Trafcom News

A Canadian primer for our American friends

This is an update of a post I first wrote in 2007.

As an American-Canadian, I always find the first week of July somewhat jarring. Up here we celebrate Canada Day, while down south, the big holiday is Independence Day (which also happens to be my little brother’s birthday). My relatives wish me a “Happy Fourth of July,” even though it’s just a regular Saturday here this year.

Since crossing the border from New York to Ontario 20+ years ago with all my worldly goods, I’ve adjusted to my new home, and can even "pass" for a Canadian, despite my slight but lingering Noo Yawk accent. With all those years of "Canadian experience" under my Roots belt, I’m happy to share some tips with my American compatriots who may not be aware of what life is like north of the 49th parallel.

1. In Toronto, winter arrives in late October and doesn’t depart until April … or May. For the first time in your life, you’ll buy long underwear, mittens and a toque (a practical, yet decidedly unattractive knitted cap). And you will wear them. Gladly.
2. You can count the number of years of Canadian residency by the salt rings on your boots (unless you live in Vancouver, where the people wear Birkenstock sandals all year, apparently).
3. Don’t worry about foregoing the American television networks you have come to love; you can watch most of your favourite (not favorite) programs here except those on Fox News, and you won’t really miss them anyway, eh?
4. Thanks to universal health care, you can say goodbye to HMOs, co-payments and deductibles, but you may have to wait in a queue, I mean, a line, no matter how high the balance in your bank account.
5. A check is a cheque, a two-dollar coin is a toonie, milk is sold in plastic bags (in Ontario anyway), and you boil water in an electric kettle from The Bay or Canadian Tire.
6. Starbucks is ubiquitous in large cities, but every block seems to sport a Tim Hortons, where the drink of choice is a double-double.*
7. The geography stretches not from sea to shining sea, but from coast to coast to coast.
8. There’s no death penalty here. And it’s a mosaic, not a melting pot.
9. You’ll soon understand this sentence: "Gord, please pass me a serviette; I’ve spilled some poutine on the chesterfield."**
10. And, last but not least, you’ll finally have to learn the metric system.

*A double-double is a coffee with two creams and two sugars.
**Translation: Gordon, please pass me a napkin. I’ve spilled some gravy-and-cheese-curd-covered French fries on the couch.

The best of my Twitter finds this week

I’m not the first person to notice that the time I spend following  blogs, and writing posts for my own blog, has fallen off the rails since I’ve embraced Twitter as a communications tool. A few months back I posted a short item about the ephemeral nature of Twitter. Yet, Twitter does lead me to some very interesting content, so I thought I would try to package some of this stuff into the occasional blog post and share it with you. Here’s some of the best of my Twitter finds this week:

Jeremiah Owyang writes: “Is blogging evolving into life streams?” after top Edelman blogger Steve Rubel abandons his TypePad blog for a Posterous stream. Is this the way of the future?

A new study reports that non-profits eclipse other businesses in social media use. (via @webvideodave)

Seth Godin writes about the paradox of the middle of the market. (via @knealemann)

Of course there was lots of iPhone-related content:

• New mini power projector for iPhone & iPod touch. (via @webinarwisdom and @presentationzen)
• iPhone app tip: Digital Biz Cards from Snap Dat (via @webinarwisdom and @loubortone)
• Techcrunch reviews the 3GS iPhone and its video capability. This review leads me to two questions: Does the new iPhone spell trouble for the Flip camera; how long will I hold out before I trade up to a 3GS phone?

More on Twitter:

• How to Manage Twitter better as your use increases: 10 Tips (via @Twitter_Tips)
• Twitter Guide Book... great tutorials, video and tips/techniques (via @webinarwisdom)

And from elsewhere on the Web,  I love this New York Times piece about a subway rider who takes a stand when fellow passengers insist on making everyone else listen to their tunes. I may try this trick on the GO train one day.

