Voice of the Podcast?

Interesting post from Bill Thompson on his blog, looking at what to call Vox Pop in the world of podcasting.

Vox Pop or Vox populi, which means literally in Latin ‘voice of the people’ is a term used in the world of Broadcast Journalism to describe an ad-hoc interview with the average ‘man on the street’.

I personally hate doing Vox Pops, I’d much rather interview someone in a studio with a pre-prepared question sheet and acres of information at my fingertips - however Vox Pops have a place and play a very valuable part of broadcasting.

The Vox Pop plays on the adage that “There is a story behind every door”, that every person has a great story to tell.

They are used heavily in radio, especially for outside broadcasts where you have a huge amount of time to fill - send a reporter over to speak to that funny looking bloke in a big hat.

They are also used to sometime balance out a story, so you have an interview with an animal rights campaigner who says everyone should be vegetarian - you balance it by going out on the street and asking people if they could be vegetarian.

Back to the point (again), Bill Thompson was looking for the name because he’s going to be producing a daily podcast for the Cambridge Film Festival (given me an idea for the Jersey one) where he will be interviewing members of the audience before they go into the film.

He wants to give each section of the show a name and so following a growing trend of finding pod related names for podcast features he’s settled on Vox Pod.

However I personally think that, although it’s a bit cute, sweet, funny to podify something, Vox Pop would still be fine for this segment as it’s still doing the same thing it used to do on radio.

The Media Guardian ‘Media Talk’ podcast (which is very good by the way) has a feature called PodPost where they broadcast messages sent in by users but this could also easily be described as a Vox Pop (without the journalist).

Although I can see a need for a new name for this sort of delayed phone-in concept - you call an answer phone and it’s played out.

The thing is though, podcasting, by default is a Vox Pop or Voice of the People as every man, woman, dog or child has the ability to podcast (note I didn’t include cat as cats are evil and plotting to take over the world).
So maybe, with the fact that every podcast is by default a Vox Pop in mind, maybe there is a need for a new name for the bit where other people get to speak and give their opinion.

But what? I don’t know about Vox Pod - what isn’t that saying, what does it actually mean - Vox (voice) Pod (podcast) Voice of the Podcast - that’s the presenter isn’t it?

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Get a year in your life back

According to a survey by Ciao research and paid for by Lloyds TSB, the internet saves people five days every year.

The gist of the survey is that, of the 1000 or so web users surveyed nine out of ten said they were addicted to the internet and all said they saved time by doing chores online.

By chores they mean shopping, banking, booking tickets, arranging their holiday, finding phone-numbers and research.

I’m not sure how they actually got to the figure of five days every year saved by using the web to do every day things but to a certain extend it makes sense.

However there is another side that doesn’t make much sense – OK so you don’t have to sit waiting in a cue for half an hour to buy a £7.99 album, or stand around for six years waiting to see the bank cashier just to pay a bill.

BUT - you do have to find your way around the site, wait for the system to restart after a crash, login four times because the system logged you out while you got your wallet and then wait for the system to restart again – or maybe that’s just me?

Actually I can see why it saves time, the experience described above is a rare one, and normally I log on to internet banking, deal with what I need to and log off again without a problem.

Buying a CD or track from iTunes is as easy as clicking a button once it’s all set up and all my bills are paid by Direct Debit anyway.

I use the online version of the phone-book to find people (because of search), I use online encyclopaedias (because of search) and all my flights are booked online as well.

But what do you do with the extra five days you save each year – for me probably work or find more time to go on the computer – for my wife – probably go shopping (she’ll shop online and then go and shop in town as well).

In the survey 67% of people lie and say they spend the extra time with their families, 59% say they use the time to relax and for some reason 21% (over 200 people) say they exercise!

Then there is the 13%, the ones I like the most, the ones who obviously don’t have children who say they spend the time catching up on sleep – lucky bastards.

Finally just 16% say they spend the time at work – to be honest though most of the activities that saved you time in the first place where probably done at work anyway – so this isn’t much of a surprise.

The press release sent out about this survey says that “many people assume that the internet has had a detrimental affect on family life and relationships but in fact the opposite is true in many situations.”

