New video and audio podcasts for the IDeA
One of our latest client projects went live recently – audio and video podcasts for the Improvement and Development Agency for local government (IDeA).
The podcasts were recorded at an event in Manchester exploring how the integration of workforce strategies can support partnership working. The day also included a review of the key learnings from the integrated workforce strategy project.
To see the podcasts ‘in-situ’ on the IDeA’s web site click here.
Posted in: General
The World's 100 best blogs
The Sunday Times today published part one of an article listing the World’s 100 best blogs.
The list features a global gamut of blogs grouped under the following headings:
World affairs- Celebrities
- Style
- Words
- Cult
- Original thinkers
- Comic relief
- Domestic politics
- Visual aids
Read the article here.
Part two of the article, to be published on Sunday 22nd February, focuses on where to find the best blogs on film, science, art, the home, theatre, pop and classical music.
Posted in: General
Video at the heart of The Queen's new look website
According to this article on the BBC, the Queen has this week redesigned (obviously not personally!) and relaunched her website.
The site went live at a Buckingham Palace reception attended by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, widely recognised as the world wide web’s inventor. The royal site, which started in 1997, now includes more video material as well as historical documents.
About 250,000 people around the world visit the site each week.
Apparently, The Queen stood in front of a bank of nine screens and clicked a remote control to re-launch the site. The Monarchy site’s homepage appeared showing a range of simple menus and tabs which it is hoped will make it easier to navigate.
To check out the revamped site visit Royal.gov.uk
It’s also worth noting that Royal.gov.uk is not the only presence the Queen has on the internet. In 2007, she launched her own channel on the video-sharing website YouTube.
Posted in: General
Record 13% monthly growth in US online video viewing
Internet traffic measurement company comScore recently released data from their December 2008 “comScore Video Metrix” service, indicating a huge jump in Internet video-viewing among US Internet users. A record 14.3 billion online videos were viewed during the month, representing an increase of 13 percent over November’s viewing stats.
YouTube led the Internet video portals, accounting for 49% of the incremental gain in December videos viewed versus the previous month.
In December, Google sites ranked as the top U.S. “video property,” with 5.9 billion videos viewed (41% online video market share), thanks to YouTube.com, which accounted for more than 99% of all videos viewed at the property.
Fox Interactive Media ranked a distant second with 445 million videos (3.1%), followed closely by Yahoo! sites with 330 million (2.3%) and Viacom Digital with 291 million (2.0%).
Hulu continued its growth trajectory, climbing 6 percent over its November viewing numbers, to 241 million videos viewed.
Despite ranking fifth among video properties for number of videos viewed in December, it should be noted that Hulu scored the longest average duration for individuals’ online video viewing, just over 10 minutes.
Nearly 100 million YouTube video viewers (98.9 MM) watched 5.9 billion videos, for an average of 59 apiece.
In terms of unique viewers of Internet video, nearly 150 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 96 videos apiece in December 2008. Google sites crossed the 100 million online video viewer mark during the month, representing two out of every three Internet users who watched video. Fox Interactive ranked second with 56.9 million viewers, followed by Yahoo! Sites (42.8 million) and AOL LLC (31.5 million).
Other notable findings from December 2008 include:
- 78.5 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video
- The average online video viewer watched 309 minutes of video, or more than 5 hours
- 98.9 million viewers watched 5.9 billion videos on YouTube.com (59.2 videos per viewer)
- 48.7 million viewers watched 367 million videos on MySpace.com (7.6 videos per viewer)
- The duration of the average online video was 3.2 minutes
- The duration of the average online video viewed at Hulu was 10.1 minutes, higher than any other video property in the top ten
Posted in: General
Business Ears podcast profiles global ironwork entrepreneur Brian Rourke
Business Ears show #035 was released on Friday and features an interview with Brian Rourke, founder and Managing Director of one of the most successful manufacturing SME’s in the North West – B. Rourke & Co. Ltd.
Now Brian’s story is a colourful and inspirational one – having left school without any qualifications and after a national service spell in the RAF, he started his ironsmith’s business by converting a ‘hen hut’ on his sister’s Lancashire farm into a forge.
Over the following 48 years, his vision and persistence have seen the business grow, both in the UK and abroad – it today exports to over 30 countries and has an office in the USA…not bad for a lad from Bacup!
Brian’s humour and modesty make this one of my favourite shows we’ve produced to date, you can listen to the interview here and to check out previous shows visit www.businessears.co.uk
Posted in: General
