PodCamp Hawaii
October 25th, 2008 by sandeeIf you have time today, drop in on PodCamp Hawaii for workshops on podcasting, blogging and video at the Hawaii Convention Center. It runs today to 4:30.
Right now, I'm blogging from Roxanne Darling-Shane Robinson's workshop on video podcasting.
In taping their Beach Walks with Rox clips, Shane says they are lucky in that they shoot in the sun. But he says more than pictures, your audio needs to be clear.
To keep their shots steady, they recommend The Poor Man's Steadicam. The vidcam goes on top a series of pipes and it allows for relatively smooth shots as Shane walks backwards recording Roxanne's walks.
Rosanne uses a Sennheiser lapel mic, but she also recommends mics from Audio-Technica. Another hardware recommendation: a Sanyo Xacti that can go underwater.
Shane says he'll do 50 to 60 tests until he gets to the video settings he likes. (See more from Shane in Comments on video editors.)
They used to shoot every day but it took too much of their lives. So now they will shoot three to five shows on a Sunday and edit them over the week and post them up nightly as they finish.
Roxanne uses qik.com. It allows her to stream video from her Nokia N95 cell phone. After she uploads her video, she can immediately engage people who post live comments on her page.
Viddler, a video publishing site, allows you to record video right from your laptop, Roxanne said. You can create an account that can be private or public.
Other tips: Cam Twist is software that adds special effects to video chats.
Matt Mullenweg, WordPress founder, is talking about the phenomenal growth of WordPress as a platform for blogs.
He is speaking, in a soft voice, about new developments with WordPress, which has released three major versions. The most exciting development, he said, has been the iPhone app for WordPress.
Over 100,000 active WordPress users are actively blogging with the iPhone app, he said. WordPress will soon be adding the ability to monitor comments with the app.
Usage is impressive. WordPress.org blogs number 6.8 million, he said. Another 4 million are on WordPress.com. (He said .com makes it easy to start blogging while .org requires more upkeep and, I would add, expertise.)
Plug-ins for WordPress are extremely popular, with the number of plug-ins per blog averaging 4.96. The most, likely the slowest blog on earth, has some 1,100 plug-ins.
In November, WordPress 2.7 will be rolled out. It will include a redesigned dashboard, Matt said. There will be inline editing, sticky posts, threaded comments, quick posts and more.
He said he was blown away when about 95 percent of the audience indicated they had iPhones. (Judging from those who raised their hands, it was probably closer to about 80 percent.) (I'm amending this based on Ni's comments below. I'm sending Matt a message, hoping he'll take the time to clarify.)
He's showing how 2.7 will work, with drop-down menus, movable modules and areas you can turn off. There are icons to make it easier to post video and Google maps.
Upgrades will be easier in the future, he said. And he thinks blogging will become multi-modal, with WordPress becoming more a hub from which you can link to Digg, NetFlix and other social sites.
He pointed to BuddyPress, which seeks to change WordPress into a social networking platform. "What I want to do is make it possible for anyone to start a social network," he said.
His contacts: m@mullenweg.com, http://ma.tt, Twitter: photomatt.
I'm sorry I missed the Friday sessions and some of the Saturday ones as well. Half the fun was meeting people during the breaks who are blogging, podcasting, videocasting — or want to.
Most of all, it was great to see Hawai'i growing a community of people who are interested in learning the technology to make themselves seen and heard.
Tags: Matt Mullenweg, Podcamp Hawaii, WordPress
October 26th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Aloha Sandee, I was happy to be one of those you sat with at PodCamp Hawaii; it was great to meet you, and to learn that The Honolulu Advertiser has so much interest in what can be done with "new media" going forward.
I share your enthusiasm for what technology can do for our islands, and I'm already looking forward to PodCamp Hawaii next year: Roxanne Darling, her co-founders and sponsors, the speakers and all the volunteers did a stellar job in their inaugural efforts with the conference. Sharing was so open (and in our aloha way!) and lessons-learned for both organizers and participants were immediate, highly relevant and useful.
October 26th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Rosa, I'm looking forward to next year's conference as well, and seeing you again and the other interesting people I met there!
