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    <title>morph posts</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/" />
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   <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2007:/morph/2</id>
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    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:44Z</updated>
    <subtitle>This is an archive of my prior posts to mediacenterblog.org. ... This is VERY MUCH a work in progress.</subtitle>
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<entry>
    <title>Um, I&apos;m with the band</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2006/01/um_im_with_the_band.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=748" title="Um, I'm with the band" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2006:/morph//2.748</id>
    
    <published>2006-01-19T15:14:13Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:44Z</updated>
    
    <summary>I just got an email from one of my favorite local bands (local being a relative term), saying that they are playing their last-ever show this Friday night. The email caused me to reflect on how the Internet and its...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Noted" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>I just got an email from one of my favorite local bands (local being a relative term), saying that they are playing their last-ever show this Friday night. The email caused me to reflect on how the Internet and its various trappings have affected my life in quite random and certainly positive ways.</p>

<p>I discovered the Fredericksburg, Va. based Folded Under (<a href="http://www.foldedunder.com">www.foldedunder.com</a>) through Napster. Sort of. I actually downloaded some of their songs along with dozens of others in one fell swoop from mp3.washingtonpost.com, when I lived in Arlington, VA.</p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p>One night while logged on to Napster, someone messaged me and asked if I was going to the Folded Under show. I replied "who are they?" and was informed that I had three of their songs in my visible library. Silly me. Turns out the person messaging me was the sister of one of the band members, and was trying to drum up support for the upcoming show. I listened to the three songs I had, liked them, and 48 hours later made the hour drive to see them play. Several trips to various venues were made over the next few years and we got to know some of the members a bit.</p>

<p>And it all started because of a little viral marketing by someone I "let" into my home who was able to "peek" at some of my stuff.</p>

<p>Media companies are always searching for ways to attract younger readers/users/etc. I downloaded this band's music from the Web site of my Big Local Paper. But I was CONNECTED to them thanks to the software of a college kid from Northeastern with a funny nickname. Something to think about when looking out for the Next Big Thing.</p>]]>
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Say it ain&apos;t so, Joe</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/11/say_it_aint_so_joe.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=724" title="Say it ain't so, Joe" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.724</id>
    
    <published>2005-11-28T14:52:42Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:44Z</updated>
    
    <summary>I love my DVR for many reasons. But, as a former print person who always marveled at what broadcast people could get away with, I think the ability to hold people more accountable for what they say on the air...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Noted" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>I love my DVR for many reasons. But, as a former print person who always marveled at what broadcast people could get away with, I think the ability to hold people more accountable for what they say on the air has to be among my favorite aspects of these wonderful machines. With that, I give you the observations of a reader of <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/blog/index?entryDate=20051123&amp;name=simmons">ESPN.com's Sports Guy column</a>, who is shooting some of the fish in a barrel known as Joe Theismann's comments:</p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p>(Speaking of Theismann, here's an e-mail from Brendan in Indy: &quot;With
just around 1:00 left in the 3rd Quarter and the Texans facing a 4th
and 4 from the 4 yard line. Down 31-14, the Texans lined up like they
were going to go for it. At which point Joe Theismann says 'the Texans
are going to go for it, and I love that call' following by the Texans
calling a timeout and the game going to a commercial break. When the
game returns, the Texans are kicking the field goal and the announcers
are arguing about the decision to kick the field goal, with Theismann
arguing FOR the field goal. I thought that maybe I had misheard who had
said they loved the call to go for it, so with the beauty of TiVo I was
able to go back and watch it again, and sure enough it was the great
Joe Theismann! He really is creating arguments with himself!&quot;)</p>]]>
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>The Big Brother insurance bot</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/11/the_big_brother_insurance_bot.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=706" title="The Big Brother insurance bot" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.706</id>
    
    <published>2005-11-03T19:52:09Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:43Z</updated>
    
    <summary>This came into my inbox today. It got me thinking about other uses for it and how media companies might benefit. It also creeped me out a bit.Get $50 for participating in a research study. As a valued Progressive Direct...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Noted" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>This came into my inbox today. It got me thinking about other uses for it and how media companies might benefit. It also creeped me out a bit.</p><blockquote><p><strong>Get $50 for participating in a research study.</strong> </p>

<p>As a valued Progressive Direct customer, we're inviting you to participate in an innovative research study. The purpose of this study is to help us reduce the cost of car insurance. And you’ll earn $50 just for participating.</p>

<p>How it works:</p>

<p>Let us know you'll participate by visiting us online. </p>

<p>We’ll send you a TripSensor –- a matchbook-sized device that easily plugs in near your vehicle’s steering column. Just plug it in, drive as you normally do, and forget about it. In six months, we’ll ask you to unplug the TripSensor and send it back to us, and we'll send you $50. It's that easy. <br />The data you provide are for research purposes only, and will not, under any circumstances, have an effect on your current or future car insurance rate. </p></blockquote><p></p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p>Then I had a chat about it with a good friend, who is as addicted to all things online as me...</p>

<p>FriendOfChad: oh hell no<br />FriendOfChad: that cant be real<br />FriendOfChad: :-(<br />Chad: oh yes it is<br />FriendOfChad: omg<br />FriendOfChad: thats it i want to move to NH<br />FriendOfChad: and live off the grid and never be heard from ever again<br />Chad: that thing works in NH too, i'm sure<br />Chad: you're screwed!<br />FriendOfChad: damn<br />FriendOfChad: lol<br />FriendOfChad: yeah<br />FriendOfChad: hmmm...<br />FriendOfChad: maybe i can hook it up<br />FriendOfChad: to my bicycle<br />FriendOfChad: and screw with their data<br />Chad: or a city bus<br />FriendOfChad: HAHAHAH<br />FriendOfChad: ya<br />Chad: or an airplane<br />FriendOfChad: lol</p>]]>
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>The most useful page on any Microsoft site</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/10/the_most_useful_page_on_any_mi.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=693" title="The most useful page on any Microsoft site" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.693</id>
    
    <published>2005-10-19T07:28:48Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:43Z</updated>
    