Apparently “doing everyday chores online can give people extra time on their hands and the fact that people prefer to invest this time in their family or in their own personal health by exercising or relaxing is a very positive trend”.

Then as you get further down the press release you can see why it was paid for by Lloyds TSB – apparently 9 out of 10 people expected an instant decision when applying for a product or service online.

With this in mind, and giving it a big plug at the end, Lloyds TSB have launched a service called QuickSign that apparently allows customers applying for loans to get an instant decision and access to money if they’re approved.

The interesting bit is that it is open to Lloyds TSB customers who use internet banking by accepting their internet banking password as an electronic signature and then transferring the money to their account instantly if approved.

This follows Barclays announcing that they will be giving Internet Banking customers free anti-virus software as part of their account – which is nice.

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Birth of a Film Festival

There is an article on the BBC News website about ‘viral video online’ and the increase in the number of people putting their video clips on sites like You Tube.

The BBC article by Ian Hardy suggests that “it is not all silly stunts and goofy clips; some of this stuff is pretty serious”.

Which is becoming more and more true, he goes on to say that “it is only a matter of time before a new tier of home-based entertainers become household names around the world”.

For an element of proof that this is already happening I point you towards the Radio 1 website and more specifically the chart page.

At number 1 you have Crazy by Gnarles Barkley, the Love is All Around of the download generation (except actually a good song) - this isn’t what I want you to look at.

I want you to lower your eyes to number two and Sandi Thom - I’m not saying Sandi wouldn’t have made it without the web but it probably would have taken a lot longer.

You see Sandi Thom first got noticed after webcasting performances from her basement, it started slowly but soon a hundred thousand or so people where watching - including record labels.

Equipment, broadand and storage are getting cheaper at the same time as learning about video production and media is becoming a major part of education.

These two factors are combing to create a new era in visual media where the content is in the hands of the many instead of the few with the money.

There are also short film festivals, awards and events springing up to give this increasingly large band of filmmakers a place to show their work.

OK there is a lot of crap out there, most of which centres around young lads kicking each other in the balls - but there is some real talent as well.

The BBC has already realised this with the Film Network, a place where new British filmmakers can showcase their short films and film fans can comment and rate those films (an up market You Tube I suppose).

However not everyone can submit a film to the Film Network, its restricted to around three a week - but every film sent in is watched by industry experts.

Alongside the Film Network the Beeb has also launched Comedy Soup, a place to send in funny stuff you’ve made yourself.

This could be film, animation, audio or images - a sort of holding place for all the stuff sent around by e-mail usually.

The BBC also gives you a huge chunk of content under the Creative Archive licence to use in your work - this includes video, audio and images.

Back to Jersey

But getting back to the point of the post (Birth of a new film festival), this year Jersey will play host to its first original film festival in August.

The reason I say first original is that for the past few years the island has hosted an outdoor film festival showing blockbusters for free on a big screen in Howard Davis Park.

This year, as well as the outdoor festival there will be a short film festival called The Invisible Film Festival where film makers from Jersey and around the world can send in films for the festival.

There will be 10 categories and a prize for the winner of each plus a big overall prize for one winner from the categories.

This is just the first year for the festival but it is likely to get a lot bigger over the next few years.

An island of film

One of the reasons the Jersey Arts Trust is putting on this festival is so that local filmmakers (often funded and trained by the Jersey Arts Trust) can have a place to showcase their work on a big screen.

The BBC in Jersey is working with the Arts Trust to show the winning entries (all 10 of them) on the bbc.co.uk/jersey website along with a page about the film, video interviews with the director and a place for users to review/rate the film.

Jersey has become a hotbed of film activity recently with the short film festival, the outdoor film festival, the human rights film festival, films made in the island and for the first year the polish film festival.

I’ve already explained the short film festival and the outdoor film festival - both very much about the community but haven’t really touched on the Polish or Human Rights film festivals.

The Polish Film Festival is being put on as part of Jersey’s first Summer Polish Festival (there are over 10,000 Polish people living in Jersey during the summer) and as well as featuring well known Polish films will also feature talks, debate and discussion with each films director or producer.

The Human Rights Film Festival takes place at the Jersey Arts Centre and is basically what it says on the tin, a series of films touching on human rights issues.

