The BlogTalkRadio Blog

BlogTalkRadio is a member of the Association for Downloadable Media and as a founding member of ADM I wanted to mention that if you’re going to The Podcasting and New Media Expo in Ontario at the end of the month, we’re having a meeting you should attend. Here’s the Press Release on the ADM page. And here’s an excerpt below:

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, September 12, 2007 – The recently formed Association for Downloadable Media (ADM) will hold its first in-person meeting at the Podcasting and New Media Expo in Ontario, CA. The meeting will be held at 7:30 a.m. PDT on Friday, September 28, 2007 in Ballroom A. Anyone can attend who is registered as an expo attendee.

Agenda items to be discussed include the goals of the organization, the continued membership drive, committee formation action plans, first priority deliverables as an organization, potential membership benefits for podcasters, and the process for the nominations for board seats and committees. After the initial member conference call August 22 nd, this is the first in-person meeting of ADM paid and prospective members and is shaping up to be a productive gathering. ADM has been successful at attracting members and has a roster of 50 publishers, agencies, vendors and metrics companies. The current membership list is posted on the site.

So if you’re wondering why an Association like ADM is important, let me try to explain. Right now in the new media world, nobody really knows how much monetary value to give to ads in video/audio material. Period. People are pitching prices that the market will bear, and that’s fine for some. However, if monetary values for online content are not standardized, many advertisers will quickly grow tired of having to negotiate specific deals for every ad buy they do in the space.

Metrics/standards are not just about money, mind you-they save time because everyone involved in a transaction can agree on the value of what they’re trying to buy/sell. ADM is working hard to form a group that will come up with the best standards for everyone in the industry so that podcasting as a whole will be recognized as the high-value (monetary as well as content) medium we know it is.

-John C. Havens

Just wanted to say thanks to Christian and the other hosts of Geekerati for my interview a few nights back. We talked about podcasting, both live (like we do here at BTR) and “traditional” (recorded/edited) and where we see new media heading in regards to citizen journalism and transparency.

But as Christian points out in his show notes for the episode, Geekerati (and any good geek) can’t just discuss technology without referring fairly quickly to shows like Battlestar Galactica, the Bionic Woman, or New Amsterdam. I think there’s an essential link for those of us who create media via BTR or other outlets to have to be connected to mainstream shows as well. We all talked about favorite podcasts (mine include Unleashed and The Podcasting Underground, for instance), but quickly got to recommending and critiquing network shows.

Point being, as much as I’m a new media maven I’m still very connected to mainstream media and grew up watching a HUGE amount of TV. And apparently a lot of my passion for storytelling in the new media realm stems from engaging in great storytellers on TV. And my love of technology means I can try to tell new stories via mediums like BTR. And I suppose for all these reasons, I’m a geek. And proud of it.

-John C. Havens

Knowing we’ve blogged a bit about Robert Scoble being on Social Media Club’s first BlogTalkRadio show, I did want to wax on a bit about Social Media Club itself. First off, if you don’t know it, here’s the vision statement from their site:

Social Media Club is being organized for the purpose of sharing best practices, establishing ethics and standards, and for promoting media literacy. This is the beginning of a global conversation about building an organization and a community where the many diverse groups of people who care about social media can come together to discover, connect, share and learn.

I’ve been aware of SMC for about a year when I first met Howard Greenstein. Howard is the co-founder and past acting CEO for SMC and still very involved in the NYC chapter. (He’s also an organizer for PodCamp NYC). I got to know Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells (Chris is the current president and co-founder and Kristie is also a co-founder) when they sponsored PodCamp NYC last year. Specifically, they helped us setup and deal with our PayPal account which got fairly hairy when we ended up having sixty four sponsors.

So here’s the thing. I think it’s important to give shout outs/props to people when they help you and even more so when they practice what they preach. Chris, Kristie, Howard and SMC at large is about helping the new media community along with “newbies” interested in learning how to use new media. They work hard to organize events, online and off, that provide top notch content in an open atmosphere.

Long story short, get to know Social Media Club and find a chapter near you.

-John C. Havens

I had the chance to do a podcast interview with my buddy Andrew Horowitz on his show, The Disciplined Investor. You can hear the episode here. Here’s Andrew’s description of the show from his site:

Who can you trust when looking for investment and financial advice? We discuss Trust and Transparency in the modern age. There is so much information out there and we take a deep look at the problems with mixing amateurs and pros in the analysis and recommendation of investments. The main question we all ask is how the end user can discern if the information they are reading or listening to has embed bias. There is a growing concern as Web 2.0 has made it relatively easy for anyone to broadcast their opinions and comments without any significant oversight.

Parker Conrad (wikinvest.com) argues that credentials are not very important while John Havens (BlogTalkRadio.com) wants references and track records. John C. Dvorak (dvorak.org/blog) thinks that nothing is different today and skepticism is prudent. Watch out for the fluff.

I had a great time doing the show and was intrigued to find myself cautioning against blind trust of new media. (Typically I’m lauding it versus presenting caveats). But I think it’s absurd to say that just because someone writes a good blog post you can trust their expertise. You can trust they’re a good writer and appreciate their argument, but experience does mean something.

Do you want a lawyer who talks a good game or has a record of getting clients good settlements? Does your investor write a good blog or does he/she have a long list of testimonials from people who he/she has helped make money for? In the best of both worlds, someone is a great writer with a lot of experience. But give me a trained surgeon over the Doctor with a pithy post and no experience.