    <summary>Together we can stop the scourge of curly quotes and prevent the havoc they inflict on RSS feeds everywhere: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP051901241033.aspx...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Comments and Reflections" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>Together we can stop the scourge of curly quotes and prevent the havoc they inflict on RSS feeds everywhere:</p>

<p><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP051901241033.aspx">http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP051901241033.aspx</a></p>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Gadget wish list</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/10/gadget_wish_list.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=689" title="Gadget wish list" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.689</id>
    
    <published>2005-10-12T14:36:32Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:42Z</updated>
    
    <summary>One of the neat things about hanging out with all the cool people that flock to Media Center events is the moments during the breaks. While people are often talking about the latest industry trends and how their businesses could...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Comments and Reflections" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>One of the neat things about hanging out with all the cool people that flock to Media Center events is the moments during the breaks. While people are often talking about the latest industry trends and how their businesses could hook up, they are just as often showing off their latest gadgets to one another. Whether it's a <a href="http://web.palm.com/products/smartphones/treo650/index.jhtml" target="_blank">Palm Treo 650 Smartphone</a>, a <a href="http://www.blackberry.com/products/blackberry7100/blackberry7100g.shtml" target="_blank">BlackBerry 7100G</a>, or (my personal new favorite) an <a href="http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_product_lobbypage.asp?l=1&amp;bc=11&amp;p=25&amp;product=1171" target="_blank">Olympus WS-200S digital voice recorder</a> the show-and-tell game in some ways resembles car fanatics bouncing the hydrolics and letting the neon glow while the hubcaps spin and the bass makes its own breeze.</p>

<p>After I received a magazine assignment to write about the latest business technology trends, I figured &quot;Who better to ask than the Morph audience?&quot;</p>

<p>So, tell us about your favorite gadget, and why you love it, or what's on your &quot;must have&quot; list and why.</p>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>We Media afternoon sessions MP3s are now available.</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/10/we_media_afternoon_sessions_mp.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=685" title="We Media afternoon sessions MP3s are now available." />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.685</id>
    
    <published>2005-10-06T23:09:42Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:42Z</updated>
    
    <summary>Thanks everyone for your patience as we worked feverishly to capture, process, tag and upload and upload ... and upload nearly eight (8!!!) hours of audio from Wednesday&apos;s We Media conference. The following sessions are now ready for downloading!...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="TMC Event - We Media &apos;05 @ AP" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>Thanks everyone for your patience as we worked feverishly to capture, process, tag and upload and upload ... and upload nearly eight (8!!!) hours of audio from Wednesday's We Media conference. The following sessions are now ready for downloading!</p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p><strong>Media Watching </strong><br />Participants:<br />Jessica Coen, Editor, Gawker.com<br />Patrick Phillips, Founder &amp; Editor, I Want Media<br />Jay Rosen, Founder, PRESSthink<br />Moderator: Ellen Kampinsky, Senior Editor, Glamour<br />To download the MP3 of the session, <a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/wemedia05/audio/we_media_media_gawking.mp3" target="_blank">click here</a>. </p>

<p><strong>We Invest</strong><br />To download the MP3 of the session, <a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/wemedia05/audio/we_media_we_invest.mp3" target="_blank">click here</a>. <br />Audio begins during intro of Rick Ducey, Executive VP, BIA Financial<br />Other panelists are:<br />Brad Burnham, Partner, Union Square Ventures<br />Paul Ginocchio, Media Analyst, Deutsche Bank<br />Brad Feld, Managing Director, Mobius Venture Capital<br />Moderator: Susan Mernit, Senior VP, 5ive</p>

<p><strong>Culture, Politics &amp; Buzz</strong><br />Participants: Dominik von Jan, Director, NextNextBigThing<br />John Gerzema, Chief Insights Officer, Young and Rubicam Brands<br />Moderator: Farai Chideya, Editor &amp; Founder, Pop and Politics<br />To download the MP3 of the session, <a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/wemedia05/audio/we_media_culture_politics_buzz.mp3" target="_blank">click here</a>. </p>

<p><strong>We Marketing</strong><br />Participants:<br />Fernando Espuelas, Chairman &amp; CEO, Voy<br />John Bell, Senior Vice President &amp; Creative Director, Ogilvy PR<br />Rich Skrenta, CEO &amp; Founder, Topix.net<br />Henry Copeland, Founder, BlogAds<br />Moderator: Steve Rubel, Blogger, Micro Persuasion<br />To download the MP3 of the session, <a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/wemedia05/audio/we_media_we_marketing.mp3" target="_blank">click here</a>. </p>

<p><strong>Activism &amp; Democracy <br /></strong>Participants:<br />Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times Columnist<br />Marcus Xiang, CEO, PDX.CN<br />Brian Reich, Director, Mindshare Interactive Campaigns<br />Seth Green, Executive Director, Americans for Informed Democracy<br />Moderator: Rebecca MacKinnon, Co-Founder, Global Voices<br />To download the MP3 of the session, <a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/wemedia05/audio/we_media_activism_democracy.mp3" target="_blank">click here</a>. </p>

<p><strong>In Us We Trust<br /></strong>Participants: Craig Newmark, Customer Service Rep &amp; Founder, craigslist<br />Richard Edelman, President &amp; CEO, Edelman PR<br />Watts Wacker, CEO, Futurist<br />Karen Stephenson, President, Netform<br />Moderator: Dale Peskin, Co-Director, The Media Center<br />To download the MP3 of the session, <a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/wemedia05/audio/we_media_in_us_we_trust.mp3" target="_blank">click here</a>. </p>
<p>Tag: <a title="We Media 05" href="http://technorati.com/tag/wemedia" rel="tag">wemedia</a> </a>]]>
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Feedburner feed for podcasts</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/10/feedburner_feed_for_podcasts.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=654" title="Feedburner feed for podcasts" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.654</id>
    
    <published>2005-10-05T14:40:40Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:42Z</updated>
    