Each film will be followed by a talk and debate about the issues raised in the film. All four film festivals are an extension of what sites like YouTube and the BBC Film Network are doing.

It takes films that you wouldn’t see normally and gives you the chance to talk about, think about and debate the film and the issues it raises.

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In-audible ratings watch

For years the number of people listening to radio has been measured by a small group of people filling in a diary.

Stories tell us that these diaries are usually filled out in hast as the Rajar person knocks on the door - so not overly accurate - but it’s all radio has right now.

However for the last few years Rajar and the ever expanding radio industry has been playing with technology in the hope of making the measurement more accurate.

The latest method to come out seems pretty interesting to me, although automatically skews in favour of the commercial, wallpaper stations.

Rajar are teaming up with Barb (TV Ratings in the UK) to test whether electronic measurement of radio audiences would work. The test is happening in the South East of England first and just with adults.

Basically 500 people will be given a personal, portable meter that is apparently about the same size as a pager that will record their listening habits.

Apparently there is a sound code broadcast by every radio station in the UK that can’t be heard by humans but can by this meter.

The idea is that when the radio is within ear shot of this pager (and its wearer) the radio station broadcasting it, the method of delivery (DAB, FM, DTV, web) and the duration will be measured and stored.

The panel of 500 will start wearing their meters in January 2007 and the trial will run for two years (when they will probably go back to pen and paper because its cheaper).

The reason Barb are working with Rajar on this is because they hope it will help them understand the potential for portable meters for TV ratings.

This is because they think more and more people will start watching TV on mobile devices, in cars (Top Gear) or while on public transport.

The problem I’ve got with this concept of portable meters that automatically measure a station if someone is within ear shot is that it favours the big commercial stations.

Virgin, for example, could heavily increase their numbers by getting their station played out across the country in a major clothes shop (say Top Shop for example).

Young women and more and more young men, spend hours in a shop looking for clothes that they probably won’t buy - all the time their little pager would be picking up Virgin and registering hours of extra listener time (I think each panellist counts as 1000 listeners) even though that person is really shopping and not listening to the radio.

It would open a whole new market and revenue stream for shops, in signing deals with radio stations to broadcast their output all day.

Imagine how much Tesco could get from a radio station in return for broadcasting their output - it could even lead to tesco launching a radio station that would then become a major player in the world of commercial radio even though you can only hear it in Tesco stores.

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Blog to Work

Ben Metcalf recently commented on a post I made about the value of a blog about how its real value was as a window on you for the rest of the world to see.

I was originally going to just post a long winded reply but decided that any long winded writing I do should be reserved for blog postings.

This is why I’ve been sitting on this outline of a post for just under a week now.

Ben said “…I don’t have any advertising on my blog. It’s the world’s window on me, and as such I blog to get my thoughts out in there, not to make money”.

Which is a great way of looking at things, I don’t carry advertising on Up Your Ego either - I may put Google Ads if I thought it would provide me with any real income but only because then I can still write what I want without worrying about annoying potential advertisers.

In terms of a blog being the worlds window on you - completely agree, and if you work in new media I think Blogging is becoming more and more important as a way of selling yourself.

It’s also applicable in other areas, when friends ask me for my thoughts on getting a job in an area they know well - or are looking at moving jobs I suggest Blogging.

I was talking to someone the other day who is a very talented radio producer, he currently works for a station producing trails but his contract expires soon and doesn’t have another job yet.

I suggested that he considers Blogging or podcasting about the subject, it’s something thats pretty specialist and he knows it very well and has loads of tips and stories so will get an audience and that audience may well include a potential employer.

Beyond Blogging and podcasting, having a presence online is becoming more and more important in terms of getting a job.

I’ve spoken to a number of people who are responsible for finding staff (from banks and shops to media organisations and the cival service) and they all tell me they Google the name of potential employees.

More often than not its basically to find out as much about the candidate before the interview as possible.

I’ve spoken to a couple of people (who will remain nameless) who’ve told that of two identical applications the one with the best web presence will get the interview.

For example, if they had an application from Joe Bloggs and Jon Doe, both with identical qualifications, a similar age and similar work history, you’d be hard pressed to decide which one got the job.

