ZimmComm – New Media, LLC

It’s possible to carry more production and transmitting power in your briefcase or Vera Bradley bag today than all the towers and equipment that it takes to run one tv or radio station. Gadgets get smaller, more affordable and then there’s the internet. We’re all about new media here at ZimmComm. Hey, it’s in our name!

If you’d like to learn more about gadgets and how they can be used to make you more productive on the job then consider scheduling me for a presentation. I’ll be doing just this in coming weeks for the Cooperative Communicators Association Institute, Association for Communicating Excellence Annual Mtg. and American Farm Bureau Federation Public Relations Conference. I can conduct a show and tell while providing live examples of how these gadgets can be used to enhance your communications efforts. I think I’ll call it Gadget Goodness.

So, let’s look at a new gadget that was just announced by Samson. It’s the Zoom H1 digital audio recorder which should be available next month. I’m betting this one goes over very well. The retail price is expected to be $99!

Features:

* Stereo X/Y mic configuration captures perfect stereo images
* Same frequency and SPL handling as popular Zoom H2
* Records Broadcast WAV (BWF) at 96kHz/48kHz/44.1kHz at 16-bit or 24-bit
* Records MP3 from 48 to 320kbps for maximum recording time
* Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port
* Built-in reference speaker
* Includes 2GB microSD card and one AA battery
* One AA size battery allows 10 hours operation
* Accommodates up to 32GB microSDHC memory cards
* Track marker function
* Low cut filter
* Built-in tripod mount
* 1/8″ external mic input
* Stereo 1/8″ line output
* Auto record level
* Optional accessory package (APH-1) includes windscreen, AC adapter (USB type), USB cable, adjustable tripod stand, padded-shell case and mic clip adapter

Follow Samson on Twitter.

Registration is now open for this year’s BlogWorld and New Media Expo. I attended last year and am hoping to do so again this year schedule permitting. If you really want to hone your new media and social networking skills then this is the place to do it. It would be cool to have other ag folks there!

Join us at the World’s Largest New Media event and learn about Content Creation, Distribution and Monetization strategies, step-by-step techniques and bleeding-edge tools from the most successful Bloggers, Podcasters, Social Media Pro’s, Internet TV and Radio Broadcasters, and Podcasters! From the premier educational sessions at the Social Media Business Summit and BlogWorld Conference, to the resource-rich New Media Expo, to Amazing Networking events…it’s One economical trip, One weekend, One Big Show you can’t afford to miss!

I missed the Association for Downloadable Media’s webcast titled, “The Podcast Consumer Revealed.” The session was conducted by Tom Webster, Edison Research. The audience for podcasting just keeps growing. The main reasons people watch or listen to podcasts is so they can do so whenever and wherever they want. Here are some key points from the session.

* 1 in 5 Americans (22%) have listened to a podcast.
* 59% men 41% women, 18-44 demo = 60% of podcast users.
* Most downloadable media is consumed via desktop, mobile growing.
* Podcast users are very active on social networks – mainly Myspace and Facebook
* 24% of podcast consumers feel “emotional connection” with their favorite podcasts.
* Podcast consumers are more receptive to advertisers heard in podcast vs heard via internet radio.
* Producers need to do a better job of selling the portable aspects.

If you’d like to know more then feel free to watch the recorded presentation here.

Edison Research and Arbitron have produced some very interesting new data (pdf) on media usage. Some tidbits that stood out for me include:

• 43% of Americans are aware of podcasts and 20% have listened to them
• Internet access from any location is now approaching 9 in 10 Americans
• Dial-up is down to less than 1 in 6 homes with internet access
• Growth of iPod/portable MP3 players continues in 35-64 age demo
• Digital radio audience continues to listen to AM/FM radio

Americans are increasingly enhancing their use of traditional media with new ways to control how, when and where they consume information and entertainment

Consumers say flexibility, control and variety drive their use of online and portable media options

The Association for Downloadable Media has issued the following release about members (including ZimmComm New Media) adopting standards and measurement guidelines.

