Our event emcees are Shonali Burke, Principal of Shonali Burke Consulting, and DC Hughes, Photojournalist/Multimedia Producer for Lemur News Images and Lemur News Audio.

Shonali Burke & DC Hughes

Beth Kanter

Our first speaker is Beth Kanter, Scholar in Residence, The Packard Foundation. Beth’s first foray into social media included her own blog, and the Cambodia4Kids.Org blog.

Throughout her time in the field, Beth noted four themes in Social media:

• Working in a networked way
• Art of Network Weaving
• Transparency
• Creating a social culture in the organization (behind the firewall)

My favorite of those is network weaving! What is Network-weaving? It is working through a network in a way that makes every node within that network stronger by way of each other node. A sort of Rhizomatic growth, that is, growth where every bud within the organism receives nourishment from the other buds.

Key takeaways from her talk:

• We need to work within our network so it can spread and grow.
• We need to learn and play within transparency.
• We need to work with our clients and our organizations as change agents within the firewall.
• Management should become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Shel Israel

Next, it’s our keynote speaker: Shel Israel (@shelIsrael). Shel worked for years as a journalist at the Daily Reporter. When he ran into tougher times, he worked into Social Media and blogging. It was his way of doing what he loved, and to do it independently. When he decided to write a book, he was offered just $2,000 for 6 months. It wasn’t until he teamed up with Robert Scoble that he was able to finish Naked Conversations.

He reluctantly joined, then a new social network, Twitter. He was taken by its rapidness and effectiveness in connecting with people. It was finally the James Buck incident (of getting himself out of Egyptian jail using Twitter) that drew Shel to write his next book, Twitterville.

He’s pleased to see the growth of Twitter. Politicians are finally realizing that it is a two-way street. School systems are using it to alert students of closings and events.

“What Social Media allows any institution to do is listen and respond in ways that they could not previously do. And this hits the nerve that we all have. We don’t hate large institutions because they’re large institutions. We hate them because they’d rather spend 50 years [broadcasting and] reducing us to eyeballs…Twitter allows us to see that there are real people in government, in Microsoft…and they start listening and try to do better.”

“Social Media is just a bunch of tools. You could use a tool to build a house or to kill your spouse. It’s really up to you; but the guy who invented the hammer doesn’t have a say.”

“The newspaper industry was not clueless. They saw ‘this’ coming before we did.”

Shel on the future:

• We are entering the normalization phase of Social Media
• We are looking at a slower but steadier growth
• They said about the telephone that businesses would be crazy to let such a device in. But the truth is, “Whoever starts the stuff doesn’t have a lot of say on how the stuff is used.”

Natalia Luckyanova

Next up: Natalia Luckyanova (@nattylux), co-founder of Imangi Studios. Imangi Studios is a two-person operation that builds Mobile games (mainly for the iPhone). They use social media extensively to promote their brand, listen to their gamers, and interact with them.

Beyond just their own marketing, they get plenty of attention from other businesses who wish to create mobile apps for their brands. Being such a saturated market, it is imperative for mobile app developers (especially those associated with the iPhone and AppStore) to generate adequate buzz and excitement pre-launch, and early on. Mobile apps have very short shelf-lives.

Another change in the mobile app world is in the realm of mobile gaming: the realization (finally!) on behalf of game developers and their organizations that they should be marketing  more to women and girls. There are more women in the gaming audience as well as on the development side. One thing Natalia’s team has done is include a very large pool of women in their focus groups.

A great question posed was regarding mobile apps geared toward nonprofits. Beth Kanter pointed out a great resource on this subject: http://gamesforchange.org

Andy Carvin

A very welcome late edition to the speaker list is Andy Carvin (@acarvin), social media strategist at NPR.

Andy worked across the street of the FBI building in Oklahoma City when it was infamous bombing incident took place. He recalled asking the question: “What can the internet do?” And at the time, the answer was simply “Nothing.” There simply wasn’t enough traction, nor sufficient architecture in place. Several years later, in September of 2001, Andy was working in DC. The proximity, the incident, the desire to do something all culminated in Andy building a Yahoo group. This only grew from there. After Hurricane Katrina, Andy built Katrina Aftermath, which describes itself as “A public gallery of thoughts, images and sounds in response to Hurricane Katrina.”

As tools grew, Andy stepped up his efforts to grow and keep active with providing different communities the support they needed, whatever it may have been. His next endeavor came during the election: http://blog.twittervotereport.com/

When the terrorist attacks in Mumbai took place, Andy learned a valuable lesson. Twitter, as a tool for getting news out, was effective only for the first few minutes/hours. From then, the information reached saturation, and most of what was coming out was unreliable or downright wrong. His methods for combating the false information was to track down the only person he knew in Mumbai, and to see whom she was listening to and whom she was re-tweeting.

A similar issue happened in the aftermath of the recent election in Iran. Many people throughout the world changed their Twitter locations to Tehran, Iran, in a very “I’m Spartacus!” moment (his words) to protect the people in Iran posting news no Twitter from being tracked down. But that also threw off the geo-mapping information and accuracy.

“We’ve now reached what you may call in some ways a hashtag crisis.”

So, the key question here becomes: How do you triage trust?

Though he stopped short of answering this question in full, he offered this valuable tidbit. A new project called TrustMap, where people could go and list the names of those that they trust.

–Now, in the Q&A, a great conversation that has come about is the question of ethics in Citizen journalism. Is it ethical for us to broadcast events that are intimate to other people? Legally, what happens in public space can be considered public, but what ethical ramifications are we dealing with when we post information that becomes the means by which relatives may hear about a disaster? Do we want to be the ones breaking that news? Do we want to be the people photographing parents of a deceased child?

–Yet another discussion: How effective are we when we seek to help? Where do we draw the line between meaningful change and slacktivism? Does it make a real impact when we turn our avatar green and change our location setting? Beth Kanter mentioned a guest post she has on her blog the issue of slacktivism.

* * *

Here at BlogPotomac, we just got back from lunch. A quick note: Debbie Weil came on to offer BlogPotomac cofounder, Geoff Livingston some well-deserved recognition. As she pointed out, Geoff has shown an undying dedication to promoting women in the social media and tech space. In all the BlogPotomacs, much care and attention was payed to making sure women were well represented among the speakers lists. Geoff, kudos!!

* * *

Jane Quigley

We are now listening to Jane Quigley, (@jquig99), Vice President of Client Relations at Crayon. As Jane puts it, she’s “the only capitalist here.” She is talking to us about making money on the web.

And the main trend that has been taking over in this regard is the localization of the web. Sites like Group On and CitySource are making a big splash by focusing in on a localized, specific geographic niche.

She also discussed the future of localization, particularly as it relates to Google Wave. Her point was that right now, it’s so easy to get lost in the many “waves,” but what’s effective in this system is when smaller groups break out into collaborative spaces.

Another point of growth for businesses on the web is the creation of APIs. This is another twist on the principle of localization, not so much in a geographical sense in this case, but a topical sense.

Sean Gorman

Our next speaker is Sean Gorman, CEO of FortiusOne. His discussion is on location-based technologies and mapping on the web. Sean is a trained geographer and cartographer. Around 2005, with the simultaneous growth of Web 2.0 and web mapping (and applications such as Google Earth), Sean joined the action and became heavily involved with these emerging technologies.

FortiusOne has been aggregating geographic databases from all around the world. This includes information from where Tweeters are talking about a certain product, to best windsurfing spots, to visual displays of economic growth areas.

