Saturday, February 11, 2006

Vlogging:AKA Video Blogging

Rocket Boom Vlog

Vlogging? No it's not the latest Winter sport at the Turin Olympics. It's video blogging. "V" for video and "blog" jammmed together to form a new word that is also the web's newest evolution. So far there almost 10,000 Vloggers out there. But how about the quality of the content? Well, for now kind of mediorcre on the whole. Remember Hemmingway's homily to the effect that giving someone a typewriter doesn't turn them into a writer?

But that will change. Remember Kevin Kostner building his baseball field amidst cornstalks in the movie " field of dreams?" He said " build a field they will come." And they did.



Click here to listen to this excellent Webmonkey Radio Podcast on Vlogging reported at Mac World.



This great Vlog, Rocket Boom, was brought to my attention in a newsletter on Internet marketing published by Ken McCarthy . To subscibe you can contact @ Ken McCarthy .


Vlogs: The Boom Heard Round the Internet:


According to McCarthy, Andrew Baron is behind the camera and Amanda Congdon, 24, is the host at RocketBoom. McCarthy says already 100,000 visitors click in each day to view this Vlog. Rocket Boom's studio? A living room in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where out-of-pocket costs top a dizzying $25/day. Today's story for instance is filed from Kenya by one of Rocketboom's " Field" correspondents, Ruud Elmendorp. It's an interview illustrated with B-Roll of a political folk artist, Joseph Bertiers, who works in Kenya, a fascinating "niche" story that sadly might never find its way to broadcast media.

In addition to shooting this clip, Elmendorp probably cut it as well and then compressed it for streaming. Rocket Book didn't have to spend thousands booking time on a " bird" (satellite) to transmit the clip back. It was probably sent by FTP by Elemdorp with a click or two of a mouse.


You can play these clips on your computer or on the latest i pod, Just remember to turn the sound down at work or your boss won't wonder why you have so much time on your hands.


That's certainly one of the ways futurists say online video content will go, providing niche content such as this. Humor helps too. After all most Net content is about "infotainment", not education. People have shorter attention spans online. So make it short and sweet and if you can throw in a chuckle or two...even better.


Undoubtedly the money will follow soon after for these pod-casters. If they don't get tsunnami-ed by the BIG Players. Already I-Tunes licenses video content for parters. $1 a pop to play a clip may seem like peanuts but those micro-payments add up quickly.


Prodigem: Personal Broadcasting Freedom?


Comgdon and Barton host ther VLOG at Prodigem whose home page states they use BitTorrent technology.


Intrigued? So am I. I don't have time to produce and edit daily video Vlogs but others will. Hmm.


Or maybe I do?


Thinking aloud here...How about doing a daily post on Sal, that gifted woodcarver at the South Street Seaport Museum? Maybe uploading daily reports as he shows paid subscribers how to carve a ship's nameboard? Promote them with a message at forums for woodcarving and classified ads in woodcarving journals.


Or how about a dog training Vlog?


Not. At least for now. Too busy with other work. But it is intoxicating, thinking of all the possibilities.


More later.

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