Streaming Media - December 2007/January 2008 - (Page 32) Podcasting Grows Up t hose of you following my columns know that I recently became a convert to the world of podcasting, so much so that I decided to write a book about it, The Podcasting Bible. I decided to attend this year’s Podcast and New Media Expo to get a feel for where the podcasting industry is, and where it’s headed. The show is in its third year, and up until this point it has taken place at the relatively humble location of Ontario, Calif., a somewhat sleepy industrial neighborhood of east Los Angeles. It was with mixed feelings that the crowd learned that the 2008 PNME will be held in Las Vegas. On the one hand, it’s a great sign that the industry is expanding, and Las Vegas adds a certain degree of “respectability,” but I think a lot of folks will miss the feisty upstart nature the event has had thus far. The first thing to strike me was how well the organizers understood their audience. Since podcasting grew out of blogging, it’s obvious most of the attendees are bloggers, and they will want to blog live throughout the event. To this end, the organizers provided tables and power strips to the first few rows, and reserved these seats for “laptop users.” No more leaning against the back wall by the electrical outlets! Wireless connectivity was ubiquitous and—get this—free. Given the number of attendees, the throughput was sometimes slow as molasses, but the sentiment was there. It’s about time that all tech conferences realized that attendees don’t want to check their email at kiosks—they want free wireless. The exhibition floor was large and lively and included podcasting service providers, audio and video equipment distributors, and podcast aggregators; even Nokia had a booth demonstrating the podcast abilities of their latest handsets. More than once I found myself wondering why some of these companies weren’t exhibiting at any of the Streaming Media conferences. A number of exhibitors caught my eye. Since I’m a well-known gearhead, Revolabs’ xTag wireless microphone system was bound to get me excited. This system uses a previously deserted part of the gigahertz spectrum, so no worries about interference. The mics are small and unobtrusive, and communicate with a small base unit that you attach to a USB port. One charge lasts 8 hours, so you can talk as long as you want. Tubemogul is a video distribution service that automatically uploads your video to a wide variety of video sharing sites. That’s only the beginning, though. Where their service really adds value is by aggregating the statistics for all your videos, broken out by site. The service is free, with a paid version available next year adding additional functionality. Beat9 enables banner advertising in your audio and video podcasts. Audio podcasts get slideshow-type ads displayed, and video podcasts get banners added across the top. Beat9 works with advertisers and agencies to find interested advertisers for you, and it tracks the number of impressions and clickthroughs. Podango and Kiptronic, two of the bigger players in the industry, announced a strategic partnership where Podango will make Kiptronic’s ad insertion technology available on its P2 Platform, which is a publishing service for podcasters. Kiptronic has also licensed Nielsen’s SiteCensus technology for third-party verification of downloads. The conference was divided into four tracks: Podcasting 101, Attracting and Growing Your Audience, Business and Monetization, and Advanced Creation Techniques. The conference attendees and panelists spanned a wide variety of industries and interests, so there was a lot of healthy cross-pollination. The most refreshing aspect of the conference was panelists’ willingness to share information. People talked openly about pricing models and revenues. They talked openly about their audience numbers. They swapped tips about marketing and promotion. Compare that to most conferences where panelists are “not at liberty to discuss” the things you’re most interested in. For example, I wanted to know how many subscribers a podcast needed to attract advertisers. The answer: roughly 2,000. How much do people charge for their audio ads? Fifty dollars, per 10 seconds, per 1,000 impressions. Ask a question, and you’d get an answer. Maybe this is why the conference, and podcasting as a whole, feels fresh and exciting. I wonder why the streaming industry seems to have stalled while podcasting and user-generated content sites bask in the spotlight. There’s a feeling of community and cooperation that’s been missing from streaming media for a while now. As Steve Safran from Lost Remote says, the internet is a social medium, first and foremost. If you neglect this, you’ve missed the point. Steve Mack (smack@luxmedia.com) is the author of The Streaming Media Bible and The Podcasting Bible (Wiley). He’s the principal at LUX Media, a digital media and consulting firm. Comments? Email us at letters@streamingmedia.com, or check the masthead for other ways to contact us. The Digital Domain By Steve Mack 32 STREAMING MEDIA December 2007/January 2008
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