    <summary>Audio for this event will begin to be posted on the blog later today. The Feedburner feed for this is http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogs/wemedia05 ... back to the control room....</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="TMC Event - We Media &apos;05 @ AP" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>Audio for this event will begin to be posted on the blog later today. The Feedburner feed for this is <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogs/wemedia05">http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogs/wemedia05</a> ... back to the control room.</p>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>From the Onion ... Congress Abandons WikiConstitution</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/10/from_the_onion_congress_abando.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=639" title="From the Onion ... Congress Abandons WikiConstitution" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.639</id>
    
    <published>2005-10-03T15:54:05Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:41Z</updated>
    
    <summary>I was waiting for a friend in a restaurant and reading the print edition of The Onion last night. This made me laugh out loud, so I thought it might make one or two of you laugh as well... Congress...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Comments and Reflections" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>I was waiting for a friend in a restaurant and reading the print edition of The Onion last night. This made me laugh out loud, so I thought it might make one or two of you laugh as well...</p>

<blockquote><a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/node/40990" target="_blank">Congress Abandons WikiConstitution</a>
September 28, 2005 | Issue 41•39 

<p>WASHINGTON, DC—Congress scrapped the open-source, open-edit, online version of the Constitution Monday, only two months after it went live. "The idea seemed to dovetail perfectly with our tradition of democratic participation," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said. "But when so-called 'contributors' began loading it down with profanity, pornography, ASCII art, and mandatory-assault-rifle-ownership amendments, we thought it might be best to cancel the project." Congress intends to restore the Constitution to its pre-Wiki format as soon as an unadulterated copy of the document can be found.</blockquote></p>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>How to help decimated broadcasters cope with Katrina&apos;s aftermath</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/09/how_to_help_decimated_broadcas.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=619" title="How to help decimated broadcasters cope with Katrina's aftermath" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.619</id>
    
    <published>2005-09-06T08:13:44Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:41Z</updated>
    
    <summary>We got this in our inbox from Peggy Miles, president of Intervox Communications: SUBJECT: Hurricane - Helping broadcast assoc/station/journalists A number of webcasters, www.webcasters.org and companies have access to provide off air stations, broadcasters (terrestrial Radio/TV) or displaced webcasters with...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>We got this in our inbox from Peggy Miles, president  of Intervox Communications:</p>

<p>SUBJECT:  Hurricane - Helping broadcast assoc/station/journalists </p>

<p>A number of webcasters, www.webcasters.org and companies have access to provide off air stations, broadcasters (terrestrial Radio/TV) or displaced webcasters with live or on-demand webcast programming on the Internet. We have donated call in facilities, studio in Houston with production facilities (and elsewhere) if needed, extra streaming bandwidth, and perhaps anything else they may need to get messages up on the Internet.  We can put up podcasts and video blogs.  All they would need is a phone line to call in audio, or access to email to send us files.  We can take just about anything they can provide.  They can physically come to different locations if that is needed.  We can probably find a studio in the city/town they may have had to take refuge in at this time.  We can also take down satellite feeds.  We can assist journalists.</p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p>Although phone service is still out for the most part.  There are those broadcasters (as you know) that are spread out across the US.  Many people only have the Internet to get very local news if displaced. If a broadcaster simply wants to put up a message - or perhaps needs to put up a simple webpage and - of course any audio or video - we can help assist in most, if not all of these manners.</p>

<p>We have a link for live stations as well as messages and programs that is a work in progress - www.webcasters.org and this is the first list of live programming we can find and add to that. We'll be adding fundraisers, and other content regarding the situation.  This is an aggregated links to all webcasts and programming we can find related to the disaster. It is hosted under the International Webcasting Association. </p>

<p>If there is anyway we can get this to Mississippi and Alabama association of broadcasters, or anybody else - would be glad to help.  This is a help site/cause - no political affiliation or reciprocity expected.  These are all top tier companies and individuals donating their services.  Many of us are also broadcasters. Please pass along as needed.  </p>

<p>I understand Alabama in Mobile area doesn't have an AM stations up at all. I'm from New Orleans. My family - friends - and relatives all live in affected area.    Please mark urgent in your reply to me.  I prefer email ... If there are fundamental needs to help before they can broadcast - place to stay - etc., we can spread the word. </p>

<p>We also have donated PR newswires services to spread the word, PR Agency - and support from XM radio channel international and worldspace global satellite services broadcasting around the world, just to name a few resources. So - we are trying to handle publicity as well as fundamental services to get the word out.  I can't mention everyone here helping - too long.  Suggestions - this is a a work in progress.</p>

<p>Thank you, pmiles@intervox.com (alternative - us015676@mindspring.com)<br />
Peggy Miles</p>

<p>For those of you who don't know me. <br />
President - Intervox Communications - founded 1995<br />
Also author for Natl Association of Broadcasters - Internet Age Broadcaster<br />
I and II, RAB selling the Net Series and other books etc.  I'm an<br />
ex-broadcaster.</p>

<p>Vice-Chair - International Webcasting Association<br />
Council Member - International Academy of TV Arts and Sciences<br />
Etc.</p>]]>
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>We Media: Tell Our Speakers What You&apos;d Want Them to Think and Talk About</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/08/we_media_tell_our_speakers_wha.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=602" title="We Media: Tell Our Speakers What You'd Want Them to Think and Talk About" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.602</id>
    
    <published>2005-08-03T18:10:26Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:40Z</updated>
    
    <summary>We Media: Behold the Power of Us, will take place October 5, 2005 at the headquarters of the Associated Press in New York City. More info on the event is here | Click here to register. Now, whether you can...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="TMC Event - We Media &apos;05 @ AP" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>We Media: Behold the Power of Us, will take place October 5, 2005 at the headquarters of the Associated Press in New York City.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/wemedia05/">More info on the event is here</a> | <a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/registration/online/mc/?ref=2005-0189-a">Click here to register</a>.</p>

<p>Now, whether you can attend or not, we'd like to hear from you! What questions or issues would you like discussed by a particular participant? By all of the participants? Please post your comments below, and we'll make sure they see it!</p>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Reflections on a Dancing Pixel</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/07/reflections_on_a_dancing_pixel.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=575" title="Reflections on a Dancing Pixel" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.575</id>
    
    <published>2005-07-12T20:28:01Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:40Z</updated>
    
