they’re afraid of.

-Michael Kiser Innovation/Interactive consultant in Chicago, via Aardvark

Review

We’ve seen my approach to pitching social media, some of my tips, and several other approaches. If you’re about to make a big pitch to your boss, department, or to a potential client, I hope these approaches and techniques help you in your endeavor. I’d also like to send a big THANK YOU to everyone who responded to my question and shared and contributed to the research for this post.

Have you pitched social media to an executive? As always, I would be honored to hear your stories via the Comments.