KnowledgeVision

Ideas: “Infographics are visual representations of information, data, or knowledge. They present complex concepts quickly and clearly, and communicate ideas in an easily understandable fashion.

“These snapshots communicate essential information to help marketers make sense of the social networking space and how people are using it in their everyday lives to communicate and share information and ideas.”

Totally Free Content vs. Requiring Registration (A Debate)

Michael Kolowich — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:36:16 +0000

from David Meerman Scott, Web Ink Now

Ideas: “The debate about gating valuable content (such as ebooks, white papers, research reports and the like) behind a registration requirement comes up again and again.”

David Meerman Scott faces off in debate with HubSpot Marketing VP Mike Volpe.

3 Ways to Achieve Great Results using Affordable Equipment for Online Video Presentations

Michael Kolowich — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 20:36:51 +0000

by Bianca Te Rito, STEBIAN

Ideas: “You don’t need to be a Spielberg, nor do you need to spend a fortune on the latest high tech equipment to look good online – but if you want to stand out from the crowd you will need to purchase some basic pieces of equipment. 2 things to avoid: Do not use the webcam on your computer; and do not use the video recorder on your cell phone. These tools will severely limit you.”

The Gestalt of Slides

Michael Kolowich — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:11:22 +0000

by Glenna Shaw, Visualology.net

Ideas: “Gestalt psychology was developed during the 1920′s by three German psychologists. These psychologists found that we subconsciously segregate and group visual information to perceive it as a whole. Gestalt Principles demonstrate a consistent set of behaviors or rules pertaining to these visual perceptions. And these principles universally apply to all human beings. As presenters and/or slide designers, knowledge of these [Gestalt] principles can be a powerful tool.”

The State of Online Video: When Medium Obscures the Message

Michael Kolowich — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 16:32:33 +0000

Illegible slide text, amateurish camerawork, and even a banner ad obscuring some of the data: is this any way to present an important corporate message?

It was an ironic, almost surreal experience to watch the online on-demand version of the “State of Online Video” — a talk given by ComScore’s Dan Piech at the Online Marketing/Media/Advertising (OMMA) conference. On the one hand, the data and insights Dan presents are uplifting and exciting about the further growth of online video. On the other hand, the experience also showed how very far online video has to go, for the online version of the presentation was embarrassingly poor. It’s one of those situations where the content is intriguing but the medium makes it virtually unwatchable.

In other words, the medium gets in the way of the message, big-time.

Several problems were immediately apparent:

Because the video is distributed on the free UStream service, it’s constantly interrupted by ads — at best diverting attention, but often obscuring the content on the slides
The video is streamed at a resolution that is too low to be able to read the slides
Some of the slides have details too small to be viewed on video at any resolution
The camerawork is amateurish

It’s beyond comprehension why a company like ComScore would allow itself to be represented like this — ESPECIALLY when talking about online video to a sophisticated audience that’s interested in online video.

True, the folks at ComScore probably just taking the feed that OMMA gave them, but if you’ve got an important message that is going to be viewed again and again on your website, why not take the hour to recreate the presentation specifically for your website using an online presentation platform? Now, all the slides would be super-crisp, the presenter would always be in view, and ComScore could put footnotes and links in strategic places to encourage viewers to look up ComScore reports and advisory services that give more information to back up the summary statistics presented on the screen.

Hopefully, 2011 will be a year in which companies learn not to “just settle” for UStream/YouTube quality video presentations, and “up” their game.

How Social Data Can Payoff Big When it Comes to Increased Conversions

Michael Kolowich — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:30:46 +0000

by Mike Spataro, in Social Media Today

Ideas: “When optimizing, consider how social data can influence not only your community strategy, but also your search and advertising strategies and content. Optimization pays off with real business value in the form of increased conversions.”

Music Has a Structure. Your Presentation Should Too.

Michael Kolowich — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:52:26 +0000

by Nancy Duarte

Ideas: “The sonata form in classical music has a similar structure to the presentation form. A sonata has standard “rules” to follow; yet each sonata sounds unique. Just as the presentation form is a guide, but it pays to be flexible within the form. You’ll see a clear beginning (exposition), middle (development), and end (recapitulation) in the sonata form. Also, contrast keeps the sonata interesting, just like in a presentation.”

Enhanced State of the Union Address: Glimpsing the Future of Online Presentations

Michael Kolowich — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 04:47:24 +0000

While 43 million people were watching President Obama’s State of the Union Address on broadcast and cable television, a small fraction of that number were watching online. But those who did saw something very different: what the White House called an “Enhanced” State of the Union Address. The enhanced version of the State of the Union is still available on-demand at whitehouse.gov, and it gives us a glimpse — but just a glimpse — of what online presentations can and should be.

I was impressed by the fact that the White House took this kind of approach. But at the same time, I was disappointed that they didn’t go further. And it was impossible for me, as an online multimedia presentation creator, to resist speculating how they could — and should — improve it next time. And the good news is that with a modern online presentation platform like KnowledgeVision and its tools, they could do so without breaking the bank — our small contribution to reducing the federal deficit.

Interestingly, the Republicans, too, have thus far missed an opportunity to do their own enhanced State of the Union response using this new online presentation medium.

Breaking down the “enhancements” to the State of the Union online experience (and treating this entirely as a non-partisan analytical exercise), here’s the list of what’s there:

The video of the president’s speech, of course, from entrance to final applause (just over 1 hour 7 minutes);
A panel that occasionally contains graphics illustrating a point in the president’s speech — most often, infographics and charts (see illustration);
A call-to-action panel that asks for your email address, promising “updates from President Obama and other federal officials”;
A follow-up panel displaying a calendar of post-address live online events and, after the fact, videos of those online events;
A video “Inside the White House” featurette telling the history of the State of the Union Address;
A promo for a White House iPhone app;
A neat little Flash app that shows who’s sitting with the First Lady (ironically this doesn’t work on the iPhone or iPad);
A little rotating “fun facts” box; and
Several social media buttons and viewers.

