Posts from — December 2009

(Affiliate Link)

• Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camera
• Samson SE50T Headworn Micro Miniature Omni Directional Microphone
• Stereo – Mono Y adapter
• Remote for Zi8
• Extension Cable (Affiliate Link)

Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camera

Of all the mini-flash based “Flip” style cameras, the Kodak Zi8 is the only one with an 1/8 inch stereo microphone input jack.  This allows me to use external mics to record excellent audio.  The menus in the camera allow me to adjust the input levels of the external mics

Samson SE50T Headworn Mic

These mics are remarkably small with excellent audio.  They are adjustable and relatively stable on the ear.  The Samson model is cheaper than the Audio-Technica head mics that I also own.   These mics are omni-directional so they will pick up any ambient noise.  If these “pro” quality mics are still to expensive, you can substitute a “Skype” capable computer mic with an 1/8″ plug.  I have used the Logitech “Clear Chat” model with noise canceling capabilities in noisy environments with great results.

Stereo – Mono Y adapter

This is an important part of the setup and requires explanation.  With my setup, you will be able to record two people on the separate, stereo tracks.  In the post production editing, you can adjust the levels if needed.  I’ve found two vendors for this Y adapter.  Go to www.Markertek.com search for model Y-MPS-2MF then scroll down the page to the correct model number.   Cablemart also has a model in Amazon.

Other Options

A tripod, remote, and extension cable for the mic cords are all helpful, but not required.  Another useful microphone is the Audio Technica ATR-6550 Video Camera Condenser Shotgun Microphone (Affiliate Link).  This shotgun mic can be hand held and provide more traditional interview style presentation.  It requires a single AA battery and will plug-into the Y-adapter.

Update:  Here is a quick video to demonstrate a Logitech “ClearChat” headset mic used with the Kodak Zi8 with a gas powered weed trimmer running in the back ground. This really shows the advantage of using a headmic with this camera.

If you’ve found any other solutions, please add them in the comments.

While at the BlogWorld and New Media expo, I got to play with Layar, the augmented reality tool for mobile phones.  I was very impressed by what it did.  Others are not so impressed at the state of the art right now.  But, I could see the potential beyond the tool.  Augmented reality will be huge.

Here’s another prediction.  The new AR tools will have to allow for temporal search of the “augmented” content.  It won’t matter for Wikipedia content, but it will matter for near real-time Twitter Tweets.  No sense “seeing” where someone tweeted three hours ago, if I want to find and meet them now.

I went to lunch recently with some managers at my organization. As usual, I couldn’t help but bring up the topic of social media and how we as managers can leverage those tools to the organization’s benefit. I hit a road block. Or, rather a concrete wall.

“I just don’t get Twitter… I don’t care what somebody had for lunch. I don’t care. I don’t get it.”
“My kids spend so much time on Facebook. I don’t get that either.”

So, what’s the problem? They don’t get it.

Now, I have a choice. I can complain that they don’t get it, or I can find away around the concrete wall. I choose to keep going. I do understand what’s going on in this situation. These managers have a set of tools on their tool belts that have served them well for many years. They don’t have an urgent pain or an immediate need they can’t mitigate with their familiar, well worn, tools. There is no new pain, problem or need.

Yet.

The marketplace always has a way of creating pain, problems and needs. Sometimes, it comes as a crisis – painful and urgent. When the worst occurs, that is not the time to realize the limitations of the old tools and scramble to find new tools.

I said, I have a choice. I said I choose to keep going. I understand new/social media. Some managers don’t. I will try to educate them on the benefits of the new tools.

These may be the old standards managers have been dealing with for years. Techniques, tools, and rules are always changing. Like any tool, social media can be used for good or for bad. If the manager is managerially risk tolerant, they will probably want to experiment to see how social media can be used for a competitive advantage. If the manager is risk averse and unwilling to explore the social media tools, they run the risk of having social media tools used against them. Then when a crisis occurs, they will be struggling to play catch up.

In a proactive form, social media can be used to foster relationships with customer and even highlight a cadre of evangelists for your product or service. These evangelists can react quickly in support of the company, in near real time, when a crisis occurs. A company can use the social media tools to go where the customers are rather than wait for the customers to come to the company.

Used defensively, social media tools can highlight issues before they gain enough momentum to gain negative media attention. Social media tools can help the company scan the far horizon for trouble. Conversations about your company are taking place in social media all the time. Why wouldn’t you want to be aware of what’s being said?

With all that said, I am committing to leading a seminar in our corporate auditorium to educate people about social media tools. Whether the managers are risk tolerant or risk averse in nature, we, as an organization, will be better off for it.

This is a video of Andrew McAfee, a principal research scientist at the Center for Digital Business at the MIT Sloan School of Management, who gives his thoughts on how Web 2.o technologies are breaking into the enterprise.  His  book, Enterprise 2.0: New Collaborative Tools for Your Organization’s Toughest Challenges (affiliate link), examines how leading enterprises are bringing Web 2.0 tools to internal processes.

I haven’t read it yet, but from the video, I think I will have to…