On Nov 13, 7:53*am, Jim Kellett wrote:
On Nov 13, 6:10*am, wrote:

Does anyone out there have a good example how we in gliding community
using Podcasts to spread our information and stories ? *Have the
feeling we don’t attract new students in there channels.

snip

One way would be to use the technology to expand awareness of what
goes on at conventions using not only podcasts but other internet-
based media. *Some years back, the Clubs and Chapters Committee
videorecorded the seminars and made them available online - Frank
Whitley did a fantastic job of doing that (Frank, I can't find the
links to those on my computer any more . . .do you still have
them?).

Other proposals at that time to make the sessions available via
streaming video or podcasts was vigorously opposed by the then-
leadership of SSA, with the argument that making the benefits of
convention attendance available to anyone (not just SSA members) for
free inhibited attendance (a position which is PROBABLY no longer held
in Hobbs, and which probably would be better received now).

Jim Kellett


I'll re-post to this thread with the links once they are re-arranged
in a more sensible format (day or two). I didn't make public
announcements in fear of crashing the server as it's shared with
several businesses and streaming media is not it's primary function.
I have provided links to clubs that were discussing relevant topics.

Kemp has a good handle on what we, SSA and other nationals
organizations, should be doing and some of the hurdles. Within the
SSA, I've floated the idea of a (digital) media working group (both
formal and ad hoc) a few times to governors and committees along with
some thematic proposals to capture the current and moving paradigms.
Videos, webinars, RSS feeds (SSA has), and webcasting/podcasting are
among the tools we should be using now, in a coordinated manner. By
coordinated, I mean setting some standards, branding, editorial review
or content management, and 'marketing'. There are several independent
efforts out there with the majority showing up on YouTube and others
hosted elsewhere and independently. The other day I was presented
with two links to high quality videos. However, they were encoded at
2Mbps (too high for a T-1, okay for some cable but not for many DSL,
satellite, and wireless services) despite the host site's
recommendation to compress at 340Kbps. If you don't consider your
audience, you'll lose them.

Then there's equipment consideration, from camera to server, but the
biggy is the process in between. Check out Dave Newill's video
(currently top row center) in the SSA Video Gallery. This was done
with the Oregon Scientific ATC2K which records to SD cards. Fixed
aperture, 640x480 videos, but a cheap and rugged way for a club or
commercial operator to start gathering videos without breaking the
bank. HD camcorders recording to SD-HC cards are starting to become
cost competitive. Out west, the HDD camcorders are elevation limited,
so SD, SD-HC, and mini-DV rule. Gathering content and processing and
editing requirements take significant time and effort. Moving
original media also takes some effort as an hour of raw miniDV tape is
15GB.

Webinar services allow for live presentations. I've written a
proposal and have a line item in the SSA proposed budget, however, I
also need to finish establishing the benefit for providing such a
service before the proposal is accepted. The possibilities are
significant for presenting/capturing the conventions, soaring
seminars, training, recruiting, and so on. However, there are
standards and choices to consider on the way to completing the
proposal.

Today's options may only be valid for the next year or five as new
paradigms will surely emerge. We should be working on it.

Frank Whiteley