So there are lots of things to do further down the page if you’re tired of looking at the president. But as an informational experience, this Enhance State of the Union experience doesn’t work as hard for the viewer as it could.

Here are some of the things they could have done to truly enhance the address, but didn’t:

First and foremost, there should have been a way to navigate through different parts of his speech. This speech, like all State of the Union addresses, was highly structured: an education section, an economy section, a foreign policy section, etc. With all due respect to the President, it would be unusual to someone to sit through the whole speech on-demand. And they certainly would want to skip the six-minute entrance ritual before the president utters even a word. My advice: lay out the sections of the speech in a navigation panel…and even put a search box in that would allow people to search for specific items (e.g. “Pell Grants”) and find what he says about that, in context.
Second, the White House might have avoided squeezing the infographics into a YouTube screen, but instead separate it out into a high-resolution side-by-side experience. When you compress PowerPoint to video, it’s incredibly inefficient. And when a viewer’s internet connection isn’t fast enough, the slides become illegible (see the screen grab to the right, which was taken from the low-bandwidth version of the video). PowerPoint slides are incredibly efficient to transmit in a crisp, clean way if they’re converted to vector graphics — even at low bandwidth. And tools like KnowledgeVision do that automatically.
At low bandwidth settings, the "enhancements" on the right of the screen become virtually illegible. This is typical when trying to render PowerPoint into a video stream; KnowledgeVision fixes this problem.
Third, they could have offered just-in-time footnotes to reinforce and document the president’s points. When he cites a federal study, offer a link to it. When he talks about a law, give us the chance to click through to its language. When he talks about a historic news event, give us a chance to bookmark a search of news articles about that event, so we can go back and explore it later.

I could go on, but the key thing here is that the White House missed some important opportunities to truly enhance the State of the Union address as an informative and educational experience for online viewers. And especially because it lives on as an on-demand event, the ability to navigate around, find sections, drill down into references, and bookmark are especially valuable.

It’s great to see the White House taking the first baby steps toward building an interactive online experience around one of the most important presentations the nation views each year. By next year’s SOTU, the bar will be raised around what an enhanced online presentation can really deliver — in terms of viewer navigation, just-in-time footnoting, high-resolution synchronized images and more. And that will make these online, on-line presentations truly different and valuable in their own right.

In the meantime, though, one could easily imagine a radically different — and enhanced — kind of Republican response to the SOTU — one that takes the president’s speech, adds PowerPoint slides and footnotes with, shall we say, a different set of counter-facts and references. Putting Congressman Paul Ryan up in front of a camera with a generalized rebuttal is one thing, but countering the president’s speech with detailed data — mapped to the moment and backed up with detailed, data-driven counterproposals — would be quite different and very powerful. Put another way, online presentations can be used to both powerfully reinforce and rebut a traditional video message.

By taking that first step into online presentations to deliver important messages on the national agenda, the White House has opened a valuable new chapter in online communications. It will be interesting to see if they’ve also opened Pandora’s box.

Preparing Video Files for KnowledgeVision

Michael Kolowich — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:00:14 +0000

KVStudio will ingest and optimize just about every video file you can upload to it, encoding it to just the right size, format, and bitrate for optimal display in a KnowledgeVision presentation.

Sometimes, though, you might want to prepare the video yourself — either because your source file is too big to upload or because you want to “tweak” one parameter or another. In this KnowledgeVision Best Practice posting, we share the secrets of how we prepare video for KnowledgeVision.

Video source files can be very large. In fact, many raw files from today’s high-definition video cameras can be as large as 1 gigabyte every two to three minutes — sometimes even larger. While technically you can upload such a big file to KnowledgeVision, it would take far too long to do so. Most video files need to be compressed to a fraction of their original size in order to be streamed to a viewer on the internet.

KnowledgeVision uses an encoding format called “H.264″ for its video files. Using H.264 — rather than, say, Flash video — will ensure future compatibility with the largest variety of devices, including future versions of KnowledgeVision for the iPad.

To compress the files into a more compact H.264 format, we like to use a free utility called MPEG Streamclip. (Download the latest version of MPEG Streamclip for Windows or Mac.) Don’t let the “free” part fool you — this is a powerful, accurate encoding program that delivers excellent results.

Once you’ve loaded up MPEG streamclip, here are the steps to setting it up permanently to produce the best possible video clips for KnowledgeVision:

Start MPEG Streamclip.
Open a video clip by choosing File / Open Files and choosing the video file you’d like to convert. Your video should appear in the window.
Now choose File / Export to MPEG-4. A complicated settings screen opens up, looking like this:
Starting at the upper left and moving across and down, adjust every parameter on the settlings screen, paying special attention to:
- checking the Multipass box
- checking the Limit Data Rate box and typing 400 into the Data Rate box
- checking the Other button under Frame Size, and typing 640 x 360 into the boxes beside the button
- checking Deinterlace video
Once you’re done entering these settings, click the Presets… button and then New… to create a new preset that you can use again and again.
Type in a recognizable name for the preset (like “KnowledgeVision Uploads”).
Then press Make MP4 to begin the conversion process. This will create a file that can easily be uploaded into KnowledgeVision without any further conversion.

Next time you need to prepare more clips for KnowledgeVision, you can skip step 4, and instead press Presets button and select your KnowledgeVision Uploads preset.

