I just can’t say this any better than Dean Froslie did at Sundog. Saying you’ve got a blog when you really don’t is just one of my pet peeves. It fosters misunderstanding at best.
In recent months, I’ve noticed a few instances of “blogs” that are simply long pages of text. (A favorite sports talk show host is one example.) There’s no way to comment, no way to receive posts by RSS or e-mail, no categorization, and no way to link directly to a post. The content likely gets read, but it requires more reader effort and lacks the conversation and community-building.
This just makes too much sense. BlogWorld and the New Media Expo have announced that they’re merging to create one big event in 2009. If you’re a communications professional of any type then I would love to see you there. I’m going to put it on my calendar now and hope it works out!
BlogWorld & New Media Expo is the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media. Designed to give participants the strategies, tools and technologies they need to leverage new media communication in business, editorial and entertainment environments, the conference features dozens of seminars, panel discussions and keynotes from iconic personalities on the leading-edge of online technology and Internet-savvy business. BlogWorld & New Media Expo will place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, October 15-17, 2009. More information on BlogWorld & New Media Expo can be found at www.blogworldexpo.com.
This weekend we’re moving to a new server. Doesn’t that sound like fun? It’s kind of like moving your home. You’ve got to pack everything up, move it to a new location and then hope all is well. Which it will be.
So why are we doing it? Because we’ve continued to grow and are now hosting 26 different websites! Of course that doesn’t count others we manage on client servers.
So, basically we’re doubling our capacity and upgrading to some fantastic new server software which means our sites will perform even more reliably and faster. You shouldn’t notice anything during this move since we’ll have all sites up and running on both servers.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving from ZimmComm New Media.
And just in case you want to know more, here’s what Wikipedia says about it:
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it’s a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. Thanksgiving is a North American holiday with the dates and whereabouts of the first Thanksgiving celebration a topic of modest contention. It has generally become a national secular holiday with religious origins. Though the earliest attested Thanksgiving celebration was on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida[1][2], the traditional “first Thanksgiving” is venerated as having occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621.
Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members.
Take a look at this graphic from eMarketer today. Where would you like to have your video? For those of you wondering why it doesn’t list YouTube, remember that Google owns it.
The networks’ online destinations are a popular place to view video, but Google’s YouTube is still the 800-pound gorilla in the video viewing space.
Google, including YouTube, has a 55.4% share of video viewing visits to online video site properties among US Internet users, according to September 2008 figures from Compete.
All four networks made it into the top 10, but market share for each is dwarfed by YouTube. NBC, in third place, garners a mere 3.9% of visits, but this marks the first time NBC has been in the top five. Fox Interactive Media also has a 3.9% share. ABC commands 2.8% of visits to online video sites, and CBS Interactive accounted for just 2%.
Now you know why I YouTube. Shouldn’t you? Or are you still into “controlling the visitor experience?”
Hey iPhone owners. Here’s some great news. A new application from Griffin that allows you to record onto your phone (or 2nd gen Touch).
Turn your iPhone into a high-quality recording device.
iTalk’s simple, intuitive user interface lets you start/stop, choose Good/Better/Best sample rates, and manage the list of your recordings, all with just one finger.
Run iTalk to record on your iPhone or 2nd generation iPod touch. Run iTalk Sync on your computer to transfer your recordings from your iPhone to your computer via Wi-Fi.
iTalk from Griffin Technology. A complete recording solution in the palm of your hand.
Features
* High-quality handheld recording using your iPhone or iPod touch
* Easy, convenient user interface and controls
* Drag & drop wireless file transfers to your computer
* User-selectable 11.025 kHz, 22.05 kHz, or 44.10 kHz sample rates
The Association of Downloadable Media has picked Meredith Medland, host of the LivingGreenShow.com, to fill their new Director position. We congratulate and welcome her.
Meredith has a unique combined experience in goal management, accountability consulting, downloadable content creation, message training as well as her past association experience. Her background in the online advertising industry also provides the experience needed as ADM serves its constituents in the areas of advertising and sponsorship support.
Meredith’s responsibility will include supporting, tracking and reporting on mission-critical association projects to member constituents. ADM is a volunteer-run trade association with projects organized through its committee structure so Meredith will focus on tracking the work being done on the committees.
Her initial priority tasks include managing the process we’re going through to culminate in an advertising effectiveness research report, educating the market about the value of downloadable media through a series of deliverables and outreach, and continuing the association’s membership growth by working closely with the Membership Commitee.
You can expect that Meredith will be a capable “conduit” between what we are doing on a volunteer basis as members, and an effective project manager and “outcomes tracker.” Her position is part time based on our limited budget, and while the core work will still be achieved by members in the committees, she will provide transparency, and a holistic tracking approach to our collective work. Please join me in welcoming Meredith to the Director position.
Meredith’s background is further described below. I hope that you will agree she is an optimal choice to move our initiatives forward and will take a moment to introduce yourself to her and let her know both the support you’ve provided thus far to the ADM as well as any ideas and feedback you have for the future.
