The incredible performance from April 26th 2012, by Wildbirds and Peacedrums is now live on Artangel’s vimeo channel. The Swedish musicians (Mariam Wallentin and her hudband Andreas Werliin) are the fourth act to play live as part of the Sounds from a Room project, which sees artists perform from the Roi de Belges on the roof of the Southbank centre in London.

Kinura are producing monthly HD vision mixed webcasts, which are streamed from aroomforlondon.co.uk, Guardian Music and also shown on big screens in the SouthBank Centre so people can gather together and watch live.

Next up, Amadou and Mariam at 6pm – 7pm BST on 23rd May 2012.

We’re live at 4pm BST today (29th March 2012) with a webcast from L.A. featuring Joe Dante, the director Gremlins.

No one can deny that Gremlins is one of the best films ever made anywhere in the universe, so we’re honoured to be streaming Mr Dante and looking forward to hearing what he has to say and seeing what the filmclubbers ask him.

We’ve been preparing this show for a while, kitting out Filmclub with a mobile encoding system so they can stream from anywhere in the world (with a little bit of help from a great local crew).

Watch live and don’t forget, never feed ‘em after midnight!

I went to a rather niche conference last week as part of Confex, called ‘Developing Virtual & Hybrid Events for the Events Industry‘. Turns out lots of clients are turned off by the use of the word ‘virtual’, so maybe we should call such things ‘Online Events’ or ‘Digital Engagement’ for Events – but anyway, whatever you call it, the events industry wants to know what works, how much it costs and what the business models are. So, here are some thoughts from the day, but be warned, there’s a lot to get your head round! :)

There were loads of great case studies so I’m just going to bash out some notes, with as much brevity and useful stuff as I can think of. Incidentally, I believe the content from the event will be online soon, so the ‘real’ conference will be delivered again online – which is kind of the point eh?!

The event was put together by UBM, who gave a great case study on Sustainability Now, a purely online event that has been enormously successful.

(N.B. I missed the first two sessions from The New Objective Collective and IBM)

• eBay (internal comms) – They have installed a bespoke HD conferencing set up after ages of grappling with bad low-res tech that didn’t work, and now produce weekly sessions called ‘European Team Brief‘ which is essentially like a full-on live TV production, with a heavy amount of preparation and lots of interaction between the different offices across Europe. They coach their presenters and the focus is on very high quality production, roving reporters, feedback, slapping each other on the back, knowledge sharing and so on. (maybe beer is involved in the meetings, we weren’t told).  This approach has resulted in ‘massive engagement levels’ and they are developing the ideas continually.
• The National Autistic Society deliver online events for revenue generation as well as educational awareness. They use streaming, webinars, online presentations and so on, and have used Second Life and found it to potentially deliver ‘ better engagement than slides and a talking head’. They have had issues with delivering content to NHS staff, because of firewalls blocking streaming tech. (Grrrr). NAS could not do their events without cash from sponsorship.
• Experts say:  longevity is important – think about the whole journey around the event – the lead in, post-show marketing, and the long-term archive afterwards.
• Experts also say: Give your audience screenshots of what the tech they will be using will look like in advance of the event so there are no surprises. Manage user expectations with honesty about what can be achieved, and if you are experimenting, just say so! Be open…
• Don’t try and pretend an online event will give the absolute same benefits as a real one, because it won’t will it?!
• The quality of audio is really really important. If the audio is bad, forget it!
• What is the ideal presentation length? Nobody knows! It’s all about what works for your audience.