    <summary>NOTE: The following is an essay from independent filmmaker Maurice Jacobsen, who was a guest at The Media Center&apos;s Cross-Platform Media Teams event. This story begins a long, long time ago. Well, actually, not that long ago, 1999 to be...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="TMC Event - Cross-Platform &apos;05" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p><em><p>NOTE: The following is an essay from independent filmmaker Maurice Jacobsen, who was a guest at The Media Center's Cross-Platform Media Teams event.</p></em></p> <p> This story begins a long, long time ago. Well, actually, not that long ago,  1999 to be exact. But with the speed of Web development, it feels very much  in the past. </p> <p>David Neumann, president of <a href="http://ultimateavmag.com/news/10726/">Digital Entertainment Network (DEN)</a>, proudly gives  a keynote address at the Streaming Media West Conference in San Jose. He speaks  of his online network targeting Generation X and the great original programming  his company is producing. His is the future and DEN is at the leading edge.  He proudly talks of the sixty million dollars his company has raised. </p></p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p>In 1999, however, there are huge holes in the company’s premise. For openers, the technology for streaming video is far from perfected and online delivery speeds are woefully slow. This makes watching online content difficult at best. Second, it appears the people at DEN have not given any critical thought to program content or the production process.</p>

<p>It is an idea doomed to failure and it did. A year later <a href="http://ultimateavmag.com/news/10726/">in 2000, they went bust</a>, along with many other start-ups trying to do similar online content projects. </p>

<p>Now five years later all that was envisioned for rich media sites is possible. High-speed Internet connections make watching video totally viable. There is pent-up audience desire for consuming and reacting to media that talks with its audience rather that at it, and there are proven sponsorship business models to support online-video content. </p>

<p>But the terrible taste that DEN left in the mouths of media organizations still lingers. It is well-founded skepticism. The challenge in mid-2005 is to move beyond that skepticism and begin using the medium to its full informative and creative potential.</p>

<p>Virtually every news organization now has a Web presence. Two major media companies, CNN and AOL, have recently <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video/">gone to an open platform</a>, their mission, along with every Web site, is to build audience. The larger the audience the more they can command from advertisers.</p>

<p>So what do we find when logging onto newspaper sites? What is found, unfortunately, is video and multimedia segregated to its own sidebar arena. And for the most part, the video has been repackaged from broadcast or syndicate sources. </p>

<p>We also find photo galleries. Because of the world-class work done by papers such as The Washington Post and New York Times, many of these photos are riveting. But for the most part these photos are placed away from the main body of content rather than integrated.</p>

<p>And most importantly, news sites are primarily rewriting content generated for print editions with very little, if any, content generated solely for the Web edition, content that takes into account interactivity from the get go.</p>

<p>During the <a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/content/5103.cfm">Cross-Platform Media Teams event sponsored by The Media Center</a>, we heard from major industry players; the Times, Post, USA Today, CBS, CNN and Discovery were among those giving presentations. All acknowledged the importance of the Internet to their future. They all professed a need and desire for integrating immersive interactive media, but there were few if any examples to show. </p>

<p>This poses the major conundrum. What outside social, economic and technological forces need to coalesce before news organizations begin to integrate words, pictures, video telecommunications into an integrated whole? Can changes to content generation and format presentation happen from within? Or do independent journalists and Web producers have to lead the way?</p>

<p><a href="http://mediacenter.org/content/6764.cfm">Neil Chase</a>, deputy editor for news at New York Times Digital sets up this question as well as anyone. “People are confused within news organizations as to what to do next,” he told us. </p>

<p>Fair enough. There are major hurdles. How should reporters approach integrated multimedia when generating stories? What groundwork needs to be laid to get them to start thinking about interactivity? How should this multimedia content be packaged and presented? How should newsrooms work with multimedia freelance journalists?</p>

<p>These are all major questions, with major consequences. This is true because the entire nature of how news is gathered and presented is at issue. </p>

<p>During his Media Center presentation, Neil Chase gave an example of how an online piece can be approached. He threw out a story to the audience and had us break it down into its nouns and verbs: location, motivation, reaction, consequence, etc. This is exactly the correct approach. When asked how the Times actualized the end results of this exercise in its online edition, he confessed that it was only an exercise and that it had not been turned into multimedia content. This simply points out that the issues are being thought about, but they are not now being acted upon.</p>

<p>It can be speculated that the reasons for this are simple enough – economics and inertia. Creating interactive content does involve investment in personnel and tools. And the business models are still being proven. Will the additional expenses pay for themselves in added sponsorships? Can a subscription model generate revenue? Can ancillary services be added without harming journalist integrity? </p>

<p>There also must be a strong motivation, as it is decidedly more difficult to generate cross-platform content beyond that of a print story. This motivation must come from individual journalists with both interest and desire to use the best media tools to tell their stories. And the motivation must come from management to give those journalists the tools and resources needed to move forward.</p>

<p>There are answers. The technology is available. The social climate has created an audience desire for multiple approaches to news coverage. There is a talent pool of independent journalists, producers and writers capable of generating multimedia content.</p>

<p>As one of those independent producers who passionately believes in the potential of the Internet, it is one of my tasks to evangelize what the medium is capable of: It is a wondrous tool for opening windows to knowledge and understanding. It is a participatory media where viewers/users, “vuers” if you will, can feel empowered to seek out all sides of a complex issue. It can visually bring people to places they have never been. It can give them the opportunity to ask questions and get answers from the source. It can give them options for reacting to stories and adding to those stories with comment, observation and fact. And most importantly, it can treat audiences with respect by making available options for delving as deeply into stories as they care to go.</p>

<p>Reflections on a Dancing Pixel” is what this analysis is entitled. The monitor you are now viewing is made up of millions of these tiny points of light. They are always receptive to change, subject to the amount of electrical charge directed to them. They do not remain constant. It is a good lesson to learn. Each of us can be considered a pixel in this giant sea of humanity. Each of us can be receptive to an electrical charge of energy that causes change.</p>

<p>The concept of interactive digital online content is something that not every user of the Internet will get charged by. But for those who do, they most assuredly will be energized, and will respond with a resounding clarity. </p>