KnowledgeVision Adds Video, Audio Recording Features to KVStudio 3.2 Online Presentation Software

Michael Kolowich — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:58 +0000

Concord, Massachusetts, January 19, 2011 — KnowledgeVision Systems, which makes the world’s most flexible online presentation tools, released Version 3.2 of its KVStudio software today. Among many new features in the release are the ability to record video and audio directly within the KVStudio software, as well as additional analytics to help content creators understand how their presentations are being viewed and used.

KVStudio now offers direct recording of video and audio from your webcam, USB camera, or microphone/headset

The KnowledgeVision online presentation system synchronizes video, audio, presentation slides (such as Microsoft PowerPoint), just-in-time footnotes, and virtual handouts together into engaging online experiences that may be viewed on-demand from any web browser, anywhere in the world, any time of the day. KVStudio is the easy-to-use, subscription-based software that creates, manages, and distributes KnowledgeVision presentations.

“The new features in KVStudio 3.2 lift our online presentation tools beyond the realm of professional content creators, to the desktop of every business professional who needs to create on-demand video content,” said KnowledgeVision CEO Michael Kolowich. “KVStudio can now be an everyday tool for those who want to build and send online presentations using their built-in webcam, a video camera attached to their computer, or even simply a microphone or headset.”

Major new features in the KVStudio 3.2 release:

Direct video recording within the application – KVStudio users now have the option to either upload a video file or record video directly into the KVStudio software, while synchronizing presentation slides. The recorded video file is compressed and optimized for KnowledgeVision and available within minutes.
Full audio support, with direct audio recording – KVStudio now offers full support for audio-only online presentations, in addition to video-synchronized presentations. KnowledgeVision has released new audio-only template designs for narrated presentations.
Viewer retention analytics – KVStudio tracks and displays each presentation’s effectiveness at retaining viewers across the length of a presentation, and allows retention curves to be compared across presentations within a producer’s account.

KVStudio 3.2 is available immediately, and current users of KVStudio 3.1 will be offered the opportunity to complete a free upgrade each time they log in to the KnowledgeVision system. Installation typically takes less than two minutes.

About KnowledgeVision

Massachusetts-based KnowledgeVision Systems offers a system and tools for creating, managing, and delivering video online presentations. A venture capital-backed company founded in early 2010, the company’s advanced content creation tools are already in use at some of the largest financial services, information technology, professional services, education, and not-for-profit organizations in the world. KnowledgeVision is dedicated to reinventing the business presentation to meet the demands of an online, on-demand, multisensory, anytime/anywhere world.

Marketing Program Manager – HIRED!

Michael Kolowich — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:51:12 +0000

At KnowledgeVision, we are at a critical juncture where smart, data-driven customer outreach and engagement is key to our ongoing success. We are looking for a bright, rising marketing star who will have a huge impact on our current and future marketing programs.

Right from Day One, you’ll help drive our business-to-business marketing efforts, taking ownership of this key area of our business as we strive to dramatically increase the number of customers we engage as we reinvent the business presentation for an online, on-demand world. You’ll help identify target markets for KnowledgeVision and cultivate leads and sales opportunities within those markets, while honing and perfecting the company’s inbound marketing programs.

As part of a collaborative and high-powered team, you’ll also play an important role in marketing analytics that will measure our success in penetrating key markets. You’ll make regular contributions across the entire organization, including customer support, product development and product quality assurance.

Our candidate will initially report directly to the CEO, a deeply experienced marketing executive who is also serving as CMO for the company. It’s a full-time position, working onsite at our offices in Concord, Massachusetts.

We want to hear from you why you’re absolutely the best candidate for this position, and we’d like you to write directly to our CEO, Michael Kolowich (michael@knowledgevision.com). KnowledgeVision Systems is an equal opportunity employer.

What We are Looking For

We are looking for a self-starting, fast-learning, multi-talented professional who is comfortable in dynamic environments and brings excellent quantitative and verbal skills to the table.

Required Experience

Has worked for 2-5 years post-college in a fast-moving, collaborative, entrepreneurial business-to-business marketing environment
Typically, this would be a second or third professional position, following a successful entry-level marketing program position. We’re looking for experience in web marketing, business lead generation and lead qualification.
Our candidate has tracked and managed customer acquisition and engagement data for prospects, and knows how to interpret that data.
We seek someone who is very knowledgeable about the principles of inbound marketing, including search engine optimization and marketing, content marketing, video marketing, and email campaign design and execution
We want to see a demonstrated ability to connect with a wide range of people, from customers and prospects to business partners and other stakeholders. You’re humble and empathic; and you’re also confident and poised

Required Skills

Solid quantitative ability: You’ll not only be organizing, analyzing and presenting all of the disparate data we pull in, but you’ll be continually looking for new, creative, elegant ways to distill new insights from data. Facility with spreadsheets and metrics dashboards is a must.
Excellent written communication skills: You’ll be creating general and vertical marketing collateral, so you’ll need command and sophistication of messaging across a range of formats, including email, print and web.
Outstanding organizational skills and attention to detail: You don’t let things fall through the cracks, and you don’t make careless mistakes.
Flexibility and willingness to take on multiple responsibilities: You’ll have a business-to-business marketing focus but you’ll continuously engage across other organizational priorities
Ownership mentality: You’re proactive and tenacious and you put yourself on the line because you care about having a serious, personal impact within the organization and on our clients and users.
Passion to make a difference: A genuine interest in reinventing the way businesspeople communicate using modern online tools.

