ZimmComm – New Media, LLC

Last year at MacWorld the big news was the iPhone. This year there were several pretty big announcements starting with this awesome little gadget, the MacBook Air. it’s a seriously light, thin notebook and might be just the thing for the road warrior.

MacBook Air is ultrathin, ultraportable, and ultra unlike anything else. But you don’t lose inches and pounds overnight. It’s the result of rethinking conventions. Of multiple wireless innovations. And of breakthrough design. With MacBook Air, mobile computing suddenly has a new standard.

I love my MacBook Pro and although you can do the same things on a pc, it’s just a lot more fun on a Mac.

This has to be the smallest portable audio studio I’ve seen.

It’s the just announced Belkin iPod Podcast Studio. According to Podcasting News:

Belkin has introduced the Belkin Podcast Studio – a $100 accessory that basically turns your iPod into a mini podcasting studio – just add a mic.

Dual XLR and 1/4-inch channels give you a range of recording options. The Podcast Studio has a built-in mic and speaker are powered by their own battery, so you won’t kill your iPod battery instantaneously. Belkin expects to ship this in June.

You might also want to keep the Belkin TuneStudio in mind too.

My favorite news feed service is now free. If you don’t have it you ought to get it. I use NetNewsWire on my Mac, NewsGator Go on my Blackberry and NewsGator Inbox on my pc’s.

NewsGator announced today the general availability of NetNewsWire 3.1, FeedDemon 2.6, and NewsGator Go! for Windows Mobile 2.0. The public beta of NewsGator Inbox 3.0 also began today. The award-winning products for PC (FeedDemon), Mac (NetNewsWire), Microsoft Outlook (Inbox), and mobile (NewsGator Go!) deliver a best-of-breed RSS reading experience that synchronizes through NewsGator’s online platform. All of the new product versions deliver a better user experience with the inclusion of significant performance, usability, and relevance enhancements.

NewsGator also announced that all of its client RSS reader products are now available free of charge and include free synchronization along with other services. Users can now enjoy the great features and performance of all of NewsGator’s Web, desktop and mobile readers for iPhone, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry (powered by FreeRange), all synchronized to provide the same view of their RSS content no matter when or where they read it.

The agricultural winter meeting season is kicking off and I’m at my first one, the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in Nashville, TN. The Opryland Hotel will be the site of a several such meetings this year. After being here several times last year I think I’m finally getting to figure out the facility. This has to be one of the most complicated layouts of any convention facility I’ve ever been in.

Online event coverage is already shaping up to be one of the biggest components of ZimmCom’s business. We provide that service for not only our own online publications like AgWired but also for proprietary client websites like Precision Pays.

If you’ve got an event that you need outside help with photography and audio or video production then keep us in mind. We’re your online media production company.

I sure got lax about posting issues of our monthly ZimmNews at the end of the year. However, that will change in 2008 starting now. By the way, Happy New Year to all of you. Cindy and I and all of the ZimmComm crew hope you have a fantastic year.

You can read the December ZimmNews by downloading it here (Word doc).

New Media tip:

Joining the online conversation is becoming easier and easier. Starting a blog or a podcast can be done with tools you may already have. But you don’t actually even have to start one of these to get your message online and in a search engine friendly environment. Think YouTube and Flickr. There are other sites out there but these are the ones we recommend you focus on. If you’ve got a point and shoot digital camera, chances are it shoots pretty good video/audio. Even today’s smart phones will let you get in on the action. Take the new Helio Ocean as an example. With a YouTube account you can easily upload video clips, which can include interviews with key company personnel, product demos, event activities, the list is endless. With Flickr you can upload your still images of many of the same content ideas. In both cases, make sure you add all the key word tags you can think of which will help your members or customers find you. Both services provide you with ready made hyperlinks and code to place your content on your website or in electronic documents like emails or newsletters. There’s a subscription mechanism using RSS built into both services so people can subscribe to your content too!

ZimmComm has joined the Facebook network. Actually, I’ve joined and created pages for our business units. I’m still in the process of getting them fully set up but within hours of creating my account someone had already written a note on my “wall.”

To view my profile and write on my wall you’ll need to have a Facebook account though. I’ve got pages created so far for AgWired and ZimmComm New Media.

The same is true with LinkedIn. If you’ve already got an account then visit me and let’s link up. I got started on this one from invitations from a few friends in the business!

Of course you can also just send me an email, text me to my phone (573-230-3024), call my phone, post a comment here or on one of my sites like AgWired, or contact me through my Flickr or YouTube account

Cindy and I and all the ZimmComm team would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year.

ZimmComm New Media has grown significantly this year and we want to thank all the wonderful people we get to work with. None of it would be possible without your faith and trust in us and your support.

We’re looking forward to a great 2008!

If you’re looking for a new mobile phone you might consider the Helio Ocean that now allows you to take a video clip and immediately load it to YouTube. I’m not sure what the quality is like but for that quick upload from an event this phone might be worth checking out.

Helio is a stand alone phone and service provider but they are leasing their service from Sprint so you know it’s on a fast network if you’re in one of their EVDO cities.

It’s getting easier and easier to publish content folks. You can find a video demo on their website.

It’s an icy wonderland in Missouri this weekend and the outlook calls for more.

All day you can hear explosions as trees and branches give under the weight of the ice that’s forming thickly on everything.

The roads aren’t too bad except for the fallen branches and power lines. I went out for a while just to take a look see. I’ve created a little photo album of what it looks like within just a mile or so of ZimmComm world headquarters here in Holts Summit, MO.

The power has flickered but so far so good. I’ve got a feeling I’ll be adding to the photo album this week.

Another new group has been formed called The Blog Council. I’ve submitted my membership app but am doubting I qualify as defined by their rules. I fully understand the need for large corporations to have a place to learn how blogging can help them but a closed looking organization isn’t probably the best idea in my mind. There are lots of resources already available. In fact, since we have built and manage blogs for some major corporations I’m not sure how they can exclude “vendors” or small companies. It’ll be interesting to see they interpret their own rules and if this gets off the ground.

The Blog Council, a professional community of top global brands dedicated to promoting best practices in corporate blogging, officially launched today. Founding members include the leading companies from a diverse range of business sectors: AccuQuote, Cisco Systems, The Coca-Cola Company, Dell, Gemstar-TV Guide, General Motors, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, Nokia, SAP, and Wells Fargo.

“Major corporations use blogs differently while abiding by the same rules and etiquette,” said Blog Council CEO Andy Sernovitz. “Individual and small-business bloggers don’t face the same issues. For example, we still need to deliver a responsible and effective corporate message, but we need to do it in the complicated environment of the blogosphere. We have to speak for a corporation, but never sound ‘corporate.’ And we have to learn to do it live, and in real-time.”