Ed and Giovanni continue to discuss the Long Tail and it’s real value. Advertising models are discussed, both local and long distance - meaning international. Check it out over on The Media Swamp.
What is the long tail? With Robert Scoble leaving Microsoft and going to PodTech, has he been surprised by being confronted with being responsible for discovering and developing podcast and vodcast talent and creating quality, compelling content now? Click here for the new episode from The Media Swamp.
Well, to join in all the other iPod giveaways on the market these days, The Media Swamp is going to draw straws, roll dice or whatever is necessary to select from registrants to the ‘Swamp podcast network on August 15th. Make your way over there and register before it’s too late. Check out the latest podcast for The Reach while you’re putting your name in the hat, so to speak.
After a firestorm of angry bloggers picked apart the new Nielson//Net Ratings’ report on podcasting, host Ed Weaver and producer Giovanni Gallucci discuss the accuracy of the report. Are the Nielsen//NetRatings figures skewed when they say that 6% of the US adult online population has downloaded an audio podcast? Probably so. On Media Swamp
In this episode host Ed Weaver talks about how corporate podcasting works and what makes it successful. Whether it’s for training or educational purposes of employees, Weaver believes corporate podcasts can provide a less formal learning environment for an ultimately more educated and involved workforce. On Media Swamp
Well, don’t you just know that all the fun things happen at home while you’re on the road. Gio got a call from the Fort Worth Star Telegram while I was in London, that turned into this article and the subsequent posting to The Agency Blog. Blake Burris from Cocoa Radio got good mentions as well, not only for Cocoa Radio, but also for his additional distribution of CR through Media Swamp.
Since Gio has driven everything around the Media Swamp, it’s good he got the call.
Well, after spending 10 days working 14-15 hour days in other countries, Thailand was somewhat of a relief. We still worked hard, but the combination of it being a more western city of Chiang Mai (very tourist oriented) and traditional business meetings made it seem a bit more like home. Include with it 90-100 F temperatures, and it felt like Dallas in the summer time - except for that it hit 100% humidity at times as well, without much rain.
Chiang Mai is in the northern reaches of Thailand, surrounded by beautiful mountains. It’s hot in the valley, cool in the mountains. Many westerners visit this city of 400,000 and those that have visited can usually figure out a way to retire here. While I’ve never lived outside the U.S., it seems that this could be one of the easiest places with which to adjust. Meaning that if you want traditional Thai food and the Thai experience, you’re on. If you want McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, et, you’re in business too. It is as inexpensive to live or as expensive. Bed and Breakfast - queensize bed, AC, garden, etc, try out Riverside House on Chiang Mai Lamphun Road for $15 nightly. Or you can find a 4 or 5 star hotel within walking distance. Your choice.
Enough English is spoken that low brow westerners like me can feel right at home. There are many educators and business people in the city that are western, so while they’re still a minority, there are enough to where you wouldn’t feel far from home.
We had great business meetings and were very encouraged by the response - there were many people who wanted to help us get a greater foothold for podcasting in SE Asia. Since there are many countries near Northern Thailand, it makes distributing audio and video content very easy in that geography.
Again, there is a podcast on The Media Swamp that I did while sitting on the patio at one of the four Starbucks on a busy corner in Chiang Mai.
Our first day in Hong Kong was primarily arrival and trekking about to Stanley Market, a western tourist trap for seconds of brand name clothing. Decent deals were had, but nothing to “write home” about.
The second day was our trip to Shen Zhen and then our third day was in Hong Kong where we were to meet up at the Golden Computing Center to get a demo unit of a particular device we’d seen at the MP3 factory in China. Prior to going there, our partner took us to lunch for Dim Sum at a restaurant overlooking Hong Kong harbor - what an incredible view (this was on the Kowloon side, so we were looking straight out at “Hong Kong” (as in the pictures and postcards we all see). As we were driving to the restaurant, my wife had seen the Hard Rock Cafe, so in keeping with my attempt to buy HRC memorabilia in our travels, I picked up my HRC cap to add to the collection.
Our trading partner had made contact with the rep at the GCC showroom, but after wandering around for about 45 min, the guy at the show room never showed up. At least we got to see the famous Golden Computing Center - so busy you can barely walk through it, but I will say that for the items I was interested in, the prices didn’t seem to be any better than eBay!
After all this trekking around (again, horrible traffic), our partner took us to dinner with his wife and two adorable daughters (11 and 5). The unique portion of this experience was that we traveled out to the New Territories (in between Hong Kong and China) and went to select our live fish from the fish market prior to taking the bags of fish to the restaurant which then prepared them for us to our specifications. Once again, we were at a “local” restaurant, with no Anglos anywhere to be seen. What a tremendous gift it was to see true life on that side of the world, without having to be westernized by the cuisine.
When we got back, I recorded a podcast, which you can find on The Media Swamp.