Joined my good friend (and host) Stuart Tracte (@stwo) and new friend Katie Smith Adair (@katiesmithadair) of Sonar this week for episode 98 of Beer Diplomacy. This recording (see below) was captured live at KoPoint sound studio downtown Soho, NYC. While I will not comment if we were wearing pants, I will say the beer on tap was this delicious golden blonde.

Beer Diplomacy is a weekly look at politics & social issues with your favorite tech, social media, and comic personalities. Past episodes have included Jim Louderback (CEO of Revision3), Baratunde Thurston (Director of Digital for @TheOnion) and bunch of other much cooler people than me.

Originally recorded: April 23, 2012 at KoPoint Studios in NYC.

This week, Stuart Tracte talks with Katie Smith Adair of Sonar & Phil Thomas Di Giulio of WellcomeMat. Topics include cellphone induced behavior, how to design products for the “every-man”, the pitfalls of being “hot,” and more. You can find all of this week’s topics at http://bit.ly/Beer98

More info here on iTunes >

If you believe in what you are doing, stay the course.

Be a palm tree – firm, elastic.

Storms will come and go. Let them shape you.

Bend with the wind, but keep your roots planted in the ground.

The blue sky above will eventually reveal itself.

It is there above you, some days you just can not see it.

UPDATE: Great news! Our panel will be featured as a classroom session 2pm Thursday May 17th @ Internet Week HQ. Click here for more info >

Photo Credit: ladyhawker

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” is a lesson we’ve all been taught at some point in life. The basic lesson is that one should not prejudge the worth or value of something, by its outward appearance alone.

Getting past the book cover.

In a webinar given by Marc Gosschalk, Sr. Analyst, Product Management, comScore Europe he states, “The value of the online video marketplace is booming, with the role of video in the consumer lifecycle becoming increasingly recognized. According to comScore’s Video Metrix, 34.7 million people watched online video content for an average of nearly 17 hours each in November (2010).” He goes on to say, “As the online video market grows the need for visibility, transparency and accurate measurement is now more critical than ever.”

So let’s talk about video and visibility because I think it represents a problem for all parties involved – content producers, platforms and search engines alike. Nielsen reports from last May have Americans setting another record by streaming over 15 billion videos for the month. Total online viewers also increased by nearly 3% from April to top 145 million unique viewers. By 2013, Cisco predicts 90% of all Web traffic will be generated by video. With this explosion of online video, why does the level of viewer engagement seem to be inversely proportionate to its growth? Is this due to a consistently decreasing attention span of the viewer or because they have no clue what’s inside most videos (i.e. what’s coming next)?

Some fuzzy math.

Let’s assume that 90% of those 15 billion videos are on average 30 seconds to three minutes in length, and the rest are three to 30 minutes in length. If I’ve done my math correctly (not likely btw), that leaves us on average with 2,902,500,000,000 (yes, trillion) seconds of video content. Let’s say that some new action or moment occurs in most videos every 10 seconds and that leaves us with 290,250,000,000 (billion) missed opportunities to search within a video. The guts of every video on the internet are  being utterly overlooked and ignored by search engines. We’re left with what’s indexable (Title, Description and Keywords)… i.e. the book cover.

Searching for solutions.

From my perspective, there are three possible solutions…

1. Transcription – Converting speech to text and matching the text with the corresponding moment within a video.
2. Video chaptering / tagging – Calling attention to moments within a video and labeling each with a title, comment or keyword (like a DVD).
3. Image recognition – Recognizing changes and/or objects within a video

Neither exists inside a vacuum. Each solution can play a significant role in the future of video search.

Mark Gosschalk was right. Video needs visibility.

Searching by keywords associated with a video is not the best solution to video search, but what is the alternative? What companies are currently trying to solve this problem? How do we spotlight each of those moments (frames) within content and show search sites (i.e. Google, Bing) it is what’s inside that counts?

*NOTE: Based on 5+ years of experience running (alongside an awesome team) a self-funded startup.

Let’s start with some bad advice first.

