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Communications Media Management Association

Monthly Archives: October 2013

The Do-it-Yourself Video Production Trend

23 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by cmmavision in Conferences, Leadership, Management, Media, Technology, Video

≈ 3 Comments

Should we embrace the growing demand for Do-it-Yourself video production?  The use of video is exploding and becoming a more dominant communications preference. Therefore, the need to create video is also exploding.  Our department goal is to effectively and efficiently support our corporate growth strategies through video communications.  Nowhere in these goals does it say, “Only high-end productions”.  In fact, it is our responsibility to help employees be aware of all the video resources available to them.

At the recent CMMA National Conference, I shared a case study about the installation of our new Do-it-Yourself (DIY) video recording studio and editing suite.  Many of the media managers in attendance shared their same challenge with this business dilemma.  Being associated with the low-end productions concerned my colleagues as it might dilute their department’s brand name or quality reputation. However, satisfying our client’s business requirements has enhanced our reputation.  Another concern was the DIY facility would take away business.  In some cases, these new clients are validating the need for a video to meet their business objectives, and after digging in, they realize they are not qualified to produce video. As a result, they come to us for a producer and we’ve gained a new customer.

The more important question to ask ourselves may be: what will happen if we don’t embrace DIY video productions?  If producing low-end, YouTube, or DIY, style videos truly is a new business requirement, employees are going to find a way to shoot and edit these projects on their own.  We think it makes better business sense to have a centralized, minimally supported, shared production facility than it does to have little DIY studios popping up all over.  In addition to the overall cost savings, this model gives us a better chance to implement production and format standards and asset management.

We started supporting the DIY trend three years ago with an internal Video Library (ala YouTube) and now have over 7,500 user generated videos in the system.  It didn’t take long for employees to start asking for a production facility.  Our objective was to provide an easy to use, low investment, HD video production facility to capture and edit video with minimal support.  With a few muslin backdrops, LED lighting, a remote controlled camera, and simple video capture software, we find with a little training our DIY producers can create great looking videos.  The editing suite is simply an engineering workstation PC running Adobe Elements 10, consumer oriented video editing software.  So far we’ve only sent out one e-mail communication about this new service and are already seeing 70% usage.

Should you embrace the Do-it-Yourself video production trend?  Absolutely!  Your group will still be seen as video experts in your company, but also as a group that listens to customer requirements and is willing to adopt new business models to meet them.  Adding DIY production capabilities is really a low risk/low dollar investment; you’ll see some fresh creative concepts along the way and engage a whole new group of clients.

Article contributed by Doug E. Salmela, CMMA Board of Directors

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Top 3 Benefits of Hybrid Meetings

04 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by cmmavision in Communications, Conferences, Leadership, Management, Media, Technology, Upcoming Events, Video

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Are you looking to increase audience participation and engagement for your conference? Have you tried a hybrid meeting? For most people, I’m sure the answer to the first question is a resounding “yes.” However, many people have not added a webcasting component to enhance the conference experience.

Hybrid meetings integrate in-person communication and virtual meeting elements, which allows attendees to connect and share information across the globe. Participants who are unable to travel due to time or budget constraints now have easy access to participate in the event, either live or on-demand.

If you’re considering a hybrid meeting for your next conference, consider these key benefits:

Increased Participation – While many businesses may think webcasting will cannibalize their event participation, it actually helps increase engagement. By offering an alternative to onsite attendance, those who are unable to attend due to travel costs or timing can still enjoy the conference experience. Businesses that provide live and on-demand viewing options have an even better chance of distributing their conference messaging as attendees can watch at their convenience. Onsite attendees may even decide to tune into the virtual experience – you never know when conflicting presentation times may cause conference attendees to miss a presentation they would like to see.

Also, speakers and other thought leaders that may be unable to travel to the conference can lend their expertise by presenting virtually. As a result, you won’t be missing out on incredible presentations and can connect and collaborate with individuals across the globe.

Convert Webcast Attendees to In-Person Attendees – Content is king, so if your business secures strong speakers, organizes interesting panels and provides attendees with networking opportunities with key constituencies, online participants will think it is absolutely necessary to attend in-person next time. After all, there is nothing like meeting face-to-face.

Education and Promotion – Hybrid events not only provide participants with another means of attendance, but the archived webcast can be used as an educational and promotional tool. Edit and re-purpose portions of the conference/meeting for sales and marketing tools to attract future attendees or use as an educational piece for new employees, organization members, etc. The content can also be shared through social media channels to generate additional interest.

In a business environment where increased communication and participation are paramount, companies, and conference organizers in particular, are leveraging technology in combination with their tried-and-true event strategies.

Physical events are here to stay and will continue to exist alongside virtual ones. Talk to your conference/meeting attendees to determine what they are looking for an online event component.

Then, choose a webcasting provider that will work with the onsite event AV team. This will minimize production issues and provide a better experience for participants.

Finally, use polls and exit surveys during and after your hybrid event to find out why attendees participated online. All of this information can help you create an event that works for all of your constituencies. You’ll gather real metrics, real data and real results.

This article was contributed by TalkPoint – CMMA Partner Member

Editor’s Note:
At the upcoming CMMA national conference in Nashville, TalkPoint will help CMMA execute the organization’s first hybrid meeting, using webcasting to facilitate increased communication and engagement with conference attendees. They will provide the webcasting technology to capture key elements of the conference including speaker presentations and case studies.

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Do We Really Need a New Idea?

01 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by cmmavision in Communications, Conferences, Leadership, Management, Media, Technology, Upcoming Events, Video

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This October, Innovation is the theme for the CMMA National Conference in Nashville. Recently, David Burkus wrote in the Harvard Business Review, “…in most organizations, innovation isn’t hampered by a lack of ideas, but rather a lack of noticing the good ideas already there. It’s not an idea problem; it’s a recognition problem.” He says there is a “negative bias against creativity” in uncertain times and I, and I’m sure many of you, are living through uncertain times in your organization. http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/07/innovation_isnt_an_idea_proble.html

Many businesses utilize a form of internal social networking for collaboration and employee engagement. Years ago, we explored a program, Yammer, as a solution to the assertion that, “we need to be cutting edge, we need a new idea …” comment from one of the directors of our sales development team. He wanted his managers to communicate with each other to develop ideas and strategies in a more collaborative way than email provided. Our Yammer experiment lasted for a month, and died a slow death.

Then, our training team pursued an tool that would allow them to collaborate, share best practices, access training tools and videos, and develop solutions to common challenges. They too re-examined the use of Yammer. Once again, the department didn’t have a firm plan to go along with this tool. Subsequently, it produced, three months of “inspirational messaging” from one Senior Manager, and a couple “selfie” pictures from team members. No one utilized the training videos we had in the file base.

Finally, the groups that manage our Contact Center staffing and Workforce Management teams came to me with the same challenge as the aforementioned work groups. Once we had a firm plan and an inclusive process for working in this collaborative environment, Yammer turned out to be the right idea after all. Now we share best practices via self-produced video trainings and developed a community of people throughout the company who share a common goal and mission. With some of these “training videos” they’ve prompted our Contact Center training group to integrate some of these ideas into formal processes. To date, it has saved the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in staffing time and training adjustments.

Ultimately, we often need to take the time to re-evaluate an existing idea and determine if it can be reworked, repurposed, or utilized by others within the organization. Innovation may be as simple as seeing the good ideas already in front us, maybe not for what they are… but what they might become. To Burkas’ point, “It’s not an idea problem; it’s a recognition problem.”

Article contributed by Gerry Harris, CMMA Board of Directors

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