Posts Tagged ‘ communications ’

Bloggable Hours

April 20, 2012

“Don’t ever get your speedometer confused with your clock, like I did once, because the faster you go, the later you think you are.”
― Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts

Ipswich River Media and kayaking

And you’re wondering “what’s with the blog here?” I know, every day you stop by, hoping for some new pithy communications bits. But things get busy. Typically, it’s my clients that get all the good thinking. They each have their own blogs, and Twitter feeds and websites that require work. That’s not to mention the media relations and other communications stuff.

For example, yesterday, it was Save Energy Systems that deserved my attention.  This smart cleantech start-up has a very pragmatic approach to energy use – and a promising future.  Mass High Tech agreed. There are also two NY tradeshows this month for another client. A particular marketing strategy for another.

On top of all that, there are 29 hungry minds to be feed.  I enjoy teaching an electronic media class  – one is plenty – at Endicott College to future communications pros.  And I have a blog there too.

Sometimes I even get a few minutes to update the Sustainability Forum blog.  I’m the chairman for that active membership group (you’re invited to join us by the way).

So, it seems I never get enough time to stop here at the IRM blog for illuminating updates. I apologize. I’m sure you understand. If not, catch me on Twitter @ipswichmedia and we can discuss further. Or go for a good kayak run?!

And Free T-shirts, too! (Just wanted to see if you’re still reading).

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Minds @ Work in Communications

December 15, 2011

Students of CMM220 at EndicottFox News exposed. Net neutrality illuminated. We’ve debated the Doctrine of Cooperation, the failed promises of big media and Newton Minow’s vast wasteland. “Communications professor” is my secret identity; it’s a passionate pastime that keeps me on my toes.

Rest assured, there are 20 new emerging professionals who understand the promise and potential of electronic media.  They can see Facebook and Twitter as a means to greater ends.  They know there’s something bigger than Snookie and the Khardasians.

We’ve gone over the History of Electronic Media in CMM220, looking at the perspectives of McLuhan through our rear-view mirrors to make some sense of where it’s all going. We’ve watched how Afgan Idol is advancing attitudes toward women. We’ve seen YouTube heroics bringing down dictators. We know “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Tim Wu’s Master Switch and the link between bike rides and 4G smartphones.

Snooie & the ShoreI’m hopeful these Endicott College kids will be better marketers and communications pros  – well informed citizens, too. They understand the privileges of education and probably make a better effort than my generation did. They see some of the Global challenges on our plate. But they’re optimistic about crowd-sourcing, American ingenuity, open broadband initiatives.  They know the ‘bit is it.’

Stay tuned to this generation.  You’ll see some good, new ideas. Of course, we still have the final exam left on Wednesday.

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You Too Can Be a Star

May 26, 2011

communications, broadband TV, content, smart marketingAs a communications consultant I keep a close eye on trends.   I organized a summit in NYC last month that included some of the biggest cable operators and TV networks in the world.  The line-up included Comcast, Verizon, Virgin Media, MTV, BBC, Turk Telecom, Liberty Global, Vodafone, France Telecom.  To keep the discussions lively we had moderators like the Wall Street Journal’s Jessica Vascellero and David Lieberman of USA Today (now with Deadline.com).

It was a global all-star cast who were there to figure out what TV means today.  If it makes you feel any better, they’re really not sure where it’s all going.  It’s complicated. You, the viewer, are using all sorts of other media applications that didn’t exist just a few years ago.  You and 500 million others spend a lot of time on Facebook.  You download 3 billion videos from YouTube, every day.  And you’re watching so many movies on Netflix that its consuming more broadband traffic than other site today.  There’s a massive advertising market at stake here.

There are plenty of good ideas.  They’re not sitting still.  Interactivity is taking off.  “Freemium” is the watchword and everything will be on-demand, regardless of the device you use.  They’re considering whether you want Facebook “Like” functionality on TV, if you want to share pics and chat.  Ads will become increasingly targeted.  They’ll know when your car lease is up, or perhaps if you’re considering a little Rogaine for that receding hairline.  Your TV will soon be just as smart as your…well, your smartphone. 

The point is that it all trickles down.  Technology, media and communications are changing at such a furious pace that no one really communications, broadband TV, smart marketing, Ipswich River Mediahas a handle on it all.  Yet, at the core it’s still about the content.  How do you create a compelling story?  How do you reach your audience amidst a sea of alternatives?  Granted most businesses don’t enjoy the same access as Jersey Shore or American Idol.  But the good news is that the barriers to entry have been lowered.  You have more compelling ways to reach your audience than ever before.  You just need to figure out how to take advantage of it. 

That’s why we helped a technology company organize that summit.  They got a lot of great visibility for their brand.  And a lot of good content.

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Watching the Watchers

May 16, 2011

Watching the WatchersLike every media company, The New Yorker is tangling with the big paradigm shift. You can get it on the newsstand (remember those?) for $5.99 or subscribe along with 1,011,821 others for about $1.50 per issue.

