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There's been a recent effort begun to bring AIMIA (the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association) to the ACT.
Coordinated by Reading Room, this is quite important to help improve education and standards in the interactive services being developed by government agencies and their agencies.
To find out more, and to get involved, visit AIMIA in Canberra.
Also the 17th AIMIA awards are now open for entries - including a Government and not-for-profit category.
If you want to improve the recognition of your Gov 2.0 and other online interactive initiatives this is one of the best recognised awards in Australia.
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Friday, October 22, 2010
Bringing AIMIA to the ACT - plus AIMIA awards now open for entry | Tweet |
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Listing Australia's government-run Facebook and YouTube pages - I need your help | Tweet |
Similar to my listing of twitter accounts from Australian Federal, State and local government agencies, I'm attempting to put together a listing of Australia's government-run Facebook pages and YouTube channels.
This is a big job and I'd appreciate your help.
If your agency operates one or more Facebook pages or YouTube channels, or you are aware of any that are operated by other agencies, please either add them as a comment below (feel free to be anonymous) or tweet or email me the details.
I am interested in any that are operated by a Australian Federal, State or local government agency or other publicly funded body.
Please pass on this post to your colleagues. Having a list of the social media channels used by government agencies helps other agencies build the case to use them for their own needs.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Online video ads more effective than TV ads | Tweet |
This week a colleague made me aware of a study conducted by Nielsen in April which found that online video ads were significantly more effective than TV ads amongst US viewers.
Reported at ClickZ (but for some reason not widely reported by traditional media), the article states that,
The research company conducted over 14,000 surveys evaluating 238 brands, 412 products, and 951 ad executions, and collected data on general recall, brand recall, message recall, and likeability. The results suggest that for each metric, consumers reacted better to ads delivered via online video than they did through traditional TV.
Nielsen says the increased impact could be attributed to the nature of the viewing experiences offered between the two platforms, with online video viewers often more "engaged and attentive" to the content they are consuming.
This wasn't a small impact either - online ads were on average more than 30% more effective per the chart below.
To learn more about how people are watching video, I recommend reading Nielsen's report, How People Watch: A Global Nielsen Consumer Report.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Keep an eye on the Gruen sessions | Tweet |
If you're interested in advertising and maybe even watch the Gruen Transfer, don't forget to keep an eye on their web-only content, particularly the Gruen Sessions.
The latest session discusses Tourism Queensland's "Best job in the world" campaign, one of the best examples of how to use social media to generate interest and consumer choice (next to Old Spice).
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Victoria Police recruit tweeting and YouTubing their Academy training | Tweet |
In a move designed to improve awareness and understanding of the process by which officers are trained (and encourage more quality candidates), Victoria Police is supporting one of its new Academy recruits to tweet their way through training.
Announced in Victoria Police News as The Twittering recruit, Stephanie Attard begun her career as Victoria Police's first recruit tweeter on 7 June this year.
From the article,
Armed with an iPad, 21-year-old Stephanie from Gladstone Park, will ‘tweet’ every day between 7am and 5pm about her time at the Academy.Stephanie's Twitter account already has over 1,150 followers and she's actively and candidly responding to questions.
Stephanie’s Twitter account, http://twitter.com/vicpolrecruit, will be unedited, and all tweets will be straight from Stephanie’s own finger tips.
And it won’t be just the good experiences she will share on her micro-blog - Stephanie will tweet about her good days and her bad.
Videos of Stephanie's experiences are also being distributed via the VPBlue YouTube channel. Fortnightly videos are planned through the 23 week training process.
This type of approach can be an extremely valuable recruiting tool for any kind of organisation if allowed to be authentic and unscripted (as the Victoria Police effort appear to be).
Victoria Police are now widely using social media tools for community engagement and outreach, including their Twitter account, @VictoriaPolice (with a well constructed Twitter policy here).
