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DRIVING TRAFFIC TO OUR WEBSITE CUSTOMIZED TARGETED VODCAST ALERTS Fighters, promoters, and fans will be offered their choice of a number of free email or vodcast Alerts simply by completing a registration questionaire which will provide email addresses, zip codes, and favorite fighters and opponent preferences. Email addresses, zip codes identifying fan base location, and preferences as to fighter and possible opponents, are valuable marketing data for MMAShow licensees. The article below from the June 2007 issue of EContent speaks for itself as to the potential for using vodcast technology for sending fight challenges and other entertaining video content for MMA fighters, promoters, and fans. "Lights, Camera, Action Is Vodcasting Ready for Prime Time in the Enterprise?" June 2007 EContent by Geoff Daily "While vodcasting -- or video distributed via RSS -- has gained some traction in the entertainment space through enablers like iTunes, vodcasting in the enterprise has yet to realize widespread adoption. "Without falling too far down the rabbit hole of tech terminology, a vodcast is a podcast but with video. It employs the same model as all things RSS, in which users subscribe to feeds, producers produce content, and when new content goes live, subscribers are notified or sent the content itself via RSS. MULTI PURPOSE MULTIMEDIA "While still in its earliest days of adoption, vodcasting has already begun to prove its utility in the enterprise. It is arguably the most visible as a tool for external communications and marketing. "We have 36 enterprise clients or advertisers and we've seen a huge shift from website-centric marketing to media-based marketing," says John Furrier, CEO of PodTech.net, a site and suite of services that enable the production and distribution of vodcasts through PodTech.net to external audiences." The company provides a platform with an established audience for vodcasting, which can be extremely helpful for building public awareness around a particular video or announcement. "Though real-world implementations of vodcasting to an internal enterprise audience are still few, there are a handful of examples of how vodcasting is (and can be) used within an enterprise. IN PRACTICE "For one, vodcasting holds the same ability as all things RSS, to disseminate information quickly to a distributed work force. An example might be to send out a message from the CEO to inspire his or her troops. As a vodcast, it could be delivered to an entire company in an instant, without fear that it will get lost amidst the stead barrage of email. "RSS-delivered video boasts the potential benefits of immediacy, timeliness, and flexibility in the delivery of content. "John Higgins, Sr. Director of Strategy and Innovation for Accenture Learning which provides outsourced training solutions for major corporations, currently serving more than 1.5 million learners, says, "All the technology is here today. What we have yet to see is people processing and adopting the technology, but it is coming." "Another area to keep an eye on in terms of the coming adoption of vodcasting is the repurposing of video content originally created for other distribution mechanisms. For example, pushing the video captured from a live streaming webcast out through an RSS feed. While this hasn't been happening much to date, it appears inevitable as corporate users continue to pick up on the lessons learned by the entertainment industry about the paradigm of "produce once, distribute multiple times" that the internet enables. COST EFFECTIVENESS "Why aren't companies and corporations adopting it more readily? "Scott Nielsen, Director of Marketing for Attensa for Outlook, an RSS reader that integrates into Microsoft Outlook and lowers vodcast consumption barriers, "It's much easier to create an audio recording, turn it into an MP3 file, and post that to a blog than it is to create a video. "In truth, though, the rapidly declining cost of video production tools is flipping the idea that video is expensive on its head. John Hartman, Co-founder Feedia, a consulting company that helps companies plot out their social media strategy says, "You can go to a traditional ad agency and they'll charge you the same rates as a traditional TV commercial, but then there are firms like ours that have tiered services. At our lowest end we describe it as gorilla video, where we don't have to rent a location or sound stage, we don't hire actors, and we don't set up lights. We just come in with a nice camera and shoot." "What we're beginning to see in enterprise learning is the 'good enough' concept. For example, say we want to record a very technical manufacturing process. We could just go to Best Buy, purchase a $500 hand held video camera, then with a little scripting and thought, we could film a process. But because of the quality of the video we're able to capture on that hand held camera, it's good enough." "Nielsen says, "By just having a video camera on your computer and some recording tools, it's pretty easy to create a simple talking-head video for getting information out quickly." For example, instead of sending out text about a new product to a sales team, a product manager can record himself discussing the new product and create an effective vodcast. HOSTS THAT DELIVER "An RSS push-subscription system could enable video to be uploaded and pushed out to subscribers at night then when an employee gets to work in the morning, the video is already on their desk top ready to be viewed. So instead of everyone trying to pull video during the day when networks are already being strained by other traffic, the distribution of this video happens when the network is less taxed. "The subscription based nature of vodcasting also enables a better understanding of how many people will be requesting a particular video. "The advantage of pushing the video is you know exactly the size of the audience, says Higgins. As opposed to putting video out there for people to come and download or stream, which can be an open-ended proposition. "So its recommended that in these instances where there's a potential for drawing an unknown large audience that it's worth employing the services of a content delivery network like Akamai or Limelight Networks, which specialize in the delivery of multimedia content to large audiences. BEYOND BARRIERS A BRIGHT FUTURE "Also a significant influencer of this larger debate about the adoption of vodcasting is the current state of RSS adoption in the enterprise. "We have to bear in mind that enterprise RSS as a concept is only a couple of years old, and only in the last 12 months has it taken off in any sort of significant way," says Todd Berowitz, director of marketing at NewsGator www.newsgator.com. "As companies become more aware of and familiar with these two technologies, an increase in the adoption of vodcasting will undoubtedly follow shortly thereafter. "As more companies start doing more with enterprise RSS and more content becomes available on video, you'll see those factors coalescing and deriving a lot more use of the vodcasting," says Berowitz. "I think we're seeing vodcasting start to take off in the entertainment arena. Some day soon there's going to be a really bright CEO somewhere that says, "If I can watch the clip from Sunday's game, why couldn't I put my new product announcement on that same platform?" says Higgins. "Then it's just about finding the right compelling business need. As they say, 'Necessity is the mother of invention.'" End |