This is a very positive step forward in staying focused on our mission and our priorities and I look forward to our continued momentum.
The latest version of WordPress is out and thanks to a heads up from Podcasting News you can watch creator Matt Mullenweg show us what to expect when this latest release comes out next month.
Technorati, the blog indexing authority, is releasing its annual “State of the Blogosphere” in 5 installments. Here’s an example of information from the first one.
Bloggers Self-Identified as Personal, Professional, or Corporate
Bloggers are not a homogenous group. One way of segmenting bloggers is by their blog type:
* Personal: blog about topics of personal interest not associated with your work
* Professional: blog about your industry and profession but not in an official capacity for your company
* Corporate: blog for your company in an official capacity
Four out of five bloggers are personal bloggers who blog about topics of personal interest. About half of bloggers are professional bloggers — blogging is not necessarily their full-time job, but they blog about their industry or profession in an unofficial capacity. 12% of bloggers blog in an official capacity for their company.
Of course, these groups are not mutually exclusive. More than half of professional and corporate bloggers are also personal bloggers. This could be on a separate blog, or they may blog about personal interests within their professional blog.
AgNite in Minneapolis was a hugely successful event, attracting over 3,000 people to The Depot.
ZimmComm was on the scene, publishing content on both AgWired and the AgNite Blog.
This is one of the over 300 pictures Cindy and I shot during the event. You can see 200 of them in our online photo album. We also conducted 12 interviews and produced 1 YouTube video. So far we’ve produced 15 stories from the event and counting.
That’s what you get when you bring in the agriblogging and farm podcasting experts from ZimmComm.
Gulf coast weather permitting, Cindy and I will be be live blogging AgNite during the Republican National Convention. This is going to be very cool and a lot of fun. There’s an impressive list of companies and organizations already supporting this opportunity to showcase American agriculture to a national audience.
Perhaps you’re still wondering if your company or organization should be getting involved in new media. Have you started participating yourself (Facebook, LinkedIn, Blog, YouTube) to become personally familiar with it? It’s kind of hard to evaluate a medium you’re not familiar with.
I just saw some interesting new data on how Inc. 500 companies are making use of social media. Here’s a chart comparing their use in 2007 (green) with 2008 (blue). You can click on the image to see a bigger version of it. Research Highlights:
* Four out of five companies in the Inc 500 rate social media technology as important or very important;
* 21% of the companies are podcasting and 39% blogging;
* The number of companies blogging and podcasting has doubled in the last year;
* The Inc. 500 are adopting new media technologies much quicker than Fortune 500 companies.
The research suggests that companies that are using social media & new media technologies are growing faster than other companies.
In the last week I think I’ve helped bring almost a hundred agricultural marketing and communications people closer to an understanding of new social media mechanisms. If you weren’t one of them then you’ve got a chance next week. On August 6, I’ll be participating in a tele-seminar that’s being conducted by Mark Jewell, Aggie-Lance. I do like being called one of . . . “ag industry’s brightest social media minds.” Register here.
Tune your phone lines to a special event this August 6th, as some of the ag industry’s brightest social media minds converge in one jam packed tele-seminar. Hosted by, Aggie-Lance.com, founder Mark Jewel this seminar will feature Chuck Zimmerman from Agwired.com and Zimmcomm.biz, John Blue from Truffle Media, and Liza Markle from the National FFA Organization. The topic at hand: What is social media, and WHY do we need to be using it in the agriculture industry today? Expect to come away with a couple tangible ideas that you can apply straight away!(more…)
While we’re still celebrating iPhone 3G release day I thought I’d point out something that may make it a more desirable choice for bloggers. If you’re a WordPress user like me then there will be an application which allows you to post directly from your iPhone.
The WordPress for iPhone App is nearly ready to go. It supports WordPress.com blogs as well as self-hosted WordPress.org blogs running version 2.5.1 or newer.
Timing wise, with the launch of Apple’s iTunes App store this morning, we expect to see this showing up very soon.
While we wait, here is a brief video showing the App in action. (It’s high quality, so may take a moment to kick off.)
The last edition of ZimmNews for 2008 has been pumped into the www and is awaiting eager eyeballs everywhere.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving from ZimmComm New Media.
Take a look at this graphic from 
Hey 
The Association of Downloadable Media has picked Meredith Medland, host of the 
Technorati, the blog indexing authority, is releasing its annual 
Bloggers Self-Identified as Personal, Professional, or Corporate
AgNite in Minneapolis was a hugely successful event, attracting over 3,000 people to The Depot.
Gulf coast weather permitting, Cindy and I will be be live blogging 
In the last week I think I’ve helped bring almost a hundred agricultural marketing and communications people closer to an understanding of new social media mechanisms. If you weren’t one of them then you’ve got a chance next week. On August 6, I’ll be participating in a tele-seminar that’s being conducted by Mark Jewell, 
While we’re still celebrating