Earlier this year, Hunting With Pixels caught up with Shay David from Kaltura on the New York leg of our epic interviewing spree. Kaltura are a leading open-source video platform, helping business and educational clients deliver top quality video solutions. In the final section from our chat with Shay, we bring the ideas of open source and apply them to online video. Shay talks about his own business, Kaltura, and how they use the principles of crowdsourcing to deliver quality products for the end user. When we look at the future of the internet, it is clear that it will be dominated by video and multimedia. Shay predicts that in 10 years from now, video will equate 90% of the internet. However, we still have some way to go. The technology, while advancing in leaps and bounds, is still in its infancy. There are no established business models or examples of best practice, and online video remains very expensive to do well. It was these problems that inspired Shay and his partners to found Kaltura. Using their passion for open-source systems, they aim to make a big difference in the online video industry. In comparing open-source video to some of the existing (proprietary) solutions currently available, it helps to think of a trip to a toy store. The proprietary video system is the expensive doll, flashy but inflexible, and bound for the bottom of the toybox once the novelty is gone. Open source video, on the other hand, is more like lego, base functional parts which can be used in a variety of ways depending on the need. No matter the client, by leveraging their open-source video infrastructure Kaltura is able to custom build new solutions to unique problems, without having to start from scratch each time. Another advantage to using open source video is that Kaltura are able to use their large and passionate community to further aid in development. It is this passion for collaboration and creation that defines the open-source movement. By building up software that is open and flexible, Kaltura enables the next generation of internet entrepreneurs to use online video, and have created a successful business of their own. It’s the ultimate win-win situation. http://www.vimeo.com/25701162

Earlier this year, we caught up for a social with the charming Andy Ellwood, Director of Business Development for Gowalla, a location-based social media group. For more info about Andy, click here. In this clip, we asked Andy what trait he thought linked all successful people. His response covered drive, persistence, and finding ways to inspire other people to come on your journey with you. The first step in achieving success is setting the bar. By deciding upon what your goals are, you have something concrete to aim for, and a direction in which to work. Once your goals are set, the perseverance and persistence to keep working to that goal in spite of any setbacks is enormously important. Andy discusses his tactic of working on people who say no. He suggests that, rather than being discouraged and giving up, you should simply find a way to rephrase the request. Maybe you haven’t hit upon your audience’s specific motivations. Perhaps you weren’t able to adequately describe ‘what’s in it for them’. And always be clear about your own motivations when dealing with others, as it will make you seem more open and trustworthy. As well as persistence, you have to be willing to put in the hard yards. In our instant-celebrity society, we are often sold the myth that we can get what we want without working for it. But there are no such things as “Get rich quick” schemes. Being willing to work hard towards a goal is the difference between someone with a good idea, and someone who is successful. Again, persistence is key here, as the hard yards are called ‘hard’ for a reason. Finally, while professional life coaches can be a useful tool, it is just as important to coach and mentor yourself. When caught up in your goals and dreams, it is easy to overlook the fact that maybe you could be working more efficiently. By being your own biggest critic, and looking upon your work from an outsider’s perspective, you may be able to find ways to improve. Being able to self-assess and correct will see you progress and grow much faster than if you wait for that feedback from others. The pursuit and drive for success is something that is in all of us. Even if your goals are relatively small, by applying the same processes that the big boys use will see you achieve those goals in record time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IAOBosHprc

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Steve Rubel, executive VP for Global Strategy and Insights with Edelman. Edelman is a global public relations firm, well known for being on the forefront of technological change. Click here for more info on Steve and Edelman. In these two clips, Steve talks about how the leading public relations firms will adapt to the new media environment, and gives us an example of a successful campaign. As discussed in Steve’s previous videos, the democratisation of media voices has meant that PR firms can no longer rely on traditional media to reach a majority of people. Digital media and social media are reaching increasing numbers of eyes and ears. These new media are inherently more targeted, meaning more precision in that message delivery, with the flipside being a smaller audience share. In order to flourish in this more diverse and noisy environment, PR companies have to coordinate their efforts on multiple fronts. This means that a traditional media advertisement could be reinforced by small, targeted social media programs, which in turn are covered and linked to by articles in the new digital media. This lattice of supporting media efforts leaves the whole stronger than the sum of its parts. Steve refers to this broad based PR effort as “public engagement”, as it aims to come at people from several different angles, and because through its use of social media it invites user feedback. An example of a successful public engagement campaign was GE’s Eco Imagination. This was not a traditional advertising campaign, in that it didn’t particularly feature GE’s products or services. Rather, the campaign sought to position GE’s brand as a green company, more in line with public sentiment. It achieved this through a combination of traditional media advertising, such as billboards and television spots, through digital media promotion such as environment and business blogs, and prolific social media programs across facebook, twitter, tumblr, flickr and YouTube. The varied approaches used in the Eco Imagination campaign reinforced one another, building a fully fleshed out branding where none had existed before. And, of course, at the end of the day this campaign has produced indirect marketing for GE through exposure to the brand. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG8BncuUFEg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92_ilPz0kxM