• Thomson Reuters said that business content has to have a clear USP. For them, C-level decision makers are drowning in content. Be clear about your offering and the unique benefits.
• Elsevier said they have lots of issues around permission (since they are working in the medical sector). 50% of their speakers agreed to provide content in 2010. In 2011, this had gone up to 70%.
• Elsevier also said it is a good idea to have an online event provider with a background in broadcast. (Good advice if you ask me)! :) And they also bigged up the fact that we will always still need face-to-face events for the real social value.
• Elsevier had no success with Pay to View models, possibly because in the scientific community it is not common to pay for this type of content.
• Thomson Reuters said to be aware of audience behaviour in different geographic regions. In Asia, apparently online viewers will watch everything all the way through if they have signed up for it, not like us short attention spanned Europeans!
• Thomson Reuters’ and Lexis Nexis audiences have always paid for CPD content, so the Pay-to-View model works.
• Easy access to content is key. Three clicks to access, ideally.
• Cisco (having tons of superfast high res video links at their disposal) create huge global events as part of Cisco Live and the Global Sales Experience (GSX). They have a model where clusters of employees and clients gather to take part and watch the real live event, which is usually happening in LA or San Francisco. They have made live access so good, so well-produced, that people then want to come to the real event the next time around, so it’s apparently a symbiotic and healthy scenario.
• @sokothari from Cisco says: Keep yourself relevant by spreading messages to keep people engaged. You can’t do something once a year and then leave the online presence just sitting there. He likened this to an ‘abandoned amusement park’ – creepy and uninviting. If you can’t keep your content fresh, retire it – or get to work and update it. Do something with it!
• Don’t have any breaks in your online event. If you lose people they are gone.
• Arguably, you have to work harder to engage online audiences.
• If you are producing regular online events, and the preparation each time takes the same amount of time, you are doing something wrong. It’s about getting a good workflow and sticking to it.
• Have a twin project plan for the real and online event, looking for key stages where activity needs to align and come together.
• Virtual/ Digital / Online events should ‘not be the bastard child of the real thing’. (Can anyone think of a nicer analogy?)
• If you have technical issues or problems on the day, maybe this is actually due to a lack of planning and testing. You should always test, test, test and have a backup plan.
• There is data available comparing what works, but it’s not always easy to be certain about the reasons for success. I.e. An event might be popular because of the talent or appeal of the keynote speakers, so it’s about the content not the platform.
• Lexis Nexis set up a completely separate team to manage their webinar business, so that they could focus and not be distracted by juggling physical events with those online. They set up a studio and now run about 200 webinars a year. It’s a subscription model, and sounds pretty healthy (insert ££ pounds signs and $$ dollar signs here).
• Lawyers watch webinars together, in groups, not just on their own at their desks.

There was a lot more, but I’m sure that’s enough to get you thinking.

Some folks to follow from the day:

@sokothari – Cisco based webcasting afficionado.

@ruudwjanssen – serious high tech event stuff

Ruud Janssen’s blog http://fastmediaslowfood.com/

@graceporter – Manages events for JISC and knows lots of about streaming and using social media at events

@hurns – Martin Hurn from UBM, he knows many many things about delivering online events.

Me? Go on.. @sarahkplatt

and of course @kinura

Production Assistant
Based in Colchester/London
Salary- dependant on experience

Kinura is a creative web video company that specialises in live webcasting and online presentations. We are small but successful, and growing fast, with a strong client base across the corporate, publishing and arts sectors.

We are looking for a production assistant to work with our in-house and freelance crew. You will be reporting to the two company Directors and work alongside our team of producers, filmmakers, editors and web developers.

An understanding of the video production process is essential – plus some experience of dealing directly with clients. You need to demonstrate that you can work in a team, or be happy working independently. Check out our blog for examples of our work and get in touch fast if you think this is the job for you.

The Role

Essential
• Knowledge of the video production process
• Experience in sales/marketing/account management
• Highly organised and motivated
• Good office and communication skills
• Ability to work independently
• Attention to detail
• Driving License

Desirable
• Blogging and social media skills
• Basic video editing
• Photoshop

Application Process

Please send your CV and cover letter/email explaining why you think you fit the role to info@kinura.com
If you have worked on your own video projects, please send us links to view your work.

Deadline
5pm, 10th March 2011

NO RECRUITMENT AGENCIES.

We’re streaming live from Social Media Week London again!

Check out this blog post on the SMW site for more details.

Most of the events we stream are from theatres, conference venues and the like. Nowt wrong with that, but this project is rather different, and possibly the only time we’ll be streaming live from a boat. Definitely the only time we’ll be streaming live from a boat on top of the SouthBank Centre.

A Room for London is one of the first projects to kick off celebrating the cultural side of 2012. It’s been commissioned by Artangel with Living Architecture, and the winning design is by David Kohn and artist Fiona Banner.

For the whole of 2012, A Room for London is a hotel, where those lucky enough to have nabbed a reservation can spend the night surrounded by the beautiful lights of London and a unique view of the Thames; ensconced in a calm, nautical environment inspired by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. There are some great photos on the Guardian architecture site and a little video on the Telegraph site to give you an idea what’s inside.

But A Room for London is only a hotel 3 weeks of the month, the other week is given over to Artangel, who have programmed readings, podcasts and live performances (Sounds from a Room) which will be streamed from aroomforlondon.co.uk and also on Guardian Music. Live gigs will also be broadcast in HD on big screens within the SouthBank Centre.