You search for Joe Bloggs on Google and he has a name check on an alumni page from his old college and very little else.

You search Jon Doe and he has a blog where he talks at length about his specialist subject (the one he is going for a job in), has a My Space profile where he is in communication with other people interested in the same subject (good contacts) and has contributed to various message boards expertly on said subject.

The employer is going to give the interview (assuming only one interview spot is available - which I know it wouldn’t be) to Jon Doe because you already know a lot more about him and his knowledge of the job you’re employing him to do - he’s a safer bet.

The concern might be that he would blog about confidential information or type something he shouldn’t on a message board - but even then I think potential employers would still consider him more favourably.

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“The limit is the art”

I was recently listening to the ‘In Our Time‘ podcast from the BBC, this weeks was about Mathematics and Music, I spent the next hour with a headache from number overloud - but it was fascinating.

The reason I’m bringing this up now is because one of the things one of the experts said on the show was that in ancient Rome mathematics was bundled with the arts (art, music, drama, maths) instead of the sciences.

Shortly after this I was wandering around the web and originally through Robin at Cybersoc I found this brilliant little app that creates a graphical representation of your site.

You type in your website address and the java applet generates a colour code representation of your webpage and it looks stunning.

It doesn’t serve any real purpose other than fascination factor but then isn’t that enough? As a piece of art this is wonderful and … real (well as real as a website can be).

UPDATE: I was going to re-write the paragraph above but liked the art line - instead I’m adding this mid page update - I was reading the Digg post on this site and actually realised that it could be used as a web design tool, a quick way of spotting over use of tables, divs etc…

There are so many aspect of this I could go into in more detail - but won’t because it isn’t why I’m writing this post, however I do want to mention that I love the way they’re using Flickr and tagging to showcase the graphs from users sites instead of trying to host them - this is how the social web should be - multiple sites working together instead of one site locking everyone in.

1000 to 1

However this isn’t the point of this post, at the bottom of the graph there is a link to onethousandpaintings.com, an project that directly marries art and numbers.

Basically someone has taken 1000 canvases and painted a number on each - from 1 to 1000.

The person behind the project is a young Swiss artist called Sala. On the sites blog Sala says “I love cool art, and I love this kind of events”.

On the FAQ Sala tells us why the paintings are so special:

One number, one painting - the number is the art is the limit is the price. Each of the one thousand paintings is unique, showing a number between 1 and 1000. This is an experiment of art and mathematics, on the web, the first of its kind.

Which brings us back to the Romans I guess - from mathematics as art in ancient Rome to mathematics as art online?

The project is more than just a few numbers written on a bit of canvas, the whole concept of the price changing based on the number sold adds a brilliant competitive edge, it gives the numbers and community around them a real sense of life.

You type a number into the box and as well as telling you how much that number costs (there is a discount on the cost of the painting that reduces by 10% for every 100 sold) and a little bit of information on that number from the Wikipedia - again adding in that community element.

I won’t be buying a painting – mainly because the pain my wife would unleash would make it impossible for me to enjoy it – she doesn’t get the concept of buying art for its symbolism, to her it would be a number on a piece of paper.

This would lead to her getting a piece of paper and a pen, writing a number and then demanding I give her money – not quite getting the point but it would be a funny conversation.

However if you don’t have the threat of argument waiting at the other end of the delivery then I suggest you think hard about getting yourself a number, this project has the potential to go down in history as another great moment in the internet evolution.

The last solo web concept that showed this much brilliance through its pure simplicity was the original million dollar homepage – it had a limited initial life (sell 1 million pixels and its full) but sparked a real cry of wonder in the public consciousness.

The project launched in February and Sala has sold nearly 100 numbers so far – all it takes is for a major news agency (say the BBC) to write a piece on it and they will all be gone in no time.

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Longwinded TV Award

I was clicking my way around a few websites today when I came across THIS one (resist the urge to click pedro, let me explain first), it’s the YouGov page asking you to vote for your favourite Digital Channel of 2006.

However, it isn’t as simple as that, it doesn’t just have a box where you can write down your favourite channel, you have to go through a long winded questionnaire with some brilliant questions.

Still with me? This is for the tv festival with what must be the longest name in festival history (although the Jersey Telecom Jersey Live music festival comes close - not really called that officially).