Working at KnowledgeVision

We believe treating our employees right is important to doing great work. Benefits include:

Competitive salary
Equity: Everyone who works here owns a bit of the company’s success
MacBook Pro: Each new employee gets the latest Apple gear
Conferences: Continue your learning and we’ll pick up the tab
Substantial contribution toward health insurance, including vision and dental
Three weeks paid vacation
Ten paid holidays each year

About KnowledgeVision

KnowledgeVision is reinventing the business presentation for an online, on-demand, multisensory, anytime/anywhere world. It does so by offering the world’s most powerful and flexble online presentation platform. Today, its core offering is toward enterprises who need to build online collections of presentations for sales and marketing, for training and professional development, and for communicating with customers, employees, and investors. Founded in 2010 by one of the internet’s earliest content pioneers, KnowledgeVision has successfully raised nearly $2.5 million from both angel investors and venture capital.

Talking for Dollars: Presenting to Potential Investors

Michael Kolowich — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:00:01 +0000

It’s all too familiar to the startup executive: the marathon of presentations — from angel investor elevator pitches to full-blown venture capital partner-meeting grillings — that are fundamental to getting money for a new venture.

For me, the experience is all too fresh in my mind, since this month we successfully closed the first $2 million venture capital financing for KnowledgeVision Systems. And there was a little extra pressure on us, because our company is all about tools to help people present better and to reinvent the business presentation for an online, on-demand world. My four-month fundraising presentation marathon drew on everything I’d learned from a career as a journalist, a columnist, an executive, and a documentary filmmaker. Yet, curiously, I found myself, early on, making rookie mistakes that are embarrassing in retrospect.

There is an asymmetry in the world of entrepreneurial finance: while in an entire career an entrepreneur might only have an opportunity to pitch a handful of companies and ideas, the audiences are viewing dozens of pitches every month. The audiences have seen it all before; the entrepreneurs, by and large, have never done it before. The best ideas may well be forever buried by a clumsy presentation.

Many venture capitalists and angel investment groups recognize this, and have taken to gentle coaching of entrepreneurs, sharing advice on how best to present to them. Mind you, this does not spring from a sense of sudden generosity on these financial gatekeepers: many actually are relieved to have an excuse to say “no”, as they must to more than 95% of the pitches they see. It is doubtless also motivated to preserving their own sanity as they watch the endless parade of hopefuls ramble through their presentations…wondering if there’s a pony in there somewhere.

So here, with the blessing of 20-20 hindsight and the relief of an entrepreneur who made it through the gauntlet, is my favorite advice from leading venture capitalists about successful fundraising presentations:

The team at Highland Capital Partners reminds us that it’s as important to understand what you’re not selling as what you are.

“You are not selling your products, technology or assets. What you are selling is your stock and the opportunity for us to join you in a business partnership. To accomplish this you need to demonstrate not how great your product is, but how great your team is, and how well it’s suited to the project you are undertaking. In short, your job is to offer a convincing story about who you are, what you have accomplished so far, and what you plan to do.”

The Highland team also suggests that you be willing to ask questions of the firm, too. After all, a venture capital relationship is a partnership and you’d better know what you’re getting into.

YCombinator co-founder Paul Graham counsels that it’s better to describe your product or idea in a narrow way and resist the temptation to paint all the possibilities for the product.

Your primary goal is not to describe everything your system might one day become, but simply to convince investors you’re worth talking to further. So approach this like an algorithm that gets the right answer by successive approximations. Begin with a description that’s gripping but perhaps overly narrow, then flesh it out to the extent you can.

Guy Kawasaki talks about how to interpret the secret language of venture capitalists, and the “Top Ten Lies of Venture Capitalists”. His account is a riveting tale of VC’s who string entrepreneurs along because “there is no upside to communicating a negative decision” and the eternally optimistic entrepreneur, who, “if they don’t hear a conclusive no, assume the answer is yes.”

Draper Fisher Jervetson Managing Director Warren Packard urges in a video on the firm’s website that entrepreneurs stress points of uniqueness for their ideas, but that they do it within the firm’s particular framework.

“You need to do your research on what markets they’re pursuing, how much risk they’re willing to take.”

DFJ offers entrepreneurs a useful checklist of the items that should go into an investor presentation and business plan.

Ben Yoskovitz, a founding partner at Year One Labs, advises that you need to “tell your story quick”. He points out that you have a captive audience when you pitch to investors, but they won’t stay captive for very long unless you set the hook early.

To-date I’ve seen two things that keep investors’ early attention on you versus their Blackberrys:

An entertaining story on the problem you’re solving

An entertaining story on the founders and how the company came together

Both of these points are about putting some context and relevancy on the upcoming pitch and discussion. If you make the problem feel real and explain it in an entertaining way it’s going to resonate much more strongly with investors.

To all of this insight, I would simply add that you should remember always that you a storyteller. And it’s important to remember that how you tell the story is just as important as the substance of the story you tell. In contrast to your presentations to customers or to professional conferences, your audience is sizing you up as much as they’re sizing up the business opportunity.

A final thing to realize is that there are a lot of invisible players in the audience in addition to those who are actually in the room. For every person who’s hearing you first-hand, there are probably several who will be hearing about you and your company second-hand from those who attended the live presentation.

The challenge of arming your audience to retell your story accurately and powerfully is an important one, and not always easy. The more clever your PowerPoint deck in the live presentation, the more difficult it can be to decipher when it’s handed around. Part of the answer is to arm your audience with powerful catch-phrases (ours was “reinvent the business presentation for an online, on-demand world”) that will stick in their minds, particularly with repetition. But we also had a secret weapon, which was our own product, KnowledgeVision. KnowledgeVision is a way of recreating an on-demand version of a live presentation, and making it easy to pass it along to those who weren’t in the room. And we know for certain that the KnowledgeVision version of our investor pitch was viewed 3-4 times more than the number of people who were in the room at our various investor pitches. More about this “not in the room” phenomenon in a future post.

