So what is PodCamp? Here’s how the promoters put it. “If digital content is truly king, then PodCamp Nashville is a royal playpen for digital enthusiasts all unto its own. It’s Nashville’s top event for sharing expertise about new media creation, distribution and promotion-an opportunity to find your digital voice.”

Considering the reference to “Pod” in the name, one might infer that the event is dedicated to the art of Podcasting, which means creating web content as a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and downloaded through web syndication. A few years ago, when PodCamp was introduced to the Nashville area, that was true. The event has begun a transformation of late, and podcasting, while still a relevant part of the all-day event, has been largely de-emphasized in favor of a more social media promotion-based syllabus.

PodCamp is billed as an “un-conference” in that it’s more interactive than a traditional seminar. I often find I learn more from the audience questions than from the speakers presentation. Being immersed in social media, an integral part of web design and online marketing (my profession), I find myself thinking that everyone knows what it’s all about, like how to use Facebook or Twitter to build business or create loyal clients – even in a down economy. But this is not the case.

PodCamp is attended by all sorts of folks – many geeks like me, but I’ve also noticed an influx of music industry executives (and their minions) all hoping to take advantage of the popularity of social media – and the power it wields to take a virtual unknown to star status.

I was approached by a promoter whose client took an unusual approach to musical stardom (you’d recognize his music if you watched the soaps – which I don’t). He’s marketed himself to television producers, writing music for TV, and is now shooting music videos for an upcoming album. His producer was well versed in traditional promotion, but was unsure how to engage his clients growing fan-base in the social media arena. I was able to point him in the right direction, and I’m sure we’ll have fun with this part of his new promotion strategy.

Social media – like any effective promotional effort – needs to be planned, implemented and managed. Many of the questions I heard revealed a void between what Facebook or Twitter fans would tell you – and the reality of marketing in the digital age. “Build it – and They Will Come” just doesn’t fly any longer.

About the Author:

Ken Ivey, aka “the Web Czar” – wants to help you leverage social media to reach your goals. His website www.midtntechnology.com

Remember, you are awesome. If nobody else will tell you that, I will.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks.

Netbooks have been the best-selling segment of the PC market during the recession — because they’re cheaper.  Contrary to perceptions that everyone is buying them because they’re highly mobile, a recent consumer survey found that 60% of buyers never took them out of the house.

Google is trying to create an OS built around “Software as a Service” that replaces applications a user might run on their own computer with applications that run on ‘cloud’ servers.

Here’s the latest from Google, released in an official blog post dated 11/19/2009:

Today we are open-sourcing the project as Chromium OS. We are doing this early, a year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users, because we are eager to engage with partners, the open source community and developers.

Although they’re releasing it to the open-source community, it won’t be available to consumers until this time next year.

First, it’s all about the web. All apps are web apps. The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. This means users do not have to deal with installing, managing and updating programs.

Second, because all apps live within the browser, there are significant benefits to security. Unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn’t trust the applications you run. Each app is contained within a security sandbox making it harder for malware and viruses to infect your computer.

If the system detects something peculiar, it will restore the affected areas from the cloud.

Most of all, we are obsessed with speed. We are taking out every unnecessary process, optimizing many operations and running everything possible in parallel. This means you can go from turning on the computer to surfing the web in a few seconds.

Chrome OS will not support slower traditional hard drives.  Instead, it will only feature smaller, faster, solid-state drives (SSD ) and rely on the cloud to store documents and photos, meaning you can forget about keeping your giant music collection on one of these babies.

Chrome OS could be the ultimate OS when it arrives – but will Google also pull 50,000+ applications out of thin air to make it a comparable tool to Windows? No matter how great it is, it’s only as good as the software it utilizes.  As an incentive to developers – because it’s based on a Web browser, every app developed for Chrome will also run perfectly on Windows or the Mac.

It begs the question – Are browsers and web applications mature enough to replace traditional software?

About the Author:

Ken Ivey, aka “the Web Czar” – wants to help you leverage technology to reach your goals.  Contact Ken for a free initial consultation to see how the web can work for you.  His website is www.kenivey.com

You don’t have to be internet or computer savvy to utilize this alternate way of enjoying your favorite television shows right from your home computer or laptop. The sites and software are plentiful and the benefits are many. Naturally there are also drawbacks, but first let’s focus on why this new age way of television watching is stealing customers of cable and satellite across the globe.