The festival is called the ‘Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival’ - see a long name.

The festival is on from 25 - 27 August and if you submit your vote you stand a chance of winning a free pass to the festival.

The YouGov page says “Your vote will be used to determine the shortlist for the Non-terrestrial Channel of the Year Award, which will go forward to our panel of judges.”

Apparently the five terrestrial channels are already shortlisted by default for the Terrestrial Channel of the Year Award and given that there are only five terrestrial channels I can see why there isn’t a vote.

Although when Analogue is switched off I’m guessing the Terrestrial award will have to be shortlisted as there will potentially be 50+ terrestrial channels (on Freeview).

Back to the questions - I said at the start some of them where funny - well here are the questions they ask during the survey.

Q: Over the last 12 months, which channel do you think has best served its target audience?

This is a fairly tame question to get you into it, it’s the online survey version of radio’s famous “what did you have for breakfast”.

Although given we have about 10 million channels to choose from and I rarely watch more than 10 of them it’s a tough one.

I said BBC FOUR.

Q: Over the last 12 months, which do you think has been the most innovative channel?

Slightly more difficult to answer, I wanted to say BBC THREE here for things like FlashMob the Opera and the Easter thing in Manchester but it has so many negative aspects I couldn’t.

I decided to go for BBC FOUR mainly because of the Thick of It, I know that isn’t really what they’re asking but it’s the best I could do.

Q: Over the past 12 months, which channel do you think has had the most effective branding?

I had two choices to go for here: Bravo as I love their new look as it’s so squarly targetted at thier audience, but am also tempted by CNN who have just got it right in my view with their news output.

I went for CNN.

Q: Over the last 12 months, which channel do you think does best with the financial resources available?

God knows, I have no idea how much money each channel has available to it - I guessed at Living TV although BBC FOUR are doing pretty good there as well.

Q: And finally, over the past 12 months, which channel do you think best deserves consideration for this award OVERALL.

BBC FOUR because of the Thick of It!

When you thought it was all over there was another page of questions, these were more specific.

Q: The TV personality of the year (onscreen)

I for some reason typed Russell Brand as his was the first name to pop into my head - I really don’t go in for that whole ‘personallity’ thing.

Q: The industry player of the year (i.e. someone behind the scenes)

Theres one aimed at the industry then - I haven’t a clue, I don’t know any industry players - I put Basil Brush.

It then went on to ask me to state which channel…

Q: Is your guilty secret

I put Boomerang, I love classic toons but it’s not the sort of thing you shout about is it?

Q: Feels most like homework (i.e. you feel obliged to watch for work/ career/ educational purposes)

Sky News

Q: Makes you most want to throw a brick through your television screen

This is the one I loved the most, I actually laughed out loud in the middle of a busy office at this one and when I explained myself caused all work to stop while a massive debate erupted on the crap on TV nowadays.

I put BBC THREE - mainly because it COULD be so much better than it actually is - then I was convinced to change it to the GOD channel - just because.

Q: Has got most of the programmes that you just ‘can’t live without’

Normally this would have been ‘My Computer’ as I watch most of the shows I love when I want on demand - but because that wasn’t an option I decided to put BBC FOUR instead.

Q: You think will be most successful over the next five years

BBC THREE if it can get its arse into gear or possibly more4 because it seems to be doing something different - treating its audience like adults.

Q: Is the clearest about what it offers you

I have no idea what this means, they all come through pretty clearly to be honest but if it means targets its audience properly then I’d say Bravo for reasons outlined above.

Q: Has the best website and online services

I wanted to say BBC TWO as a response to this one but couldn’t as it isn’t non-terrestrial, I lumped for Paramount Comedy instead because of the interactivity element.

Q: Has delivered the best interactive content

I don’t really use the interactive services that often so I put Sky News as it’s the one I’ve used the most.

Q: Relies on just copying others

I wanted to put SKY ONE here but to be honest at least they have a format and try to be original sometimes - so I put any +1 channel instead.

Actually I put ITV2 as it is a clone of SKY ONE.

Q: Panders most to the tabloid agenda

I did get to put SKY ONE here.

Q: Has made the best ‘use of talent’

I think we’re straying back into the whole ‘personallity’ issue again here but I said BBC THREE just because they’ve tried doing some live stuff.

Q: In your opinion, what is the best non-UK show on any channel?

This is a tough one as I don’t really watch that many non-UK shows but I eventually managed to think of one and settled on Family Guy.

Q: And finally, at which channel would you MOST like to work?

BBC FOUR

What would you put as your answers to the above questions? Could you answer them? Is this all one giant pointless post? Am I really alive? If I close my eyes do I still exist?

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Lecturecast

Instead of demanding students sit in a lecture theatre while he talks and draws on a big board one British university lecturer is embracing the software of the 21st Century web.

He will be podcasting all his lectures (and I’m assuming this means in video and audio) so that students can subscribe and listen/watch when they’re ready.

Dr Bill Ashraf is senior lecturer in microbiology at Bradford University and has told the Times Higher Education Supplement that he’s doing it to free up more time for small group teaching.

He believes that it will better suit the needs of distant learners, part-time students and those balencing studies with family and work.

That last point is becoming more and more valid as the cost of higher education goes up, the subsidies go down and more students have to work to cover costs.

Basically he hopes students will hear the lecture on their mp3 player and then when they have questions text them to him.

He will respond to the questions on his blog that will then allow those students to easily ask follow up questions and allow students without the confidence to ask questions to see the answer.

He told BBC News “Some lecture classes have 250 students, so I question the effectiveness of a didactic lecture for an hour.”

Dr Ashraf will also be making his appointment times available online so students can check when he’s available and book a time to meet him without having to go into the university.

I have to say I love this concept and hope more lecturers follow his route - in a world where people are growing up used to having things when they want them this is going to become more and more useful.

If every lecture was available in podcast, every question answered by blog and every student able to book apointments with their tutor online then I think a lot more would get done.

I know at first glance it sounds like a blueprint for slacker heaven but my feeling is that this would take a considerable amount more effort as you’d have to schedule the time yourself.

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PodShare Network

I’ve had an idea that I’ve been working on for a few months but haven’t got the time to do it all on my own, so I thought I’d share the concept with you.

It’s called PodSharing (although I registered the domain iStockRadio because it’s what I had in my head at the time) and is basically a service that lets podcasters and producers share audio reports/interviews with each other.

If you’ve done an interview with someone you’re really proud of, instead of just putting it up on your own podcast why not have a place where you can post it and share it with other podcasters.

In return for sharing your interview you could download and use a report or interview posted by another podcaster.

‘Diversify the Podosphere’

This would diversify the Podosphere, giving podcasters the chance to have a variety of voices and features on their show.

Picture the situation - you’re a podcaster, you regularly talk about the things that matter to you - in this case Jaffa Cakes.

Imagine if you could log on to a website and find an audio report on say sales of Jaffa Cakes by another podcaster with knowledge of economics who happened to notice a change in that particular subject and decided to create a report on it, or an interview with a chef who’s come up with a new Jaffa Cake recipe - wouldn’t that be useful.

The idea I’ve had aims to do is get podcasters, media organisations and other publishers together and help create a greater diversity of audio for podcasters to use.

You already have the brilliant podsafe music network but this aims to focus mainly on speech - an interview with a celebrity here, a report on farming there - it all adds up to a more diverse podosphere.

But will it work?

What do you think? Will this idea work? Would you use it? Do you think it should have some kind of financial element that would let non-podcasting producers upload their own reports?

Maybe a radio station could upload it’s interviews or packages for podcasters to use in return for a small fee - or maybe on a points system where you earn points for sharing your work?

I’m imagining a cross between the Podsafe Music Network and iStockPhoto but for speech based content (or packages using podsafe music).

Could you help?

If you think this idea is worthy of a shot then I’d love your help getting things started, maybe you already run a podcast directory - we could work together to add the podshare element to your service instead of launching it from scratch?

What I think would work really well though, and would be my idea solution, would be for the BBC to launch a podcast portal (like the Blog Portal) and as well as including links and info on all the BBC Podcasts could include related podcasts from the rest of the Podosphere and Creative Archive Licenced reports and interviews (by the BBC) for podcasters to use in their own shows.

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