DENVER — The musician will.i.am, who produced the hit video “Yes We Can” about Senator Barack Obama, calls the Democratic gathering here the first “batonical” convention.
That’s not botanical, as in gardens, but batonical, as in baton and the passing of. The Democratic National Convention is relying heavily on new media to pass on enormous amounts of information about Mr. Obama to friends inside the hall and out, who will in turn pass it to more friends, mostly by way of YouTube, the superhighway’s video conveyor belt, which did not exist during the 2004 conventions….
…This convention was ushered in with a text message last weekend to millions of supporters telling them that Mr. Obama had picked Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. as his running mate. It is to close with another giant texting session Thursday night at Invesco Field, in which the 75,000 people in the stands will be asked to send text messages to friends and family about their experience. Plans for a large phone bank have been downsized, if not scrapped, because of fears it could crash the phone network; besides, some people are uncomfortable cold-calling strangers.
With the announcement of closed captioning for youtube videos, the number of barriers to Federal Government use of the video sharing service are declining.
I’m going to try and get as close to compliance as possible today.
1. Official Languages Act – We live in a bilingual country and that’s the law. Uploading a french version and an english version of the same video is no problem but how about the interface?
At the top of the screen next to the YouTube logo click “Worldwide” and Choose Canada
Then Select Français from the languages options if you want the french interface
for the purposes of this test, I will be checking to see if the description field is able to contain the entire script, thus enabling the screen reader of a visually impaired individual to access the content.
4. Descriptive Audio
You Tube does provide additional audio track capabilities at this time. However, if the video in question is simply a “talking head” then descriptive audio is not necessary. Descriptive adio could be included in the primary audio track if necessary.
Further Testing:
Upon having completed the process, I have discovered that if the video is embedded in another website (such as above) the closed captioning does not work. If anyone has any insights into this please let us know! as far as I can tell, the closed captioning function is only available when the video is viewed on the YouTube website.
PS There was no sound on the test video originally.
A nonprofit open source advocacy group in Quebec is taking the provincial government to court over its software procurement policies. The group, which is called FACIL, contends that the government has failed to comply with contract regulations by consistently adopting foreign proprietary software without first evaluating open source alternatives.
In a complaint filed with Quebec Superior Court, FACIL points out that the government awarded Microsoft CAN$10 million across seven different contracts, but never invited other vendors to propose bids. This behavior could fall afoul of regulations that require government agencies to solicit bids for contracts exceeding CAN$25,000. FACIL also cites a procurement guidelines document issued by the government of Quebec last year which instructs officials to define their operational needs during the procurement process in a way that is broadly inclusive and nonprejudicial towards open source solutions.
YouTube has turned on the ability to add full closed captions to videos. This will not only allow videos to appeal more directly to foreign audiences, but will give YouTube excellent data for searching videos and targeting ads to them. After all, a complete set of subtitles is the same as a transcript of the video. And you can upload subtitles for as many languages as you want. It’s excellent data. From the YouTube blog:
You can add captions to one of your videos by uploading a closed caption file using the “Captions and Subtitles” menu on the editing page. To add several captions to a video, simply upload multiple files. If you want to include foreign subtitles in multiple languages, upload a separate file for each language. There are over 120 languages to choose from and you can add any title you want for each caption. If a video includes captions, you can activate them by clicking the menu button located on the bottom right of the video player. Clicking this button will also allow viewers to choose which captions they want to see.
Here’s a Japanimation video with the closed captions (cartoon nudity alert). They can be turned on and off by clicking on the “CC” button that pops up at the bottom right. More info here.
One in two Canadian business leaders say social media is becoming more important than mass media. 46 per cent say social media tools such as Facebook, YouTube and blogs are becoming even more important than television, radio, newspapers and magazines.
Veritas Communications has launched com.motion to help Canadian brands and organizations navigate the social media marketing space.
The survey also found that executives are sharply divided over the use of social media in the workplace. Two-thirds (66 per cent) said employees shouldn’t use social networking sites such as YouTube and Facebook at work, while 34 per cent said it is important for employees to participate in and understand the medium.
One quarter (26 per cent) of business and marketing leaders say they are less familiar with social media marketing than their customers. Among those who describe themselves as “executive management,” one-third say they’re less familiar than their customers.