A very effective implementation of mapping that Sean was involved with recently was the recent Afghan election, where data coming in about votes were geo-tagged. So as they realized inconsistencies, such as votes being made in one area but the overall numbers that those votes would reflect decreasing, they could spot voter fraud in real time.

–From the Q&A:

Among of the issues location-based services are facing are security and privacy issues. One way some services are standing out and gaining favor is allowing users to customize the granularity of the information they wish to be shown (i.e. location down to city-level, neighborhood-level, or exact location).

Peter Slutsky

And, finally, our final speaker of the final BlogPotomac (I’ll stop redunding now) is Peter Slutsky, Director of Strategic Partnerships of Ning and Co-Founder and CEO of Double Speak Media.

Ning not only provides a platform for niche social communities, but also a way to monetize the platform, whether from ad revenue, or from custom gifts.

He makes a strong case for niche communities: “There’s a less than 50% overlap between people you know and your interests and passions.”

Note: Ning Apps (API) has been launched. They will be holding the Ning Appathon on November 5th, in Palo Alto, CA.

* * *

Well, the event is now officially over. I’m going to mingle and say my goodbyes, but do check back here later for my recap of the event!

Yes, folks, this Friday, October 23rd marks the end of BlogPotomac. For those of you who may not have heard about the unconference, it is a staple of the DC Social Media scene. Organized by Geoff Livingston (@GeoffLiving) of CRT/tanaka and Livingston Communications, it is a gathering of social media rock stars to discuss and share their ideas on best practices and future outlook.

I had the benefit of being at the last BlogPotomac, and I still notice myself shaking my head in amazement every time I reflect on the experience. As my first real foray into liveblogging (see the post here), it was quite well received, convincing me of two things: (1) that I would definitely be attending the final one, and (2) I’ll have the laptop and air-card fired up and ready to liveblog again.

So, if you’re reading this close to when I’m publishing it, hurry, as there are still a handful of tickets left. If not, fear not! Just be sure to redirect your web browsers right here to SuperNova on the morning of Friday, October 23rd, the year two thousand and nine, (show starts at 8:45 AM) and keep on refreshing, as I will be giving you the up-to-the-(handful of)-minute(s) skinny on what’s being said, and who’s saying it.

In the meantime, check out http://www.blogpotomac.com/, follow @blogpotomac on Twitter, and set your Twitter searches to #blogpotomac. And meet me right back here on Friday.

If you recall, in June of this year, I represented MetroStar Systems at Salt Lake City, and liveblogged eLearningDevCon 2009 (you can find those posts here, here, and here). eLearningDevCon was hosted by Rapid Intake, makers of the eLearning development tools ProForm and Unison. Several sessions offered in that conference were labeled “BYOL,” standing for “Bring Your Own Laptop.” These were hands-on sessions where the instructor would guide attendees through a project, whether it was to produce something, or to learn a tool, or both. These sessions were a huge success, and the folks at Rapid Intake Conferences announced the first instance of their new conference, BYOL eLearning.

It is a one-of-a-kind eLearning conference that is 100% hands-on. One can’t help but appreciate a conference that strives to be so tangible and effective, nor can one help but crack a smile upon hearing the conference tagline (and noticing what it’s implying):

BYOL. Actually learn something.

Of course, all joking aside, the very fact that I’m here stands as testament to how much I learned at eLearningDevCon. I’m sure this conference will be no different. As all the sessions are hands-on, I won’t be liveblogging this event, but I will be recapping my experience at this conference in the near future.

So tune in later to catch my post on the conference. But in the meantime, keep up with what’s happening here on Twitter by following the hashtag: #byol.

For more on the conference, check my previous posts (Day 1 and Day 2) . Also, check out:

Conference URL: http://www.elearndevcon.com/

Twitter handle: @elearningdevcon

Twitter hashtag: #devcon09

Conference Sponsor: http://www.rapidintake.com/

And, on to the day’s first session:

The Missing Link: Rehumanizing eLearning

with Sarah Williams

E-Learning is mistakenly defined (by reference.com) as “a type of education where the medium of instruction is computer technology. In some instances, no in-person interaction takes place…”

Why? The best learning happens when there’s some form of human interaction–real or simulated.

Well, to solve the dilemna this definition poses, Sarah is taking us through concepts, beginning with “easy” ones and getting increasingly more “involved.”

Easy:

• User interface design – make it simple, and conversational. Avoid conflicting stimuli.
• Narrating the text that is visible on screen is generally a bad idea. People prefer to either read, or be read to, but both is confusing.
• Metaphors – Use things from the learner’s pre-existing knowledge, to evoke–or more specifically activate–certain thoughts and emotions.
  • Use the principle of Einfühlung:

Einfühlung: “understanding so intimate that the feelings, thoughts, and motives of one person are readily comprehended by another.” (from Answers.com)

• Use the principle of “Mirroring” – Cells in the brain mirror what the brain sees.
  • If we see something happen, the same neurons fire off in the brain that would if we were actually doing it. (Also called co-cognition.) Make the learner imagine themselves doing what you are demonstrating.
• Know your audience. Be mindful of “In-groups” and “Out-groups.” For eLearning aimed at a certain demographic (gender, ethnic, occupational, etc.) use imagery from that same demographic (In-groups), not different demographics (Out-groups).

Medium:

• Avatars v. agents:
  • Avatar is a human representation (actual photo, or digital/graphic depiction)
    • E.g.:

(“Mii characters” also count as avatars)

• • Agent is a non-human representation, such as:

Use avatars. They are best for creating the human connection.

Be careful with digital Avatars! Cartoony avatars are ok, people can still relate (in fact, three dots, representing two eyes and one mouth are almost always recognized as a human face). If a digitally generated avatar looks too realistic, it can be off-putting.

Involved:

• Video production – Show an actual actor or cartoon character talking to your learners. Caution: This solution is almost always expensive. (For a good recap of this, see “Cognitive Learning” from Day 1 and “Interactive Video from Day 2.)
• Video conferencing – This can also be an expensive solution, but it is a superbly effective way to connect with your learners–Live! Could be done in realtime, or used for support after the fact.

Final Takeaways:

• Take advantage of human psychology
• Use human imagery (cartoony is OK!)
• Have human interaction whenever possible

–

Next Session:

Getting the Most Out of Your Tools

with Jason Bickle

There is no magic bullet. No one tool does it all. E-learning professionals have to amass a repertoire of tools, and use some of them in conjunction to tackle each assignment.

Questions to ask before beginning any eLearning project:

• What is your skill set?
• What is your team’s skill set?

Select your tool(s) in accordance with your answers to these questions.

Basic tools:

(Note: These tools are categorized only based on their primary uses.)

• Web:
  • HTML Editors – Dreamweaver, UNV, etc.
  • A great online learning resource for HTML, XML, etc: W3Schools.com
  • Discussion forums & Wikis
  • PDF – Adobe Acrobat (audio and video are now possible to integrate)
  • Documents – PowerPoint and MS Word

How you use these tools can be varied. Jason, for example uses discussion forums to interact with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). All of these tools can have both internal and external uses.

