Bencredible

I recently heard something along the lines of, “Internet television and traditional television are the same thing, but with a different pipe.” This caught me a bit off guard as I have never viewed Internet video and television to really be the same thing. There are a few reasons why video produced for your television is and should be very, very different than video produced for the Internet.  Not only does this change how we view our content, but it also changes how we, as content creators, monetize. Allow me to explain.

The Medium Matters
When compared to television, Internet video has much more constrained bandwidth. This means that fast moving pictures, large and beautiful frames and motion in general will get squashed by the compression for the Internet. The end result is a smaller picture, lower frame rates and a much blockier image than what you would get on TV. In addition every bit matters online. If you have 10,000 people watching a television broadcast there is no more load on the TV tower than if 5 people were watching. In fact TV broadcasts can scale to an indefinite amount so long as everyone is within range of the tower. Internet video on the other hand has to serve a unique stream to each viewer which means that 5 people watching a video is 5x harder than 1 person watching a video. 10,000 people watching takes 10,000x more bandwidth, more server power and more resources than is 1 person is watching. However, unlike television the viewer of my Internet content can be just about anywhere in the world. There is no need to be within range of a powerful and expensive broadcasting antennae.

While both TV and the Internet are using digital information to transmit the data, that’s about where the similarity ends. Not only can a TV station broadcast to more users easier (although with a much smaller footprint), they also have a lot more bandwidth to work with. Today Spacevidcast targets around 1Mbps for our 720p video, which is about as large as we can make it before users stop being able to see it due to Internet congestion. Television on the other hand has around 20x more available bandwidth. To this end they can simply push out a better picture and not have to worry if the end user will have a fast enough computer, a fast enough connection or the proper plugins installed.

All of this technical stuff adds up to a difference in how the content is produced. Internet content generally allots for the smaller distribution pipe whereas TV does not. This directly impacts what the video looks like, how many shots are moving, etc., etc. The very feel of Internet video is completely different than that of traditional TV.

The Mindset Matters
I refer to television content as ‘lean back’ or sometimes ‘brain off’ content. That is to say television is not a participatory event. You watch television to be entertained, not to interact. You will generally lean back in your chair, turn off your brain and relax. There is nothing wrong with this (so long as it is done in moderation) but it is very different than what you would do on a computer.

A computer and more specifically the Internet is a very different mindset. This is what I call ‘lean forward’ or ‘brain on’ content. You generally use your computer to accomplish a task. You’re there to look something up, engage with someone, chat on Facebook, Tweet, or actively do something. You’re leaning forward, typing on your keyboard and using your brain. What you’re looking to do on your computer is very different than what you’re looking to do with your Television.

What this all means
When you combine the medium and the mindset you get a very different picture of how video works online vs offline. Online videos are often short and creative (or at least viral) because many of them are watched at work during a few minutes of downtime before the user has to go back off to make money (read: stop screwing around on YouTube). When that same person gets home they are not looking to search for a bunch of clips, create a playlist and watch TV that way. Rather, that user would like the content to be sent to them in longer chunks so they can sit back and relax. The content is very, very different, the mindset is very, very different.

So what then of Spacevidcast, TWiT and other long form shows on the Internet? These shows seem to fly in the face of this entire post. TWiT is a very successful radio podcast turned videocast. You’ll note that even Leo states that today the Podcast portion is where the money is all made but it is slowly moving to video. Spacevidcast Live is an hour long video show, far too long to watch at work. What gives?

This is where understanding that the Internet is not just another pipe is critical. Spacevidcast is a live, interactive and worldwide show. We won’t have the viewership of traditional TV because of technology limitations as well as the fact that we’re a more focused niche. We will be available to anyone on the planet that has an Internet connection and flash plugin. Traditional television won’t be able to easily accomplish this and certainly can’t accomplish it at the low price point we’re able to do Spacevidcast at. If we just look at Spacevidcast as another TV show that will use traditional advertising to fund everything, then we’re already dead. We are not traditional TV. Someday you may find us on TV, but it may be a slightly different beast than what you see today. What makes us different, unique and better than traditional television is our ability to do real time stories, streamed around the world, with audience interaction that can all be viewed on-demand at any time of the viewers liking. None of these things can be done with traditional television.