Veritas is also launching several blogs to help Canadian marketers stay on top of the latest developments:
breakthrougblog.ca, written by Beverley Hammond, provides insights into ideas and campaigns that break through the clutter
com.motionblog.ca, written by Keith McArthur, covers the social media marketing landscape
glossblog.ca, written by members of Veritas’ marketing PR team, zeros in on marketing to the 22-to-30 year old female consumer
mededblog.ca, written by David Airdrie, focuses on communications in health care sector and the specialized services offered by Veritas’ IHC division
quotes
From Keith McArthur, Principal of com.motion and Senior Director of Media Innovation at Veritas Communications: “It is astounding that one in two executives say social media is becoming even more important than television. TV advertising is still where marketers spend most of their money, while social media represents a tiny sliver of the budget. It’s clear that’s going to change.”
From Robert Hutton, Executive Vice-President & General Manager at Pollara Strategic Insights: “Canadian marketers appear to understand that social media represents a ground-shifting communications opportunity, but many are unsure how to proceed. This is an evolving medium with an evolving set of rules, but marketers who watch from the sidelines will be left behind.”
From Beverley Hammond, president of Veritas Communications: “Our clients are telling us loud and clear that this is somewhere they need to be in 2008. We are launching com.motion to provide brands and organizations with the support they need in this evolving medium. Veritas is committed to being a leader in social media marketing.”
This fall, prospective students got the skinny on the University of Manitoba direct from the mouths – or, rather, keyboards – of those who know best. Since mid-October, 16 U of M students and alumni have been sharing their experiences through individual blogs at www.itsmyfuture.ca.
Developed by Winnipeg-based McKim Cringan George with the university’s public affairs department and in cooperation with the faculty, the site is intended as a recruitment tool to attract undergrads. Supporting outdoor, transit, print and radio advertising drives traffic to the site, which is also linked through the university’s home page.
The core of the report describes six areas of emerging technology that will impact higher education within three adoption horizons over the next one to five years.
48% of internet users have been to video-sharing sites such as YouTube and the daily traffic to such sites on a typical day has doubled in the past year. The basic findings in a national phone survey that ended in December show:
48% of internet users said they had ever visited a video-sharing site such as YouTube. A year ago, in December 2006, 33% of internet users said they had ever visited such sites. That represents growth of more than 45% year-to-year.
15% of respondents said they had used a video-sharing site “yesterday” — the day before they were contacted for our survey. A year ago, 8% had visited such a site “yesterday.” Thus, on an average day, the number of users of video sites nearly doubled from the end of 2006 to the end of 2007.View PDF of Report
Forget Lonelygirl15, YouTube’s 2006 online video phenom. Professors are the latest YouTube stars. The popularity of their appearances on YouTube and other video-sharing sites may end up opening up the classroom and making teaching—which once took place behind closed doors—a more public art.
What’s more, Web video opens a new form of public intellectualism to scholars looking to participate in an increasingly visual culture.
For both emerging and established democratic societies, the Wikinomics<!– wiki-renamed-hyperlink “Wikinomics” –> era holds the promise and the inevitability of new models for delivering the functions of government. Government 2.0: Wikinomics, Government & Democracy is a global research project that will identify and analyze emerging opportunities to harness new models of collaboration to transform the public sector. It builds on a wealth of continuing research by New Paradigm<!– wiki-renamed-hyperlink “New Paradigm” –> – a renowned think tank led by author and strategist Don Tapscott – and a global faculty of experts.
The investigation will equip subscriber organizations with the insights required to harness new models of Web-based collaboration to reinvent the way they develop policy, partner across institutional boundaries, and engage and serve their constituents. The program will be conducted in partnership with the world’s leading thinkers and practitioners, funded by both governments around the world and private companies seeking to participate in this transformation.
We’ve opened up this workspace to inform members of the public about our new program and to invite input into our research. Feel free to jump in and have fun!
New Paradigm’s Government 2.0 program will investigate how public sector organizations can harness new models of collaboration to reinvigorate government and democracy. Read about the research agenda and suggest new topics for investigation.
As part of our ongoing investigation New Paradigm is building a public resource center. Do you know of any great gov 2.0 case studies that New Paradigm should be researching? How about papers on pertinent Gov 2.0 topics, people worth talking to, or other think tanks or government research centers that are doing similar work? Share your suggestions with the community.
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