If you're not already following me on Twitter, please do. (I am most likely to follow back if you have a bio and a link.)

Video version of my Webinar: How to use new media to make the most of your event

Ask and you shall receive. Several people have asked to view the Webinar I conducted earlier this week, called “How to use new media to make the most of your event.” I put this online seminar together last year to answer many of the questions I was hearing about conference podcasting, event promotion/marketing and so on. It’s designed for people who organize not only big conferences, but all-employee meetings, sales meetings and customer events too.

In this 28-minute video version of the Webinar,  you’ll learn about using the power of multimedia (including audio, video and social media tools like Twitter and Facebook) to maximize your organization’s investment in your event.




NOTE: This does not include the Q&A from the Webinar.

I welcome your comments!

Recording audio on the go: Two nice iPhone apps

I bought my first portable digital audio recorder almost five years ago, and it was expensive. Well, expensive for a device that didn’t (yet!) have a business application for me. Of course, the moral of the story was: Buy gear, gigs appear. That’s how it worked out. Since that first purchase, I’ve used both my Edirol R-1 and my Samsung Zoom H4 for numerous recordings for my own multimedia work and for client projects. They both work beautifully. As I’ve written in this space before, I generally hook up a dynamic mic, record, then transfer the files to my Mac for editing with Amadeus Pro, GarageBand, and a few other tools.

But what about those times when you want to record quickly and get it online NOW? For iPhone users, there are two great solutions: AudioBoo and Tweetmic. I’ve been experimenting with both and they share several similarities.

AudioBoo
This app lets you record and upload your “boo” to the AudioBoo site. A nice added touch is the ability to append a photo. You can flip a switch that will also send your AudioBoo file to your Twitter and/or Facebook accounts. As well, you can grab a piece of code that allows you to embed a Flash player on your blog or Web site, so you can publish the  boo there too. You must have a wireless connection to upload your AudioBoo. There is a social aspect to AudioBoo, too. You can sign up to follow friends, and people can comment on your AudioBoos. Finally, there’s an RSS feed and iTunes link available as well.  You can see what my friend Bryan Person is doing with AudioBoo in his nice little podcast called The Daily Boo.

 

Tweetmic
Admittedly, this is a very new app and I’ve just tried it this week. It works much like AudioBoo, but instead publishes your recording directly to your Twitter account. That’s one way to get around Twitter’s 140-character restriction! As far as I can tell, there’s no RSS feed, Flash player, etc. It works best with a wireless connection, but appears to be functional over the 3G or Edge networks. As I mentioned, it’s early days, and I expect features to be added to both these apps.

Sample recordings
This was recorded in my office using Tweetmic.

This was recorded in a coffee shop using AudioBoo.

(Here's the Flash player, which plays nicely with my TypePad blog.)

This was recorded in my office using AudioBoo.

In all cases, I plugged in the earphones/mic that are standard-issue with the iPhone.

Have you tried these apps? What do you think? How would you use them? I’ll write about potential applications in a future post, and would love to hear your ideas.

Don’t miss this interview with Paul Barton, ABC

In a short interview conducted at the IABC world conference in June 2009, Paul Barton, ABC, director of internal communication at Hawaiian Airlines, talks about how they’re using audio podcasts to engage employees. Visit the Trafcom News Podcast page to listen or download and to see the show notes. Your comments are welcome!

Report from the IABC world conference in San Francisco

The International Association of Business Communicators world conference in San Francisco may have been a little smaller than last year’s meeting in New York, but it was still packed with content and networking opportunities. Because of the global financial crisis (and the potential threat of H1N1, I presume), numbers were down but enthusiasm ran high. (That's my photo of the Bay Bridge; it ain't the iconic Golden Gate.)