Giving Presentations OOMPH

Michael Kolowich — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 07:24:17 +0000

Back in 1959, Walt Disney Studios released “Sleeping Beauty,” a pioneering animated film. Using new cinematic techniques – Technirama widescreen, the SuperTechnirama 70 film process, and a full-length live-action reference model for the animators – Disney created a film that was so alive that it fairly jumped off the screen.

The movie shot straight into the ears, eyes, minds and hearts of millions of children in the audience, in a very intimate way. The film captured and conveyed the sweetness of Princess Aurora, the delicious wickedness of the witch Maleficient, the affectionate goofiness of the Good Fairies and the shining goodness of the Prince.

Fast-forward to 2010. It’s now possible to achieve a similar effect for business communications.

Presentations with OOMPH

Today, businesses can create highly interactive, online presentations that make their people, ideas and brands alive jump off the screen into viewers’ heads and hearts. The presentations can be viewed anytime, anywhere, from any Internet connection.

Welcome to the new era of corporate storytelling. Say hello to “the Oomph- ies” (Online, On-demand Multimedia Presentations with Heart).

Walt Disney needed armies of highly skilled animators and a huge budget to deliver “Sleeping Beauty.” Businesses don’t need any animators or presentation experts – or huge budgets – to deliver compelling, engaging online, on-demand presentations.

You can take advantage of standards and ubiquitous technologies such as Adobe Flash, online video platforms such as Brightcove and Ooyala, and online presentation publishing tools and platforms from companies like KnowledgeVision. You can make use of “available materials” – the PowerPoint presentations, images, audio, video and handouts in corporate content libraries.

Eventually, all businesses will need to participate in this new world of pervasive online multimedia presentations. Viewers increasingly expect to receive presentations when they want them and where they want them. Many businesses are allocating large budgets for moving video and content assets online. What’s missing is a strategy for weaving these content assets into compelling multimedia presentations and then delivering them online, on-demand, at scale.

Choosing an Online Presentation Platform

An Online Presentation Platform (OPP) is a set of technologies and best practices for creating compelling multimedia presentations and delivering them online, on-demand at scale. An OPP answers questions such as the following:

What’s the most efficient and effective way to collect my content assets?
What’s the best, fastest and most cost-effective way to turn my static presentations into on-demand-ready presentations that take full advantage of the online medium?
How can I ensure that my online, on-demand presentations always look and behave correctly, given the vagaries of broadband connections and the differences in viewing devices?
Where do my live presentations – webcasts and online meetings – fit in this strategy? How do I get more value from my investment in live presentations?
How can I organize all my online presentations to get the most use and the most value?
How do I control the cost of storing and managing all this stuff?
How can I make sure that that my online presentation strategy scales with my business – and my budget?

What’s your online presentation strategy?

The Naked Presenter:

admin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:47:07 +0000

Delivering Powerful Presentations With or Without Slides,

by Garr Reynolds

Idea: How to streamline and simplify your presentations – advice from the Presentation Zen-master

Selling to Big Companies

emily — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:10:30 +0000

by Jill Konrath

Ideas: Good tips about classical selling, particularly helpful for smaller businesses trying to get a hearing

Presentation Zen Design:

admin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:37:58 +0000

Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations, by Garr Reynolds

Idea: How a deeper understanding of classic design principles can help you improve your presentation acumen – a sequel to Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery

Director, Channel Sales – HIRED!

Michael Kolowich — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:26:43 +0000

The Director, Channel Sales will be responsible for sales revenue generated from new and existing partners in our channel network. The Director will oversee the strategic growth of existing partners and the identification, recruitment, and on-boarding of new partnerships. The Director will work closely with the Marketing team on partner resources, including sales tools, training materials, and web site materials. This is a quota carrying sales position and reports to the VP of Sales and Market Development.

Responsibilities

Responsible for channel revenue and aggressive channel growth.
Develop, deploy, and manage a partner sales plan, one that outlines and drives product adoption, utilization, with a focus on revenue and market share.
Align with partner’s sales processes, goals, and objectives.
Work directly with KnowledgeVision and partner’s marketing teams to develop supporting materials for the selling, on-boarding, and account management processes.
Act as the single point of contact for channel partners, partner account management, on-boarding, etc.
Maintain information on new and existing partners using the KnowledgeVision Sales Dashboard.
Other duties as assigned.

Skills

7-10 years of successful channel sales.
A background in selling multi-media solutions.
Web content management experience.
Working knowledge of multimedia production Technologies.
Experience developing target account and channel sales plans.

Compensation

Salary plus open-ended incentive plan
Stock options
Health and Dental benefits

Send your resumé and cover letter today to jobs@knowledgevision.com

Developer/Programmer, Rich Media Applications – HIRED!

Michael Kolowich — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:28:40 +0000

We’re growing rapidly and looking for multiple talented Software Developers to create several product extensions within our multimedia platform product line. These extensions will help bring KnowledgeVision’s multimedia presentation authoring tools — currently targeted at media professionals — to a more general population of users around the world.

Working as a high-visibility programmer within a tight-knit, highly motivated development team, you will be working on the cutting edge of cloud-based Rich Media Applications. You will have responsibility for refining the design of and programming critical components of the KnowledgeVision tools that hundreds of thousands of people will use every day. Your work will help reinvent the business presentation for an online, on-demand, anytime/anywhere world.

Please note that, in keeping with our innovative approach to getting things done, we’re open to flexible work arrangements/hours.

