All posts by Sorgatron

Facebook Live

How Facebook Live Saved The Day

Social Media, video production,

From the Sorgatron Media Creators Newsletter List for October 6, 2016.  You can Subscribe to it here or read the archive.
These days, we have so many tools for communication and broadcasting.  Utilizing them is a challenge.

This week, we endeavored to use Facebook Live for a client to cover the in office going ons during their biggest day: Registration.  In this instance, for events that span March through June in 2017, most sell out within the first hour, if not minutes, from going online.  This is day where their servers get taxed to the point of shut down because the flux like a late night Apple iPhone pre-order.

The first day: We had a good number of live viewers for the Aero competition.  Students were interacting, sharing what was and wasn’t working on the registration page, and and even touch base to confirm their registration since they couldn’t see the list with the slammed servers.

Day two was a little different.  We started having web site problems a whole hour before registration even opened. An odd event that early.  In the end, there was a major server issue and the registration didn’t happen.  With over 500 streamers watching, we were able to have a dialog with the waiting signups to explain the situation, and let them in on the ride as decisions were being made as to what would happen next. The responses were overwhelmingly positive.  Even more so than the day before when things were working (if slowly).  After, we considered what the response could have been if we weren’t talking directly with all of those people out there left with a 404 page.

Day three was smooth.  And quick. The first of two events usually sells out quickly.  We were able to capture that happen with a smashing record of just over 2 minutes for 120 teams to be signed up.  An exciting way to end the week’s signups.

In the end, the staff was able to have unprecedented communication during the most tense time of their entire season.

You can find the results and interaction yourself by following the pages here, here, and here.

Get the Podcast Out There. Live. In Person

Podcasting, ,

From the Sorgatron Media Creators Newsletter List for September 29, 2016.  You can Subscribe to it here or read the archive.

img_0161This week, AwesomeCast is hitting the road to join some fellow casters with the Millvale Podcrawl.  This is an event put together by our friends at The River’s Edge in celebration of International Podcast Day.

A live Podcast?  Why would you want to attend that?  It seems almost counter intuitive at first. We create these Podcasts that we intend to talk to the entire world, but then have these Podcast events in our back yards. But with many of the shows showcased, Ya Jagoff, Drinking Partners, and our host’s run of shows, are fairly localized.

If you have that luck that you have a local fan base, these shows can be a nice chance to build your audience stronger.  Remember, if you even have a small handful of people listening to their show, that’s some dedication. Maybe they’re already friends.  Maybe they stumbled on you. It means something to be able to connect.  Or you can look at it as a way to find a new audience.  Even our friend Buzzy Torek from Epicast Network recently talked about holding events with their personalities and comedians that would trick people into attending Podcast recordings live.  YaJagoff (pictured with Mayor Bill Peduto) does a great job of getting out there on Light Up Night with a big banner at Fifth Avenue Place and special events with fans and sponsors for their Summer Porch Tour.  It’s a little more than just booking a venue and hoping your listeners show up sometimes.

But you also have to be careful.  Sometimes a live podcast can be disruptive to your audience.  If you are trying to do an episode of your show, it may come off with an entirely different vibe, or may not be the same audio quality.  Some shows lean into it and completely change the format.  So judge your audience and take your shots lightly.  And make sure that audio holds up above all else!

How will we fair?  What cone of beer related tech will AwesomeCast discuss as Doug Derda of Should I Drink That joins our panel?  Drop in and find out!

Double Ender Podcasting That Isn’t Scary.  

Podcasting,

From the Sorgatron Media Creators Newsletter List for September 22, 2016.  You can Subscribe to it here or read the archive

A few months ago, we were looking for a light weight solution for remote recording some team members for a certain collegiate competition Podcast. One of the members brought up a program called Zencastr.

For those newer, let’s look at what a “double ender” Podcast is.  A lot of Podcasters have a need to use Skype or Google Hangout to connect with cohosts or guests across the country (world?). This is a great solution, but those that have heard some of these shows, or used the voice over internet services know there are some quality issues sometimes.  In the double ender, you actual record on both sides of the call locally.  You end up with separate tracks with each of the hosts recorded.  You then sync that track and have a much cleaner show than if you just recorded on one side.  (Disclaimer: I absolutely don’t do this in many of my main shows for configuration reasons)

What Zencastr does is make this simpler. Instead of a higher learning curve and making sure people on both sides of the internet know what they’re doing, and some of the audio drift issues you see from using different kinds of computers, recording software, etc, it is an online site that handles it.  As you record, you are able to chat with a simple interface and when finished, each person’s track is uploaded to the service for you to grab and edit later.

This has served not only my clients, but helped save Does This Hold Up as their hosts were suddenly split several state away from each other.

The service IS in beta, and you can get a few hiccups here and there (files don’t show up right away, disappear if you drop calls, etc) but everything has it’s faults and this seems to be a nice place to start your Podcast with as good of quality as each of its hosts can muster.

Visualize Your Media

Social Media,

From the Sorgatron Media Creators Newsletter List for September 15, 2016.  You can Subscribe to it here or read the archive

This week, I had the chance to sit down with Nick Miller and Buzzy Torek of Epicast to talk about their entrepreneurism.  We started talking about their great visual representation with their podcasts.  (Seriously, take a look at Epicast.tv and their Social Media.  Their Podcasting looks cool).   

“Let’s not try to annoy people by posting over and over” ~ Nick Miller 

Buzzy and Nick talking about photography

You typically need to post a LOT to make a dent in Social Media  We’ve discussed in the past the idea of “Rinse and Reuse” your content in different formats to catch people in different formats. Epicast has been successful in visualizing a typically audio medium in their promotion with a variety of posts on the same show or topic.

How can you do the same with your project?

Get Started (with your Podcast or Project) Where You Are

Podcasting,

From the Sorgatron Media Creators Newsletter List for September 8, 2016.  You can Subscribe to it here or read the archive

Recently on an recording of Fishing Without Bait podcast (Episode 56, still upcoming as of this writing) we talked about how many people get in their head that they need to join a gym to improve themselves.  They buy the shoes, and the outfit, maybe even some equipment or a yoga ball at home.  But the neglect to put in the work and get started.  

Sometimes when people start their Podcast, or video content, they go through all of the guides, watch the webinars, buy the equipment.  But don’t put in the work and get started.  

We’re all good at coming up with ideas. I’ve had a few. But if you don’t execute, it’s just a nice fleeting thought.  Sometimes you get started, but let things get in the way.  Maybe you do all the setup, and realize you really don’t like running on a treadmill, or trying to figure out a weight machine in public.  Or talking to the “public” on a microphone.

You don’t learn if you don’t reach out.  Projects have started as a thought and were done the wrong way until we cleaned things up.  Clients have known they want some content, but not sure what to do with it until part way int the project.  When we started Podcasting, there were no rules to a “good Podcast”.  When we delved into 360 video, the rules are still being written and tested as it gains popularity.

But if you don’t get started, you don’t even have a chance to become the inevitable expert.