Benefits of Watching TV Online
Why would anyone want to watch television on a computer screen instead of on their TV? Here are a few reasons:

• Save money – keeping some extra cash in the pocket has motivated many a cable/satellite customer to switch to watching TV online.  Websites that offer television viewing are often completely free or ask for a low monthly or annual membership payment. No cable or satellite company can come up with a special to beat these savings!
• No commercials – well, almost. You may have to watch a message from a sponsor, but they are far shorter than commercials and some sites only have them at the beginning of the video, while others have a sponsor’s message in particular increments during the show.
• Convenient – when you get home from work, the latest episode of your favorite series is right there waiting for you. Whenever you’ve got the time, you can enjoy your favorite shows – and pause and rewind them.
• Selection – Aside from watching the latest shows on television online, you can find many shows that are no longer broadcasted on TV channels.

Drawbacks of Watching TV Online

Like all good things, watching television online has it downfalls. After hearing its benefits you may be wondering what’s not to love about making the switch, here’s what:

• Quality – high speed internet and a computer in perfect working condition are essential when viewing TV shows online, but even the best internet connection can have problems with slow or choppy playing of shows.
• Waiting Period – you may have to wait a few days to watch your favorite show’s latest episodes, until they become available online.

So there you have it, the good and the bad of internet television watching. If you think you would enjoy and benefit from this modern method of entertainment, here are some places to start watching your favorite shows (old and new) today!

• Hulu.com
• Netflix.com
• Fancast.com
• Comcast.com (ironic, isn’t it?)
• ABC.com
• Fox.com
• CWTV.com
• CBS.com
• Lifetime.com
• MTV.com
• History.com
• Youtube.com
• iTunes
• ChannelChooser.com

Today, every network has a website and you can usually watch that network’s regular shows whenever you want via their site. You can check your local tech stores for more information on software that will turn your PC into a TV for you and your friends to enjoy anytime!

About the Author:

Ken Ivey, aka “the Web Czar” – wants to help you leverage technology to reach your goals.  Contact Ken for a free initial consultation to see how the web can work for you.  His website is www.kenivey.com

Keywords count

Just as with other types of search engine savvy, the keywords you use so that you are seen by real-time search engines have a big impact, too. Use relevant keywords in your titles and in your updates. For example, you could be writing content for your “Widget X” website and the latest and greatest product updates, so you can update what you’re doing on social networks like Twitter, too.

This real-time inclusion helps your subscribers and customers feel “in the know,” which is going to bring them closer to you and make them more likely to check you out and stay on top of things — and thus keeping them loyal to you, which also means more cash in your pocket.

What keywords should you use?

Just as with any search engine search, your Tweets or status updates should include those relevant keywords. That way, someone searching for content on those keywords is going to come up with your updates or your Tweets — which in turn will lead them to your site. Remember, if you want people to find your updates, you need to use the proper keywords so that they can keep finding and following you just because they’ve put those keywords into the real-time search engine.

What do you like about your favorite “Tweeter”?

If you follow someone on Facebook or Twitter, and just maybe they happen to be a little bit “famous” (even if they are simply an expert in their field and not a celebrity), what do you like about following them? You like the intimacy of being able to see up close what that person is doing, right? And just maybe, that makes you feel a little special, right?

You can use that to your advantage with your own followers. Even though yes, of course, the ultimate goal is to get people to go to your website and give you more business, it helps if your customers (and prospective customers) feel like they know you, too. So it’s okay to cultivate followers simply because you want them to follow you and not necessarily because they’ll become customers — although of course, they almost certainly will. And again, the best way to help these people find you is to use the proper keywords.

A learning curve?  Sure

As with “the good old days,” when we were learning about keyword optimization for regular search engines, so, too, is there going to be a learning curve when it comes to real-time searches. The thing is, though, if you get ahead of the curve, you’re also going to be the one to reap the benefits. So get in on real-time searches now by using the proper keywords in your updates. It’ll bring you a lot more visibility, a lot more traffic, and a lot more customers.

About the Author:

Ken Ivey, aka “the Web Czar” – wants to help you leverage technology to reach your goals.  Need to know what YOUR keywords REALLY are? Contact Ken for a free initial consultation to see how the web can work for you.  His website is www.kenivey.com