The person we’re looking for is:

smart
creative
fun to work with
has a lot of energy and ideas
collaborates effectively
can see several steps ahead and plan for what our clients will need in several years rather than just a few months from now.

Skills

Our candidate has experience with, proficiency, or eagerness to learn:

Rich Media applications
web services integration
Flex SDKs
Amazon Web Services, especially S3 and CloudFront
online video platforms, especially Brightcove and Ooyala
streaming video and Flash Media Server
JavaScript and popular JavaScript frameworks
PHP and MySQL
HTML5

Compensation

Salary plus stock options
Health and Dental benefits

Send your resume and cover letter to jobs@knowledgevision.com

Beyond Bullet Points:

emily — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 16:06:34 +0000

Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire

by Cliff Atkinson

Idea: How to combine storytelling and projection

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

emily — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 16:22:57 +0000

(second edition)

by Edward R. Tufte

Get the Book

Idea: How to communicate quantitative and statistical information, and the limitations of PowerPoint

The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint:

emily — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 16:13:25 +0000

Pitching Out Corrupts Within (Second Edition)

by Edward R. Tufte

Idea: Why the PowerPoint format prevents the effective presentation of complex information – from the controversial author and PowerPoint critic who jump-started the PowerPoint backlash movement

Philippe Kruchten reviews Edward R. Tufte’s The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint (book review)

Read The Review

Resonate:

emily — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:26:56 +0000

Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

by Nancy Duarte

Idea: How to connect with your audience by building memorable moments into your presentation, from the consultant who helped Al Gore prepare his widely acclaimed multimedia presentation on global warming

Working the Long Tail of Your Experts

Michael Kolowich — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 07:17:34 +0000

Long ago, legendary advertising man Fairfax Mastick Cone lamented: “Our inventory goes down the elevator every night.” He was referring, of course, to the people who produced his ad agency’s creative product; without the people, there was literally no product inventory.

His statement is as true today as it was for the Cone, Foote & Fielding ad agency back in the 1960s. In 2010, your “inventory” of people – with their ideas and expertise – is a vital part of every sale. Customers want to see the people behind the products and services they buy. It’s the Age of Content Marketing: Businesses provide free information and useful advice to establish trust and credibility before asking for the sale.

The Web and low-cost/no-cost publishing technologies have made it easier for prospects to “see” your people, but most companies aren’t taking full advantage of their inventory of experts. Why? The Long Tail.

A lot of expertise is trapped in PowerPoint presentations. Getting the most value from a PowerPoint usually requires that the expert speak live in front of an audience. On its own, the famously telegraphic PowerPoint presentation can’t convey the power of the expert, his personality, or his anecdotes and stories. The speaker must be there. Therefore, every expert presentation has high distribution costs, including the time and travel expense for the speaker and audience members. But 80% of the time distribution is not worth its cost. This is an example of the Long Tail: there are small (niche) audiences that you would like to reach, but traditionally couldn’t afford to reach. Combined, these niche audiences could yield significant value.

Now you can economically reach more audiences with your experts.

Using technologies like video, Adobe Flash, dynamic synchronization, advanced players, and easy-to-use online presentation publishing tools, you can create interactive, multimedia presentations that capture not only expertise but also presenters’ personalities and personal anecdotes – and even “virtualized” versions of their handouts. We’ve eliminated the need for face-to-face, in-person contact while improving the experience for the viewer.

You can make these presentations available online, on-demand to thousands or millions of people over the Web. You can publish the presentations on your Web page, or use Web-based online video and online presentation platforms as your publishing platform. These platforms are available in the cloud on a pay-as-you-go/SaaS basis, eliminating the need to invest in any new hardware and software. The cost of scaling presentation distribution is usually minimal.

Now, an expert can reach 10 million people without boarding an airplane.

You can not only leverage your top experts, but also use more of your experts to reach niche audiences with niche content. And you capture expertise permanently, for infinite reuse.

For example, a US financial trading exchange is using KnowledgeVision technology to deliver live presentations of its market experts to customers and prospects around the world. The presentations are then captured and made available as on-demand presentations, on both the exchange’s Web site and affiliate sites. The result: a trusted relationship with traders, resulting in more visits, more frequent visits, and more purchases of their services.

Emerson Hospital of Concord, Mass., is using our technology to publish a collection of lectures by its clinical staff members, as part of its continuing medical education program.

What untapped value is lurking in your Long Tail?

SNAP Selling:

emily — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:07:08 +0000

Speed Up Sales and Win More Business with Today’s Frazzled Customers

by Jill Konrath

Ideas: “Jill Konrath knows, better than anyone else, that busy people hate to be sold to and they don’t buy products. Jill also knows what does work – that people are eager to invest in things that make their life better.”

- David Meerman Scott, bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and World Wide Rave

slide:ology:

admin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:45:10 +0000

The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations
by Nancy Duarte

Idea: Advice for learning how to think visually

KnowledgeVision Systems Secures $2 million in Venture Financing to Expand Online Video Presentation Tools Offerings

emily — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:20:07 +0000

Concord, Massachusetts (Vocus/PRWEB) January 04, 2011

KnowledgeVision Systems, a leading creator of tools and services for creating online, on-demand and live multimedia presentations, has closed $2 million in Series A financing from a group of investors led by GrandBanks Capital. The company will use the funds to expand its software tool and service offerings, and to accelerate its market development activities worldwide. KnowledgeVision is already in use in many of the leading technology, healthcare, financial services, retail, professional services, and not-for-profit organizations in the world.

