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Viodi View – 02/07/2009

Super Bowl party at NTCA's 2006 Annual Meeting and ConventionThe Super Bowl is the ultimate social networking facilitator. This year the actual content (i.e. the game) made for good water-cooler talk. Of course, as written before, the Super Bowl is as much about the ads as it is football and a big part of the post-game buzz was discussions of the various commercials. Ironically, the commercial that, according to the Wall Street Journal, was in the top 2 was a user generated piece that was birthed as part of an online campaign.

Some of the best Super Bowl parties I have attended were at the NTCA Annual Meeting and Expo. There is nothing like being in a room with 2,500 of your closest friends watching the pinnacle in sporting entertainment. This year, NTCA’s Annual Meeting and Expo does not overlap the Super Bowl. Still, I look forward to seeing Viodi View readers at next week’s event.

Somewhere in the Viodi archives is a video interview with Todd Buchholz, who will be speaking on Wednesday, February 11. A noted economist, it would be interesting to get Buchholz’s take on the current economic climate and his feelings on the proposed stimulus package.


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Will the U.S. Stimulus Package Boost Broadband Deployments? by Alan Weissberger

Regarding the Stimulus Package, Alan Weissberger provides an excellent summary Alan of what is happening with the so-called stimulus as it relates to broadband. This is a much different picture than the speculation from only a month ago. Check out the comments to his article as well as my earlier post on the stimulus and please weigh-in with your thoughts.


TWC WiMAX Update by Alan Weissberger

Weissberger provides an update of how Time Warner’s recent financial results impact its WiMAX efforts in this brief article.


HTHH – High Tech Happy Hour by Roger Bindl

Roger reports on the Madison, WI technology scene in this brief video synopsis of the High Tech Happy Hour. Although it looks and sounds like he is in a casino, he does get the skinny on InTime Tools, a Software as a Service company that provides complete customer communication solutions (e.g. customer relationship management, website, sales management, etc.).


WSTA 2009 PR/Marketing Seminar Day 1 by Roger Bindl

Roger's report from WSTAReporting from the Wisconsin Dells, Roger provides an excellent video summary of WSTA’s 2009 PR/Marketing Seminar. His video includes interviews with Bill Albertson of Badger Communications who talks about the history of VoIP, Marty Snustead of Midwest Video Solutions on the future of IPTV and Don Stephan of the TDS-powered, Wisconsin Sports Network; a state-wide local broadband video network.


It’s a Phone, It’s a Camera, It’s Camera-Phone Envy???

A Touchscreen Phone?A Camera?I recently purchased the G-Phone. I have not yet finished the review; part of the reason for that will be in the review. The best feature of the G-Phone is the ability to easily and quickly snap and share photos via Gmail or Picasa. I am feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse or maybe I have camera-phone envy after looking at some photos of a new Samsung camera-phone that features a touch screen and an 8 Megapixel camera.


People on the Move:

Listen to Lowten's prediction regarding HDTV implementationLastly, with DTV transition being pushed off a few months, check out this excellent presentation from Peter Lowten and Doug Mielke regarding HDTV.  Given in 2003, it is amazing how much has changed and hasn’t changed.  Peter Lowten’s humorous prediction on when the tipping point would occur (his birthday, 2/17) is especially entertaining. Happy Birthday, Peter.

For those of you with the Showtime Television service, check out Blacks without Borders which debuts today at 4 PM (Showtime) and airs multiple times over the next couple of days. Longtime friend and colleague, Brian Stevenson had a hand in the creation of this series that is trying to get a regular slot in Showtime’s rotation. If you can’t view it on Showtime, check out the trailer on their web site, which provides a quick recap of this thought-provoking production.

I look forward to seeing Ed Heuck at next week’s NTCA, a leader in deploying video at the large independent telco, Hargray in South Carolina. He is now with Graycliff Enterprises, which is focused on construction and installation of telecom networks for service providers.


The Korner – Kontests, Kontests & More Kontests

the dorrito's commercialThe Super Bowl Doritos spot, which was rated as #1 in USA Today’s Ad Meter, was a contest-generated commercial. The one million dollar prize Doritos offered to the winner will be an economic stimulus for the two unemployed, Batesville, Indiana brothers behind this piece of creative. It proves the mantra from Viodi’s Local Content Workshops that talent is everywhere.

Roger's pitch for adult beverages - have you no shame RogerOn the topic of user submitted commercials, Roger is involved with a couple of other contests that generate advertising through user participation. The first contest’s ads will never be suitable for television, at least as we know it today, as it promotes an adult beverage company. Roger appears to be in 4th place in the voting.

Actiontec's contest on YoutubeRoger is a finalist in DSL Modem maker Actiontec’s video contest which asks contestants why they love broadband. Roger recites a nice poem and has some good visuals, but he is going to face stiff competition from a 4-year-old and her dad’s green screen. Voting for the finalists begins on Monday and will be at Actiontec’s website. Good luck, Roger.

Author Ken Pyle, Managing Editor

By Ken Pyle, Managing Editor

Ken Pyle is Marketing Director for the Broadband Forum. The mission of this 25+-year-old non-profit “is to unlock the potential for new markets and profitable revenue growth by leveraging new technologies and standards in the home, intelligent small business, and multi-user infrastructure of the broadband network.”

He is also co-founder of Viodi, LLC and Managing Editor of the Viodi View, a publication focused on the rural broadband ecosystem, autonomous vehicles, and electric aviation. He has edited and produced numerous multimedia projects for NTCA, US Telecom and Viodi. Pyle is the producer of Viodi’s Local Content Workshop, the Video Production Crash Course at NAB, as well as ViodiTV. He has been intimately involved in Viodi’s consulting projects and has created processes for clients to use for their PPV and VOD operations, as well authored reports on the independent telco market.

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