Our
unique approach to covering local tech events has been a running experiment since it was launched as a
Ustream channel in February 2009, and it seems to be going well. As some of you might have seem,
Marcelo thinks we might have a significant number of viewers for the Seattle 2.0 Awards this week on Thursday.
Make sure to catch the action from the Seattle 2.0 Awards this Thursday night. Even if you can't attend, or werent' able to get a ticket before the event
SOLD OUT, you can still watch and participate in the chat room as local startups are presented with their awards. All the action is right here at
Seattle 2.0 LIVE. Who knows, maybe we will make it past 600 people watching remotely?
Seattle 2.0 LIVE, By the Numbers
- Total Broadcast Time: 31 hours, 53 minutes
- Total Viewer Hours: 1005 hours, 41 minutes
- Unique Viewers: 3593
- Total Viewers: 4605
What We Do, and How
The show is anchored by myself and Brian Westbrook. Our setup varies, but in its simplest incarnation we arrive at events armed with the on-board camera for a Mac (Brian's Air or my MacBook Pro) and our iPhones (to tweet out links and quotes during the event). Extension cords, microphones to hook into soundboards, etc. are kept on hand, often in Brian's "bag-o-magical-gadgets". We use CamTwist (which is free and runs on the Mac OSX) to add the video effects such as text, RSS feeds, graphics, etc.
Give It a Try - Keys to Success:
- show up at events early and offer to help with general setup
- scout out the best camera locations (power and lighting are key) in advance
- figure out who is going to be there and how to can entice them to speak with the camera
- launch the live video stream roughly 30 minutes before the event begins, giving commentary and building excitement
- interview people networking before the main event. Ask them about what they do, why they're in attendance, and what they're looking forward to hearing and/or learning about
- work hard to stream the event from the front row seat so viewers feel like they're getting the next best thing to being there in person
- wrap up with the thoughts and reflections of the audience, as well as your own opinions
- throughout the vcast interact with the chat room, taking questions from the video audience and funneling them through the speaker, and generally heckle the speaker (politely) with "repeat the question" during the Q&A
Thank You Ustream
We've been fortunate to receive fantastic support and cross-marketing from the folks at
Ustream. Brad Hunstable, who is the Ustream CEO, reached out to us a few months back with an offer to feature
Seattle 2.0 LIVE on the Ustream website if we gave him advance notice.