Concurrent with closing this venture financing, KnowledgeVision welcomed two new members to its Board of Directors, Jeffrey P. Parker and Charles R. Lax. The former CEO of Thomson Financial, co-founder of First Call and CCBN.com (Corporate Communications Broadcast Network), Jeff Parker brings extensive experience in building high-value, subscription-based businesses to the KnowledgeVision board. A venture capitalist with remarkable success in helping to build dozens of highly successful companies with 32 exits and 15 IPO’s, Charley Lax will bring decades of experience in value creation to KnowledgeVision.

“GrandBanks Capital is a great partner at this stage in KnowledgeVision’s evolution,” said KnowledgeVision CEO and President Michael E. Kolowich. “GrandBanks was quick to recognize the need to reinvent the business presentation for an online, on-demand, anytime/anywhere world. It’s a universal problem, and KnowledgeVision is taking it head-on. This investment will help us branch out beyond our enterprise tool base into services that can help every businessperson and communications professional in America, and around the world.”
For a demonstration of KnowledgeVision in action, point your browser to: knowledgevision.com/introduction.

About KnowledgeVision Systems
Massachusetts-based KnowledgeVision Systems is the creator of KVStudio, subscription-based software for synchronizing video or audio, PowerPoint and other images, just-in-time footnotes, and virtual handouts into interactive presentation experiences. KnowledgeVision is the most flexible online presentation platform in the world. KnowledgeVision presentations are used in the Americas, Europe, and Asia for sales and marketing, training and professional development, and communications with customers, employees, and investors. KnowledgeVision presentations can be viewed 24/7, 365 days a year, from any web browser anywhere in the world.

About GrandBanks Capital
GrandBanks Capital invests in early stage companies located primarily in the eastern part of the United States and Canada. Recognizing new technologies with the potential for significant impact, GrandBanks Capital team members and partners have been lead investors and senior executives for some of the most successful companies in their respective sectors, including Yahoo!, E*Trade, Art Technology Group, GEAC, GeoCities, Multex Systems, 1800Flowers.com, GSI Commerce, SoftBank, EMC Corporation, Thomson Financial, First Call, CCBN, Lycos, The Learning Company, State Street Bank and Phoenix Technologies LTD. With headquarters outside of Boston, the firm has proven investment expertise in information technology, software, internet and communications, mobile media, financial services, and wireless technologies. The GrandBanks Capital portfolio currently includes; Coradiant, Ember Corporation, Exit41, First Coverage, GlassHouse Technologies, I Love Rewards, KnowledgeVision Systems, Nexage, OutStart, SendMe Mobile, SilverRail Technologies, Where, Vela Systems, and Vivox.

For more information
on GrandBanks Capital, visit http://www.GrandBanksCapital.com.

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs:

emily — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:00:52 +0000

How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience
by Carmine Gallo

Idea: Presentation coach Gallo dissects Steve Jobs’ legendary presentations and simplifies his secrets for use by mere mortals

The Rise of the Corporate Transmedia Storyteller

emily — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:13:03 +0000

by Steve Rubel, Forbes

Ideas: Companies can stand out by making their internal content into artistic multimedia presentations

The Problem with PowerPoint

emily — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 17:33:44 +0000

“The Problem with PowerPoint,”
by Max Atkinson, BBC.com

Idea: What 25 years of PowerPoint have taught audiences to dislike about PowerPoint

Reinventing the Business Presentation

Michael Kolowich — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 07:55:51 +0000

The business presentation has become a near-universal tool for selling ideas and products. More than 30 million PowerPoint presentations are given every day.

Some of those presentations may actually work. But I’m guessing that most do not.

Why? Because business has changed dramatically since PowerPoint (and, for that matter, Harvard Graphics and Lotus Freelance) was invented in 1984, but the business presentation hasn’t.

How Times Have Changed

Consider these trends:

We live in an online world. Through our computer, mobile, tablet and TV screens, we’re bombarded with multimedia information that engages multiple senses. But the typical business presentation just ping-pongs our eyes from presenter to slide and back.

We want information when we want it, where we want it, and how we want it. We can order custom-made blue jeans over the Web in the middle of the night. And yet, we still have to sit through canned, scheduled business presentations.

We have less time and travel budget for face-to-face meetings, and we’re relying more on the Internet and Web for important business communications. However, we still want to do business with people we can see and trust, particularly when making important decisions. And yet, the traditional presentation is tied to time, place and a format that displays information not people.

Our information consumption patterns have changed. Our attention spans are getting shorter. We fragment our attention by multi-tasking. We’re reading Tweets, messages and blog posts, and consuming huge amounts of short-form video. And yet, most business presentations are scheduled and long – and we have to consume them all in one sitting.

We crave personal connections and interaction, as evidenced by the popularity of social media. And, as we have since the Stone Age, we respond to stories that include people and anecdotes. And yet, speakers still make audiences sit through impersonal presentations. The most memorable content is often what speakers say when the slides are off – content that is lost forever.

Edward R. Tufte, author of The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint, said that misuse of PowerPoint ignores the most important rule of speaking: respect your audience. Tufte was saying that PowerPoint – “a competent slide manager and projector” – has become a substitute for a presentation, instead of a supplement.

But it’s equally disrespectful when we forget that people’s lives have changed. And it’s short-sighted if we’re hoping to sell them our products and ideas.

Bringing the Business Presentation into the Modern World

It’s time to reinvent the business presentation, and bring it into the real world.

Think about this:

How could you take advantage of the Web’s reach and bandwidth, and technologies like video, Flash and online presentation networks to deliver rich, interactive presentations online, on-demand?

How could you think beyond the slide to animate your people and your brand for millions of people worldwide, and create more compelling stories?

How could you attract and keep people’s attention by letting each viewer self-serve based on his time, interest and preferences?