• Audio/Video
  • Audio editing – Audacity, Soundbooth, Sound Forge, GarageBand
  • Video editing – Vegas Video, Adobe Premiere (+ digital video camera, make sure you use one that has an input for an external microphone)
• Graphics
  • Adobe Photoshop (the premier tool, great for larger, more involved projects)
  • Adobe Fireworks (great for quick and easy photo editing for web)

• PowerPoint Conversion
  • Articulate
  • Adobe Captivate (although PPT conversion is not its primary function)
  • Adobe Presenter
  • ProForm
• Screen Video/Capture
  • Adobe Captivate
  • Camtasia
  • Snag-It
  • CamStudio (free software)
  • ProForm
• SCORM Content Shells
  • Captivate
  • Articulate
  • ProForm/Unison
  • CourseBuilder – Dreamweaver
  • Lectora

Be diverse in your use of these tools, and use many simultaneously. E.g.:

Using Articulate as your PowerPoint conversion tool, you can then incorporate Flash, Quizzing/SCORM, Graphics/Audio, HTML

Same principles apply whatever tool(s) you’re using. In fact, replace “Articulate” with “Captivate,” and this graphic still holds true.

Good tip: Record demos from your SMEs, both video and audio. Capture as much of these brain-dumps as you can (Even profanity. An SME’s profanity will almost always translate into a point of caution that your learners need to be warned about–tactfully.)

Tips for choosing an LMS:

• Does it match your business?
• Will the vendor support you?
• Do you have access to all your data?
• Again: Will the LMS provider support you?

–

Next Session:

Quick Prototyping Techniques

with Nick Floro (@nickfloro)

It’s all about communication and problem solving.

Use prototypes to help customers understand what it is you are trying to do.

Questions to ask:

• What is the goal?
• What are the learning objectives?
• What is the time table?
• Does content exist?
• Who is the audience?
• What current technology (if any) is in place?
• What type of delivery method is required?

1. Begin with sketching. In his office at SealWorks, Nick uses a Fujitsu SnapScan, which scans his sketches into PDF, and recognizes & converts handwritten text into type.
2. Then move on to wireframing. Nick puts his wireframes into PDF format, with Adobe Acrobat Pro. By dragging worked out JPEGs into Acrobat, and in multi-page prototypes, using the note tool (), simulates linking from page to page.
3. Brainstorming:
   1. Quantity, not quality
   2. Have toys and candy on hand to get creativity flowing
   3. Everyone is an equal
   4. Limit sessions to 1 hour
   5. Get everyone to focus
   6. Break and flow
4. Selecting tools – key is to be compliant with client’s requirement.

Great tip: For design purposes, carry a camera (digital or on your cell phone) with you wherever you go. You never know when you’ll be inspired.

-

To check out Nick’s slides (including his slides from other sessions which I wasn’t able to attend–I’ve heard nonstop praise for his “Social Media Demystified” session) go to http://www.slideshare.net/nickfloro

–

Last session of the day and of the (*sniffle) conference:

Interactive Branching Simulations in Flash

with Nigel Dobereiner

The Value of Simulation

• Why simulation? – Adult learners want to solve problems; be challenged.
• What’s the value? – Makes for more enjoyable learning and better information retention.

Instructional Design

• Think of interaction as quizzes (posing questions as statements of need)
• Think of customer statements as questions based on learning objectives
• Create convincing distracters
• Work with SMEs who have experienced the simulation targets

Video Recording

• Overacting is actually prefered in simulations
• Keep talent movement to a minimum
• Convert videos to .FLV (deinterlaced, high bandwidth/small img size)

Putting it All Together in Flash

• Use external assets to simplify updates and reuse sections of code
• Code*:

stop();

var netConnect:NetConnection = new NetConnection();

netConnect.connect(null);

var netStream:NetStream = new NetStream(netConnect);

yourVideoInstance.attachVideo(netStream);

netStream.play(“yourFLV.flv”);

*Code given is in ActionScript 2.0 (not 3.0)

Selling it to Your Customer

• Remember the values from before
  • Increased retention
  • Greater usage
  • Better mastery of material

Learning + Simulation = Better Learning

–

My Closing Remarks

First and foremost, thanks for reading. I hope these few posts were able to do justice (as much as is possible) to the quality of the conference. I also hope you found it worthwhile and insightful. I was impressed with every single session I attended. It has been a remarkable experience. A BIG SHOUTOUT and thank you to Rapid Intake (http://www.rapidintake.com/) for the great work and effort they put into the conference. As you can tell, they picked an incredibly far reaching range of speakers, experts and presenters. They do also have another conference coming up in October, which will be an all-application, hands on conference titled: “BYOL” (Bring Your Own Laptop). Check that out at: http://elearning.byol.com/

Finally, a great many thanks to all the incredible people here at eLearningDevCon! It has been a pleasure meeting so many experienced and accomplished professionals. As great as all the sessions were, the opportunity to have met the people I’ve met here at the conference was the best part of the entire experience.

I hope to see you all again very soon.

As always, do share with us your thoughts, comments, reflections. A conversation this good should keep on going…

-Padawan

Thanks for joining us! Again, some info about the company:

Conference URL: http://www.elearndevcon.com/

Twitter handle: @elearningdevcon

Twitter hashtag: #devcon09

Conference Sponsor: http://www.rapidintake.com/

Today’s first session:

Panel: The Future of Mobile Learning

Moderated by Bob Sanregret

Bob served as CEO of HotLava Mobile, which has since merged with OutStart. He is now VP of Mobile at OutStart.

Panel Members: Jason Bickle of AMX, Nick Floro of SealWorks, and Art Paton of Motorola.

From Left: Jason Bickle, Nick Floro, Art Patton, Bob Sanregret

The key to mobile learning (mLearning): Just get something up. No need for flashy multimedia. Just do something.

• Key subsets of mLearning: Supplemental, Ad hoc.
• In some environments, students are not physically meeting with one another anymore for class assignments. They are meeting via mobile services.
• In 2003, for the first time in history, the number wireless subscribers passed the number of wired subscribers (then, 1 billion; up to 4.1 billion today).
• All learning (mobile included, of course) must be trackable. If you can’t track, you cannot justify the investment.
• Most successful mobile learning applications: Simple graphics, and Text.
• Format for apps: XHTML, and WAP. 95% of phones run Java (JAR) files, but not on iPhones out-of-the-box.
• There are over 375 mobile device configurations. Never launch without first launching a pilot program to discover issues.
• For any course that can be on both eLearning and mLearning platforms, simplify content delivery. It will greatly increase the reach.
• Revisiting content in mLearning: Storyboard standard content, and minimize it as much as possible. Then test it on different devices to find out what works, and what doesn’t.
  • The last few years taught us: Not all instructor-led training can be eLearning.
  • Now we learn: Not all instructor-led training or eLearning can be mLearning.
  • mLearning should enhance instructor led and e-Learning; not (necessarily) replace them.

On to the next session of the day:

Cognitive Learning

with Curtis Morley

Curtis handing graphics to his presenter

Learnability v. Usability – Nothing is usable, until it is learnable.

Curtis is presenting on concepts of learning that bring new interactive methods to teaching, powered by eCANDLE with support from facilitator Agilix. Emphasis is on using talking heads, but they talk out of the box. The talking head moves around the screen, interacts with the screen, captions, even physically places graphics onto the screen.

As the learning is delivered, the user is presented with options as to which path to take, which topic to learn and when. This engages the user and lets her appreciate the learning more–fueled by her ownership of the material and its delivery. The progression of the learning also makes use of machine-learning, as the system includes retention of what paths were taken, which topics already covered.

The impact? They took the content of a 3-hour conference presentation and wrapped it into this method. The material was shortened to fit into 10 minutes (including all different paths). The result of the 10-minute module was significantly better retention and comprehension than the 3-hour presentation.