They are also very active Facebook participants with both a main Victoria Police Page and a Recruiting forum and hold regular online chats on topics of community interest.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Crowdsourcing at the National Library | Tweet |
I've spoken before about the fantastic Historic Australian Newspapers archive program at the National Library to digitalise old newspapers, coupling OCR scanning with a online crowdsourcing tool that allows the public to fix mistakes in scanned text.
One of the key people behind the program, Rose Holley, recently presented at Mosman Library about the initiative. Thanks to B3rn, the presentation was filmed, and I have embedded it below.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Launching banknotes via online video | Tweet |
In what I believe is a world first, the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing has launched its new US$100 note, featuring Benjamin Franklin, via an online video in YouTube.
Brought to my attention by Nicholas Gruen, the 82 second long production provides a clear view of all the security provisions included in the banknote.
There is also an interactive video quiz available for people who wish to learn about how to recognise the note.
The approach offers an innovative vision as to how countries around the world could market and communicate the features of their currency and stamps to their citizens.
Benjamin Franklin, as a former printer and scientist (one of the early pioneers in electricity), would have been proud.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
The meaning and value of Net Neutrality | Tweet |
Net Neutrality is a topic of considerable interest and discussion in the US, but rarely a topic in Australia.
However it could significantly impact how the internet operated in Australia, and all other countries around the world, if the US moved away from the principle.
The video below provides a definition and view in support of Net Neutrality and covers the issues of interest to those who oppose abandoning the principle.
Friday, March 19, 2010
The future of publishing - perhaps | Tweet |
This video reflects some of the sentiments I hear from time to time about young people - and provides an alternate view.
Thanks to Crikey for making me aware of it:
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Dealing with video accessibility - automating captions and transcripts | Tweet |
I found out last week that Google had recently integrated YouTube with Google's speech-text technology, allowing videos displayed on YouTube to have their captions and transcripts automatically generated.
In addition, these captions and transcripts can then be translated, via Google's text translation system, and displayed on the video in any supported language.
The transcript can also be downloaded (and corrected if necessary) to be reused in other environments.
Whilst Google admits that neither the speech-to-text autocaptioning or the translation tool are perfect, these are measurable steps forward in using computing power to address accessibility in videos.
It also is a powerful tool for any organisation with video footage - even for internal use. They can simply upload video to YouTube in a private channel, have it auto-transcribed - correct this as required and then translate the material as necessary, then remove the video from YouTube and use the translated material internally.
More information on this tool is available at YouTube's blog in the post, Automatic captions in YouTube and I've embedded their demo video below.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Short takes for public sector management - Shift happens & Did you know? | Tweet |
If you're having difficulty getting across to your management the magnitude of the impact of the internet and changes in society, try showing them one or more of these videos - each is only around eight minutes long.
They provide a snapshot (in figures) of the changes taking place in the world.
In case you experience resistance, mention that Did you know 3.0 was used by New York State's CIO, Dr Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, in her presentation at the recent CEBIT Gov 2.0 conference.
Did you know 4.0 (2009)
Did you know 3.0 (2008)
Did you know 2.0 (2007)
Shift Happens (Did you know 1.0) (2006)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
NSW trialing video Hansards and auto-translation - looking for comments | Tweet |
As discussed in NSW MLC Penny Sharpe's blog last week, the NSW government is trialling video Hansard for proceedings in both NSW houses.
Videos are tagged via the Hansard transcripts to improve searchability - though at present the search system implemented finds the video clip, but not the precise time within the video.
In addition to the video, NSW is also trialling auto-translation of Hansard transcripts into Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish (though unfortunately not Klingon). This offers the exciting prospect of being able to provide the discussions in parliament in the languages of some of the different cultural groups across Australia. In my view this is even more significant for supporting Australia's multi-cultural democracy than watching parliament in action.
To trial the system, go to www.visionbytes.tv and login using nswparl as both the username and password.
If you have feedback, please comment on MLC Penny Sharpe's blog.