<p><em>NOTE: The following is an essay from independent filmmaker Maurice Jacobsen, who was a guest at The Media Center's Cross-Platform Media Teams event.</em></p>]]>
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Arizona school shook books for laptops</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/07/arizona_school_shook_books_for.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=570" title="Arizona school shook books for laptops" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.570</id>
    
    <published>2005-07-11T16:08:55Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:40Z</updated>
    
    <summary>I remember the days when I had to go to a special, once-a-week class to be able to use a computer in school. I didn&apos;t feel that old until I saw this AP story about an Arizona high school that...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Noted" />
    
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        <![CDATA[<p>I remember the days when I had to go to a special, once-a-week class to be able to use a computer in school. I didn't feel that old until I saw this AP story about an <a href="http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050711074509990049">Arizona high school that is eschewing textbooks</a> (average costs per student: $500 - $600) per year, and is instead giving out $850 laptops with lessons coming from online articles.</p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p>While this is just one high school, I do think it shows what a lot of people think about the role of paper vs. receiving information electronically. </p>

<p>And while I think it's a neat experiment, I wonder what will happen to these machines when they're lugged to school every day by drowsy teenagers who <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/from/sleep.html">studies show need more sleep</a> than adults and younger children. And inevitably, someone's going to forget their computer. Borrowing an indentical textbook is a lot different than logging into a &quot;loaner&quot; machine.</p>

<p>Methinks that the people at <a href="http://www.lavasoft.com/">Lavasoft (and who make AdAware)</a> might want to give these school administrators a call. You know, just in case.</p>]]>
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Wikinews on London Bombings</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/07/wikinews_on_london_bombings.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=566" title="Wikinews on London Bombings" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.566</id>
    
    <published>2005-07-07T19:16:30Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:39Z</updated>
    
    <summary> Wikinews has a collection of articles that continues to grow regarding the bombings in London. Included from these links is this CC license picture taken by Adam Stacey as he was being evacuated on the northern line, just past...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p><img title="Trapped_underground" height="75" alt="Trapped_underground" src="http://mediacenter.blogs.com/morph/images/trapped_underground.jpg" width="100" border="0" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px" /></a> Wikinews <a href="http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Category:2005-07-07_London_bombings">has a collection of articles</a> that continues to grow regarding the bombings in London.</p>

<p>Included from these links is this <a href="http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Image:Trapped_underground.jpg">CC license picture</a> taken by Adam Stacey as he was being evacuated on the northern line, just past Kings Cross.</p>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Spell check on AIM</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/06/spell_check_on_aim.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=559" title="Spell check on AIM" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.559</id>
    
    <published>2005-06-30T20:17:01Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:39Z</updated>
    
    <summary>I mispelled something in an IM and then began to wonder, why doesn&apos;t AIM have a spell check option? Am I missing something? Does it exist and I&apos;m just not computer savvy enough to see it? Is there an upgrade...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="Things We&apos;d Like To See" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[<p>I mispelled something in an IM and then began to wonder, why doesn't AIM have a spell check option? Am I missing something? Does it exist and I'm just not computer savvy enough to see it? Is there an upgrade I don't have that I should get?</p>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>
<entry>
    <title>Steven Rosenbaum: People used to older models are the least likely to want to reinvent things</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.capellman.com/morph/2005/06/steven_rosenbaum_people_used_t.php" />
    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.capellman.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=2/entry_id=558" title="Steven Rosenbaum: People used to older models are the least likely to want to reinvent things" />
    <id>tag:www.capellman.com,2005:/morph//2.558</id>
    
    <published>2005-06-30T16:13:21Z</published>
    <updated>2007-04-05T16:38:39Z</updated>
    
    <summary> Watch video Download MP3 version (22:28, 20.5 MB) Steven Rosenbaum, managing partner of Magnify Media told attendees of The Media Center&apos;s Cross-Platform media teams event &quot;the people that are used to making content in an older model are the...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Chad Capellman</name>
        
    </author>
            <category term="TMC Event - Cross-Platform &apos;05" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.capellman.com/morph/">
        <![CDATA[  <p><a href="http://www.mediacenter.org/content/6795.cfm">Watch video</a></p>
<p><a href="http://mediacenter.org/video/flash/rosenbaum_steve_062305.mp3" target="_blank">Download 
  MP3 version (22:28, 20.5 MB)</a></p>

<p>Steven Rosenbaum, managing partner of Magnify Media told attendees of The Media 
  Center's Cross-Platform media teams event "the people that are used to making 
  content in an older model are the ones least likely to want to reinvent things 
  on their watch, particularly if they have a mortgage or kids in college." He 
  then demonstrated how easy some new content creation can be and shared lessons 
  he's learned from 20 years in TV news, his work with MTV and how to capitalize 
  on a peer review filter model for content.</p>

