Things that make you go pip pip cheerio…

I was contacted in late November by a British gentleman who represented another one etc and they were interested in the Brilliant Video Productions domain name.  So much so that I got a local lawyer involved with getting an offer etc and tracing this company in the UK and all due diligence stuff etc.  Things cooled around thanksgiving  but then talks seemed headed to a quick sale near Christmas.  I was rather pleased, but sad that I might not be Brilliant any longer.  I split the atom and created a @SkipBensley handle on twitter just in case.  Well just in case never came sadly so now I am  a bit vexed about what to do next.  Do I consolidate accounts and keep one?  if so which one?   What would you do?

Wordcamp Boston went well..

I was able to provide some video assistance to the Wordcamp 2010 aka #WCbos  this past Saturday. We shot video and assisted with the AV setups for presenting Speakers.  One observation, the tenth Floor video projector and  screen while very good, are a little too fussy with reading the outputs of different computers. We had them all, and they all seemed to struggle finding the projector. Could be the cables need replacing.  The Sound is not good however, there just needs to be more power or maybe more speakers throughout the venue.  This has been apparent now at two different events both on the 10th / 11th floors.  The sound just is not sufficient. Perhaps someone at the Microsoft nerd Center will see this and add speakers.

When I work I don’t retain as much info for I am distracted with attention to details. I had one mission at Wordcamp and that was to get wordpress website/blog started. I had exchanged emails earlier last week with the technical support person at Headway themes.  I was having lots of issues, my realization is that I was being a bit too literal with the installation information.

Anyway, I met up with Clay Griffiths, @claygriffiths and he set my wordpress up on my Probook and then I installed headway. Clay is a very smart, nice guy. He helped me out greatly. Clay is 16, and is the developer of Headway.  Pretty amazing stuff, and perhaps a source of inspiration for my son CJ who is interested in Web based gaming. I have sent my son to look at Clay’s website at http://www.g2webmedia.com/

It was great seeing some friends, making new ones, making a few twitter acquaintances and again getting my new website going, Thanks again Clay.

MacLife iPhone App – Built By AppMakr.com in 27 Seconds.

Do you really need to have an app? Do you want to have an app? Our Colleague in NYC Chris Ming Ryan recently wrote about his experience using this website to create his own iphone application. If your company is looking to increase its mobile visibility then making an app at app maker.com is a great place to start.

more about “MacLife iPhone App – Built By AppMakr…“, posted with vodpod

Qik livestreaming finally in app Store.

While I was off the grid,  Qik finally got clearance for their live streaming tool. My friends @jeffCutler and @stevegarfield have always been fans of qik video and with good reason. They were the first to add video to any iphone the trick was you were not able to do so through the itunes app store. Now apple has allowed them to share the app.

At first look the app is very similar to the ustream app that does virtually the same thing in letting you broadcast live to the web.  You can have chat which is cool, make video private, and also share the video easily. To see the quick qik video I shot please go to qik.com/SkipBensley.

At first use Qik seemed easier to just use but the video wasn’t as good as when I used ustream. The video lags a bit.

Movember United States – News – Hugh Grant shaves the day for a Mo Bro

This was a cool video shoot for Movember. It coincided with a Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant movie. Way to Shave the Day Hugh and Sam. Thanks again to everyone who contributed.

more about “Movember United States – News – Hugh …“, posted with vodpod

USFA Focus on Fire Safety

Brilliant Video Productions USFA and FEMA remind you to water your Christmas tree daily.

From USFA / Fema website:

Christmas Trees

What’s a traditional Christmas morning scene without a beautifully decorated tree? If your household includes a natural tree in its festivities, take to heart the sales person’s suggestion – “Keep the tree watered.

”Christmas trees account for hundreds of fires annually. Typically, shorts in electrical lights or open flames from candles, lighters or matches start tree fires. Well-watered trees are not a problem. A dry and neglected tree can be.