Check out Rosa's sites, one on her book, "Managing with Aloha," http://www.managingwithaloha.com; Say Leadership Coaching, http://www.sayleadershipcoaching.com/; and Joyful Jubilant Learning, http://www.joyfuljubilantlearning.com/joyful_jubilant_learning/rosa_say/.
The last is an example of group blogging. Over 50 bloggers contribute to entries on the joy of learning.
October 26th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Sandee,
This is awesome that you live-blogged not one but two sessions at Podcamp + Wordcamp Hawaii! I am so glad you came to this free event plus I appreciate all the links you added. Thank you so much.
Rosa was one of many excellent speakers who came to share their knowledge with us. They came on their own, in Rosa's case from the Big Island, though others from as far away as Boston - on their own without pay.
We could not have done it without the support over over 20 sponsors - both local and mainland companies. They are all listed on our web site which we are updating daily with more speaker notes and attendee feedback. I hope readers who recognize any of them will help us thank them for their contribution and participation.
Aloha, Roxanne
October 26th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Actually, I believe what Matt said was that about 60 or 70% of the audience here in Honolulu had iPhones, while 95% of those at a WordCamp session in San Francisco had iPhones.
iPhone apps rock!
October 26th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Dear Sandee,
Mahalo for attending and live-blogging part of Podcamp + Wordcamp Hawaii! We were so happy to have two days' full of excellent speakers, many of whom traveled (like Rosa) on their own to join us and share their knowledge.
In so many ways these "unconferences" fit right in with our aloha spirit as Rosa stated, and we look forward to crossing more bridges between traditional media and new media together with you.
Aloha, Roxanne
October 26th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Roxanne: You and the other organizers did a great job. There was a strong sense of community there that I think is often lacking at other tech conferences. Best of luck with this event!
Ni: Thanks for your comments. I'm amending that part of the entry and will shoot Matt a message in hopes he can clarify. What was your favorite takeaway from the conference?
October 27th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Aloha Sandee!
It was wonderful to briefly meet you after our session at PodCamp + WordCamp Hawaii. Sorry I had to run back to the streaming camera station to make sure we were still broadcasting live to the world. We'll follow up with you this week regarding our brief discussion.
It is awesome that you live blogged our session and other sessions at PodCamp Hawaii!!
I did want to clarify that I didn't say, or certainly didn't mean to say, that I "prefer Movie Maker over iMovie." I believe the Mac is a far superior video editing platform and I know several people here in Hawaii that have switched to Macs when they became interested in video production and editing after trying to figure it out on Windows.
What I said was that Movie Maker had a lot of features that iMovie didn't have and that I was impressed with its feature set. All those extra features in Movie Maker are not really useful for 99% of the users just getting started with video production.
For people just getting started with video for the web, the Number 1 recommendation I would make to them is to use a Mac if they don't already. It will be easier, more fun, and they will find a much larger base of support for video editing on the Mac than on Windows. I use and have tried both and getting video from the camera to the web is easier and faster on a Mac.
October 27th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Thanks for the clarification, Shane. I"ll edit the entry. I agree that Mac's a friendlier, more intuitive system for visual media.
Mahalo, again, for the work you did on the conference. Well worth skipping the beach on a Saturday!
October 28th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
How was the event overall Sandee? I'm kinda bummed I missed it. I was out of town, but really wanted to go! Work even asked if I wanted to be a presenter. D'oh! I guess there's always next year... *sigh*
October 28th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
@Sandee - Wow! I think that's the best testimony we could hope for:
"Well worth skipping the beach on a Saturday!"
October 28th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
PS: It is incredibly awesome that honadvblogs.com runs on WordPress MU (Multi User)!!
We'll definitely being using Honadvblogs.com as an example of a beautifully designed and perfect way to utilize the power and elegance of WordPress MU for corporate blogs.
October 28th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Ed: Don't miss next year's event. With your growing numbers, you could present on how a blogger builds an audience!
Shane: Our online staff does a great job in managing our blogs, especially whenever Stephen Tsai's Warrior Beat runs a game ticket giveaway! Thank goodness for the WP-Cache plug-in.