<p><strong>Transcript of Steve Rosenbaum's presentation</strong> </p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p>So I talk in front of rooms like this from time to time, and generally my experience 
  is that the room gets divided into thirds. About a third of the people by the 
  end of my talk decide that I am the incarnation of all things bad in where content 
  is going and they never want to hear from me again. About a third do their e-mail 
  and read the paper quietly. And about a third have an &quot;a-ha&quot; moment 
  and go, &quot;That really makes sense, that's very exciting.&quot; </p>
<p>For those of you in the room who have the resources of CNN, who got video content 
  and have a video content construction mechanism that's already operating, [CNN's 
  approach] is a brilliant solution. It's exactly where it should go. Madison 
  Avenue and Google have proved that there's revenue there. Taking down the firewall 
  in the K model makes perfect sense, and I'm already using it. </p>
<p>For those of you who come from print, who are my favorite people, I have to 
  say. I've been in this business a very long time. I've been in television news 
  for about 20 years and, I find that the people that are used to making content 
  in an older model are the ones least likely to want to reinvent things on their 
  watch, particularly if they have a mortgage or kids in college. </p>
<p>A couple of questions before I actually go through my slides. How many people 
  here own a DV camera or a video camera at home? How many people here, other 
  than their day job, wherever you work, consider themselves content makers? Is 
  anyone blogging? Which, by the way, doesn't change what I'm going to say at 
  all. In fact, it makes it only better. That's the clue about where I'm going 
  to take you all.</p>
<p>And the good news for today is that I'm going to give you some actual statistics 
  on an event that we're running publicly in user content that I haven't talked 
  about other than to simply be doing it, and it's about six slides in. </p>
<p>Let me just give you some sense of how I view the marketplace. Television is 
  this incredibly powerful thing, and if any of you live in the print content 
  world and you're being told by your boss or you're telling people who work for 
  you, &quot;Look, we've got to find some way to get in. We've got to put more 
  video on the Web site. We've got to find a way be in VOD [video on demand],&quot; 
  you've gone and run the numbers, and the numbers are frightening because making 
  video content's expense, by any model, old or new. You need infrastructure, 
  you need people, there's no revenue yet. Someone says, &quot;Well, if we invest 
  this today, how many years before we actually turn this thing around?&quot; 
  and the answer is, &quot;Uh, I don't know.&quot; </p>
<p>When I talk mostly to magazine publishers, they've all gone through that internal 
  process. They've thought about setting up a channel, they've run the numbers, 
  they've run back into print. They've seen the light at the end of the tunnel, 
  which could be a train, and they're scared. </p>
<p>I had 120 employees making television in New York 18 months ago, and I watched 
  where that business was going to go and said, &quot;There's no good end to this 
  story.&quot; It's getting cheaper, it's getting harder to sell, the networks 
  are putting more pressure on costs, the cost of production is going down, the 
  cost of fees are going down, and everybody who I used to hire is becoming my 
  competitor. I mean, I would hire three kids out of NYU, and a month later they 
  would set up a company and I would find out that they sold the show to a network 
  that used to be my client. That's a bad day. When everybody who's your employee 
  is your competitor, you wake up and go, &quot;All right, maybe something should 
  change.&quot;</p>
<p>I'm not going to read these slides because I don't know what came before today 
  but I assume none of this is a big surprise. It's noisy. Motion media is all 
  over the place. The audience is fragmented. Costs are going down, and the financing 
  is a mess. Is that too strong a statement?</p>
<p>This is the good news side. There are tools all over the place. The gentleman 
  who spoke before me made a joke about not wanting to be on camera. But the truth 
  is, we're in a room, we're in private, no one's signing releases, everybody 
  has a media recording device on them of some sort or another, lots of people 
  are recording this, and it's going to go somewhere. The old rules about asking 
  permission &#8211; all that stuff is kind of getting messy now. These tools 
  make that happen. </p>
<p>I went with my son and saw a concert the other night. Because we didn't have 
  tickets, we sat outside on the lawn in Central Park, and I went home, and somebody 
  e-mailed me about 20 minutes later a clip from inside the wall of the concert. 
  That was pretty cool, unless you're the band, or the venue, or the t-shirt guy. 
</p>
<p>So what I'm here to talk to you today and get you excited about &#8211; the 
  third of you who don't think I'm out of my mind &#8211; is that there's this 
  bottom-up thing happening out there. Some of you who have the tools, who have 
  laptop editing, who have cameras, are inexorably drawn to this bottom-up energy 
  of content creating. Which means, there's something out there you want to make 
  &#8211; you don't know it yet, by the way. The interesting thing is the reason 
  you don't know it is no one's asked you. I mean, if I said to you today, other 
  than wherever that camera officially came form, where would you publish something 
  from today? The answer is, &quot;I don't know, I'd put it on my blog maybe.&quot; 
  There's not really yet a home for or a way to filter or a way to organize user 
  content. There are a lot of people struggling with that, and I'll share with 
  you our vision of how that works.</p>
<p>Two sentences about what I've done in my past life. I'm accused of being early. 
  In 1992, before anyone in this room had an e-mail address or a broadband connection 
  or a DV camera or a laptop computer or lots of things, I sold MTV a show called 
  &#8216;Unfiltered' by telling that their audience was going to make programming 
  cheaper than they could. I think the only thing they heard in that sentence 
  was the word &quot;cheaper.&quot; I convinced them to let me run three promos 
  on a Sunday afternoon on MTV and say, if you have a story they could tell, call 
  this 800 number, which went to a single phone line with an answering machine 
  sitting in my brown barn in upstate New York. Wednesday after the Sunday I arrived 
  at MTV with a binder. We had transcribed all weekend and all the night, the 
  5,000 people who had called with stories they wanted to tell. </p>
<p>Now, because we're all in the news business, I can say this, 80% of them were 
  just crap. But 20% of them were fabulous, fabulous, like heart-stoppingly fabulous, 
  and authentic and dramatic, and people who wanted to participate. What did we 
  do? We asked. People say, &quot;Oh, that was really innovative.&quot; You know, 
  it's been 12 years or whatever, nobody's asked. Asking is not that complicated. 
  The Wall Street Journal does a little bit, Tell us this if you're working on 
  these stories.&quot; But asking your audience to participate is a really scary 
  thing because it presumes that some number of your colleagues aren't going to 
  have jobs. It presumes that this job of storytelling which we're all professionals 