If you have time on the evening of wednesday the 14th, come over to the HWP Headquarters for an evening with four great speakers, free drinks and networking! We’re doing a pilot for our presenter showreel, and we’ve got four amazing speakers lined up:

Mo Fox

  Mo Fox is a true hybrid thinker; an accomplished artist with a corporate background in advertising and strategy who consults, speaks, writes and trains in the area of applied creative thinking Mo is talking about the importance of ambivalence in thinking.    

Kim Seeling Smith

With over 25 years of business experience in both large corporates and small to medium sized companies (including 3 of my own), I bring a combination of practical / commercial experience to the myriad of tools and certifications I’ve gained having trained as a speaker, trainer and coach. Kim will be speaking about five ways to get better at hiring people.  

Nigel Collin

As founder and CEO of ‘Thinkativity’ Nigel has spent most of his working life helping organizations find ideas that drive growth, outpace competition and ultimately boost profits. Nigel’s presentation is about creativity in business.

Adette Rosenbach

  KnowledgeCore is led by Adette Rosenbach, marketing and business development specialist with over 2 decades experience. Adette implements business development, customer relationship and marketing strategies for services and professional services businesses. Adette’s presentations is about Crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is the biggest paradigm shift in innovation since the industrial revolution, and so will look at how firms are using the crowd to redefine their business models. Whether it’s in R&D, HR (managing the talent), Marketing and Promotions, Inventory management or Design. The key is that crowds don’t solve problems people do, and businesses are made-up of people, how do we harness this when technology has stepped in and become such a game changer.  

It’s going to be a cracker!

So pop by tonight for what promises to be a pretty amazing evening with top class speakers, free drinks and great networking. We’d love to see you there!              

Earlier this year, Hunting With Pixels caught up with Shay David from Kaltura on the New York leg of our epic interviewing spree. Kaltura are a leading open-source video platform, helping business and educational clients deliver top quality video solutions. In part five of this interview series, Shay talks about open source as a social phenomenon among participants, and how this impacts upon businesses that employ it. Within a traditional software company, such as Microsoft, most employees view their work as a job, a business interest. Shay compares this to an open source company such as Linux, and suggests that people who participate in creating open products are far more motivated by their passion than fiscal reward. By asking the question “What do people do in the absence of money”, we can see a clear distinction between these two business models. When a business is able to align financial interests with the passion of its participants, we can see the truly stand-out open source successes begin to emerge. Shay provides the example of Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade products, which has been financially successful, is responsible for a great product, and has built up a vibrant online community. The same is true for Twitter: a simple idea, an easy business model, and some smart and passionate people at the helm. This is not to say that volunteers and passionate people are a new phenomenon. However, with the increasing interconnectedness offered by the internet, and the expanded reach it offers to small businesses, we are seeing more and more of this new wave, companies that are reaching new heights through the combination of passionate people and great business practices. http://www.vimeo.com/26091393

Wow has 2011 been a great year for Hunting With Pixels! We’ve seen some of our wild plans actually come to fruition, we moved into an amazing new studio, built a team of clever people, and, best of all, got to meet and work with some fantastic new clients and collaborators, so plenty of reason to celebrate!

Not another branded pen…

So as a thank you we are throwing a Christmas/End of Year party on the 15th December, and we are offering, as a gift to our clients, a free shoot and Christmas greeting video. So instead of sending a Christmas card or email, why not have a more personal touch by using a video greeting this year?

Free Season’s Greetings video!

Come to our Christmas party on the 15th and, in between the drinks, nibbles and socialising, shoot a FREE 30 second Season’s Greeting video. It’s just our way of saying thank you to our supporters, collaborators and clients for making 2011 such a great year for HWP.

But wait, there’s more!

There will be free drinks. There will be music. There will be bloopers clips. There is always meeting other wonderful people AND the option to get yo boogie on people! Or alternatively stand in a circle and talk shop, go crazy!

The Catch: You need to register!

We need to plan our drinks, sock stuffage items and xmas food purchases, so click on the link here and sign up.  

Click on the icon below to register:

  Or if that doesn’t work, follow this link: http://www.stickytickets.com.au/7190/Pixel_Hunting_Xmas_Party.aspx