Some highlights:

• Neville Hobson’s presentation on creating podcasts to engage audiences reinforced much of what I’ve been saying about podcasting since 2005: It can be an extremely effective way to use the warmth of the human voice to share knowledge, insights and news with employees and customers. Neville is one of my podcasting heroes, as co-host of For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report.
• A session by Lee Hopkins on 3D virtual worlds opened my eyes to the ways in which the Web is likely to evolve into a three-dimensional experience.  I’ve been quite the Second Life skeptic over the last few years, but Lee has changed my mind. Second Life may not be the application that gets us to 3D, but the trend is here to stay. Here's a link to Lee's presentation.
• After the welcome reception at the historic San Francisco Ferry Building, the dinner for fans of the For Immediate Release podcast was a blast. We enjoyed fantastic food at the Town Hall restaurant, and much laughter among this lively group, despite the late hour for this Eastern time zone gal. Thanks to Neville and to Shel Holtz for their podcast and for organizing this meal.
• The presentation by EXCEL award winner Brian J. Dunn, COO (soon to be CEO) of Best Buy, showed us how his organization is using multimedia (including blogs, video and Webcasts) to engage employees all over the world. With great humour, he described what he calls his role as “chief content officer.” I wish more C-suite executives shared his views.
• Jason Falls and Heidi Sullivan’s talk on “Change management: how a social media strategy smoothes the bumpy road of managing online communication” was an information-packed hour on the need to adopt emerging technologies.
• A panel discussion with Steve Crescenzo of Crescenzo Communications, Chuck Gose of Media Tile, Jeremy Schultz of Intel, Paul Barton of Hawaiian Airlines  and Dave Meyer of Bizzyweb made very clear the idea that dry, jargon-filled employee communications just don’t cut it any more. I managed to snag a podcast interview with Paul, who is director of internal communications at Hawaiian Airlines, about how he’s using podcasts to communicate with employees there. You’ll find this audio report on my Trafcom News Podcast blog.
  
• David Grossman and Marty Campanello talked about internal branding as a way to present a credible, compelling and differentiating story about your organization, product or initiative that inspires and engages people and creates brand ambassadors who deliver the brand promise and speak out positively on your behalf. I love this concept.
• The Dine Around is always a hit with IABC attendees, and this year was no exception. I was fortunate to have a lovely French meal at Le Charm with a group of communicators from various regions of the U.S.

Last but not least, here’s a shout-out to my IABC roomie Sue Horner, whose blog I highly recommend if you love the written word. Sue has written up her own highlights from the conference; her notes, as always,  are better than mine, so hop over there!

UPDATE: Some links added!

Using new media to make the most of your event

I’m looking forward to be presenting this Webinar again: How to use new media tools to make the most of your event. I put this online seminar together last year to answer many of the questions I was hearing about conference podcasting, event promotion/marketing and so on. It’s designed for people who organize not only big conferences, but all-employee meetings, sales meetings and customer events too.
 
In this 45-minute Webinar on Thursday, June 25, 2009, at 2 p.m. Eastern time, we'll talk about:

• How to attract more attendees
• How to maximize the value of presentations, speeches and interviews at your meeting
• How to create audio and video content at your event so as to market your next event
• Using social networks to build a community around your event
• Gaining maximum communications value with minimal hassle

If you’re interested in this free Webinar, please send an email to Donna AT Trafcom DOT com and I will forward the registration instructions.

First time here?

In these posts you’ll find news and opinion about strategies and tactics for communicating in person, in print and online, with a special emphasis on multimedia, including podcasting. If it’s your first time here, please consider subscribing via RSS or email so that you’ll be sure to catch every post (use the boxes on the right side of the screen). Thanks for stopping by!

New stats on podcasting, the myth of nonverbal communication

Trafcom News Podcast 84 clocks in at a whopping seven minutes. Nice light summer fare. Check out the news about recent stats that show the growth of podcasting. I also  share some blog posts I’ve seen this week about the “myth” of nonverbal communications. Go to the Trafcom News Podcast page to download or listen to the file, and to read the show notes.