Ad Standards Define Industry Units and Organize Audience Reporting

Washington, DC — February 1, 2009 — The Association for Downloadable Media (ADM), which facilitates the monetization of episodic consumer-downloaded content, today announced a list of members who are in voluntary support of the first standards and guidelines agreed upon by the organization. This further advances the organization’s charter of creating a landscape favorable to the commercialization of web-delivered shows.

Both the ad standards and audience measurement guidelines were created by open committees, then offered for public comment, edited and ratified by the organization. Though many members have been following these formats as a standard practice of doing business, the member organizations are now organizing to publicly support these standards in an effort to create a scalable, organized market for advertisers to easily flight campaigns and become sponsors of episodic podcasts and vidcasts.

“Our members’ voluntary support of the ADM standards and guidelines provides structural integrity across separately-held ad networks, inventory pools and publisher assets, to create the scale needed to operate in today’s advertising marketplace,” says Chris MacDonald, Chairman of the Association for Downloadable Media. Continue Reading…

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.

* 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

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:

The research suggests that companies that are using social media & new media technologies are growing faster than other companies.

The research was done by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research. You can download the study, which I recommend.

Via Podcasting News.

Just in time for a presentation I’m giving at the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association meeting tomorrow (Blogging and podcasting for profit. Sponsored by Ewing Irrigation and PBI Gordon) is this report from Universal McCann titled, “Power to the People, Social Media Tracker Wave 3.” (pdf-24MB) They’ve done this study globally 3 times now so it’s got some interesting comparative data in it. Basically folks, new media is where it’s at in today’s online world no matter what country you’re in or what your occupation or age demographic. So for those of you who still wonder why you should know more about this, your questions will be answered. If you still wonder then let’s just say you have gotten off the Cluetrain. Here’s some interesting points and I urge you to download the report with the link above to read the whole thing.

• Social media is a global phenomenon happening in all markets regardless of wider economic, social and cultural development.
• All social media platforms have grown significantly over the three Waves: Video Clips are the quickest growing platform, up from 31% penetration in Wave 1 to 83% in Wave 3.
• 57% have joined a Social Network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content: 55% of users have uploaded photos, 22% of users have uploaded videos.
• Blogs are a mainstream media world-wide and a collective rival to traditional media – 73% have read a blog, 45% have started a blog.
• Social media has strong impacts over brand’s reputation – 34% post opinions about products and brands on their blog – 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs.

Here’s the percentage of respondents who agreed with these statements:

• 56% Blogging is a good way to express yourself
• 36% I think more positively about companies that have blogs
• 33% I have a favorite blog that I read regularly
• 32% I trust bloggers opinions on products and services
• 31% Blogging is an important way to socialize with friends

There’s so much information in this report that I can’t even begin to point it all out. It’s all good. Just take some time, take a deep breath and say, “I will read it and I will try to “get it.”

Via Podcasting News

You could say “Wow” when you talk about 40 percent growth. So go ahead because that’s what a recent study by Arbitron-Edison Media Research study titled, “The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms” found. Here’s some nuggets from the study:

• iPod/Portable MP3 player ownership continues dramatic growth. Nearly four in ten
  (37 percent) own an iPod or other brand of portable MP3 player; up from 30 percent in
  2007 and more than two and a half times the number in 2005 (14 percent). Nearly three-
  quarters (73 percent) of those age 12-17 own a digital audio player.
• Audio podcasting usage continues to increase along side the proliferation of
  iPod/MP3 player ownership. Eighteen percent have ever listened to an audio podcast;
  up from 13 percent in 2007. Nine percent have listened to an audio podcast in the past
  month (an estimated 23 million).

The study also found out how important mobile phones are to people today:

More than one in five (21 percent) consumers said radio has a big impact on their lives; ranking second only to mobile phones (33 percent) as the audio platform/device that has the biggest impact on people’s lives.

Why do we care about mobile phones? Can you say iPhone? And what about texting to that “audio” device eh?

If you’re an iPod newbie and wondering how to subscribe to podcasts so you can carry them around in your iPod then Apple has a great new video for you.

You can find it here.

Keep in mind that there are so many podcasts and new ones being added constantly that you’ll want to search the iTunes podcast directory periodically to see what’s available. You will be amazed at what’s there on just about any subject you can imagine.