Monday, September 14, 2009
US launches Gov 2.0 consultation on national broadband network | Tweet |
The US is a little behind Australia in considering a National Broadband Network, however it has taken a very different approach in consulting and engaging citizens, opening up the discussion to the US community in a Gov 2.0 manner.
The US Government's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched Broadband.gov as a web 2.0 enabled site to manage the central conversation around a US National Broadband Plan.
It has also introduced an Ideascale portal for individuals to raise, vote on and discuss ideas and potential challenges at national and local levels and shake out the key issues for the community.
The FCC also has a blog, Facebook site, interactive Twitter feed (where the FCC responds to questions), YouTube channel and RSS feeds. It is also holding face-to-face and webinar workshops to discuss what US citizens want in a broadband network. All of these workshops are recorded and made available online.
What I think is most important is how the FCC is using these channels in a consistent and integrated manner to support public discussion and engagement.
Often organisations don't have a strategy (communications plan) behind their online engagement channels and, as a result, they do not function in a synchronised and mutually reinforcing manner - and in some cases can act against each other, reducing the effectiveness of an online conversation and reducing the online credibility of the organisation.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Citizen 2.0 - how would a government department address this marketing nightmare? | Tweet |
Over the last week US media has been buzzing with the story of Canadian musician Dave Carroll, whose US$3,500 Taylor guitar was broken on a flight on United Airlines.
Carroll reported that people on the plane had watched with horror as United baggage handlers had roughly handled and thrown his and other guitars while putting them onto the plane.
However, despite nine months of discussion with United, following all the instructions they gave him, the airline finally disavowed any responsibility and refused to pay the US$1,200 required to repair the guitar.
Carroll told the United airlines representative who finally said 'No' that he would write and produce three songs about his experience and publish them to Youtube.
On Monday 6 July the first of these songs was released, soaring to over 1.6 million views in under a week. The story has received coverage on CNN, across major daily papers and across regional and local TV and radio in the US and Canada.
Within a day of the song going live United was on the phone to Carroll, promising to 'make right' the situation. Carroll has directed United to give the money to a charity of their choice and will release the next two songs in the series aimed at United.
How would a government department react if a similar event occurred to them?
Citizens today have many avenues for raising public awareness of perceived mistakes or incompetence, bypassing the traditional government complaints and resolution processes.
All it takes is a single citizen to take their complaint in an engaging manner to an online channel such as YouTube and an issue can become very public very quickly.
Do government departments have a plan for handling these types of events?
Here's the video clip for those who have not yet seen it.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Getting the government out of government 2.0 | Tweet |
A key factor in government 2.0 is that it doesn't have to be a government body that delivers the government 2.0 experience.
Sometimes government should simply be the platform providing the data and allow external organisations to provide the combined services and information that the public wants.
This can lead to faster, cheaper and more innovative service and information delivery. External parties are not bound by the same restrictions and overheads as the public sector, can draw on more diverse pools of ideas and compete to provide the best solutions.
Of course there needs to be oversight to ensure that accuracy and equity remain top of mind. Everyone eligible for a service should be able to access it, and information needs to be available in an accurate and timely fashion.
These concerns can often be managed through appropriate copyrighting (such as Creative Commons) or by having government provide a base-level service.
One of the best examples of government 2.0 in Australia fits these criteria.
OpenAustralia republishes Hansard records and the Members' Register of Interest for Federal government, making them easier to access, search and comment on.
Should government provide a similar tool?
I'd argue no. Provided government can make the information available in a basic way, and ensure the information is readily accessible to be republished by others, the government can focus its investments into other areas of improvement.
In my view this doesn't only hold for Hansard records. There are many areas across government where we would be better served by making data available in a simple reusable format and allow the not-for-profit and private sectors to provide services on top.
Below is a speech by one of the founders, Matthew Landauer, given to the employees of Google about the purpose and journey of OpenAustralia, with a glimpse into the future of the site.