Cognitive learning: Let your learners hear it, see it, do it.

As the learners were given the material, they were given assessments. In turn, these assessments interacted with the learning modules, to inform them which topics within the modules need to be repeated for the learners, and which do not.

Next session…

Emotional Foundation for Developing Higher Order Thinking in E-learning

with Peter Chan, Thad Scott, and Ryan Dean

Dr. Chan is the founder of the Instructional Design and Development program at Brigham Young University – Hawaii, “which trains students to apply instructional theories and advanced technology in designing effective and efficient instructions in various settings.” (from bio at eLearningDevCon)

From left: Thad Scott, Dr. Peter Chan, and Ryan Dean

Higher Order Thinking (H.O.T.) – Thinking that requires the higher cognitive abilities of the brain: Synthesis, Evaluation, Analysis. (see Blooms taxonomy here and here).

“The significant problems we have cannot be solved with the same level of thinking we were using when we created them.” -Albert Einstein

To start from the basics and work from the ground up: An instructional framework of H.O.T.:

• Emotional State has a direct impact on learning.
  • Primary emotions are our reactive emotions (fear, anger, etc) that we share with animals.
  • Secondary emotions (found in humans, not animals) are what regulate and control our primary emotions.

With these two points in mind, how can we facilitate a positive emotional state for the learner?…

Factors affecting learner emotions in an online environment:

1. Learner’s own psychological status
   1. How does learner feel about course? Do they feel it is relevant to them? Use stories, cases, allegories to establish relevancy.
   2. Do they know how to be successful in the course? State the course structure clearly, and provide study skills. Promote the learner’s metacognition.
2. Interpersonal connection
   1. Increased connectivity leads to positive emotions.
   2. Can the learners connect and share with other learners for support?
   3. Do they know the instructor/content creator?
3. Learning environment
   1. Can learners choose their environment?
   2. Is the instructional environment easy to use and stimulating?
4. Customizability
   1. How much control do the users have over the control of the content?
   2. Can they skip information they already know? Does the system provide a pre-assessment?
   3. Does the system remember the learner (their name, their settings, etc.)?
5. Support
   1. Academic support: does the system solicit feedback from the learner?
   2. Is there technical support provided?

Collectively, a Positive Affective environment can lead to Higher Order Thinking.

Case study: Peacebuilding innitiative headed by the Arbinger Institute and students & faculty at BYU-Hawaii: “A Single Idea that Changes Everything”

–

Interactive Video

with Curtis Morley

Second session of the day with Curtis. In his first session (“Cognitive Learning,” above) he demoed videos with highly innovative interactivity.

To begin this session, Curtis is showing us a demo you as well can view at Direct Pointe Solution Overview, all designed in Adobe Flash.

The most important part about all interactive video is not the production, but the pre-production, mainly, the script.

Extensive scripting/storyboarding done in MS Excel

Interactive video window on top of its script/storyboard.

Most of the videos shot are brought in using Adobe Premiere, but for editing purposes, all video was brought into Adobe After Effects. Using After Effects, green screens were very easily removed. And After Effects was a better option than Final Cut Pro and the like, thanks to After Effect’s simplicity in setting cue-points, which can then be easily called by the Action Script code in Flash.

–

Well, that brought our day to a wrap. I hope the post has been useful for you. Join in, share with us your thoughts, and leave a comment. Until tomorrow,

-Padawan

But to get back to the conference…I will be attending several sessions today and will keep you all posted.

In the meantime, you can find out more about the conference here:
Conference URL: http://www.elearndevcon.com/

Twitter handle: @elearningdevcon

Conference Sponsor: http://www.rapidintake.com/

Check back in as I will be summarizing sessions on:

• Instructional Design
• Mobile Learning
• Educational Gaming

First session:

“I See What You Mean!” Visual Design in eLearning

with Lee Bandy (@LBand)

This session was a quick but very useful crash course on using graphics in eLearning modules. Lee took us through some visual design concepts, and showed us some practical examples from her own work.

About Lee (bio from eLearningDevCon):

Lee Bandy is an Instructional Systems Designer at Magellan Health Services in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland. In addition to designing and developing e-learning products, Lee brings a creative design perspective to her role on the Corporate Learning & Performance Leadership Team. With eight years of experience and an M.A. in Instructional Systems Development, Lee’s technical and creative areas of expertise include instructional technology, interactive web-based e-learning, visual screen designs, blended training program designs, and competency-based instruction.

Selecting Graphics to illustrate and communicate ideas:

• Use metaphors that are readily apparent.
• To evoke provocative messages, use grayscale images. In grayscale, focus on balance.
• If you can’t find the right image, make your own, take a photograph, or modify already existing clip-art, auto-shapes, or stock images.
• Follow the “rule of thirds” to compose a picture
  • Divide layout into thirds (vertical and horizontal)
  • Primary focal point should be off-center on one of the vertical lines.
• Balance a photos foreground and background by reducing compression of background
• Another method for bringing in your own graphics: Screenshots.
  • Don’t use “Print Screen”! It doesn’t have fast editing features.
  • Use screen capture software like FastStone or Snag-It.
  • Adding effects (drop shadows, etc.) can strengthen and enhance screenshots.
  • To sample screenshots without blurring, use “Nearest Neighbor” sampling.
• Tip from the audience: Spend some hours to create vector-based templates that you can use to drop in screenshots when necessary. Could be graphic templates for images, or movie-clip templates for Flash animations.
• Don’t hesitate to crop images if/when necessary.
  • This can be very useful when dealing with limited screen size.
  • And the mind tends to ignore the missing portions of familiar images and mentaly “fill in” the rest.
  • Cropping can be great to keep the original resolution but fit only the necessary part of an image to a limited size.
• Of course, when you can’t find the right image, make a new one.
  • Combine elements from different images, stock photo, etc. to generate an image with impact:
  • 
  • Here, she used a picture of a laptop, and a software screenshot, tilted and overlayed on using layers in Fireworks..

Next session…

Flash Character Animation tips and tricks

with Ryan  Simmons

About Ryan (bio from eLearningDevCon):

Ryan Simmons has been working in animation for 13 years at studios such as Warner Bros. and Dreamworks on numerous feature films. His Flash animation skills have won many awards for his short films and TV commercials. Ryan is the co-owner and art director of Cartoon Solutions.

(You can find all kinds of tools, tips and tutorials at http://www.cartoonsolutions.com/)

In any animation, begin with observing yourself and other people.

While creating character animations, Ryan’s method is to use a tablet to draw straight into Flash. But in Flash, motion tweens used on symbols tend to skew images too much. His method to alleviate this: Use the motion tween on the first image until he has gotten it to the limit, just before it starts to skew. Then, he draws a new image from where the last motion tween’s movement left off. How many original drawn images are required depends on the frame rate. Lower frame rates require less images; at 24 f/s or greater, more are required.

Using bones tool in Flash CS4 is still a difficult process, as there are still bugs that need to be fixed.

Instead, for our example, Ryan manipulated motion tweens along the timeline (as well as two separate hand images) to animate a rather sinister-looking masked man to simply raise his arm. Class example:

In animating, make all movements to take place on arcs. This makes the flow look more natural.

He first set the motion tween in the movement of an arc. Then, used some simple strokes to make the motion flow smoothly:

And for lip-syncing, he made sure to make seven different mouth shapes to represent the different mouth positions:

• Closed (M, B, P)
• Open (Ahh)
• Consonants (C, K)
• Consonants (T, D)
• Consonants (Th and L)
• Consonants (F and V)
• O, U, or W

Examples:

On each frame, create a new key-frame, click on the symbol, and select which frame to use. Or, use a tool like Anim-slider pro from animonger.