  in is going to become diffuse in some way, and that's really frightening.</p>
<p>So from 92-96 I produced &#8216;Unfiltered' at MTV, and then I went to Judy 
  McGrath, who I love, and I said, &quot;Judy, you should cancel my show.&quot; 
  And she said, &quot;No one's ever said that to me.&quot; And I said, &quot;It's 
  a waste of money. You should cancel it immediately. You should give me the same 
  amount of money, and I should take user content and we should sprinkle it all 
  across the network. We should have fashion from Seattle, we should have music 
  from the streets of Cleveland.&quot; So I wrote this big, fat MTV proposal -- 
  it was, you know, a couple of hundred pages -- and presented it. And they said, 
  &quot;No, we don't think so.&quot; They said, &quot;Our research tells us that 
  our audience wants us to be the authority of what's cool.&quot; And by the way, 
  to her credit, she was absolutely right. It would have been way too early. She 
  would have lost a ton of revenue. And she was right to say no. That's why I 
  said, I'm a little early. </p>
<p>So I left, sold Barry Diller a very similar project and did something called 
  &#8216;Free Speech America' which for a variety of reasons didn't launch, then 
  created &#8216;Camera Planet' which was an online channel service. But my point 
  is, I've been at this idea of empowering the audience for a very long time, 
  and I'm nothing if not consistent. So I'm either way too early or I'm just wrong, 
  and that's why you'll break up into thirds.</p>
<p>So let's get to how we're going to do it. User content today is non-commercial, 
  it's nascent, and major media really only embraces it because it's cheap. Meanwhile, 
  blogging, podcasting, and all of this stuff is happening. Everyone pretty much 
  acknowledges it's not going away. But if you're a company whose brand is a content 
  brand &#8211; CNN is a good example &#8211; how do you embrace user content 
  and not damage this thing that you offer the audience, which is validation, 
  accuracy, fact-checking? Kind of a messy problem, right? This is not simple 
  stuff. Good news for me because we think we've solved it. </p>
<p>Let's get to what Magnify actually does. We mediate the space between creators 
  and consumers. What I mean by that &#8211; and the actual example I'm going 
  to give you which is far better than my rhetoric, is, we got a call two months 
  ago from Rodale (sp?) Press, and they said, we want you to come and make a video 
  for us about people that are winning bicycles as part of our bicycling magazine 
  franchise.&quot; And I said, &quot;No. Not interested.&quot; And they called 
  back and said, &quot;What do you mean? You make videos, and we like you and 
  we know you from things.&quot; And I said, &quot;I'm going to make a film about 
  X number of people who won bicycles, and it's going to be so smarmy and self-important. 
  It's going to use words like &#8216;extraordinarily life-changing' and all these 
  things that I can't say authentically because I don't own a bike and have never 
  ridden one except when I was a child. Why don't we let your audience do my job? 
  That way I'll earn more money, which would make me happy, and you'll get better 
  video, and we might actually stumble into something. The honest truth is, we 
  pretty much knew what we were doing. We knew that they had some &#8211; if you 
  know the Rodale publications, they're a good fit. They're very authentic and 
  they have a passionate user base, and there was some prior discussion about 
  user content that they fiddled with.</p>
<p>The way the process works &#8211; this is a hybrid of the process is in its 
  evolved form, and then I'll tell you about the elements that were actually put 
  in place at Rodale. Rodale said, before we agree to this, what's our return 
  rate going to be? Which I thought was a funny question for an editorial. I mean, 
  how many people in a newsroom ask what the return rate is? It's like this weird 
  hybrid of a business question and a news question. And I said, &quot;Well, when 
  we were doing MTV, the return rate was about six percent, so I'll tell you six 
  percent.&quot; They said fine. </p>
<p>So we sent out 200 e-mails, and we said to the people who had just won a bicycle 
  in, I think it was San Antonio, &quot;Great news. Not only have you won a bicycle, 
  but you've won the opportunity to make a video about how your life is going 
  to change with this bicycle.&quot; And we did something &#8211; and I've never 
  told this story &#8211; I had originally written the e-mail to say, &quot;And 
  if we need to loan you a camera, we will.&quot; And my wife and partner in that 
  company &#8211; now that we went from 120 employees to two &#8211; said to me, 
  &quot;Take that line out.&quot; That was 1992, thinking we don't have to loan 
  cameras to anybody. I said, &quot;Well, what if someone has a great story but 
  they don't have a camera?&quot; She said, &quot;No. If they want to tell their 
  story, they'll figure it out.&quot; I give her credit because she was entirely 
  right and I was entirely wrong. We sent out the e-mail with no mention of the 
  camera. Anyone want to guess how many responses we got within the first six 
  hours of those 200 e-mails? Fifty-seven yes's. And the exciting thing was, the 
  yes's were passionate yes's. They were: &quot;Thank you for asking me. I would 
  love to make a video. How cool. I don't have a camera but I'm borrowing one 
  from my son-in-law. I don't have camera but the school district where I work 
  has one and I'm going to borrow it form them. Or I have a neighbor who's going 
  to help me out. Passionate yes's. How cool is that? So, not only were they excited 
  to be invited to make content, but they were appreciative that this thing that 
  they love &#8211; which was bicycling &#8211; was asking them to play along 
  in a space that they obviously cared about. </p>
<p>This is Kristen. She, by the way, is a real person. That image was taken from 
  her video she shot of herself. Actually, her boyfriend shot it. You'll see her 
  in a minute. [The image on the screen] is cheesy but I couldn't resist. So here 
  she is. We've got 57 yes's. We didn't send out the balance of the thousand e-mails, 
  and we now have 190 people making videos. </p>
<p>We ran into a little bit of a problem. While cameras are now fully deployed 
  and people don't have any problem borrowing one from a friend&#8230; We sent 
  in our follow-up e-mail, because part of what came from MTV is we've learned 
  to have a relationship with people. What they really want is a little encouragement, 
  a pat on the back, good job, and some tools, that's it. We then sent out a follow-up 
  e-mail and said, &quot;Oh, by the way, do you have any editing gear?&quot; The 
  numbers were not as promising. No editing gear. So I said, well, you know we've 
  done this before. We'll set up a bunch of Final Cuts and we'll start editing 
  bike videos. My wife, who in case you're not figuring this out, is significantly 
  smarter than I am, said, &quot;Just because they don't have editing gear doesn't 
  mean somebody else doesn't have editing gear.&quot; </p>
<p>So in three weeks we designed, prototyped, built and launched Edit Exchange. 
  It's up, it's live, you can look at it today. Edit Exchange is a marketplace 
  in which editors meet filmmakers, filmmakers meet editors, and we simply get 
  out of the middle and say, &quot;Great, take your bike video and send it to 
  this guy, he's going to cut it in Cleveland.&quot; It's pretty darn cool. And 
