An Online Campaign Drives Offline Buzz at The 2012 NAB Show

May 4, 2012 by

There were plenty of announcements at the 2012 NAB Show.  Black Magic’s new 2.5K camera and Adobe’s new release of Premiere CS6 were a few of the most talked about releases but one of the more interesting pieces of technology was Autodesk’s “Smoke”.  Not necessarily because of the product itself, but because of the way it was released.

Just listen to this timeline.  During a pre-NAB Show, Autodesk’s product manager Marc Hamaker was incredibly tight lipped about what they were going to be releasing.   A few weeks later Broadcast Engineer and social media superstar Ryan Salazar posted a blog on his site about Autodesk’s little secret which spread like wildfire. During the opening day of the 2012 NAB Show, Autodesk finally released all of the details.  Their Smoke Product was now on sale at a lower price point and its latest version was being out for a free trial.  Finally, we had the opportunity to sit down on location with Marc Hamaker again.  This time he not only let us know about the product but why Autodesk chose to use Ryan Salazar as an industry thought leader to leak some of the details and why it was still incredibly vital for their huge announcement to be fully unveiled at the NAB Show.

With over 5,000 registered for the beta version of their smoke product, Autodesk has seen incredible results from the inbound and outbound campaign - proving that online content can create a buzz at an offline event.

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Filed Under: 2012 NAB Show, Content Marketing 360, The Pulse on Marketing

Emmanuel Lewis: Instant Favorite

May 2, 2012 by

In my 30 years as a professional broadcaster I have had the good fortune of interviewing thousands of people.  Many of those people have been famous athletes or celebrities.  Of all the people I have ever interviewed Emmanuel Lewis is now one of my favorites.

Emmanuel Lewis On-Set at the 2012 NAB Show

The former child TV star and I sat down for a ten minute chat recently at the 2012 NAB Show in Las Vegas. Emmanuel is best  known for his role as the leading character in ABC’s 1980’s hit TV show Webster.  He is now starting his own production company called Wampum Nation.  He also proudly and passionately continues to drive his Dreamcatcher charitable foundation.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I sat down with Emmanuel but here’s what I got.  One of the most refreshing interviews I have ever done.   The now 41 yr old Lewis is bright, articulate, passionate, humble, confident, extremely engaging and just plain likeable. To me, the number one rule about great content is to make it a benefit to your audience rather than a feature that you do well.  Emmanuel Lewis lives this. It is in every fiber of the bones in his diminutive (4’3”) frame.  In his words: “Great content needs to come from a genuine passion….You can’t fake real”.

I encourage you to watch our interview.  I promise you won’t be disappointed and if you’re looking for inspiration you just might come away with something that really matters to you.

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For more content from the 2012 NAB Show, be sure to check out The Pulse on NAB show.

 

Filed Under: 2012 NAB Show, General Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Next Generation of Broadcasters

April 30, 2012 by

The NAB Show is an invaluable resource to broadcasters.  All of the latest in broadcast technology is on display in one place, and more importantly all of the minds behind the technology are there for you to talk to directly.  The show is an amazing place to spend four days, a remarkable resource to keep up with the industry and and exceptional environement to learn new tricks of the trade.  And that’s all for a seasoned broadcaster.

As impressive as the show was for me, and for the rest of the team at The Pulse Network, I can only imagine that the impact of attending was tenfold for the crew from the Digital Media Academy based out of Vancouver.

For Murray Bulger, there’s no better way to teach his students from the Argyle Secondary School about the latest in broadcasting than to bring them directly to the source.  So he rounded up more than 25 students and brought them to The NAB Show, which is where we had a chance to catch up with Murray, as well as his students.

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For more content from the 2012 NAB Show, be sure to check out The Pulse on NAB show.

Filed Under: 2012 NAB Show, Digital Leaders Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Workflow Solutions at The 2012 NAB Show

April 27, 2012 by

In today’s video production environment, to say that management and delivery of content is a challenge would be a tremendous understatement.

High-definition video files are prohibitively large, storage can be complex and expensive, and delivery of your content needs to happen cross-channel and cross-platform.  It’s more important than ever to develop an efficient process for video encoding, online content creation, compression and uploading.