Lisa Padilla, BTR’s VP of Marketing sent me a link to a very intruging article yesterday: Wachovia Launches Podcasting Technology On Wachovia.com. Apparently the bank is offering a free weekly economic podcast.

Why is this such good news? Because if a major bank is embracing podcasting technology you know that people are beginning to see the value of subscribable audio messages. The term Return On Investment (or ROI) means you don’t put time into something if don’t think you’ll have successful results. Here’s a quote from the Webwire article:

While “The Week Ahead” represents the company’s first podcast, the infrastructure and technology developed to facilitate its release pave the way for many more opportunities for Wachovia to deliver relevant, up-to-date information to customers.

What Wachovia realizes is the power of communicating directly with listeners who want your message. And Wachovia’s not paying thousands and thousands of dollars for mailers or CD’s for this messaging. They’re creating audio content that will last in their archives and continue to provide value for years (if it’s evergreen).

Take my word on this. This is huge. Within a year or two, you’ll have trouble finding companies/organizations who aren’t podcasting. Especially when companies like BTR are around that make the tech side of things so simple. The average American doesn’t care that ‘an RSS feed can push your MP3 file quickly to your site’ and so on. They want to create their own programs and speak to their own audiences.

And we’ll be the ones helping them to do that. You can bank on it.

-John C. Havens

I’m going to be starting a show on BTR about Transparency in Business. I’ve been interested in this topic for a while as it’s easy to call for transparency from a company or individual, but hard to know where asking for said transparency borders on being invasive. It’s one thing, for instance, to let customers know on a company blog that a product has a defect and you’ll be recalling items sold. This is a great example of positive transparency, especially if it’s followed up by appropriate actions (items are recalled and people are given a refund, etc.) What you’re telling customers, employees, and shareholders by this action is that you’re more concerned with the overall customer experience and integrity of your firm than in not looking “stupid” in the marketplace. In the long run (in my opinion) having this kind of initiative produces the opposite effect for people investigating your business - it builds trust.

That said, full disclosure is not always necessary and can be harmful for a company. Disclosing certain financial information is a must in an annual report, for instance. Disclosing a personal salary of an employee would be inappropriate and likely criminal.

We’re in an intriguing era involving the nature of transparency and community online. Many folks call for openness but then pressure others into their philosophy/idea of transparency which may not be appropriate for a company or individual. I find this instance especially intriguing. What if your firm has a business partner who is involved in something inappropriate by other people’s standards? Are you required to blog about it because others know you’re partners? Maybe. Probably if it involves money. But if it’s a personal situation (versus business) you may decide not to write/talk about the situation to protect your partner’s privacy. Others might say you weren’t being transparent. I would say it depends on the situation.

I look forward to exploring this topic and welcome your insights. I’ve created a page on The NewPR/Wiki with my friend/colleague Shel Holtz if you’d like to add something there or email me directly at: johnhavens at blogtalkradio dot com.

-John C. Havens

If you ever struggle with technical decisions for your business, want to expand the breadth of your IT acumen, or simply want to listen to an engaging Canadian talk tech, check out Stuart R. Crawford’s BTR show, Small Business IT Radio. Stuart is editor of the website, Small Business IT, Does IT Really Matter? where he covers subjects designed to “help small businesses become successful with the right technology solutions.” He’s also the Director of Business Development for IT Matters Inc., Calgary, Alberta’s award winning Microsoft Small Business Specialist.

Having been a consultant for many years and worked in smaller companies as a rule, resources like Stuart are essential to keep a business afloat. One of the advantages of working at a larger company is picking up the phone and asking for the “tech guy” to show up and fix whatever ails your computer, fax, or printer. Not having that specialist means you need to be aware of these issues yourself at least to some degree. Or listen to Stuart, which is a lot easier.

I’ve been meaning to blog about my friend Bill Sobel for a while now (Bill’s on the right next to his friend KMOX St. Louis Radio Host Paul Harris) who runs NY:MIEG, (New York: Media Information Exchange Group) a breakfast networking series that I’ve been attending for over a year now.

First off, Bill understands how to run a networking event - he lets people schmooze for about an hour or so before his panelists talk for another hour or so and take questions. Then more schmoozing. And I use the term “schmooze” in the best possible way here. Anybody who knows Bill knows that he is the most networked person alive, largely because he is so generous in helping other people connect with other people who can help their business or life.

And Bill really does know everyone, from traditional media VP’s to bleeding-edge new media types. He’s extremely smart in putting together panels that actually do provide value for his audience. One thing I really appreciate is his speakers don’t pull punches. A lot of his audience comes from a traditional media setting where new media is sometimes seen as a threat. But Bill’s moderation (and his guest hosts) steer panelists towards critical insight versus subjective posturing.

Long story short, if you’re in the New York area, get connected and become a FOBS (”Friend of Bill Sobel”). I’m a huge fan of new media, but Bill knows the vital importance of face to face time and I’m proud mine is a face he recognizes.

Make sure to check out the video from Bill’s last breakfast, The Future of Radio: 2007 and Beyond. Here’s the blurb from his site:

Ira Flatow of NPR’s Science Friday and Bill Sobel, NY:MIEG founder, introduces a panel discussion on the future of radio moderated by KMOX St. Louis host Paul Harris with panelists John Rosso of Citadel Broadcasting / ABC Radio, Jennifer Lane of Katz Net Radio Sales, Larry Rosin of Edison Media Research, Denise Oliver of Oliver Media and Joel Smirnoff of Paltalk.