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!

• 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

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.

Ad units that have been standardized include pre, mid and post roll insertions, product placement within shows, and host-endorsements among the twenty-five creative options outlined in the standards document. The measurement guidelines give each member company one of two reporting options, based on how their shows are hosted, either Native Server Measurement (NSM) or Third Party Measurement (TPM).

Now marketers can create ad units they can run in multiple podcast networks as well as in the shows of independent content producers to weave together a demographic and/or contextually targeted campaign. Further, audience metrics can be compared more easily and with confidence.

“With the emergence of each new digital media it’s vital to create standardized ad units and measurement. Now that downloadable media companies are adopting the ADM guidelines, ad agencies will include podcasts and vidcasts in their media recommendations as standardized units mean they can scale across multiple content producers to get the reach they need.” Susan MacDermid, SVP, Real Branding.”

List of the Member Companies Participating in the Standards:

The ADM is open to both corporate and individual producers of content as well as non-profits, advertising agencies and solutions providers in the portable media space. The following companies that have agreed to offer at least a portion of the ad units outlined in the standards document and to report their audience metrics through one of the two methods outlined in the guideline are listed below.

COMPANY / CONTACT
BackBeat Media / Dave Hamilton
Bare Feet Studios / Roxanne Darling
Burst Media / Rob Simon
Circle of Seven Productions Sheila English
Coverville / Brian Ibbott
Culinary Media Network Jennifer Iannolo
Culture Catch / Richard Burns
IndieFeed / Chris Macdonald
KCRW / Jennifer Ferro
Kiptronic / Dave Rowley
Modified Media / Doug Taylor
NPR / Bryan Moffett
Personal Life Media / Susan Bratton
Podcast.com (Treedia Labs) / Glenn Gaudet
Podtrac / Mark McCrery
Portage Media Solutions / Jeremiah Staes
PRI / Morgan Church
Quick and Dirty Tips / Richard Rhorer
Raw Voice / Angelo Mandato
Revision3 / Jim Louderback
Sciencepodcasters.org / Ginger Campbell
SkydiverGirls.tv / Karen KFC Blanchette
The Best Radio You Have Never Heard / Perry Bax
Volomedia / Jeff Karnes
Wizzard Media / Chris Macdonald
ZimmComm New Media / Chuck Zimmerman

About the ADM

The Association for Downloadable Media is focused on providing standards for advertising and audience measurement for episodic and downloadable media. The organization’s constituents include individual podcasters, media companies, publishers, syndication companies and distributors offering downloadable media, advertising agencies, marketers, technology suppliers, hardware and software manufacturers of portable media products and services, market research firms and audience and advertising effectiveness measurement companies. Through our volunteer membership, we provide leadership in and organization of advertising and audience measurement standards, research, education and advocacy to all those involved in portable media (Podcasts/ATOM/RSS media enclosures) across the Internet, iPods, MP3 players, mobile devices, P2P and other upcoming platforms.

###

For more information, contact:

Susan Bratton
Personal Life Media
650-948-0500
susan at personallifemedia dot com

Phil Wilson
Association for Downloadable Media
612-743-7860
pwilson at downloadablemedia dot org

* 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

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.

• 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

• 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?

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.

I’ve imported the existing feed file for my weekly ZimmCast podcast which you can find published each Monday on AgWired. I used the built-in forms in the software to add and change some elements of the feed, saved it and uploaded it to my server. I haven’t tried the automatic ftp feature yet but intend to.

With this first effort it showed how easy it is to create and manage your feed. The software will even upload your media file via ftp for you. It looks like a worthwhile program to try.

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.

One of the things we’re supposed to do is point you to 5 other blogs you may not be aware of. Although I do this regularly on many of our sites and we’ve got blog rolls on some of them I’ll point you to 5 here. Why these? Because they’ve got some good resources for you if you’re wanting to become a better blogger or podcaster.

ProBlogger
Smays.com
Podcasting News
iLounge
Engadget

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On that day Bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors.

The organization has been formed to focus specifically on any content downloaded by consumers, and will work in collaboration with related industry organizations, publishers and agencies such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA).

Great idea and I’ve already submitted my name to be one of the first to join as soon as membership is available.

At last night’s dinner one of the participants wanted to use my camera so I let her and she took a picture of the photographer (me). Her name is Fran Doig and her husband, Paul received one of the CAHI “Recognizing Its Leaders” awards last night. You can read more about this on AgWired.

I thought I’d post some of the resources I’m using here and later I might add the audio recording of my presentation too just in case you’re interested and only if I think I sound okay. So linked to here are the agenda for my presentation (Word doc), my Power Point slides (PPT file) and a little resources handout (Word doc).

I’ll also be giving away a few sets of ZimmComm retractable ear buds to some lucky winners too.

The Expo focuses on educating individuals and companies about how to produce high quality digital content, grow a loyal audience, and market or monetize that content in creative ways. The Expo is also a major networking event where content creators can share ideas and build partnerships.