We are so excited about working on this project we can’t tell you. Kinura’s top webcasting team have been involved from the beginning, in helping to spec’ connectivity, hardware, HD capture and live streaming delivery. We’re now in the midst of final preparations for the first Sounds from a Room performance by Andrew Bird, the amazing Chicago-based multi-instumentalist. I’ve seen him perform live twice in the past and he is truly amazing. The live gig will be on Saturday 28th January at 14:00 GMT. All the performances will be archived on vimeo too.

Some folks to follow for updates:

@artangel
@livingarch
@southbankcentre

The Great British Art Debate conference is happening on Saturday 3 December 2011, and you will be able to watch it all online, live from Tate Britain. Tune in to follow the discussion and add your voice to the Q&A at the end of the conference.

Tweet @gbartdebate and using #gbad11

And if you want to watch some videos about people’s opinions on British art to get you thinking there’s a selection online, recorded across the UK. Here’s one (below) with Mr Simon Munnery, who I once saw doing a comedy gig in a pub in South East London. He’s a funny man, so he is.

The Great British Art Debate is a partnership between Tate Britain, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service and Museums Sheffield, supported by The National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, and by the MLA’s Renaissance programme.

We’ve gone all glitzy and glamorous and partnered up with Britain’s Number One Theatre Website Whatsonstage.com to sponsor the 2012 WhatsonStage.com Awards. The awards are completely voted for by the public with more than 46,000 theatregoers voting each year.

The 12th annual Whatsonstage.com Awards season kicks off with an exclusive Launch Party at Café De Paris on Friday 2 December and culminates with a star-studded Awards Ceremony and Concert at the West End’s 1100-seat Prince of Wales Theatre on Sunday 19 February. The Awards gala concert will be streamed live so people can tune in from all over the world.

Watch this space for more news and follow @whatsonstage on twitter and via the hashtag #wosawards.

We spent quite a lot of time this summer working with our friends at Baskerville Design on a project to make a newspaper via the super fantastic Newspaperclub.

We decided it would be fun and perhaps a little different to the usual route companies go down of producing glossy brochures. And yes, we could have put stuff on a USB stick or streamed a presentation about ourselves too, but you know, we do lots of that digital sort of thing – and at the end of the day, people do still like tangible reading matter. I do anyway. I’m just not into Kindles or iPads for reading books. For me, whilst I appreciate the amazing possibilities of technology, there is something about the musty smell of paper, the inky typos and the authenticity of the original object. I am often found with my nose in a book. Plus it’s nice to mix the analogue and digital when you work in digital media and spend a lot of time looking at a computer. But anyway, back to the point.

Newspaperclub has been going for a few years now and their service is really simple. They have loads of inspiring case studies on their blog. All you do is upload a PDF of your design (and they have helpful templates if you need ‘em). We uploaded the master copy, paid our cash, and a box of papers turned up 2 days later. Brilliant. We are very happy with the result.

We’ve been giving our newspapers out at events and showing them to our Mums and that, but if you want one, just let us know and we’ll post it to you with a funky kinura badge too if you’re nice :) Or you can download a PDF version below.

We even made a kinura-branded newspaper stand by buying an old one from a cute little post office in Suffolk (via eBay) and laboriously removing all the Telegraph logos and replacing them with our own vinyl letters! What a palaver!

In the spirit of a paper ‘less’ world, you can also download a PDF version. It’s all good!
Download the PDF of Kinura’s Newspaper here.

@newspaperclub

The video and podcast we made are now online giving a brief insight into the decision making and technical processes involved in creating this wondeful app, which is a fine example of how a poem that is nearly one hundred years old can be brought to life by an intelligent creative and technical team pushing the boundaries of working with new platforms.

Anatomy of The Waste Land iPad app – Faber & Touch Press by Arts Council England

Faber Digital worked with TouchPress and IADT to develop the app – and in the video and podcast you will find out just how much thought was put into every aspect of the interface and content.

The videos for the app were produced by the team who also produced the BBC Arena film on T S Eliot.

There was some discussion during the event of how the shooting style chosen for the app content perfectly fitted the format, being quite simple but also really high quality. The app features a great performance of the entire piece by one of my favourite actors Fiona Shaw and loads more expert video perspectives on the poem, filmed in partnership with BBC Arena, including contributions from Seamus Heaney and Jeanette Winterson.

You can also watch a video demo of the app on YouTube: