What is the best platform for having a continuing conversation – would it be Facebook?

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The short answer: It depends. It depends on what your trying to do, who you’re trying to do it for, and on what platform they’re on.

A better question to ask is, “What’s my reason behind having a continuing conversation?”

Will having a continuing conversation help you  create opportunities that you can seize to help others reach a goal, all the while, establishing and maintaining a reputation of being the best in doing just that? If so, then you should ask, “what platform is best for creating those opportunities?

Lets take an example of three known names and how they’ve approached communication platforms to create opportunities to accomplish business goals.

Zappos.com

Zappos.com’s brand promise is: free shipping, free returns, free 365 day return policy, 24/7 customer service, and happiness.

They do that mainly through the telephone. They have an active and responsive customer service platform with which they have their “continuing conversation.”

Seth Godin

Seth Godin’s goal is to share ideas. His most successful medium for doing that is his blog. You’ll notice that his blogs, whether it be his personal Typepad or Domino Project, he has comments disabled.

He’s stated on his blog,

I think comments are terrific, and they are the key attraction for some blogs and some bloggers. Not for me, though. First, I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning. Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them. And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters.

For him personally having a “continuing conversation” on his blog would actually deter him from him goal of sharing ideas.

Park51 Community Center

When I was working with Park51 in January 2011, they were addressing a communication crisis. Statements were being said about the organization that just weren’t true and it was branded as “the ground zero mosque.”

When we launched the blog, we did it with the aim of engaging the public and joining the existing conversation. However, the decision makers decided against comments on the blog because of the perceived effort that would be required to maintain and moderate.

In my professional opinion, it was the wrong decision at the time in the context of the goal.

Many organizations want to have a medium for broadcasting, and sometimes treat social channels as a place for one-way communication. Generally, this isn’t wrong. However in the context of Park51′s goal, I believe this was the wrong decision.

I can understand at the time Park51 was receiving a substantial amount of opposition and the risk of having comments enabled on the blog could potentially lead to people expressing themselves using inappropriate language and even false statements. However, In my professional opinion it would have been a more strategic move to simply moderate such comments with a dedicated online community manager.

The biggest business benefit of having the ability to comment on a blog is the opportunity for readers to connect with the authors as well as the staff running the organization.

So, what’s the best platform?

The best platform for you or your organization depends on how do you measure success. What does success look like? Will a continuing conversation impact your success in the way you’d want it to?

I took away some of the clutter, made the design into a full width layout allowing more content visibility and moved links to recent blog posts to the bottom. I’ve also added a nifty Easing Slider to feature my latest work, which tends to get buried in all the blog posts.

In the process of redecoration, I discovered Dynamic WordPress widgets which allowed me to feature some plugins and widgets on specific pages while not on others. This made it easy for me to feature the slider on the homepage only while not on the other pages.

Those who visit this site often, will notice that the pop-up for email subscription that used to come up after 1 min of browsing now appears only in the beginning and will not appear again if you click it to go away.

As progress is made, I’ll be making some more tweaks here and there as we move along. If you have any suggestions or usability issues, feel free to post in the comments section below

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“I guess extremest have rights too.”

- Seminar Attendee

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This statement explains why its not that easy combating “recruitment” from extremists.

About a month ago Farhad Chowdhury from M100 Foundation sent me an invite to attend a seminar organized by New America Foundation in Washington D.C. hosted at Google’s office

The intent of the seminar was to train leading Muslim non-profits in the tools and processes of online marketing, covering tools provided by Google, YouTube and Facebook as a means of combating increased extremist online activity.

A big part of being effective in marketing online and building a loyal following has to do with continuously giving value to the community you’re targeting.

The challenge with combating content posted/uploaded by post-prison Anwar Alawlaki fans is that they have the same rights and privileges and access that we all have.

Anwar Alawlaki is one of those individuals who has plenty of beneficial content from his pre-prison days that continuously builds social capital. So if someone were to post a video of him saying attack certain people and how its an obligation for all Muslims, it has potential of pulling some people in the wrong direction.

Muslims here in the west have the interesting challenge of not only having to combat religious extremists, but also combat extremists on the other side of the spectrum too. The likes such as Robert Spencer, Asra Nomani, Irshad Manji, Daniel Pipes, Newt Gingrich, Pamela Geller and others.

People on both sides of the spectrum are using online marketing practices to get their message across quite effectively.

The thing with Muslims in the middle is that they have a lot of beneficial content to share but don’t understand technical tools or practices of getting their message out and its for that reason this seminar was held.

One of the prime examples that a Google instructor presented was MPAC. When you type “MPAC” into Google, you don’t find MPAC. Instead you find either a “performing arts center” in some city or you find content written by right wing extremists. If you’re going to search for your name on Google, YOU should come up. If you don’t then you’re not marketing yourself appropriately.

MPAC also has a decent YouTube page with over 100 videos, but due to bad SEO, no one gets to see it.

The following is an outline of what Google presented to the seminar attendees.

Some of these tools are quite powerful if you know how to use them. I was intrigued to find out that Google has a program called “Google Grants” where if you’re a tax excempt 501(c)3 while not being either a political party or a religious institution such as a church or mosque, then you can be eligible for free Ad Words credits between $100 – $10,000 a month.

In addition to Google, YouTube and Facebook were there presenting their systems too and how to effectively read the metrics they publish for their users to reach out to specific target audiences. Below is the YouTube insights view.

Personally, while most of the stuff was a refresher, some of the Google content was new.

I personally don’t like to get into the politics of extremeism. However, I do find that the content presented in the seminar can be useful in dawah and depolarization of views on Islam.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’d love to learn how to make videos with that sort of look. Although it doesn’t look realistic, is certainly looks unique.

Earlier I had announced that Leechon had finally become a YouTube partner. This means that as a partner, Google will share some of the ad revenue that they get with Leechon, Inc.

What I’ve Learned So Far:

• Appropriate Keywords Are Important –
  The Google Adsense ads that appear in the lower third of the video are based on the tags and keywords placed in the video description. For example, most of the videos I’ve filmed have been shot with Canon cameras, thus I always put “canon” and the model of the camera into the tag space. You’ll notice those specific videos get ads that link to brands of digital video cameras.

• Pay Attention To Conversion Ratios -
  Paying attention to my conversion ratios for the past few days as well as reading up on forums discussing money making potential of the YouTube Partnership program, I’ve learned that YouTube video Adsense ads have a click-through rate of 0.3% – 0.5%. This ratio means that for every 2000 ad impressions the content get , Leechon will earn about $1.

Obviously, the number’s aren’t glorious. For a moment they’re downright depressing.

However, they are an extra income stream. Over time (probably a looong time) as the subscriber base grows, the video count increases and quality of entertainment content put forth improves, this number can grow into something substantial.

All I can say is, (deep breath) “Alhumdulillah…”

The great thing about this is that this provides Leechon with new source of passive revenue for producing videos and now videos longer than 10 minutes can be hosted on the Leechon Films YouTube account!

Look forward to more videos being posted

This past weekend my Canon HFS100 and Azden SGM 2x shotgun microphone was stolen.

I was setting up to do recording for a video I’m working on with AlMaghrib and it was my mistake to not notify some of the people there to keep an eye on it while I go into the seminar room to make a note of which people I’d be doing recordings of. 20 minutes later I come back and find my equipment missing.

As it was a major bummer to find my equipment stolen, I figured it’s a great opportunity to upgrade.

The following setup is what I’m considering :

The breakdown of which is:

• $1,600 – Canon 7D body
• $350 – Canon 50mm EF f 1.4 lens
• $600 – Tokina 11mm-16mm f 2.8 wide angle lens
• $318 – 1 meter Glidetrack
• $125 – Manfrotto Tripod head
• $150 – UV and Neutral Density Filters
• $100 – Hoodman Loupe
• $140 – Battery and 32 GB memory card

Total cost: $3383.00

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I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on the setup:

[ UPDATE: 12.26.2009 - 3:41 AM ]

Turns out that there are several types of 3D development over the years.

The type that most people are familiar with is “3D Stereoscopic” which is basically capturing with two sources and then having it projects in two different colors (red & blue -or- red & green) and the goofy glasses would cancel out the non-overlapped colors to give the artificial depth.

3D Stereoscopic can be duplicated in a low-budget project, it just takes proper planning – mounting of the camera with the right measures – and understanding of how to sync two different video files and audio files together in the same time line so editing is fully synced.

The end product will be like your classic 3D videos.

In today’s day and age of digital film making – instead of the diffusion of red and blue colors, its the diffusion of light known as “orthogonal polarizing”

During production you have a camera that has 2 lenses mounted in the front where it records the video data in two separate streams, much like how stereo audio is recorded in two separate streams.

The final cut is then projected via dual lens projector where each projector lens has “orthogonal polarizing filters” mounted on the front of it so than when you wear the 3D glasses – which also have orthogonal polarizing filters on them cancel out the non-overlapping image ads an artificial depth to the video.

More on this here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarized_3D_glasses

Question:
How does one jimmy rig two separate projectors with “orthogonal polarizing filters” to play back two separate video streams at the same exact time?

Is there a software out there that could output two video streams using a video card with two video outputs to a projector and the program sends two distinct streams onto a screen so viewers can watch the feature in 3D?

I’d love to hear your responses!

[ UPDATE END ]

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With the release of Avatar Ive been wondering, what does it take to produce a 3D film on a short budget and what knowledge is needed?

I found some links that might be a valuable resource: 3D Stereoscopic Production & Delivery

A couple more links that may prove to be educational:

• Shooting Avatar
• Panasonic new 3D HD video Camera
• 3D Film (wiki)

For the record:
This is not a technical review of the features of the camera. There are plenty of those out there. This post is simply an overview of specific benefits this camera may or may not carry based on your level of familiarity with film-making.

If you are looking for a technical review then see the CamorderInfo.com review of the Canon HFS100.

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LET’S START WITH THE BOTTOM LINE

If you’re new to the game and have never purchased a camera before then this camera is NOT for you. I recommend this camera ONLY IF you are looking to upgrade your current system. A camera system usually consists of:

• Camera
• Filters – polarized, UV, etc
• Lens – wide angle, zoom, etc
• XLR Shotgun Microphone
• XLR audio adapter
• Wireless Mic Receiver
• Tripod
• Movement assists – Steadicam, Dolly, tracks, etc
• Lights
• Computer to edit
• Hard Drive – for storing footage

If you’re thinking about putting down $800+ for this camera and you’re missing some of those elements then my recommendation is to not purchase this camera. Rather purchase the Canon HG10 or HF100, both of which you can probably get for under $400.00 USD used from Amazon or eBay.

Spend the money you save on completing your camera system.

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MY REASONS FOR PURCHASING THE CANON VIXIA HFS 100

After spending over two weeks filming Ilm Summit 2009 with my Canon FS100, one thing I came to realize is that editing would be so much faster if I didn’t have to spend so much time cleaning up the images.

My old camera is really no good at filming in low light and you end up with a lot of “visual noise”.

The computer has to spend a lot of time in post-processing to reduce the “visual noise”. The resulting image tends to become very “soft” in nature which doesn’t really scream quality.

I had been experimenting with different HD cameras but none satisfied my desire to be able to shoot well in low light.

One camera I did like was the Canon HG10. I shot Hollywoodland – Browntourage Episode 2 with that camera and was quite satisfied, except in extreme low-light conditions.

When IlmFest 2009 came up I decided to purchase the camera. I figured I’ll have the weekend to really test it out. I took a walk out to NYC to purchase a much needed wide angle lens for the camera which ran me about $300.00 USD.

After the weekend I realized that this camera is great, but it’s not worth the $1,100.00 USD retail sticker price, so took it back to the store and returned it. The guy was nice enough to not charge me a restocking fee.

About a week later I found the same camera on eBay for about $830.00 USD and purchased it for keeps.

THE WINNING FACTOR

The lens it the best part of the camera. The lens is the same lens used on the old Canon GL2 DV cameras.

The images look brilliant and it’s ability to absorb light after sunset is great with the assist of a portable light.

The latest Browntourage episode – Hollywood Again – was shot with this camera.

THE KILLER

Canon doesn’t consider XLR audio adapters when they design their camera.

With the BeachTek attached to the HFS100, you can’t open the flash disc slot to eject the SDHC memory card.

It’s a pain considering I’m usually shooting with the Steadicam Merlin. To change the card I have to off load the camera from the Merlin and screw off the BeachTek to eject the memory.

What I end up doing usually is using my Laptop to transfer the video data via USB to a portable HDD. It’s a temporary solution, but it doesn’t give that quick satisfaction of having more recording space available.

The upside to this is you’ll be limited to shoot only 60 mins of video on a 16 GB SDHC card. On a day’s worth of shooting, be sure to make each shot count.

What I might end up doing is cutting up the BeachTek device to allow for the camera to open up the memory slot or get a 32 GB SDHC card instead.

I’m sure a lot of us have heard of twitter, but most don’t have a clue what it is and what’s so great about it.

Twitter is the key that allows you to work you online social network in an automated fashion so that you can continuously build relationships and engage your people while not being chained to a desk or a computer.

Blogging, bookmarking, video, text, photo, and networking in a social sphere are all what we’re exposed to so much these days, yet many of us are resisting adopting and embracing these technologies.

I joined twitter back in April 2009 (see sidebar for my latest tweets). I knew of its existance since early 2008 but never joined because I was still getting my head around all these new social media technologies and figuring out what ways to use utilize them for marketing as well as general communication.

After having used twitter for about three months, I can confidently say it is a total Godsend! In all truth I wish I joined up sooner.

WHAT IS TWITTER?

• It’s a (micro)blog – “micro” because it’s got 140 character limitation.

• It’s public SMS – you can SMS people directly to their twitter accounts which ideally should be hooked up to their cell phones and they can respond to you. You can also follow the conversations of other who peak your interest and others can follow your conversations as well.

• It’s a networking tool - It allows you to follow and connect with new people you want to know more about through people you already know and it allows others the opportunity to connect with you. People you probably would never have connected with through normal circumstances.

• Most of all it’s a mobile synchronization tool for social media. - It allows the sharing of photo, video and text not only in the twitter crowd, but you can set it up to distribute to places like YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace – exponentially reaching out to a large network of people simultaneously just by simply pressing the “send” button on your cell phone!

I DON’T HAVE TIME TO LEARN THIS!

I’m a major advocate for social media and here’s why:

It’s a gold mine to meeting new people. Not just for the purposes of business but to enrich your social life as well.

Social media is a TOOL and specifically it’s a MAGNIFIER. Like money and power it will magnify what’s already inside of you. Truth is that social media is here to stay and you will be assimilated. Resistance is futile

I WANT TO PROTECT MY PRIVACY

I understand that there is a concern of having a balance of privacy and publicity. I also feel that people aren’t exercising comon sense when it comes to the issue of privacy and publicity online and this is where proper education and awareness needs to be brought into the fold.

I’m in the process of developing some material via MessageMastery.com which I’ll be putting out as a gift for all of you laying out the basics to get you going on using these amazing social media tools.

Using social media is just like real life – Its all about extending one’s influence through the building of relationships.

Fact of life: generally people don’t care about you, me or anyone. They care about themselves, and more importantly – what others think of THEM.

In order for us as entrepreneurs, organizational leaders, entertainers, or even as individuals to get people to do stuff, we need to touch a heart before we can ask for a hand. This is where leadership skills and compassion comes into play.

Everyone wants something. They’re trying to get somewhere. When we help someone get to where they want to go – a relationship forms.

When the heart is touched multiple times, those individuals make your their leader/celebrity/etc – obviously we as Muslims don’t attempt to touch the hearts of people to become their leader or celebrity – we do it for the sake of Allah-swt alone, but the natural process is that this is what happens.

The more hearts we touch – the greater our influence becomes – This is social media.

The tools that are out the like – YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, etc – are all there to do just that.

WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?

I want you to give some of these tools a try. Specifically twitter.

Go ahead to twitter.com and create an account, start following me and we can start sharing ideas with each other right away