This is why for lip-sync animation, you want to use graphic symbols . It’s way way way easier.

Also, if you’re changing facial expressions (such as eyebrows) repeat all seven mouth frames.

Next session…

Mobile eLearning: A Reality

with Robert Sanregret

About Robert (bio from eLearningDevCon):

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board Bob Sanregret, a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in California, has over 20 years experience in learning, distance learning and knowledge development. Bob blends his senior executive experience at three of the largest learning companies in the world-Sylvan, Global Knowledge and Learning Tree International-with his education and training to bring you Mobile Technologies. Bob has worked with over 50 companies and government organizations to define and design mobile technology content solutions.

The Basics of M-Learning:

• Portable - Users have to be able to take their learning anywhere and everywhere
• Remote - Should be able to have it regardless of WiFi/Broadband connections
• Handheld Devices - not laptops
• Quick Access - Can I be up and running instantly?
• Urgent/Required Information - Mobile learning is not the resizing of standard eLearning modules

There are 4.1 Billion mobile phones out there today. There upwards of 47 million BlackBerry subscriptions, and 11 million iPhone subscriptions worldwide.

“[Mobile phones] have replaced keys as most the most important thing that people take with them before leaving their homes.”

So how do we leverage mobile tech for our organizations? What kinds of things can be done on mobile devices?

• Learning
  • Courses  (possible, but not the best medium)
  • Assessments (can be instant, and very effective)
• Marketing
  • Surveys
• Performance Support
  • Job aids
  • Check lists

Robert’s organization teamed up with the Kauffman Foundation to encourage youth interest in math and science, to help American educational competitiveness. In sports arenas nationwide, they implemented the Sports Bytes Challenge (powered by HotLava Mobile):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ygus7OG6fA

Robert gave a great example of a mobile survey you can take (on your mobile phone, or on a laptop/desktop) at jamwap.com. This survey took him 2 minutes to prepare using the HotLava software.

2 Key takeaways:

• Don’t mistaken mLearning for shrunken eLearning. You’re better off just sticking to eLearning.
• Make your applications universal. Target as large a portion of the 4.1 billion as you can. Don’t lock yourself into a single platform.

Next session…Lunch! I’ll be back in the afternoon (again, mountain time) to fill you in on more sessions. For now, leave any questions, comments, feedback, responses to anything covered so far. I’m in sponge mode right now, and I’d love to hear from you as well!

And, back to the sessions:

RISC: A New Model for Measuring eLearning Success

with Jacob Bunker

About Jacob (bio from eLearningDevCon):

Jake Bunker is the performance improvement specialist for FamilySearch —a worldwide non-profit genealogical services organization. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and has taught as an adjunct university professor in management and organizational behavior. Jake has many years of management experience including management in retail, training coordination, and volunteer coordination and training, and brings a business results approach to training and evaluation. He specializes in training, measurement, and performance improvement.

In a study done by Corporate University Xchange, 28% of companies accept solid anecdotal recap of eLearning assessment, along with conservative estimates as backup.

All that companies want from training boils down to two things: Efficiency, and Effectiveness.

Enter the RISC model:

Efficience	Effectiveness
Cost/Time	Reach
Impact	Satisfaction

Make evaluation metrics to fit these four categories.

Example:

As a Satisfaction metric, use the Net Promoters Score (NPS). NPS asks the key question: “How likely is it that you would recommend this course for colleagues?” Then, this needs to be tracked and calculated (click NPS link to see calculator).

Key takeaways:

• Establish a desired (measurable) result for your eLearning program with management.
• Using the RISC model, create and implement an eLearning evaluation program.

.

BlogPotomac @ the State Theatre in Falls Church, VA

We are ready to go. First talk is set to begin at 8:45am. Caffeine fixes until then…

For anyone who may not already know, BlogPotomac is an unconference on Social Media in general, and Blogging in particular. Their “About” section says it quite succinctly:

“BlogPotomac is this year’s premiere social media marketing event for
greater Washington DC. Attendees can expect a one-day event with
nationally renowned speakers and advanced discussion of best social
media marketing practices.”

Event url: http://www.blogpotomac.com/

Twitter handle: @blogpotomac

Twitter hashtag: #blogpotomac

The energy level is as high as the speaker list is impressive. For our readers who are viewing this post live, a big thanks in advance for reading! You can access the full schedule here, and we’ll keep you posted on the goings on. Do share your thoughts with us and post your comments!

First up:

Opening remarks with Geoff Livingston and Jen McClure

Geoff Livingston:
http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog/
@GeoffLiving

Jen McClure

http://www.sncr.org

@SNCR

Our program openers are members (and founders) of the Society for New Communications Research. Jen McClure introduced to us the keynote speaker, one of SNCR’s founding members, Shel Holtz.

“Keynote on Integration Challenges”

Shel Holtz, Distinguished author and speaker:
http://blog.holtz.com
@shel

Shel Holtz

His talk is on the cultural aspects of integrating social media. But before culture, the question is: What is legal? Answer: Whatever your organization’s general counsel tells you is legal, is legal.

In times of crisis, organizations who acknowledged crisis, and spoke to the problems (publicly) saw a bigger drop in their stock prices at the outset than organizations that kept silent. But months into the crisis, the tables turned, and only those organizations who engaged their communities (rather than sterile press releases) were able to see their stock prices rise back up to above pre-crisis levels. Those who didn’t, never recovered.

Ownership of Social Media: Who is responsible for social media? Leadership must express the importance for organization-wide ownership. A good example of organic growth in an organization’s social media model is seen in the web presence of the employees of Zappos.

Everyone needs to take ownership, top-down, ground-up. A major cultural barrier is the restriction of voices. Any organization that speaks only through the voice of its leadership fails to realize that people want to have conversations with the organization. Everyone in the organization should know the organization’s stance, what the org wants to communicate. Then everyone can participate in engaging the community.

So, what rules apply in the social media-sphere? The same rules that apply in all other forms of organizational communication. Don’t go against any regulations, don’t communicate any information over the web that you will not do via any other form of communication.

SoI (Sphere of Influence) is the new RoI.

Q&A Time:

• Is there ever a time when one should give up? Or stop trying to get the message across when the barriers are too numerous and too strong? Shel’s answer: When ethical boundaries are being crossed.
• Are there any situations where one voice is good? Shel’s answer: No. Next question. (my paraphrasing)

• But who wants to give away power? Shel’s answer: Sharing responsibility in communication is not about relinquishing power. Communicators are working for their superiors. They have their interests in mind.
• Some argue that the blog as a tool has reached its saturation point. Everyone has one and no new blog can be useful. Shel’s answer: As a tool, blogs are not out of date. Blogs are still useful, especially as rapid response. Case in point, United Airlines crises. They failed to respond quickly enough, namely when Bloomberg news announced that they have filed bankruptcy (when United had not). They went through the traditional means of press release, which took too long, and in the meantime, they lost 70% of revenue! A simple blog post could have dispelled the rumor.
• What does one do when they are ordered by leadership to take a strategy that completely goes against the principles of social media? And can be counterproductive vis-a-vis their community? Shel’s answer: “How many billable hours are you getting out of it?”…But seriously: demonstrate the reason not to go with that strategy. Show how competitors will win out with it. Offer alternatives. If they are still not receptive to a new and more productive strategy, then there comes a time when enough is enough… “I’ve fired clients before, because they wanted to go down a road that I did not want my firm associated with.”

“Every employee is a front line representative of the organization.”

Well that was a great talk! I’m very eager to hear your comments on Shel’s words.

On to the next speaker…

“Government 2.0/Political Blogging”

Shireen Mitchell, Political blogger:
http://www.womenwiredin.com/
@digitalsista

Shireen Mitchell

Shireen was one of the many bloggers involved in the 2008 presidential elections. In particular, she chronicled the two women running at the time, Hillary Clinton for President, and Sarah Palin for Vice President. She actually took part in both conventions.

She noticed the difference between the two conventions: openness. She was able to take her laptop and cell phone to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) but at the Republican National Convention (RNC), there was an atmosphere of a “police state.” They weren’t allowed to be present with laptops.

One thing they (the bloggers at the RNC) noticed was that the TV news media were not displaying the large screens behind the speakers. So they began taking pictures of the screens and publishing them online. They blogged, they tweeted, they “cross-polinated” the blogs.

The RNC did not use Twitter, they did not engage the blogs, and the result? We now have a Democratic president.

And who was at the forefront of this effort to tweet/blog/cross-polinate? Women bloggers, and women’s organizations.

Shireen’s methods, even today, is to advance these debates and discussions with hashtags. There is a hashtag for each group (or political affiliation). And using these hashtags, she has been able to engage people on all points of the political spectrum.

• Conservatives: #tcot (Top Conservatives on Twitter)
• Liberal: #rebelleft
• Libertarians: #tlot (Top Libertarians on Twitter)
• Progressives: #topprog or #p2
• Political voices of women: #pvow
• Feminist groups: #fem2 and #fem2pt0
• Transparency: #transparency
• Gov 2.0: #gov20

This dialogue made it possible to make change possible from the ground floor. Or at least, the potential for change was beginning to be realized.

She used the example of President Obama, and his model of using text messaging, twitter, his website, etc. to help gather more supporters and volunteers throughout the campaign. And during that time and into his presidency, his method of not following the media, but making the media follow him.

Q&A:

• How are blogs being effective in comparison to newspapers in forwarding the political ? Shireen: Many blogs are gaining some momentum. The New Haven Independent has been a good example of a very successful blog.
• How do you feel about the Harvard study on Twitter? Shireen: Basically, the study says that Twitter is a boy’s club. Men link to and follow men, women link to and follow women. Yes, that may be true, but that’s the case in any forum, not just online. This is something we have to change outside of Twitter first.
• What do you think will happen to Twitter in 5 years? Shireen: Any projection of 5 years into the future in technology is going to be wrong. But…Twitter will go by another name. It has now become a giant chatroom. The chatroom has evolved from a closed-walled forum into an open-walled community chat open to all. “I’m not sure that it’s going to go completely away. I think it’s going to change, it will be different…I think that if we let it be open to the people, then it can [continue to grow]. The minute that they decide how it’s going to change is when it’s going to go away.” The great thing about social media is that it can change the way the community wants it to, and it will continue to grow. If they try to change it (Twitter) it will go away.
• If you’re a candidate running for political office, what are the dos and don’ts for blogs and social media? Shireen: All facets of government are trying to enter the Gov2.0 arena. The discussion has opened up into “what should be open?” Two women in politics who stand on different sides of this are Claire McCaskill, who follows only her own staffers, and keeps a close handle on things. The other is California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, who is open about every issue under the sun. Having public conversation is the most authentic way of having (sometimes uncomfortable conversations) that will allow us to move forward.
• When should one use hashtags to define a message and direct it to a specific community, and when not to, and to be broader in the target audience? Shireen: We need to be careful how we engage communities. If we’re not engaging, but just want to talk at communities, it will not be effective. Her experience has been successful when she engages the communities from within, but across groups. Her followers know: “I’ll have a debate with anyone at any time.” She’s doing this to engage in conversations with people of opposing views. “When there’s a debate, I’ll also make up hashtags…a lot.” This not only cross-polinates the community, but she can later pull the hashtag and make a full blog post out of that, and it will even grow from there.
• Some say social media is a great way to get to a lot of people in a short amount of time. Elected officials are often reading and replying to everyone who connects with them. What do you think we can make of this? Shireen: Social media has been a great way to engage our elected officials. Almost anybody can express their thoughts and concerns with them at any time. But the important thing to keep in mind is that they are dealing with politics all day, and are people after all. Different tools have made it possible for constituents to connect with officials in more ways than just political discourse.

We’re taking a break here at BlogPotomac. I’ll be back with you shortly, to update you on the next speaker. Do share any thoughts you have on what Shireen and/or Shel talked about. Next up is…

To sum up what’s been said so far:

Shel Holtz: Organizations/People should engage

Shireen Mitchel: Organizations/People are engaging

“Social Media in a Crisis”

Scott Monty, Ford social media lead:

http://www.scottmonty.com/
@scottmonty

Scott Monty

JFK used both sides of the Chinese symbol for crisis: One side danger, one side opportunity.

During Ford’s recent troubles, Scott and his team were active on Twitter and blogs to engage people.

During a particular crisis, which involved an outcry over Ford suing a Ford Range Rovers enthusiasts’ group site (for selling counterfeit Ford products). While using Twitter and blogs to clarify the situation and let people know the reason behind the lawsuit helped to connect with people, what really allowed growth was when Scott spoke with the site’s owner over the phone, and came to an understanding that was published. Lesson: Use social media to engage, but then go beyond the tools of social media for the most growth and progress.

Everyone is talking about driving Ford cars. Good and bad. But they want to share their opinions and people want to learn from others. Ford does this by opening that discussion to people on their own platform.

“The tools are irrelevant. They will always change. By giving these people guidelines and a process, we are creating a culture of open communication, letting them get out there, and speak openly.”

By basing their written guidelines on ethics and openness, Ford aims to make its image more people-friendly.  This is something every organization should learn from. When you do this, you can reap its benefit:

You don’t have to respond to every tweet, comment, or blog post. Let the community defend your brand, and correct inaccuracies.

In response to the tendancy of some organizations to vet all social media communications by their community managers: “Do they vet your phone calls? Your e-mails?”
If you engage people who speak out against your company, and can get them on your side, they will share with others, and can become your best advocates.

Next up:

“The Business Aspects of Blogging and Social Media”

Liz Strauss, SOBCon organizer and blogger:
http://www.successful-blog.com/
@lizstrauss

Liz Strauss

“The two things every company needs to provide their customers: More things to buy, and more opportunities to buy them.“

A great discussion she has opened up: The RoI on Relationships. We now have new social media tools to do this. We don’t need to see people face-to-face to have meaningful relationships with them. This is the same thing we’ve been doing for years.

If you want to use Social Media well, don’t lead with the tools, lead with the relationships. Start by knowing you who you are, which is more important than what you do (because what you do is just a subset of who you are). Different departments do different things, but if all departments know who the organization is, they can sit on the same side of the negotiating table.

While Liz uses social media tools to connect with people, she often takes that offline, and gains a lot from going beyond merely engaging online. “It’s really hard to form an [us v. them] relationship when you’re looking eye-to-eye.”

It’s lunch time, and we’re going to take a break. DC Central Kitchen (@dcck) is providing our lunch today. Check out the great things they’re doing for our community!