I like the magazine. Tom Wolfe feels exactly the same as I do: “The New Yorker style is one of leisurely meandering understatement, droll when in the humorous mode, tautological and litotical when in the serious mode, constantly amplified, qualified, adumbrated upon, nuanced and renuanced, until the magazine’s pale-gray pages became High Baroque triumphs of the relative clause and appository modifier.”

Leisurely meandering can be terrific in a canoe (see Ipswich River). It’s really cool to experience that with words. They’ve been doing that to great effect since 1925. That’s not to say that they’re not with the program. The New Yorker staff has been examining the media revolution before Zworkin stole the iconoscope.

Now they’re out there: observing social networking in Libya and playing their own clever publishing games too. It’s always interesting when media examines media while being media. I can relate. I’m working in communications for communications companies that are changing media as I teach undergrads how it all works. I know, it hurts my head sometimes too.

Meanwhile, here’s a look at The New Yorker iPad app. It’s not exactly rocket science but it is nicely litotical.

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Cutting Through the Clutter

January 31, 2011

Smart communications: Ipswich River MediaThanks to our friends over at Pingdom, we take another look at the Internet stats for 2010. Big numbers, getting bigger as our world becomes increasingly connected.

Key takeaway point? We’re all buried in information. It’s more important than ever to ensure your communications strategy is clear, targeted and on point. That’s why people like the way we work here at Ipswich River Media.

Email
• 107 trillion – The number of emails sent on the Internet in 2010.
• 294 billion – Average number of email messages per day.
• 1.88 billion – The number of email users worldwide.
• 480 million – New email users since the year before.
• 89.1% – The share of emails that were spam.
• 262 billion – The number of spam emails per day (assuming 89% are spam).
• 2.9 billion – The number of email accounts worldwide.
• 25% – Share of email accounts that are corporate.
Websites
• 255 million – The number of websites as of December 2010.
• 21.4 million – Added websites in 2010.
Web servers
• 39.1% – Growth in the number of Apache websites in 2010.
• 15.3% – Growth in the number of IIS websites in 2010.
• 4.1% – Growth in the number of nginx websites in 2010.
• 5.8% – Growth in the number of Google GWS websites in 2010.
• 55.7% – Growth in the number of Lighttpd websites in 2010.
Domain names
• 88.8 million – .COM domain names at the end of 2010.
• 13.2 million – .NET domain names at the end of 2010.
• 8.6 million – .ORG domain names at the end of 2010.
• 79.2 million – The number of country code top-level domains (e.g. .CN, .UK, .DE, etc.).
• 202 million – The number of domain names across all top-level domains (October 2010).
• 7% – The increase in domain names since the year before.
Internet users
• 1.97 billion – Internet users worldwide (June 2010).
• 14% – Increase in Internet users since the previous year.
• 825.1 million – Internet users in Asia.
• 475.1 million – Internet users in Europe.
• 266.2 million – Internet users in North America.
• 204.7 million – Internet users in Latin America / Caribbean.
• 110.9 million – Internet users in Africa.
• 63.2 million – Internet users in the Middle East.
• 21.3 million – Internet users in Oceania / Australia.
Social media
• 152 million – The number of blogs on the Internet (as tracked by BlogPulse).
• 25 billion – Number of sent tweets on Twitter in 2010
• 100 million – New accounts added on Twitter in 2010
• 175 million – People on Twitter as of September 2010
• 7.7 million – People following @ladygaga (Lady Gaga, Twitter’s most followed user).
• 600 million – People on Facebook at the end of 2010.
• 250 million – New people on Facebook in 2010.
• 30 billion – Pieces of content (links, notes, photos, etc.) shared on Facebook per month.
• 70% – Share of Facebook’s user base located outside the United States.
• 20 million – The number of Facebook apps installed each day.
Videos
• 2 billion – The number of videos watched per day on YouTube.
• 35 – Hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute.
• 186 – The number of online videos the average Internet user watches in a month (USA).
• 84% – Share of Internet users that view videos online (USA).
• 14% – Share of Internet users that have uploaded videos online (USA).
• 2+ billion – The number of videos watched per month on Facebook.
• 20 million – Videos uploaded to Facebook per month.
Images
• 5 billion – Photos hosted by Flickr (September 2010).
• 3000+ – Photos uploaded per minute to Flickr.
• 130 million – At the above rate, the number of photos uploaded per month to Flickr.
• 3+ billion – Photos uploaded per month to Facebook.
• 36 billion – At the current rate, the number of photos uploaded to Facebook per year

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Teaching the Fundamentals of Communications Today

December 21, 2010

It’s no secret that communications has changed dramatically.  This Web 2.0 era is creating new business models everyday as it leaves old ones tattered in its wake.  This past semester, as adjunct professor of communications at Endicott College, I’ve enjoyed the benefits of tapping into the zeitgeist of Gen Y and their take on this new age. 