  in case you can't tell, I'm fairly excited about it. It is working magnificently. 
  It is not even remotely surprising because if you're an editor, the problem 
  with being an editor is that you don't have anything to cut. Editors want raw 
  material, right? They want to play with stuff. They want to try things. They 
  want to make something. And even if they're professional editors, the stuff 
  they want to do passionately &#8211; you can't do passionate when you're making 
  VNRs.[video news releases] If you're working at CNN in Atlanta are you're cutting 
  news, you might want to come home on your Final Cut and do a music video. But 
  you don't really want to do it as a business. But here's a place where you can 
  meet people that have footage, they send the footage to you. Now, would we like 
  to have this be all online? Yes, we would. But anyone who's tried to upload 
  video knows it's a particularly ugly, messy process. I'm a great believer in 
  FedEx. I think FedEx is a great, you know, sneaker net.</p>
<p>So Edit Exchange is now running. We have two of the seven videos that have 
  already been submitted.</p>
<p>Q from unidentified person in audience: What is the editor likely to charge 
  the producer or the maker of the film?</p>
<p>That's a great question. We don't know yet is the answer. It's a marketplace. 
  It's a bidding process. So the way it works is, you put up your project and 
  say, &quot;My band wants to make a video and I'm willing to pay $200, that's 
  my ceiling.&quot; There's a private message board component. The first editor 
  e-mails you and says, &quot;What did you shoot on? Can I hear a soundtrack of 
  your band? Are you guys any good?&quot; You send them some stuff, and it's all 
  done in an enclosed space so you're not giving out your private e-mail. The 
  editor says, &quot;I'll do it for $50.&quot; Somebody else comes in and says, 
  &quot;I need this for my resume. I'll do it for free. I want to do it as a barter 
  deal. I just want the work.&quot; </p>
<p>This is built on a lot of what's happening in the peer production community 
  in Linux and Open Source, which is, people do things for different reasons. 
  And part of what's scary about this is, if we all earn our living making content, 
  and I'm sitting here telling you that people are going to edit your stuff for 
  free, some number of us are going, &quot;Mortgage, kids in college, how does 
  that work?&quot; And what I'm telling is, we can all stand at the door and bar 
  this phenomenon, but trust me, if you use Linux or any open source bulletin 
  board or any open source browser, open source actually really works. It's not 
  a phenomenon that's going to pass us by. It will come to content. We can't stop 
  it. Some number of you can embrace it and probably do really well, because remember 
  that I said the trick to the process is, we invite people to play in our space. 
  All of these people could have made videos on their own. We didn't give them 
  anything. But we just said, there's this ad-hoc community we're creating around 
  bicycling, and we're inviting you to come play in it, and by the way, it's hard 
  to get in. </p>
<p>Which brings me to my next point. So here's the video. We don't have any sound 
  but watch it for two seconds if for no other reason just to see the shooting. 
  (Video plays) It cuts together, she's got establishing shots, she's got close-ups 
  &#8211; how did she learn that? They're creative, they're fun, they're different. 
</p>
<p>By the way, P.S., some of them are really terrible, back to my MTV rule. So, 
  what happens when you've got people submitting videos, and you've got 100 videos 
  submitted, and 80% of them are really terrible? That's a problem. Well, you 
  can say back to your most loyal consumers, the people who love you, the people 
  who busted their butt and worked all weekend and got videotape and sent in their 
  stuff to you, &quot;Guess what, nice try but we're not going to use your video.&quot; 
  Probably a bad way to treat your most valuable customers because they never 
  talk to you again. I mean, have you ever looked at anybody's work and tried 
  to be a friend and be critical of it? It doesn't end well. </p>
<p>Which is why we built a peer-based review process. That was the &quot;a-ha&quot; 
  moment. Good. So the peer-based review component works like this. One of the 
  things you can choose to be is a judge. And if you decide to be a judge, you 
  can determine how many videos you want to watch each week, you can tell us something 
  about your skill level and your interest level, and we have software that sends 
  you a link up to three times a week, five times a week &#8211; you tell us, 
  you can dial it up or down &#8211; you get to review the video. You get to judge 
  it on criteria that our clients set. And the clients get to be in a position 
  where they say, &quot;You know what, we got 100 videos in this week. I'm setting 
  the approval number to eight. I don't want to see anything that doesn't get 
  an eight rating or better.&quot; Well, if they only get two videos that cross 
  that eight threshold, they go, &quot;I better turn it down to seven.&quot; </p>
<p>But what that means is that somebody's sitting at a desk &#8211; CNN is probably 
  the last place that this works because breaking news doesn't work this way, 
  which is another problem that we're struggling with. But in terms of feature 
  editorial or anything that has a moment where it can go through a cycle of being 
  reviewed, what peers do &#8211; and by the way, the peer review is all anonymous. 
</p>
<p>So, here's the one thing that we know about content, because we've all made 
  something &#8211; the first draft is never good enough. I joke that we ought 
  to have an autobot that just sends an e-mail back to everyone that submits the 
  first video saying, &quot;It's too long, make it shorter.&quot; It's always 
  too long. We don't know.</p>
<p><strong>Comment from unidentified person in audience:</strong> And by the way, 
  I want to go home and watch my daughter ride and not film her.</p>
<p>SR: That would make you not a participant in this space.</p>
<p><strong>Comment from same unidentified person in audience:</strong> I don't 
  have time to do that.</p>
<p>SR: But my guess is that if I dug three levels deep into something you love 
  &#8211; a vacation, a sailboat, a golf trip, a mountain-climbing expedition, 
  something &#8211; that you already have &#8230; We all own these cameras, we 
  don't know what to do with them. </p>
<p><strong>Comment from same unidentified person in audience:</strong> Being on 
  Everest.</p>
<p>SR: There you go. I would love to see you video of being on Everest. And if 
  a community that you participated in said to you, &quot;Hey, tell us about your 
  next trip. We may want to see the video.&quot; We all want an assignment, right? 
  We want to be told, you're deputized, go do that. </p>
<p>So the peer review filter is functioning. It works. It's incredibly powerful. 
  It means that if you don't make the cut, we didn't make the decision as the 
  editorial, it got made by your peers. You get to read the comments. If it's 
  an eight-point rating &#8211; which you have to get to be put up on the site 
  &#8211; and you hit a seven, you can read the comments from the other judges. 
  Maybe you'll learn something. Maybe they'll tell you, &quot;You know what, it's 
  too long, Make it short.&quot;<br>
</p>]]>
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