Thanks for sticking with us. Check back with us at 2:00pm (EST), and we’ll keep updating. Until then, check out some more photos and highlights from BlogPotomac at http://zerostrategist.com (thanks to team member, Todd Pitt).

Ok, we’re back!…

“Personal Branding, a Dialogue”

Amber Naslund, President of Altitude:
http://altitudebranding.com/
@ambercadabra

Aaron Brazell, Founder/Lead Editor of Technosailor.com:
http://technosailor.com/
@technosailor

Aaron Brazell and Amber Nazlund

For some, a personal brand has become a replacement for developing a real reputation. Like any kind of brand, a personal brand is not what you decide it is. It is what others decide it is.

The personal brand has come to be more about ego. But when that person wants to move on to something else, or is no longer at the forefront, the brand suffers. A brand should be bigger than one person. The “personal brand” should definitely not eclipse an organizational brand. A good example: Lee Iacocca had quite the reputable personal brand. But he put that aside when it came to rebuild Chrysler.

If an employee focuses too hard on personal branding, it can hurt the organization who is, after all, paying that employee to do a job that he is partially shirking. A personal brand can be productive only when the employee brings with her her reputation, develops it, and with that, promotes both herself and the organization.

Caution: You cannot separate a personal brand with your professional personality (in fact, separation is counter intuitive to what social media is).

You don’t build a brand. You build a great product, and you earn a brand.

Update 6/12/09, 3:46pm: Aaron Brazell just posted a followup to this talk on personal branding.

Next up:

“Network Solutions, A Local Success! How They Did It.”

Shashi Bellamkonda, Network Solutions’ “Social Media Swami”:
http://blog.networksolutions.com/
@shashib

Shashi Bellamkonda

Network Solutions fell into the social media world, when they realized that they were receiving bad press on the web related to domain name front running. They needed to manage their reputation , to connect with customers, and to the community, and to add value to that community. Through diligence and thoroughgoing research and subsequent engagement, they were able to bring down negative press online from 60% to 20%. In one instance, even when Shashi didn’t have a full understanding of the issue that was unfolding, simply commenting that he was looking into it was enough to tone down the level of discourse to a from an angry atmosphere to a quasi-friendly one, until he was able to address the issue and respond again.

A social media practitioner should be independent, free thinking, and always active.

How to sell social media to your boss:

Most people in management are skeptics. But as long as you show positivity and communicate your point effectively, change is still possible.

The purest form of marketing is customer service: treat your customers well and they will share with others and promote your organization.

How Shashi defines his title (the “Swami”) -

“Network Solutions pays me, but I work for the customer.”

When asked how we can use the tools we have now (as opposed to the generic question “what is coming up?”), his answer: Don’t use the tools just for the sake of using them. They should only be a means to come into contact with people. We need human contact, both for ourselves psychologically, and to move closer to our organizational goals. Also, what everyone unanimously must do with respect to social media tools is to put them aside after a while. We need sleep more.

Neeeext!…

“Social Karaoke”

Rohit Bhargava, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Marketing, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence Group:
http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/
@rohitbhargava

Kaitlyn Wilkins, Senior Strategist, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence Group:
http://catchupblog.typepad.com/
@CatchUpLady

Doug Meacham, Founder of SMC-Richmond, Blogger, Consultant with IBM:
http://nextup.wordpress.com/
@dougmeacham

Rohit Bhargava, Kaitlyn Wilkins, Doug Meacham

Approaches to engaging offline to strengthen brands:

• Leveraging experiences for people who cannot attend. “Have a ‘ninja-team’ on the ground to get the word out there.”
• Facilitating experiences for “passionistas.” Capture a niche that people are passionate about. Then, go beyond the product to create/facilitate experiences for the customer. A great example is REI‘s REI-Adventures and REI Outdoor School.
• Be approachable. You never know who you’re going to meet, and what opportunities your connection with them can generate for both of you.
• Avoid executing events as one-offs. Find a balance between an outreach and an inbound event.
• Invite customers and fans to meet up, spend time together, and share experiences with one another.
• Form in-person relationships, because people whom you’ve met in person can be strong advocates.
• Create a global and shareable experience. Form a creative way that will involve you and your customers in a different and novel experience that is exclusive to your organization and your customers. “If content is king, creativity is queen.”

Event Recap

Before I give you my quick thoughts on the event as a whole, I want to thank everyone who tuned in to our liveblogging of BlogPotomac.

The value of the event cannot be pinpointed to one source. The speakers were great, the atmosphere was energetic, and the audience was active.

Let me be brief in the recap, and just express the prevalent themes of the day:

• Be open, internally and externally.
• Every member of an organization is a PR representative.
• Smash silos; cross-polinate discussions using various hashtags. Bringpeople from different sides of a debate together.
• Engage people through social media, then go beyond that and connect further.
• Use social media to make your brand people friendly.
• You don’t need to respond to all comments/tweets/blog posts. If you have connected with your community, they will stand by your side.
• The two things every company needs to provide for their customers: more products to buy and more opportunities to buy them.
• It’s about the relationships, not about the tools.
• You cannot separate your personal brand from your professional identity; don’t let your personal brand overpower your organization’s.
• Our organizations may pay us, but we work for the customers.
• Strengthen bonds by engaging customers offline.

Many thanks to organizers Geoff Livingston (@GeoffLiving), and Jen McClure (see @SNCR), all the speakers, the participants, MetroStar’s own Todd Pitt (@zerostrategist). The event was solid.

Share with us your thoughts and comments! Until next time,

-Padawan

]]> http://blog.metrostarsystems.com/2009/06/12/liveblogging-blogpotomac-in-falls-church-va/feed/ 11 http://blog.metrostarsystems.com/2009/06/10/social-media-lunchbox-5-all-about-liveblogging-were-liveblogging-it/ http://blog.metrostarsystems.com/2009/06/10/social-media-lunchbox-5-all-about-liveblogging-were-liveblogging-it/#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:06:55 +0000 Mahdi Gharavi http://blog.metrostarsystems.com/2009/06/10/social-media-lunchbox-5-all-about-liveblogging/ ... ]]> Today, we are having our 5th Social Media Lunchbox on LiveBlogging.

In the interest of practicing what we preach, yes, we are liveblogging this unmeeting. We’re liveblogging by talking about our talk on liveblogging. After that quasi-palindromic sentence, I’ll have to pause, to give some of our readers a moment to pick up the pieces of your blown mind.

So, if you are reading this in real time, keep in mind, it is being written in real time, so bear with us through and typos, or lack of linearity, as we type and click away,  to get you the most up-to-the-minute information from out lunchbox.

Without further ado, let’s get to the meat of the matter.

1. Why LiveBlog?
2. Posting Preparedness
3. Physical Considerations
4. Live by the Microchip, Die by the Microchip

Why LiveBlog?

The “Value Add”: Liveblogging give your readers access to the exclusive conference or event you’re going to. It provides them with content.

Why not just blog later? Because the most authoritative reporter is the one who breaks the story. We care about immediacy. We want the inside scoop, as fast as possible. In the case of conferences and events, if you can’t be there, following it in real-time is the next best thing. Remember, this is a form of citizen journalism.

Promotion: Anyone can blog about an event. But liveblogging is your way to stand out among the pack. Not to mention, it gets the attention with the conference organizers and presenters.

Posting Preparedness

Do the event organizers know you will be liveblogging the event? Send a quick e-mail to let the event’s organizers know. Be courteous, but more importantly, be convincing. This will not be difficult: It’s more exposure for them.