Peter Csathy of Sorenson Media sat down with Butch Stearns live at the 2012 NAB Show to shed some light on how Sorenson has worked to become the “Swiss Army Knife of video encoding,” and how they have developed products to expand beyond this to address a much broader spectrum of the production workflow to become a full-service solution.

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For more content from the 2012 NAB Show, be sure to check out The Pulse on NAB show.

 

Filed Under: 2012 NAB Show, General Tagged With: , , , , ,

Portable Live Production and NewTek – The 2012 NAB Show

April 24, 2012 by

Here at The Pulse Network, we’re constantly searching for new ways to maximize professional video production, both in our Canton, MA studios and on the road at events.

TPN On the NewTek Tricaster at the 2012 NAB Show

We’ve used plenty of different solutions here trying to maximize the power of our equipment in a minimal amount of space.  The goal is to pack the punch of a full-scale TV Studio without filling four full rooms with equipment and staff.  One of the solutions that we’ve found great success with is the NewTek Tricaster.

We used the TriCaster, along with a litany of other products, to help broadcast live from the South Lobby of the 2012 NAB Show.  In a small space, we were able to set up and execute a high-definition multiple camera shoot, complete with multiple outside production machines feeding our broadcast, and send it back out, fully produced, to our live stream over embedded SDI.

NewTek also created a fair amount of buzz on their own at The NAB Show, debuting a new product that they hope will change the game for portable live production.

NewTek at the 2012 NAB Show

We had a chance to sit down with Philip Nelson, SVP of Artist & Media Relations at NewTek to discuss NewTek’s newest products, and why they find the NAB Show so valuable.

 

 

 

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For more content from the 2012 NAB Show, be sure to check out The Pulse on NAB show.

Filed Under: 2012 NAB Show, General Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Walking Dead at The Pulse on NAB Show Studio

April 17, 2012 by

One of the highlights of Day 2 of the 2012 NAB Show was the session featuring one of the hottest shows on TV, The Walking Dead, and how the minds behind it have worked to create a thinking person’s zombie drama.

The Walking Dead has a rabid fan base, and has capitalized on it with an innovative second screen experience called Story Sync, which allows fans of the show to engage and interact with the content while watching the show each week.  Beyond creating a high level of interactivity, the show’s architects have managed to maintain the thrill-a-minute experience that fans of the genre expect while incorporating complex character arcs and developing well-thought out plot elements on a weekly basis.

Dave Alpert, Gale Anne Hurd, Robert Kirkman and Glen Mazzara of AMC’s The Walking Dead joined Tyler Pyburn at The Pulse on NAB Show Studio to discuss how they turned a cult-classic graphic novel into a TV show, how they’ve worked to satisfy their fan’s desire for engaging content along with the show, and how they’ve approached the difficult task of character development in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.

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You can watch the full interview with the team from The Walking Dead here, and you can find the rest of our coverage of the 2012 NAB show here.

Filed Under: 2012 NAB Show, General Tagged With: , , , , ,

Lessons Learned from the 2012 NAB Show – So Far

April 17, 2012 by

There is nothing like putting together a live show.  Shuffling guests in and out of position, checking cameras, editing clips – it’s all the little things that make it come together.  With so much going on at one time you sometimes forget to stop and take in all of the incredible information and ideas that are filling the air.  For two straight days now, I heard our guests talk about “The Great Content Shift”; Not necessarily how the industry is changing but how it is evolving.

The highlight of my day came when Emmanuel Lewis (you know him as Webster) took to the stage.  After over 30 years starring in sitcoms and commercials, Lewis is now starting his own production company.  I honestly have not seen anyone talk so passionately about the importance of continuing to learn and grow as a professional.

Personal branding is a key attribute to every sports figure and celebrity.  But how many of those “personas” are manufactured; a product of PR and Marketing agencies.  For people like Evander Holyfield and Louie Anderson, their personal brand is as strong as their word.  That’s why they’re creating content that is truly authentic; high lighting their brand in their own words.

We also got the opportunity to meet the next generation of media superstars when a group of 30 students from the Argyle Secondary school in Vancouver, Canada shared their story with us on set.  While their project may have been put on hold while they were in the booth, their youthful exuberance sparked the interest of the crowd and capped off an exceptional day of programming.

These were just a few of the examples of great conversations that have taken place here in Las Vegas and I can only hope that the next two days are just as insightful as the last.

Filed Under: 2012 NAB Show, General