LeWeb is taking place as we speak, and they have opened up many of their presentations to UStream. Today is the last day of the conference, and it’s been definitely worth staying up to watch some of it (remember – they’re in Central European Time).
For your viewing pleasure, here’s the embedded video stream. Obviously, this will not be up and running after the conference is finished.
So far, I’ve watched a roundtable discussion with Twitter, Facebook, Ning and MySpace, led by TechCrunch, a presentation by Twitter, a very funny presentation spoof by Yossi Vardi. And, right at this very moment, a presentation by Danah Boyd.
If you’re not familiar with UStream, it’s a great channel that allows you to stream live video while also enabling chat next to the video player. If you’re planning on live-streaming a conference or special event, it’s definitely a channel to consider.
One of the appealing things that LeWeb is doing is broadcasting many of its mainstage discussions. Some people may argue that a conference such as this should not be open through live streaming, and that if you want to catch any of the action, you should pony up and pay for it. My take on this is that, if the content is good enough (which it’s been, in this case), people will watch the live online videos, and the content will serve as a magnet to:
Raise awareness of the conference
Through the numbers of recorded viewers, help prove to future sponsors that it’s worth for them to invest in the event
Some of the things that they’re doing right is integrating Facebook and Twitter stream on their homepage. For many, this may seem like an obvious thing to do, but it’s great to see that they haven’t forgotten about something so fundamental.
It’d be even better if their UStream video was available through their Facebook Page.
Another thing I’d to contemplate, if I were LeWeb, would be capturing people’s email address before they can view some (or all) of the live-streaming content. Then, I’d send updates on future conferences to those who have provided their emails. I know I’d consider this… an Internet conference in PARIS? Count me in! I’d work it into my vacation!
Local Internet celebrity John Chow has been in the news quite a bit in the last few days, thanks to his introduction of ads to his Twitter updates (Here are the original articles in The New York Times and in The Gawker).
I have posted a couple of comments on other sites about this, which pretty much express my thoughts on this one – at least up until this point in time. I’d be a fool to think that my opinion might not evolve as I hear more on both sides of the equation.
The first comment I wrote was in response to Philip Novak’s link to The New York Times, posted in his Facebook page: It reads…
” I have mixed feelings on that one. On one hand, the original tweet about M&Ms did have “(Ad)” in its text. In addition, if people dislike John’s commercial tweets, they have a simple choice, which is to unfollow him.
As a marketer, I’d be very skeptic about recommending this ad platform to advertisers. It’d be interesting to see what kinds of conversions those ads receive, and how they affect not only the advertiser’s reputation, but also the reputation of the Twitter user who originally posts it.
As a Twitter user, I wouldn’t dare sending a Twitter ad to my followers. It decreases the intrinsic level of trust that brought Twitter to where it is now. And if someone I trust and follow began to post those ads, their reputation would take a quick plunge, leading me to unfollow them.”
Then, a little earlier today, I posted this second comment, on Patti Schom-Moffatt’s blog post:
“Hello,
As you probably know, John Chow made the news because he started incorporating ads in his Twitter stream.
I personally wouldn’t integrate ads in my Twitter updates, largely because I feel that it betrays the trust between myself and my followers.
Maybe John Chow’s followers may not have been surprised that he’d adopt this practice. In that case, whether or not he runs Twitter ads might not necessarily hurt his number of followers.
But what if an ad runs through a Twitter account where followers did not see it coming? In that case, it would be interesting to see the long-term effects on the reputations of both the advertiser and the Twitter account that published the ad.
I could see this ad model working for Twitter accounts that already include information about commercial offers, like coupons, discounts, local offers, etc, but not for others that have built their reputation based on the personal tone in their conversations.
Last but not least, if anyone is insulted by the ads, they always have a choice: unfollow whoever published them.”
So this sums up my thoughts on this… for now.
Would love to hear your opinion. Do you agree? Disagree? Why?
I haven’t disappeared. A lot has happened since the last time I published a post – all very positive. Life is now back to normal, so I’ll be able to maintain a constant blogging rhythm. In the meanwhile, here is a quick guide to some events that you might want to keep your eyes on, if you reside in the Greater Vancouver Area:
- Third Tuesday – the last speaker was Tod Maffin. Well worth taking the time to attend this informative – and entertaining – presentation. Tod Maffin frequently makes stops around North America, so if you have a chance to go to one of them, I highly recommend it. If you’re lucky enough to see the presentation that I saw, it’s likely that you’ll never see bees in the same light. This meeting’s profile on MeetUp.com mentions Joseph Thornley as the mastermind behind. Though I haven’t yet met him, I know that Monica Hamburg or Tanya Davis have always been doing a great job at organizing these gatherings.
- Net Tuesday – I’ve already blogged about this event and included some videos. Organized by Elijah van der Giessen, this group focuses on social media and Web technology topics relevant to non-profits organizations.
- The Vancouver Search Engine Marketing Group – if SEO is your thing (as it is one of my many online marketing addictions), you might want to check out this get-together. The latest meeting took place on November 17th, and featured a presentation by James Laitinen, from the International Internet Marketing Association, discussing why you should care about Bing in your online marketing tactics. This group is organized by the fabulous Mr. José Uzcategui.
A great resource to find other meetups around you is, of course, meetup.com. It contains a lists of meetups all across North America, and you’re bound to find a group that appeals to you.
So, you see, there can be an actual “social” element to your life in social media. Get out there.
Here’s the final video segment of Steve Williams’ presentation during Net Tuesday, on November 3rd, 2009, here in Vancouver. Pardon the shakiness in the video quality, as I recorded this without a tripod.
Kudos to Steve on a great presentation. It was very informative, for attendees from both non-profit and for-profit enterprises. Congratulations as well to Elijah van der Giessen for organizing this and so many other Net Tuesdays.