Will you be posting in advance to announce that you will be liveblogging said event? You can post this announcement on the blog, you can announce it via Twitter, you can make the announcement via mass e-mail.. Do so at your own discretion! What happens if your technology fails (More on this later)? What if you miss part of the event? It is better to announce and not liveblog? Or to not liveblog at all?

Draft your post beforehand. Put together a draft frame for the article. Include the event’s (and/or organization sponsoring the event) website. Does the organization or the event have a blog? A Twitter handle? A LinkedIn or Facebook page? Include them all. Post links, and check them. Then check them again. Include any images that you already have. Are there specific sessions that you will be attending? Put in all the necessary headings. A good rule of thumb for your draft post is to include all information that you already have and will be planning to post. Also, remember to include in your post title that you are liveblogging “X” event.

Use blog drafting software. We recommend ScribeFire. ScribeFire is a Firefox plugin that saves your drafts locally, freeing you from your blog’s server, so if your internet connection fails, you don’t lose your unsaved changes.

Physical Considerations

Pick a logistically optimal spot in the event. If you plan on taking pictures, or recording videos, make sure to sit somewhere so you can see all the speakers and any projector screens.

Live by the Microblog, Die by the Microchip

Prepare in advance for Murphy’s Law!

Don’t rely on the internet connection provided. If any is provided at all. Have a backup plan handy.

Prepare all your computer’s hardware and software. The last thing you want to do is to arrive and realize that your computer doesn’t have the right driver for your air card–and the event has no WiFi. Check all your hardware and software in advance. Provide yourself with a hardware checklist: Laptop? Charger? Extension cord? Air card? Camera (see below)? Check the list again. Then once more.

Pack extra camera supplies. If you plan on taking pictures/video, make sure your camera is prepared, and with backups. Make sure to bring extra batteries. Have a spare memory card on hand. If your laptop doesn’t have one built in, bring a card reader or USB cable. Set up a folder on your computer where you’ll be uploading the software. Have your photo-editing software ready (and tested) to resize any pictures down to the appropriate size (and have an extra folder where you’ll put these optimized images, so there’s no need to fish for them when you’re uploading).   

Some Final Considerations:

If you plan on taking video, it’s always a good idea to post video after the event the is over, because this process always takes a much longer time. At your own discretion, you can indicate that you will posting video.

Always allow for ample time post-event. You need 20-30 minutes to finish the pieces, tie up loose ends, and get the post out. If anything went wrong during the event, you’ll obviously need more time than that.

Most importantly: Don’t panic! Keep your cool, and take pride in being the journalist with the inside scoop. Be good to your readers, and give them what they came to see.

Good luck, and give us some great live posts!

Update (6/10/09 1:30pm): I used ScribeFire for liveblogging. I had followed my own advice and prepared draft posts in advance, and was publishing as I went. Lo and behold, ScribeFire gave out! (OK, in its defense, I probably hit the “Clear Content” button myself on accident.)

Fortunately, I had a hardcopy available, and our Fearless Social Media Leader, Todd Pitt, stepped in and retyped the post and kept updating as I spoke. So, yes, Murphy’s Law is alive and well. HAVE BACKUPS! Then have backups to your backups.

And thank you, Todd!

Blogging

I recall my first interaction with blogs (those were the days, back when the millennium was but a wee infant). It was all the rage. You weren’t quite cool enough unless you had a giant “Join my Xanga!” at the bottom of your AIM profile. And why wouldn’t we want to follow the exciting life of high school and college age kids, updating us on their life’s minute-by-minute details, like how they accidentally brushed their teeth twice this morning.

But it wasn’t long before this impression wore off. Over time, I realized the value of some blogs, and it hit me: “this whole Social Media thing didn’t die two years ago when I said it would.” I now find myself following several blogs, for politics, tech news, sports, current events, eLearning (both the subject and the activity), design insights/inspiration, entertainment, and yes, even keeping up with my friends’ lives.

Tech Crunch is one of the web’s leading technology news blogs

Web Designer Depot is one of the largest and fastest growing design blogs

So with all the value that blogs can bring into our lives, it’s a natural progression for the corporate to enter the blogosphere.

Corporate blogging

What is corporate blogging? If blogs are a way to provide news, information, entertainment, and (the bottom line) value to its readers, then a corporate blog does just that, while helping the entity reach its organizational goals. Very often, corporate blogs are written by a group of authors rather than only one (you are viewing a prime example in this blog).

Like personal blogs, the assets of a corporate blog include the authors’ opinions, points of view, voices, and personalities. In a corporate setting, however, there are many serious implications one must be aware of. After all, there is more at stake. There is always the matter of confidential information, and content that is sensitive, or just inadvisable to post, due to the potential it may have for negatively impacting the organization, its members, partners, or clients. To combat this, when many bloggers wish to recall an incident, they have taken the path of posting without specificity. They opt instead to give the readers the general gist of what took place, without releasing any sensitive details. It is generally best to refrain from specificity whenever one is dealing with clients, products, security risks, and touchy issues.

Some organizations set up corporate blogging policies to prevent catastrophes. Policies, however, need enforcement. But with internet content, enforcement is nearly impossible. Once material gets out, there is no telling how far it can go, even if the organization removes the sensitive information. It is most effective for organizations to set up blogging guidelines, and to make sure to communicate those guidelines to everyone responsible for posting on the blog. Said communication needs to convey the importance of the guidelines as well.

Social Media’s Impact and its Makeup

Impact

So we all know the power of social media to make the world a smaller place (see “Concepts covered” and video). In this meeting, we continued on that theme and covered a few more topics:

• Before/After Social Media

Before: When you bought software, you are buying into a brand, buying into the company that produced it.

Now: When you buy software (or download it for free, in the case of most open source software), you are buying into a community.

This video from Common Craft illustrates this principle quite well-not to mention, it’s a great intro into what social media is all about:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE

• Citizen Journalism:

Social media is giving everyone a shot at being a journalist. While people in the social media and Web 2.0 world had been talking about this for quite a while, citizen journalism came to the forefront of national attention when it became the most reliable form of information in breaking the Hudson river plane landing.

• Strength of Weak Ties

It is usually the people we know with three degrees of separation that can add the most potential to our lives. This is independent of social media, but by being cognizant of this rule and applying it to social media, one can reap significant rewards.

To give a good segue from the impact of social media (and Web 2.0)  into its makeup, take a look at this video (which in a way covers both) by Dr. Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

Makeup of Social Media

How did social come about? It really happened when the old computer model was broken, and a new, more dynamic and interactive model came about. The video above highlights this point pretty well. This video will also show the technological breakthroughs that led to what we call the new media, or social media, or web 2.0.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LzQIUANnHc

The last part of our (un)meeting consisted of a demonstration on the components of social media (technology, multimedia, blogs, microblogs, wikis, forums, etc.). Todd Pitt, our Social Media Manager presented an experiential map that broke each down into a description, and examples. It is much more extensive than anything that I can put into one post. Perhaps if you ask him nicely…

However, the topics suggested were good, everything from “Citizen 2.0 vs Patriot 2.0″ to “Mobile Democracy” were being discussed.  It has been my experience that second day Barcamp conversation is always better and more in depth.  It definitely held true during the two sessions I held in the afternoon.  There was only about 5-8 people in them but everybody seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about the topics being discussed, so the conversation great.  It seemed like we ran out of time really fast, maybe it would have been better if the sessions were an hour.

The MetroStar Team was on point and I was psyched see such good support from the team.