Find writer(s) who covers your industry at Techcrunch, Mashable, The Next Web, GigaOM, etc. and pitch them your product or press release. Next, picture the person writing this post (me) smacking you across the face. Hurts right? Well it’s going to hurt even more when you either A. Don’t get the coverage you want or B. Get the coverage you want and it doesn’t translate into anything substantive. I’m not suggesting to ignore the traditional tech blogs or publishers (they are great resources), just understand that many times this coverage is premature. Is it worth receiving a brief bump in site traffic in exchange for exposing your product to potentially the wrong audience (and your competition)? The tree fell in the woods, but were the right people there to hear it?

Cut less trees. Plant more seeds.

My advice would be to spend less time driving around looking for large trees to chop down and more time planting seeds in your own backyard. Reach out to those individuals who are the MOST PASSIONATE content creators on whatever industry it is that you are targeting. This will not always mean professional journalists — NOTE: Replace the following text in [brackets] with your vertical of focus — Find people who will take your vision for the [fashion] industry >; combined with their passion for covering the [fashion] industry >; and share it with an audience interested in the [fashion] industry . More importantly, create a team of believers out of those relationships. I’m talking about people who want to have an impact on the [fashion] industry. Plant as many seeds as you can. Over time those seeds grow and bear fruit consistently.

Proof of concept

Between our launch in 2006 through 2009 WellcomeMat was covered over 20+ times by outlets including Mashable, Businessweek, Ars Technica, and NPR. Cobra-kai fives all around right? Not exactly. While we felt really good about the coverage, it translated into minor spikes in traffic and few if any new customers. No fault of said companies, we were simply expecting the right results from the wrong places.

Something had to have worked right? I’ll take that one… Yes. In 2007 I attended my first real estate trade show, a popular conference called ‘Real Estate Connect’. A few weeks prior to the conference my business partner Christian Sterner (@sterner) began IM’ing me links to blog posts by a blogger named Joel Burslem (@jburslem). Joel worked for a real estate brokerage in Portland, OR and had started his blog on the side called, ‘The Future of Real Estate Marketing“. Christian loved his writing, enthusiasm and general ability to intelligently cover trends in real estate tech. Fast forward to a few days before the show. Joel and I met up for coffee and discussed our thoughts around technology, video and real estate. Following our conversation Joel invited me to join a happy hour gathering of bloggers the night before the show. I obliged and was lucky enough to meet a group of passionate people who went on to become some of the most influential voices in real estate tech. We built relationships that exist to this day.

Serendipity

I wrote about serendipity at length in my last post because it’s something I believe in greatly. My experience is not one you can necessarily repeat verbatim and yes there are nuances which in exist in the PR tacttics of every company; however, as a founder you can always put yourself in a place where similar opportunities exist. And while technology is NOT the end all be all, it is making these opportunities more likely to occur (pouring gas on the bonfire). Like most startups we have made our share of mistakes, but if there is one singular event we got right in the beginning, I can unequivocally say it was our willingness to connect with a community of likeminded bloggers. Joel and others were there for us BIG time in the beginning and thanks to their support partly responsible for the early success of the company.

What’s your story? If you’re in PR or running a startup (and still reading this post comment below or hit me up on Twitter (@holaphil). I’d love your input.

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Some other bad (meaning good) startup press advice:

• Why You Should You Think of Your Startup’s Blog as Being More Like On-Going Liner Notes: by @alanweinkrantz
• Startup Press: Dos and Don’ts by @ajt

I’m involved with a startup that helps market real estate online through video. We do this by empowering real estate brokerages and professionals with the means to create, publish and share videos of the communities and properties they represent. Let it be known that our clients and prospects do not generally attend events like SXSW. I’d been to SXSW in 2010 and this year, while an advisor for the SXSW Accelerator, I knew going into it there was likely no direct business to be found at SXSW.

I went anyway and here’s why.

2010 was my first SXSW experience. A few months prior we launched an iPhone app called Pegshot. Like many startups, we decided presence at the festival was an absolute necessity. Logically that led to a road trip from Boulder to Austin dressed up as old school 70′s news reporters on a mission to ‘cover’ the festival. Once in town, our secret weapon (Pegshot) would be used to capture people’s stories on video, tag each piece of content to a location/place, and then broadcast them online instantly via Twitter, Facebook, etc. No post-production required, simply ‘record’ >; ‘tag’ >; ‘publish’.

Rolling up to the convention center we assumed our biggest challenge might be getting attendees to talk on camera as most people are camera shy. Turns out we had the opposite problem. Over the course of the next two days, every single person we met (except this guy) wanted to be on camera. In many ways that is symbolic of SXSW experience. An echo chamber where everyone has something to say, but few people are actually listening.

So that’s one way of experiencing SXSW. Run around and try to convince other people why your product rocks. It’s also why plenty of people I respect have told me they think SXSW is a total waste of time. How can you possibly hope to deliver your message through all of that noise? Is it even the right audience for your message? I can’t answer those questions for you, but I can give this one peice of advice…

Go anyway.

This year I traveled to Austin with no real agenda. Contrary to 2010, I had nothing to market or sell this year. I just wanted to meet people and be inspired. Many of the brightest minds in tech, founders and employees alike creating innovative platforms and businesses fueling current and future economies all gather within a few square miles for five days in Austin. What better environment is there to connect (offline) socially? Where else are you going to find this many people you admire and respect within the same zip code?

Purists and naysayers might look at SXSW and say it’s too big, too over-hyped and too commercialized. Everyone’s chasing or creating buzz trying to find or be the next hot play in technology. A giant tech orgy fueled by corporations and brands who frankly need us more than we need them. We’re besieged by messages (some more visible than others) around every corner. Massive public/private spaces swirl with thousands of entrepreneurs, geeks and reporters. You will feel totally overwhelmed by the collection of panels, parties and marketing.

But if that’s all you see in SXSW, you’re completely missing the point.

At its core SXSW is a collection of wildly interesting passionate people. When March comes around again next year, do you really need to be sitting in some office or coffee shop following the same routine from a week before? Wouldn’t that time be better spent building legitimate bonds with other people in your industry?

Think about it this way. You can email as many prospects, clients, reporters, etc. as you want today. An email is never going to truly let anyone ‘see’ you for who you are. Email is disposable. How many emails have you deleted already today? Now try spending time with those same people in a social setting and what do you get? You get a memory. Memories are eternal.

If you do decide to travel to Austin next year, remember conferences are about people not technology. Drop your guard, loosen up your schedule, and be open to change. Meet new people. Find others you respect and spend time with them in social settings. Don’t just talk, LISTEN. Go to parties you’re not invited to. Create opportunity for serendipity. Don’t take no for an answer. Say yes a lot. Be a hustler. Be an entrepreneur.

EGO ALERT: I’m featured in today’s “We Are NY Tech”. My thoughts on the New York Television Festival and Silicon Valley VS Alley.

The following advice is for any startup or service who might consider attending a hackathon. It’s my hope this will help you get the most out of your experience and avoid a few mistakes along the way.

Photo by: Chris Kurdziel

3 Hackday Lessons for Uninitiated:

1. Inspire
It is the responsibility of the startup (service provider) to inspire attendees as to what’s possible with your API. Show off code if you want, but you’re best served showcasing the net impact of your API on a hack or service and then planting a few seeds for others to follow. In our case the Framesocket brand is new and relatively unknown; hence I decided we should spent a minute reviewing our story followed by an intro to Framesocket’s most valuable features (video slideshow here). If I had to do it all over again, I would just skip right to examples of what’s already been created using Framesocket’s API engine (i.e., WellcomeMat and Pegshot). Save the sales pitch for another day and just show off what’s possible. Lead with action…. INSPIRE.

2. Participate
What’s the best way to inspire people at a hackathon? In retrospect one of the best ways to inspire others is to bring your own development team and create something inspirational. In presenting our API (alongside 12+ other APIs), I was naive to think that attendees would decide to use our service after a simple three minute pitch. You have to be honest with yourself and make a distinction between what you know is possible with your API and the perceived value of your brand. Framesocket is a new kid on the block. With a 24-hour time constraint most teams simply do not have the time to learn and research a new API on the fly. I would also note that many of the developers used APIs and brands that were familiar to them. Instead of hoping developers use your API, find yourself a crew and go after the prize… PARTICIPATE.

3. Engage
Don’t just walk into a hackathon, present your API and bolt. You have to stick around for the entire show. After the API presentations Saturday morning, the attendees broke off into groups and began hacking away. Shortly thereafter it became strikingly obvious to me few, if any, teams were going to use our API. Was I a bit disheartened? Absolutely, but you can’t expect people to go ‘all in’ with a new service. You shrug it off and stick around. I stayed for most of day one and went back the following morning knowing full well we were not likely to see any demos using Framesocket’s API. It was the right decision as I met so many talented folks (a few listed below) some of them are literally building the future of online entertainment. Hackathons are not only about winning prizes and brand exposure. They’re for meeting new people, sharing ideas and learning from your mistakes… ENGAGE.

BONUS ADVICE: Sy Sperling’s “Hair Club for Men” video is never to be used in an API presentation. For some reason I thought the old school 80’s commercial was the perfect metaphor comparing how we’re not only offering Framesocket, but use it to power our own parter integrations. You know the line, “I’m not only the Hairclub president, I’m also a…” Alas…

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Lastly, I want to give a shout out to everyone I met this weekend. A few peeps that immediately come to mind are:

+ Shelby.tv and organizers of the first NYC Hackday: Reece Pacheco, Chris Kurdziel, Dan Spinosa and Myles Recny. This whole crew has a great sense of humor and were quite gracious over the entire weekend. The first year of anything is always the hardest and these guys deserve some credit for taking the initiative and going after it.

+ Enjoyed my Google+ VS Facebook conversation with Amit Jotwani (Mashery), Ankur Oberoi (Tokbox) and Derek Dahmer <== some of the smartest guys in the room.

+ Got a chance to help Jonathan Gottfried (Twilio) with his CrowdTube hack. NOT the hacking part, but a quick mockup of the Nasdaq building in Times Square (see image).

+ Met Joe Lallouz while he was banging out code for the new Shelby.tv Android app. Joe also happens to work at Hashable with one my favorite ladies of tech, Rachel Sklar.

+ Clipik Co-founder Adriano Blanaru. Adriano had a film crew on site to shoot, edit and publish 24 hour hackday video in less than 24 hours.

+ Met VHX Founders Casey Pugh and Jamie Wilkinson and talked a little bit about how framesocket could serve as an alternative to Vimeo for startups who want video traffic on their website. Later I found out Casey started w/ Vimeo. Doh. Awesome.

+ Watched Haris Amin and Rich Cameron present the ridiculously funny Terminator Vision. Great app and even better presentation.

+ Met (albeit briefly) judge Matthew Eckstein and wanted to but never got a chance to say hola to judges Rececca Paoletti, Siobhan Quinn and Josh Knowles.

+ Spent some time with the lovely Ashley Cutler (Zencoder) talking encoding, startups, sports and… you guessed it, more encoding. Seems they like to talk about encoding at Zencoder… go figure.

+ Met the guys behind Encoding.com Greggory Heil and Steve Smith. Gregg (Founder) told me a cool story on how he acquired the name Encoding.com from a squatter (kudos to the squatter). Also love that Gregg’s a product guy at heart… VERY important.

+ The General Assembly team was around helping out including Kevin Shiiba (Community Manager @GA) and Adrian Ryan.

+ Last but not least Bonnie Sandy who helped us a find a bug on of all things the Framesocket sign up page! HUGE help. Thanks Bonnie!

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See you @hackdaytv 2012. In the meantime, Behold the Future of TV >

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Influencer 10 Conference (@influencercon) in New York yesterday. The Influencer10 is a 2-day conference in New York City designed to bring together key influencers in technology, marketing & advertising, arts & music, philanthropy and entrepreneurship to discuss the current and future landscape of Influencer culture. The symposium features a series of panel discussions and presentations by thought leaders and marketing and brand managers.

Speakers:
Jennifer Preston (@nyt_jenpreston), Staff Writer, NYTimes (moderator)
Clay Herbert (@clayhebert), Founder & Chief Engagement Officer, Tribes Win
Halle Tecco (halletecco), Health Advocate and Social Entrepreneur, Yoga Bear 
Ant Demby (@dembycratic), Manager, DAS Communications
Phil Thomas Di Giulio (@holaphil), Co-Founder, Pegshot 
Justin Soltrin (TokionMagazine), Creative Director, Tokion’s Factory