You’ll note that Spacevidcast really has 3 different shows: Live, Daily and Podcast. Each one serves a purpose. Live is a long form show that is fully interactive with interviews, community involvement and launch events (dare I say some of the best launch coverage in the world). Daily is a 2 to 5 minute clip designed to allow you to get your fix of space at work via YouTube. Podcasts are designed to let you listen in your car, while you’re working out or whenever you’re on the go and can’t sit to watch but can listen. We know what the Internet allows for and have created a show that fits each category. Something you simply won’t see traditional media doing. And just as the Internet is not just another form of TV, it also is not going to make money the same way as traditional television.

Monetization
Either make money or the show will die. Sounds harsh, but an Internet show can be self funded for only so long. The problem is that traditional advertising as seen on TV is not really working on the Internet. I can point to maybe 5 shows online that have been able to successfully bring this ad supported model over. The problem isn’t just the Internet but a shift in mentality when TiVo was introduced. Users are used to being able to fast forward through ads and don’t have the patience to sit through them much anymore. For traditional TV it is no problem since that is really hard to measure. For Internet TV we can see exactly how many people viewed the ad, how many skipped it and how many converted to sales. This is both a blessing and a curse! Great for the advertiser, terrible for the ad agency selling the ad. Alas it is also bad for shows like Spacevidcast that have a very tech savvy audience who have become immune to online ads. Add in that the Internet shows generally have a much, much smaller viewer base and, well, you don’t have a winning recipe.

So what is the solution? Oh how I wish I knew. I would be worth billions! In the end I think it is understanding that these mediums, while both use moving visuals, are inherently different. What works on one may not work on the other. Hulu looks to be suffering pretty badly this last year whereas TWiT is doing fantastic! People are not afraid to pay for their content. Apple has this figured out with iTunes. I believe that the future of online media won’t be one outlet like advertising but rather many outlets. A little bit of ad revenue, a lot more subscribers to a freemium option (in our case Spacevidcast epic), merchandise sales and even things that have not been thought up yet! The key here isn’t that advertising online won’t work. In fact it will, just not to the levels we had seen before. The point to take home is that advertising is just one small piece of the much larger monetization puzzle.

Crossovers
Generally you don’t see radio on TV, but there are a few exceptions. Howard Stern is one of them. In much the same way, there are Television to Internet crossovers as well. These are the exception to the rule and as of yet are generally not as successful.

Advertising and older methods of monetization will cross over as well. The irony of all this is that TWiT is an advertising based show that has been doing so well that the only paycheck Leo will take home is that of donations from the community. Lets not forget that TWiT is the ultimate crossover… A radio show on the Internet in the form of video. Makes my head spin a bit. But TWiT is one of the 5 shows I can count that are really making the traditional model work. I have a feeling that new models will also be introduced in TWiT and eventually could even replace the ad revenue they see today. Only time will tell.

The best Internet shows seem to be those where the talent came from a traditional media spot and already had a following. TWiT is a great example of that and I’m pretty sure This Week in Space will be another. These are brilliant people who are leveraging their own personal brand to gain market share on the Internet. It seems to work well, but these people are also a finite resource. Miles O’Brien and Leo Laporte are, in my opinion, the diamonds in the rough. Eventually we will run out of these personalities and we’ll all have to build our online shows from scratch. I am all too familiar with this process through Spacevidcast. It is emotional, irritating, expensive and insanely fun.

Conclusion
So why write this mini novel about TV vs Internet video? On the last epicsode of Spacevidcast during post show we debated the chat room being burned on the screen. A long portion of that debate revolved around the idea that it may scare advertisers off in the future. In traditional television it would. Some day we’ll grow past the chat room and we simply won’t be able to have it on the screen anymore, the text will scroll by so fast it won’t be useful at all. Until then, building our show around what advertisers would want will be the instant death of Spacevidcast, and if you have an Internet show, then the death of your show too!  Advertising revenue will be one of many different areas that money will come in. Don’t be afraid to be true to your community. Work and build a product that is right for them, not designed around your (yet to be) advertisers and what they want. Once you have that, then money will come in via many different avenues. I do believe epic will work without the need for advertisers. I also think we’ll bring on advertisers as soon as it makes sense. We will do many things, but we won’t change the show, our Internet show, to do what would work on Television. The medium matters, the medium changes things and Internet TV is nothing like traditional Television. For better or for worse.

Be true to your show, your community and your passion. The rest will fall in to place.

A lot of people hate it when I shake things up over at Spacevidcast. Why mess with a good thing? Well I believe that we must change and improve all the time else we become complacent and eventually die. Change is not always good (see Spacevidcast 2.01 for example) but it can lead to some pretty cool stuff (see STS-129 launch coverage from Spacevidcast). Besides, change can be fun!

Since 2010 is right around the corner I was looking at where we’re at and where I think we should be. I love that Spacevidcast is HD, that we’re live and interactive and that we’re pretty consistent. I do think a few things should be reviewed and possibly modified to help the show continue to grow. Spacevidcast is a social community in which I like to solicit the feedback of our members to see what you guys want.  So, in no particular order is my list of stuff I’m thinking of:

• Change the day and time of the show. Remember that we are a worldwide show with 60% of our audience coming from the US. 8:00pm PST would be 11:00pm EST so I need to pick a day and time that will work for as many people as possible. What about Sundays at 21:00 UTC? That would be 1:00pm PST, 3:00pm CST or 4:00pm EST. I am open to thoughts and options here. I’m thinking of changing the day/time as we seem to keep butting up against other programs on at the same time and competing. This was not the case in 2005 when we started Technology Evangelist podcasts, but it is now.
• Change the format of the show a bit. Keep the live audience and guest, but rather than just interview the guest bring them in as a guest host for the whole show! Think of a TWiT but for space. We would be more like a radio show that also does video, so maybe that’s not quite the right fit. Space generates a lot of stunning pictures and video, would be a shame to lose that to a radio format. Besides, even TWiT is moving to video… Worth noodling it at least. Maybe keep the live show as is and add a podcast format that also has video… So a TWiTesq version once a week and the regular show once a week. Hmmm, where to find the time?
• Change the opening video (keep the music for now) as well as the graphic overlays. I have yet to find graphics that I’m really satisfied with, other than the STS-129 launch graphics which I don’t think lend themselves to the live show very well.
• Add more Twitter and Facebook integration. How?
• Should I keep the chat room burned on the screen the whole time? Why even put the chat room up anymore? Does anyone like that graphic up there?
• Make the whole show as casual as the post show is now. Everyone seems to like the post show best anyhow.
• Change the set a lot. I know, I know, y’all hate it when I do this, but work with me here. Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIOgvmy0DZQ. Now imagine us sitting in a formation much like that (with me in a cool chair like what Ashton has), Cariann on the couch (co-hosting) and a HDTV set on the couch next to her (guest). Cheesy? Should be cheap and easy to do. We still get our computers, we’re still sitting but I think it is more of a casual conversation, more true to the show.
• No virtual sets.
• I’m thinking that instead of streaming NASA TV when we’re not on we would have our own TV channel. Stream past SVC shows, show some snippets of epic content, add in some commercials/PSAs, put in the calendar of events that week, etc., etc. Still offer live streaming of launches, but no more freaking children programming!
• Should I bring back the ‘Coming Up’ portion at the beginning of the show? Did anyone care? It is a huge PITA to create those.

Then here is my list of things that I would like to improve but we don’t have the cash for today:

• I would like to get an AJA Ki Pro so that we can record a nice HQ version of the show and quickly/easily export it to every version we need to web and device distribution. $4,000 for this recorder (but it is uber cool and does exactly what we need).
• I would like to make sure our iTunes and RSS feeds have all of our videos available to them. To this end we either need more time, more encoders or that AJA Ki Pro.
• I want my ToDoCast Satellite system. A cool $40k for the dish alone.
• I want TWO new audio boards. One to replace the dead M-Audio ProjectMix I/O that we used for Podcasts (notice we no longer do Podcasts?) Another for the studio (replace the working DFX-12) so we can have more Aux outputs allowing for more live guests! I really like the PreSonus StudioLive 16.4.2 which has everything we need built in. Alas they are $2,000 each. I would get one and move it from location to location but they are decievingly heavy and large. I’m pretty sure I would break it and then we would be *really* SOL!
• I would like four new Podcasting mics (I really want to bring back our Podcasts, I miss doing them). I’m stuck between the Heil PR40 and the ElectroVoice RE27N/D. Either model is around $400.00 each. Both are fantastic!
• I need to buy a bunch of headsets for guests in bulk and just mail them out to each person. No idea what to get, but we have to fix the guest audio once and for all!
• I would like Spacevidcast to buy its own MacPro. Right now we’re using the CRCC MacPro and every time we need to do a show I have to utilize Cafn8ed’s equipment. If he was editing a project (which he makes money at) I have to stop whatever he is doing. I hate doing that. In addition it would allow us to stream higher quality 24×7 NASA coverage (although I think I want to stop that). While you’re over there clicking on links, go buy some Blastoff Blend!
• 3 new HD cameras for the show. Something that can do 720p really, really well.  I’m thinking of using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II but I don’t think it can do live video as well as a traditional camera (it can record great looking video though). Maybe an HPX170 or an HMC150.
• 1 new HD camera for the dailies. Since this doesn’t need to be live I think a Canon EOS 5D Mark II would work perfect here!
• A XD300 would be kinda nice.
• A 3Play would be kinda nice if we’re going to do remote shoots for things like NGLLC and other space contests. Of course we would need that satellite truck first.
• A LiveStream Pro subscription so we can stream ad free! I believe that came out to something like $1,600 a month for our viewership.
• Fiber Optic bandwidth to the CRCC studio. We need more upstream bandwidth so we can provide you with more live channels! Around $1,500 a month for anything substantial (10Mbps up and down).
• I want a team of 3d animatiors and a team of music composers who can create stunning elements for use in shows. Imagine a Meteorwatch quality trailer for absolutely everything we do, every week. Basically a staff of 4 people, 2 on each side, to create amazing media the likes of which the world has never seen. Probably around $250,000 or more a year to bring on staff like that.

Not that we’ll be able to buy ANY of that in the near future, but the bigger success epic becomes, the more funds we will have to do some cooler things. I hope epic turns in to something great. If not that’s OK it won’t be the end of Spacevidcast, but it sure will delay my plans for world domination!

Almost 15 years in broadcasting and I’m treated like I have no idea what I’m doing. I should just let this go, but I have been trying to get media passes for the last 3 NASA launch events now, and each time we’re denied.  This is a snippet of our latest denial letter:

“Requests from online orgs must be from a previously established, independent site that contains regularly updated original news content above & beyond links, forums, troubleshooting tips and reader contributors; a readership of more than 1,000 per month, and has covered the space industry before. Fan sites, Web logs and personal web sites do not qualify for media badges. Links to two bylined articles clearly displaying publication title published within the past six months AND EITHER a copy of your current masthead or business card with name, title and media outlet’s logo OR a copy of your online pubs home page and the masthead page with your name and title appearing in an editorial capacity OR an official letter of assignment from your media outlet. The web material must go through an independent editor before publication. In other words, you’re not media if you’re independently writing and editing your own material. That is what defines a blogger”

I won’t go in to how ***THIS*** is a blog and Spacevidcast isn’t.  Fine.  I won’t go into what defines a blog because clearly NASA has their mind made up there.  No, let me go in to where people get their news from now.

Traditional television is dying. People don’t go to CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, etc., etc. to get their information all that much anymore. They go online. If you want information on space you go to SpaceflightNow.com, NASASpaceFlight.com and yes Spacevidcast.com.  In fact over 3,000 people get their dose of Spacevidcast every… single… day…

It’s not that NASA isn’t trying, they really are. In fact STS-129 saw their first ever space shuttle TweetUp at KSC which looked to be an awesome event. We would have gone, but unlike media the Twitter users didn’t have access to the HD video feed, so I would have been SOL if I wanted to bring the world awesome coverage. NASA allowed 100 twitter users to come in and get a personal tour of the launch itself. Very awesome and I really do think they should get kudos for that.

However, it is just a start.

Maybe NASA thinks that all they need to do is allow 100 people in each time for a total of 500 more Twitter users until the end of the shuttle program. Maybe NASA wants to control the information flow and they are simply not used to the new media instant access. Or maybe NASA thinks that Spacevidcast getting a press pass would create a rip in the space time continuum to the peril of all humanity. No idea. I can say that 100 twitter users isn’t enough. Great start, but now lets start to take notice that sites like Spacevidcast don’t fit in to NASA’s nifty little categories. We are something new, something different but not something less valuable. We stream to tens of thousands of people during launch events. Don’t discount us because we are new, different or making change in this arena. The fact is that for STS-129 we had 73,814 people join us for the launch (based on the Ustream.tv viewer metrics). I don’t know what SFN or NASA.gov got but I would be willing to bet we held our own against both of them.

Anyhow, my rant is done. If NASA won’t allow us press passes, that’s fine.  I don’t need NASA to bring everyone amazing coverage of a shuttle launch. In fact I would say to this day we have the best launch coverage of any media outlet, online or offline. We’ll have people at Space View Park, we will have moles within NASA and we’ll have people at the STS-130 TweetUp if NASA decides to do that again. We don’t need NASA to bring you the coverage, we’re big enough now where we have people everywhere to make that happen. No, what gets me is that NASA doesn’t seem to care enough to look at not just Spacevidcast but all the other people out there who could be game changers in the space industry. Hey, we don’t fit in to the NASA “broadcaster” category, so what good could we ever accomplish?

Other than, you know, changing the world.

[Corrections: I have updated the time I have spent in the industry to reflect 15 years not 10 as originally posted. I just realized that I have spent nearly 15 years in broadcasting. In addition I made note that this was the for KSC TweetUp. NASA has actually had a few TweetUps before but the STS-129 TweetUp was the first at KSC and the first for a shuttle launch]

Wow!

I mean WOW!

The response to the last Spacevidcast daily was phenomenal and we’re only part way through the day! It is pretty clear that the community prefers the more creative, humor filled space news. By far our two most talked about daily clips are these:

There are some interesting data points when it comes to these two videos:

1. We have had more subscriptions in the last week to our YouTube channel than the last 2 months combined.
2. Most of the new YouTube subscriptions have come in within the last 8 hours (from the writing of this post)
3. In addition to higher subscriptions we also have higher views. An average daily gets around 350 views a week whereas the Space Elevator has just under 1,000 views and the MRO video is on slate to get around 500 views by tomorrow.

Then there are some lessons learned as well as some lessons that are simply reenforced by looking at these stats:

1. Content always trumps quality. We have been working so hard to improve the quality of our dailies that I forgot that we have to script everything better. To this end I ripped everything off the set and am starting from scratch. You’ll note there was no HDTV in the MRO video and the quality was poor (by design of course).
2. People like humor. You can get space news in about a kabillion great places on the Internet. The same space news rehashed in video form is, well, boring and a waste of time. Adding our own unique spin to it is what makes it entertaining and engaging which is what we’re after.
3. It takes a long time to produce good content. These videos took twice as long to produce as their straight news counterparts did.

We have already pre-shot most of the rest of the dailies for this week, so we may not have as much fun with those, but going forward we sure will. I think somewhere in 2009 I lost my way and started making Spacevidcast too much like a serious news show. That’s not true to who we are, it is not what people want and it isn’t where we should go. I got rattled by the very vocal minority that told us how horrible we were and how terrible it was that we gave everyone a voice and should take space travel more seriously. We were not good enough to play with the big kids was the general impression. Well screw that. The big kids are old and decrepit and can go mumble to themselves in a corner. We’re the new blood in space, we’re having fun with this stuff and we’re not going away. OH, and just because we’re going to have some fun with this stuff doesn’t mean we won’t get awesome interviews with astronauts. I have a feeling some of them like to have some fun too!

With the recent time zone change (and the confusion that always accompanies daylight savings time) it got me to think about time zones, daylight savings and coordinated universal time.

At times I am still amazed at how few people understand UTC or Coordinated Universal Time, even those people who live in that exact time zone! Throw daylight savings time in there and I’m pretty sure heads explode. Back in the days when getting a message across the planet took weeks this may have made some sense. When the industrial revolution came around there really was no time standard, so when a train would leave one city and go to the next it was entirely possible that you would arrive before you left… Well according to the city time at least. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was adopted in 1847 by the Railway Clearing House to help eliminate this issue. If all of the train stations used the same general time, then you could no longer arrive before you left. This was a great invention 150 years ago, but times have changed and the world is a lot smaller now.

In 1972 GMT was abolished. Ok, not really abolished per say, but it was replaced in most regions by UTC or Coordinated Universal Time and should have been abolished. When someone says ‘GMT’ today they are actually referring to UTC and just don’t know it. Same with Z or Zulu time. Coordinated Universal Time is the most accurate clock the planet has which is based on atomic time. In fact you probably use it every day and don’t even know it! GPS uses UTC to keep the satellites in sync, so if you’re ever on a boat cruise, flying on an airplane, launching a missile at an enemy country, or driving your car with GPS nav you’re using UTC. In 1972 it was enough just to make the clocks of the world scary accurate, but there was no need to touch daylight savings time or time zones in general, so they didn’t. UTC follows the same offset as GMT did.

As we approach 2010 I think it is time to take UTC to the next level and create WUT or Worldwide Universal Time.  In my proposal we would continue to use the scary accurate atomic clocks that UTC is based off of, but the entire concept of daylight savings time would be gone. You would never, ever, ever change your clocks forward or backward an hour again. In addition (and just to make me sound super loony) the concept of time zones should be removed as well. We live in a world where real-time communications can happen at any hour of any day on any place on the planet or even in space! Why then do we cling to the idea that 12:00 noon must be when the sun is directly overhead? Who cares where the sun is at any moment in time anymore! That’s why lights were invented. Move to a 24 hour time and make it a universal time across the planet, right at the current offset of 0. In my proposed scenario the sun would be directly over my head at what I call noon today at 1800 hours WUT. What difference does it really make? The entire planet can work on whatever time is correct for that region and we would all have our watches set to the exact same time, accurate to the sub-sub-sub second. When you schedule that conference call between Japan and New York everyone would know exactly how the meeting time would affect them.

Yeah, radical idea that will probably never happen. As we reach more and more to the stars and as the world becomes smaller and smaller clinging on to this legacy time system will become harder and harder. Lets just make everyones life easier, come together as a planet and accept WUT as the new universal time that everyone will use.

kthxbai

I am currently pissed at Apple and the iPhone, more specifically the inability to get Google Voice on my iPhone and the lame App Store policies.  My next phone? I’m going to have to guess… oh, I don’t know… THIS ONE!!!

This is a great 40 minute video.  I just now had time to watch it and should have made time earlier.  The interesting thing is that Leo and I are starting from opposite ends.  Spacevidcast started with a live 24×7 channel and is working backwards to on-demand options and podcasts whereas he started with podcasts and is working up to a live 24×7 channel.  The good news is that he is starting to see some traction on his live channel, so there is hope for us yet!  Of course we’re starting to see traction too, but probably not to the same level that Leo has.

I have been doing a terrible job of keeping this blog up. I do have some interesting ideas I thought I would throw out to the Interwebs and allow you all to see what I’m thinking for Spacevidcast 3.00. For those who don’t know we number each season with the season number then episode, so the very first episode was 1.01 and the latest we just did was 2.33. Next year in 2010 we begin 3.xx shows so the season is called 3.00.  Now on to the ideas.

1 – I’m thinking we will release Spacevidcast Pro as an attempt to monetize the show. Making money is very important here as I can’t fund the show out of pocket forever. We have some great donators but that’s not enough to keep the lights on. By adding a pro option that will allow us to have monthly subscribers and hopefully bring in enough income to allow us to do live coverage of additional events across the country. One of the reasons we could not cover the *awesome* 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge was that we simply didn’t have enough money to travel to the many different sites. Dailies and live shows will remain free, Pro will be options on top of that. Basically, a freemium model. My big concern is that space is a niche industry with not a lot of money for new media shows like ours. Not sure how many people would be willing to pay for Pro. To do my full vision of what I want, I would need 2,500 subscribers at $10.00 a month. That is a lot. To break even with our current setup I just need 100 subscribers at $10.00/mo. Well, that’s a starting point at least.

2 – I’m not sure we will be able to do this for 3.00 but I want to create a mobile production truck. The NewTek StreamOrDie.com site is quite inspiring. For not a lot of money (relative of course) we can create a mobile HD satellite production truck that I can drive just about anywhere in North America to do live streams. The truck would use something like a ToDoCast.tv mobile satellite solution. I’m also thinking that mobile events like that would be pay-per-view for users that are not Spacevidcast Pro members. Why not free? Well, 24 hours of satellite time is $2,200 so we have to recover those costs somehow. If the event itself is willing to pay for the satellite time, then we would offer it for free with pop-up ads or without pop-up ads for Pro members. That’s the idea at least. I believe the initial cost would be around $150k for the car and all production equipment. Not too bad when compared to other HD satellite production trucks but still more than I have today. Anyone want to sponsor our 3.00 series?

3 – I would like to bring in a NewTek Tricaster XD300 combined with an LC11 and 3Play. Expensive solution although it would still be HD and it would allow us to record 3 HD cameras in slow motion for live playback. Imagine watching Xoie’s engine close up in slow motion after the successful landing. Would be epic! I’m not sure it would work, but if the Canon EOS 5D Mark II can output 720p clean via component HD that would be a pretty powerful solution. This would probably all still link to CamTwist since there is a lot of stuff in there that even a Tricaster simply can not do today.

4 – And finally, I’m looking in to moving the studio. I don’t have a lot of detail here but I want to bring in a live audience each and every week. Crow River Coffee Company is awesome but we can’t fit an audience in to the back room. Currently I’m looking at theatre space that would allow for a full production. Might be able to just drive the Spacevidcast truck up to the location and stream from there. See how that all comes together? To add to the awesomeness, I may know just the theatre to use…

What does the community think? Ambitious plans for and ambitious industry. Feedback?

One thing that really annoys me is once I have my basic trip confirmed with flight, car, hotel is that I then have to go back and enter all that data in to my PDA, which these days is my iPhone. I already did all this work once, why can’t I just have it automagically added for me?  Well, I can!

The free service TripIt.com is an awesome web site that I don’t think gets enough attention. Sign up for free and you can organize your trips and vacations in their easy to use interface. You can share these trips with fellow travelers as well as with spouses who may not be coming with you (sorry Cariann). Get tips from other travelers who have already been to that city and suggest things you should do and places you should go. And finally, since it has a social media aspect, link up with others who may be traveling to that city at the same time. Pretty awesome stuff.

But that doesn’t solve my initial problem of being too lazy to enter my details in to my iPhone. That’s where TripIt.com’s awesome e-mail planner comes in. Forward your travel confirmations e-mails to plans@tripit.com from the same e-mail you signed up to the service from. TripIt will scan the e-mail and auto-create a new trip for you. The hardcore awesomeness is that if you forward your plane confirmation, hotel and car all to TripIt, the system will scan the dates and automagically put them all within one trip! If you send a different plane confirmation with different dates it will create a new trip. Quite intelligent! So now all I need to do is forward on two or three e-mail messages and I’m all set to go!

Well, almost.

I still need this information on my iPhone so I can see where I’m supposed to go. Generally I have no idea what city I’m going to, where I’m staying or what I’m doing. I just go where I’m told when I’m told and do stuff. So I need all that data on my iPhone. Enter a nifty little app called TravelTracker Pro. This $13 application also has a $5 upgrade that allows me to sync my iPhone to TripIt.com. I can now have TripIt automatically create my trip which is then sent to my iPhone. I then tweak and modify things on my iPhone as the travel plans change in real-time in the city I am in which re-syncs back to TripIt.com. Flippin’ amazing stuff!

There is also a pro version of TripIt.com which I think is pretty cool. It will analyze my current trip and SMS me any alerts like flight delays, gate changes, etc. so I am on top of my travel plans in real time. It also allows me to create an ‘Inner Circle’ so someone like Cariann can look at, modify and tweak my flight schedule. This can be handy for any office road warrior who may need to have their travel plans changed by someone in a different state. Just have them log in to the TripIt.com site, they can see your entire trip schedule, make changes as needed, and those changes get downloaded to your iPhone.

In my opinion, TripIt.com with TravelTracker Pro is a hardcore awesome combo that can’t be beat!

I’m going on the road, possibly quite a bit this month.  As such I thought I would share some of my tips on how I travel and stay techie.  Tip #1:  Bring your own WiFi.

While AT&T is fine when it comes to the iPhone, their broadband service is worst of class.  I don’t suggest using your iPhone as a WiFi or WAN gateway as the AT&T network will just strain under your attempted load. And by the way, if you’re in California like I am right now, AT&T will just simply give up and give you no bandwidth whatsoever. The cold hard reality of it is: AT&T can’t keep up with demand. Until they roll out their 850MHz spectrum across the US I suggest getting a Verizon MiFi.

Sprint sells the MiFi as well, and rumors are that AT&T will be bringing it on board soon too.  Ignore all of the other providers. When it comes to 3G access that is equal across the US, Verizon is the winner here. Sprint is a fairly close second, but unlike Verizon the network will vary quite a bit from city to city and frankly their support sucks.

The Verizon MiFi is an amazing device.  You can get up to 4 hours of WiFi access off this little box.  It is small, light and easy to carry with you.  Turn it on and BLAM, your computer connects via WiFi.  No stupid WAN card to plug in, no dumb Internet sharing settings, just turn it on and let trusted people join your WiFi network.

It comes with the SSID and WiFi password printed on the bottom of the device. The first thing I did was log in to the device and change the SSID and password to something that matches my own internal networks, so I can easily get family and friends on my WAN network.  You can tweak the device to your hearts content. So long as your hearts content consists of only tweaking the SSID and security settings.

There is one major downside: pricing.  With a 2 year contract the device is $99 after a $50 mail in rebate. That in itself is not too bad, but where they get you is the contract. You get up to 5GB of transfer for $60 a month. That is the largest package they have. Of course Sprint and AT&T are no better with the same pricing and same caps (note that at this time there is no MiFi for AT&T). It used to be that one could get unlimited bandwidth for $99 a month, but that option seems to be all but gone. Seems the cellular carriers are starting to see the strain of data access on their networks.

I’m not 100% sure but I think you might be able to use Verizon DayPass with this device which allows you to pay just $15.00 for 24 hours of access.  This way if you only travel once a month or so can just pay for the device as you need it. That is about the same cost as the access at an airport and you can still use it at your hotel. Not for me as I want, really, unlimited bandwidth but it may work for some.

All in all this is a great device and I highly suggest everyone check it out. Novatel did a fantastic job here and I’m thus far impressed with Verizon’s data network. Never been a huge Verizon fan, but I’m starting to swing that way more and more every day.