A post about the speech - and the OpenHacking event OpenAustralia recently held is on the Google Code blog, Australia goes open.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The fifth great media shift in the last 500 years | Tweet |
Every now and then a work shines through with absolute clarity.
The video below, sent to me by a former colleague, provides such clarity regarding the fifth great media shift in the last 500 years - the internet.
It may be very useful for public servants in educating their colleagues about the changes occurring around the world.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Us Now released free online - film about government, citizens and mass collaboration online | Tweet |
Earlier this week Us Now film Ltd announced that Us Now, its documentary on how the Internet is changing how citizens engage with and what they expect of government, was available online for free viewing, download and distribution.
What is the film about? In the words of its creators in the UK,
In a world in which information is like air, what happens to power?The movie has already taken the public sector in the UK and the US by storm as it provides a close look at what is occurring online, busting many of the myths and uncovering some simple, but profound, truths.
New technologies and a closely related culture of collaboration present radical new models of social organisation. This project brings together leading practitioners and thinkers in this field and asks them to determine the opportunity for government.
I recommend this movie to public servants engaged in, or developing policy including, the online sector.
It is also vital viewing for politicians seeking to understand the shifts occurring in the community and how they will affect future campaigns, political processes, policy development, citizen engagement and service delivery.
Friday, April 24, 2009
If this type of collaboration is possible, think what is possible for government online | Tweet |
As reported in Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media, the Youtube Symphony Orchestra recently performed at Carnegie Hall.
Per the post, How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall? Upload Upload Upload, the orchestra included over 90 musicians located in over 30 countries and while auditioned by professional musicians, the final players were selected by crowdsourcing.
If it is possible to bring together a symphony orchestra, and have it play a mash-up symphony online (and then together in Carnegie Hall), think of the music government agencies could make by collaborating online with each other, with other organisations and with the public.
Learn more about the symphony here.
And read about how new media is changing the entire media mix, from the perspective of the music industry in this ebook, Orchestras and New Media (PDF).
Monday, March 16, 2009
What does the future look like? | Tweet |
Microsoft have developed a Future Visions series to provide some insight into where technology is headed, and how it will help people.
If you are looking to anticipate the needs of your customers, rather than simply play catch-up, the series provides some very thought provoking ideas.
Here is the montage video, exploring different concepts in brief. Below I've placed links to the full videos on each topic.
And in case you think this technology is still a long way off, read this article from the Inquisitor, If You Want the Future, Look to the Hackers. It talks about companies placing working brainjacks into people's heads, and how to create a Minority Report-style interface using your Nintendo Wii.
The others videos in the Microsoft Future Vision series are:
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
US government uses online social media to manage salmonella outbreak | Tweet |
Online social media is becoming an important tool for governments to engage citizens during emergencies to rapidly disseminate information.
in fact it is even beginning to be credited with saving lives during health crises.
According to Nextgov,
Federal health agencies relied heavily on social media to inform the public about the recent outbreak of salmonella tainted peanut butter, possibly reducing the number of death and injuries caused by the illness, according to federal health officials.
Officials with Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said social media helped them spread the word that peanut butter recall. The agencies used widgets, blogs, Twitter, podcasts, mobile alerts and online videos to warn the public that peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corp. of America for institutional use and for additives in other products such as snacks may be tainted with salmonella. Eight people died and 500 were sickened by the infected peanut butter.
"The response has been really amazing," said Janice Nall, director of the division of eHealth marketing at CDC, on the public's reaction to her agency's social media campaign. "We look at social media as additional channels to reach people where they are."
The article, Agencies used social media to manage salmonella outbreak, goes on to say that agencies were surprised with the response, with the widget, designed for use in websites, blogs, Facebooks and MySpace, was accessed 1.4 million times in nine days.
We've begun to see similar use of tools such as Twitter and widgets in Australia at state government level, and hopefully the success of these tools will see greater use across all Australian governments.
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