MWGblog

For those of my readers who are film buffs, a legend has passed. Ingmar Bergman has died at the age of 89. The New York Times has a good write up. For those of you who have never seen a Bergman film, do yourself a favor and rent The Seventh Seal, (pictured above) you’ll understand after that. Sad day.

Chris Brogan has a great post that succinctly details what those who want to grow businesses in “New Media” really need to focus on and, frankly, come to terms with. The points he makes are ones I have been hammering in presentations for podcasters over the last two years. If you are a “podcast consultant” you need to read this post. It takes me 45 minutes on a stage to cover what Chris can handle in a few paragraphs. Bravo Chris! [Link]

Update: Others are now taking notice:
Scott Bourne has a thoughtful post.
Todd Cochrane is just plain wrong. Todd writes a well thought out piece but misses the point: “how to make a living from it” - i.e. pay your mortgage and all other expenses - which is Chris’ premise in the post. Chris is correct, in that case, video needs to be a focus. I am a huge proponent of audio, but I also understand the power and attraction of video, particularly for my Fortune 100 clients. Don’t fight the client - it is loosing battle and a rookie move. Todd’s advice is sage for individual podcasters, but has no bearing for those of us dealing with large corporate clients, i.e. “Podcast Consultants”. This goes back to one of the main points I make in presentations, there is a key difference between what you produce and how your expertise can best be utilized. Let me say for the record, your expertise is worth many times what your audience is. Sell you expertise, rather than your CPM/audience and you’ll be a much happier and more financially flush camper.

Doug Kaye put up a good post on our decision about IT Conversation’s future direction.

I’ve been using our GigaVox logo as the wallpaper on my iPhone. Since I built it, I thought I’d go ahead and put it up here for the few folks who saw and asked about it. Click on the iPhone image to the left to see a full size view.

Here is how to install it:
Download the graphic here.
Set up an album in iPhoto titled Wallpaper.
Set iTunes to sync the album.
Go into the iPhone settings menu under wallpaper and select.

Here are more detailed instructions if needed. Enjoy.

I am itching to do some Reel Reviews. I have a backlog of films I’d love to do but thought a theme might be fun. How about a week of the definitive midnight films: El Topo, Pink Flamingos, The Harder They Come, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Eraserhead? Yes, no, maybe so?

“How I Made Close To $13,000 In Only 67 Minutes Podcasting From Home.” What a great title. I should publish an eBook for this crowd. They are obviously willing to spend money.

For those of you who want to make big money podcasting, apparently Richard D. Reichmann has it all figured out. I could go on and on.. Next up, “Tiny Ads” from Don Lapre.

I think I’ll add this to my speaking presentations. Great counter point to the real benefits of podcasting and proves people are paying attention. When the informercial crowd gets involved, you know you are on to something.

I have a mailbox full of LinkedIn invitations (which I appreciate.) I have an account with LinkedIn, but have never bothered to search someone else out, much less invite anyone else into my “network”. I probably spend more time figuring out if even know the person behind the invitation sent to me than is worthwhile . Now I get Facebook queries. Jeez - how do you Web 2.0 kidz keep up with this stuff? Can I export my LinkedIn profile to Facebook and be done with it? Is there a web app that lets me add a “friend or associate” and bind it everywhere? Who has time for all this platform shifting? Please help.

This came by way of Jason Calacanis. What do you do when you have plenty of free time on your hands? Dress a fellow prisoner up as a woman and act out Michael Jackson’s Thriller video with 1500 of your closest inmate buddies. Classic!

I have been asked to speak again at CES for 2008. I have added it to the speaking schedule. While it is a long way off, CES is always a great time. Looking forward to it once again.

Wolverines! The victory call from Red Dawn. Either you get it or you don’t.

I love when you are greeted by a little 80’s cult nostalgic gem when perusing the new DVD releases. A great young cast including Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey before Dirty Dancing, C.Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson and Charlie Sheen in his first movie. Pair that will film fan favorites like Powers Booth, William Smith, Harry Dean Staton, Ben Johnson and don’t forget Ron O’neal - Superfly, as a Cuban military commander. Directed by John Milius. Come on! You know it is a good time.

I’m feeling a Reel Review coming on.

Today I quickly experimented with Chris Penn’s new application that renders an iPhone friendly podcast page for your website. It was easy to set up and worked as promised. On Reel Reviews I use a special RSS feed that contains just the podcast entries. I loaded it into the kit and “voila” - ready to go on the iPhone. Just click on a link and it plays the podcast. You can check it out here: Reel Reviews iPhone page.

To see a full resolution screenshot as it appears on an iPhone just click on the iPhone graphic on the left.

Check it out Chris’ application: Podcaster iPhone Kit.

I remember being sworn to secrecy by my friend Steve Gillmor regarding his new show, Bad Sinatra back in January at the PodTech BlogHaus. Now it is out. It’s not the Gillmor Gang, but who cares?

I have used examples of the BlendTec’s Will It Blend videos in a number of corporate “new media” presentations recently. They are a great example of harnessing the power of YouTube et al., viral video and a bit of fun. For iPhone lovers (present company included) here is the newest, and somewhat painful blender test. Don’t forget, those that need the Mac Daddy of blenders check out the “BlendTec Total Blender