Selecting a Tree for the Holidays

Needles on fresh trees should be green and hard to pull back from the branches, and the needles should not break if the tree has been freshly cut. The trunk should be sticky to the touch. Old trees can be identified by bouncing the tree trunk on the ground. If many needles fall off, the tree has been cut too long and, has probably dried out, and is a fire hazard.

Caring for Your Tree

Do not place your tree close to a heat source, including a fireplace or heat vent. The heat will dry out the tree, causing it to be more easily ignited by heat, flame or sparks. Be careful not to drop or flick cigarette ashes near a tree. Do not put your live tree up too early or leave it up for longer than two weeks. Keep the tree stand filled with water at all times.

Disposing of Your Tree

Never put tree branches or needles in a fireplace or wood-burning stove. When the tree becomes dry, discard it promptly. The best way to dispose of your tree is by taking it to a recycling center or having it hauled away by a community pick-up service.

more about “USFA Focus on Fire Safety“, posted with vodpod

Happy Holidays From Brilliant Video Productions

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy and Safe Holiday Season. We are busy finishing off a few projects for clients this week and will be open all next week working on our new website and getting ready for 2010. No rest for us at Brilliant Video.

If you have a video project you need help with in 2010, Brilliant Video would certainly like to help if we can. Just an FYI,  We also sponsor non profit group videos for help your non profit organization get it’s video content to the web.

We just recently video sponsored the Ignite Spatial Boston Group event at Microsoft NERD (#ISB09). To see the videos we shot and encoded for them please click here

We hope to do more video sponsoring in 2010 as time allows, we are also looking for new projects, and new partners to work with.

Skip Bensley now has his own personal Twitter account and can be followed @SkipBensley @brilliantvideo on twitter will now be more about the company Brilliant Video Productions going forward into 2010 and beyond.

Stream live on the iphone 3gs with USTREAM

Today,  yet another game changer in the video world was launched with the release of the iphone app from USTREAM. USTREAM is the 2nd app that will stream live video to the web. Qik launched an app last week and I imagine 12 seconds might launch one also since clearly the video streaming apps are huge and are only going to get bigger.

I was able to broadcast from my iphone3GS earlier today and the picture was pretty clear, I had to wait a few to hit their server but once I did I was locked in. The big test for me will be out away from a wireless internet signal and on the ATT #G network, I will be curious to see how it performs then.

USTREAM encourages people to become news breakers now with this new technology. It will be interesting to see what impact if any iphone3GS users will have on local news broadcasts.  There is also a HQ quality video recording app, and a USTREAM live video viewer also available for the iphone available both at itunes or visit http://www.ustream.tv/ for more info.

Wow that was cool… #socialmediarewind that is

I just attended the #socialmedia rewind at MarketingProfs and what they did with the video I shot for them was really cool. I have never attended a whole seminar where there wasn’t a major problem or glitch and this was an exception. The video streamed looked great, but the additional slides and the chat made the event. Kudos to @shelleyryan at marketingprofs mission control.  Don’t get me wrong Anne Handley, @ambercadabra, @jaybaer  and @bethharte were great and the material was really amazing. It was the first time I heard it,  though admittedly I have listened to it a dozen times.

If you want to see it for yourself check it out at http://www.marketingprofs.com/marketing/online-seminars/241 tell them @brilliantvideo sent you.

Brightcove contacted me.

I was emailed this morning by Eli at Brightcove through a very nondescript email sales pitch.  He mentioned that he had not heard from me. The email was addressed to Robert so that speaks volumes.

Anyway, I wrote back to Eli this message…

Eli,

I heard from you, I even blogged about the new offering but you guys missed the boat. I went with another provider that is much more social media friendly. Much like this automated email you sent to me, Brightcove has lost touch directly with the independent video producers it pulled the rug out from under last year. You now are outside trying to sell. Nobody wants to be sold these days Eli.

Good luck in the new world.

Skip