 Breaking it all down, explaining the theories of communication and the technology behind this new era of interaction is tremendously enlightening. For me, I mean.  Hopefully, for the students, too.

electronic media

The Class of CMM220 Moments before the Final

 In my class we tackle the history of telecommunications from the first transmission medium right up to this week’s Netflix/Comcast imbroglio.  We examine the precious RF spectrum, the scarcity theory, the 1934 origin of the FCC, the Long Tail, the “tipping point,” and net neutrality.  We cover Afghanistan’s Rupert Murdoch, micropayments, China’s Facebook alternative, and exactly how crowdsourcing is addressing huge issues in sustainability.

 Communications is very complex today.  Yet there are simple reasons why 50% of social networking strategies fail.  Lots of businesses are actively Twittering, with a finely tuned SEO campaign and a clever Facebook page.  But strong marketing communications still begins with the fundamentals.  You may have more ways to link with customers than ever before – but do you really connect with them?

Each class is like a little show.  There’s the fundamental challenge of connecting to students raised on a diet of technology.  I have clients in techology that we talk about.  I’ve brought in friends who specialize in interactive advertising, neuromarketing and video.  We’re examining how all the levers work.  But, it’s still about pushing the right buttons.

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Working the TV Tech Beat

October 22, 2010

vod ip television digital CDN content delivery network

TV Everywhere is the buzzword in the industry.  It’s an initiative shared by high-speed data providers, like Comcast and Verizon; TV networks of every sort from Animal Planet to the Z Channel; and Apple, Google, Hulu and Roku.  TV when you want it, where you want it, with a good dose of advertising on the side. 

Lots of video eats massive quantities of bandwidth.  Cisco predicts that 90% of all IP traffic will be devoted to video in just a few years. All the words ever spoken would take up about 5 exabytes of storage. We’re looking at new thresholds of video for consumption at 10 exabytes and up.  Hard to believe there were only three television networks once.

Our client Verivue has figured out a way to help networks deal more efficiently with this influx of video traffic.  It’s a practical way of looking at the problem.  Essentially it means storing the popular stuff closer to you.  That’s no mean feat either.   

But this smart new company promises to help bring about this new television revolution.  This week we were out in front of the press that covers this biz.  Some good stuff here and real potential to bring TV everywhere.

Verivue Acquires CDN Technology Provider CoBlitz

Verivue’s CoBlitz buy addresses “uncompensated traffic”

Verivue Acquires CDN Technology Provider CoBlitz

Verivue CEO: Tier 1 telcos look to build CDNs as video traffic surges

 
 

Verivue Acquires CoBlitz For Video Caching: VOD Startup to Offer Service Providers Solution to Ease Over-the-Top Video Load

 

 

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Committed to Tech for Sustainability

July 12, 2010

Tech Council Forum to Focus on Clean Energy

The Daily Item/Lynn, MA
http://itemlive.com/articles/2010/07/12/tech_know/tech02.txt

LYNN — The North Shore Technology Council’s monthly Sustainability Forum meeting will be held Wednesday at 8 a.m. at Clean Tech Innoventure Center, 4th floor, 20 Wheeler St., Lynn.

The guest speaker will be Douglas Leaffer, environmental/civil engineer, who will offer a brief presentation on wind turbine design. Meetings are open to members and prospective members of the Technology Council.

The North Shore Technology Council (NSTC) is a non-profit, volunteer-lead organization with a mission to build a community for interaction, collaboration, and advancement of technology business in Massachusetts’ north-of-Boston region. The council is on the Web at www.nstc.org.

The Sustainability Forum is a special interest group within the Technology Council. Its membership is dedicated to the better understanding and promotion of clean-technology and sustainable practices within our region.

For more information visit the Council’s Web site or call John Coulbourn at 508-277-7356. Or visit:

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Communicate with Power

January 3, 2010

Customers and prospects are deluged with information – Tweets, email, ads, Facebook, direct mail, news, etc. etc.  Today, your communications needs to be consistent and create an impression. 

It’s more important than ever for businesses to build a brand that reflects their values.  It may be something simple like quality or technological expertise.  But companies are working to convey values that connect with their customers.  “Sustainability” is one example. It has increasingly become an important value for consumers — and something they look for in the companies they do business with. 

My first schooling in ‘sustainablity’ was provided by the Chief Sustainability Officer at UNH. (See cool video we did with him here:

 

Sustainability is important to the operation of that university.  It reaches far beyond recycling and smart energy use.  It includes a close look at local resources, their measured use, and their advantages over resources from far away.  It includes art and culture, believe it or not.

UNH is committed to sustainability and they ensure that they communicate that.  It’s part of who they are.  It makes a difference to many of their customers (i.e. students).  It may not be what you’re about. But it is important to consider what sets you apart.  What is the impression that your communications provide.  It’s important to make an impression today.  It’s easy for customers and prospects to overlook you entirely.

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