From the Sorgatron Media Creators Newsletter List for August 28, 2015. You can Subscribe to it here!
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Near the beginning of August, I was first looking at a beta of Blab.im, a new video chat service that seems to want to replace whatever you’re using for broadcasting.
It may just do that. In some cases.
Blab.im is a service that uses an open video standard, which works without plugin in Firefox and Chrome, and combines elements of Google Hangout and Periscope. Much like the latter, it rides on your Twitter account in order to easily sign up and get talking and participating. Your video screens are locked into a 4 video “Brady Bunch” format with a picture of two hands, that I think represent a high five as “props”. This is similar to the hearts you can give during a Periscope.
The bar of faces for your participants and listeners will be familiar to Meerkat users, and the chat on the right has been very interactive in the sessions I’ve dropped into. The Twitter integration is all over as you can see the Tweets about that Blab.
In the past, we’ve envisioned Google Hangout as an “easy” way to bring people into our Podcasts or have wide talks about topics like our pro wrestling watching. The more we used it, the more we saw some of the learning curve, and unfortunate murkiness when getting into the service for new, less techie people. Here, the barrier could simply be which browser and having a Twitter account. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a non-Twitter way to participate.
The surprise is the ease in obtaining your Blab. The service already has tools to schedule and subscribe to your show on there. But if you record or put you Blab “On the record”, you will receive an email shortly after you sign off with both MP4 and .mp3 versions of your cast. Welcome to easy Podcast Making 101.
You can find my downloaded file from Blab here. It’s not terribly exciting, but a good look at how it turns out. Especially since I wasn’t using one of my better webcams at the time. Our buddy Doug (ShouldIDrinkThat.com) was using Camtasia to capture his side, which keeps all the bells and whistles.
Would I replace Wrestling Mayhem Show with this method? No. But I would LOVE to do an additional show letting fans hop in, or maybe use it as a WWE RAW Watch Party. Many on here are using it to have conversations about marketing, social media, and establish to an audience their position as an expert.
What do you want to Blab about?
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