You can learn more in the attendee tools section of their website.

They’re organized as an unconference which I’ve never experienced. Sounds kind of interesting. Here’s the Atlanta agenda:

Friday evening
7:00 – 9:00 p.m. – Informal meet-and-greet / happy hour
Manuel’s Tavern, 602 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta, GA

* Morning – Informal breakfast for people to gather together
* 9:45 a.m. – Welcome back!
* Sessions hosted by everyone.
* Lunch and Podcast Brainstorming Groups. Set up break-out sessions for people to lead discussions about the future of podcasting, and how we can be a part of it.
* Afternoon – Representatives of each break-out session will share what they have discussed with all of the other groups.
* Farewell to PodCamp Atlanta / Let’s do it again next year!

Example number one: Beef Board Meeting. This cattle producer-targeted website now has 30 new posts from the Cattle Industry Convention that all contain pictures and most of them contain interviews or audio files of press conferences and speeches. The posts were done while the event was taking place and traffic is 5 times higher than last year when the site was introduced. Additionally, all my pictures were placed into an online photo album for anyone to find and view (241 pictures).

Example number two: Biodiesel Conference Blog. This consumer/industry-targeted website now has 37 new posts from the National Biodiesel Conference that contain all the same type of content (pictures, interviews, speeches and press conferences). Additionally, 21 of the audio files were placed into a podcast series for people to subscribe to and download to their computer/iPod. And all my pictures were placed into an online photo album (296 pictures).

Now while I was doing that I was also cross posting onto AgWired, Domestic Fuel and World Dairy Diary which are ZimmComm owned and operated news blogs. This places the content in another highly search engine optimized environment. I don’t know about you but I think this beats a printed daily conference newsletter any day!

Our schedule is filling up during these busy farm meeting months. If you’re interested in learning more about it all works and how we can work for you please let me know.

Now why is this important to you and me? Jobs describes the iPhone as a revolutionary device. After seeing the introduction and demonstration I agree. This thing is a lot more than just a cool gadget. It’s also a great functional tool that we’re going to literally see “out in the field.” It’s an example of where things are going in the mobile delivered content arena. In fact you might want to check out this story on eMarketer.com, “The Hottest New Media Platform of 2007 Is Right in Your Hand.”

I guess the question would be, Are you preparing to communicate with your members and customers wherever they are?

I spent an hour in an Apple store yesterday getting a very detailed demonstration of a MacBook Pro. If you think I should make the conversion please email me.

You can still find the Blog Business Success Radio show on Blog Talk Radio.

We had a nice hour long conversation which you can still listen to if you missed it live. We talked about agricultural communications, Talking News Releases, blogging, podcasting and all from the perspective of how these new communications tools can be used for business purposes.

So, if you have time feel free to listen in.

Well, Wayne’s a podcaster too and on something called Blog Talk Radio. Tonight at 8pm (Eastern) I’ll be his guest on his program “Blog Business Success Radio.” You can listen in live or use these instructions from Wayne if you can’t:

If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.

Let’s talk with Chuck Zimmerman about podcasting and talking press releases and how they can take your media relations to the next level, on Blog Business Success Radio.

The report also says that people aren’t downloading podcasts on a regular basis. I’m not sure about the significance of that. I’m a pretty prolific podcast downloader and I don’t do it regularly. I crank up iTunes whenever I think of it and let it download all the latest to my iPod. I just don’t do it on any kind of regular schedule. However, I still get all the episodes I want of the programs I subscribe to.

I just thought you might want to know.

This 30GB bad boy will be in stores by November 14 with a retail price of $249. It has some nice features and will play more types of files than an iPod.

You can find out a lot more about the Zune on the Microsoft website.

I’ve got to believe that between Apple and Microsoft marketing their products heavily, we’ll soon be reading statistics that say something like the average home in America has 2.556 digital media players.

If you’re wondering about how it works and how to participate they’ve made an introduction video. I participated in the first one of these and they’re great because it’s all online and you can do it from your home or office.

Check it out.

You can find some interesting survey in a post on Marketing Sherpa that was reported on Podcasting News. It shows that blogging and podcasting are two of the most effective marketing tools for generating new sales leads in the technology industry.

If you really wants some numbers you might consider purchasing the Nielsen Analytics report title, “The Economics of Podcasting.” Marketing Vox got some information out of the report from the Financial Times: “that more than 6 percent of U.S. web users, or nearly 9 million people, have downloaded at least one podcast in the last month, reports the Financial Times. Of those, about 10 per cent are “heavy users,” downloading eight or more podcasts a week. Moreover, 38 percent of “active” podcast listeners say they less often listen to the radio now than before they began downloading podcasts.”

via Podcasting News

Like many agencies I’ve had the honor to present to, they wanted to see some real world examples and talk about what I’ve learned from over a year in the new media world. I hope it was helpful. We looked at various blogs and podcasts that I’ve been involved in or know of and all with an ag focus.

If you’d like a workshop of your own please feel free to contact me.