We have the technologies to turn the business presentation into an experience that transcends the boundaries of time, place and social conventions.

Most businesses already have the raw information available – PowerPoint presentations, video, images and so on. You just need to think differently. Think about the presentation as a blank canvas for painting your story, instead of a frame for words. Think multimedia and multisensory. Finally, use technology to assemble and publish the presentation efficiently.

Some Examples

At KnowledgeVision, we’re doing this today for our customers, with some great results.

For example, we helped a businessman sell his personal jet, “sight unseen,” over the Web. The KnowledgeVision presentation provided a 360-degree view of the plane, technical specs, maintenance records, and a video tour by the owner. He said: “The KnowledgeVision video was so powerful and descriptive that the buyer didn’t feel he needed to see any more before committing to the purchase.”

Other customers have created libraries of online, on-demand presentations that capture the expertise of their most experienced and highly paid employees. The presentations capture not only the experts’ knowledge, but also their personalities, anecdotes and insights. Millions of people now receive consistent, memorable stories that establish thought leadership and trust.

What other ways can you imagine to modernize the business presentation in your organization?

The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint

emily — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:10:29 +0000

by Guy Kawasaki

Read Article
Idea: 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30 point (or larger) font size, from a venture capitalist who has sat through thousands of presentations. Any questions?

Language Learning by iPod:

admin — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:42:22 +0000

An Emerging Model

by Hank Horkoff and Jonathan M. Kayes

View The Article

Ideas: Best practices from ChinesePod, a popular daily 15-minute podcast of Mandarin Chinese, direct from Shanghai

Can Workers Really E-Learn at Their Desks?

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:39:14 +0000

(a survey report)

by Elliott Masie

View The Article

Ideas: Study these detailed, signed responses to learn what works and what doesn’t

The E-Learning Question and Answer Book:

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:36:37 +0000

A Survival Guide for Trainers and Business Managers

by Allan J. Henderson

Ideas: A detailed guide to deciding whether e-learning is right for your organization and, if so, how to execute it cost-effectively

701 e-Learning Tips

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:32:40 +0000

(a 147-page free digital book)

edited by Elliott Masie

Ideas: These 701 (mostly brief) tips from Masie’s colleagues describe ways to successfully provide e-learning within organizations

How TO:

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:25:06 +0000

Get Tweetable Moments from Your Presentation

by Dan Zarrella, Mashable

View Article

Idea: Audience research shows that people will Tweet about presentations – how you can take advantage of the findings

Beyond PowerPoint

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:20:31 +0000

Tech Tools Enliven Conference Presentations

by Ann All, IT Business Edge

View Article

Ideas: Use Twitter and other Web 2.0 tools to make presentations conversational and participatory

The Little Black Book of Online Business:

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:59:34 +0000

1001 Insider Resources Every Business Owner Needs

by Paul Galloway

Ideas: Comprehensive coverage of tools for selling online, including audio, blogs, autoresponders, CGI scripts, conferencing, e-zines, podcasting, SEO, and video

Starting an Online Business

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:46:13 +0000

All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies, Second Edition

by Shannon Belew and Joel Elad

Ideas: Eleven mini-books in one cover the whole process, from the business plan to web site building to marketing, PR and advertising tools and social media

Really Bad PowerPoint

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:14:05 +0000

by Seth Godin, Seth Godin’s Blog

Read Article
Idea: Effective communication conveys emotion and asks for “the sale.” PowerPoint’s fetish with bullets works against this. Using four presentation components and five rules can help you create amazing presentations.

The New Rules of Marketing and PR

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:26:01 +0000

by David Meerman Scott

Ideas: A new approach to selling that uses the power and reach of the Internet and multimedia technologies to provide useful content to prospective customers, to build credibility and make people want to do business with you

Avoiding Sales’ Seven Deadly Sins – Thought Leadership

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:18:40 +0000

by Craig Badings, ThoughtLeadershipStrategy.com

Ideas: By providing more thoughtful content – a common oversight in sales – you can inject value into your sales presentations that builds credibility and helps close deals

13 Essentials for Thought Leadership Marketing

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:13:12 +0000

by Larry Chase, WebDigestforMarketers.com

Read Article

Ideas: Knowledge is power. How to use yours to market yourself and your business.

Real-Time Marketing & PR:

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:10:16 +0000

How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now

by David Meerman Scott

Ideas: “…how to use time and urgency to gain huge competitive advantage…. Make money while your competitors sleep.”

- Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman & CEO, OgilvyOne Worldwide

How to Be a Video Blogging Powerhouse

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:53:39 +0000

Webinar with Steve Garfield

Watch The Presentation
Ideas: How to use video effectively in blogging and social media marketing, including what cameras and equipment to buy, where to host your video, and more. What makes good video, and what can make good videos even better.

How Streaming Video and Audio Work

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:46:25 +0000

howstuffworks.com

Read The Article
Ideas: In-depth information and advice about how to use streaming video and audio

How to Create Streaming Video

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:43:54 +0000

MediaCollege.com

Ideas: Good tutorial for beginners and more advanced users alike: how to get started with streaming video, available options, and technical considerations

3 Ways Streaming Video Can Transform Your Business

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:40:52 +0000

New York Times

Ideas: Preserve institutional knowledge, keep employees around the world on the same page, connect employees to each other and the world in real time

9 Ways to Incorporate Video into Your Ad Plan

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:37:48 +0000

by Jason Prescott, IMediaConnection.com

Ideas: Video is a powerful marketing tool that can be shared more easily than other media. Take advantage of this.

Why Online Video Is Key For Small Business

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:34:48 +0000

by David Garland, SmallBizTrends blog

Read The Article
Ideas: Five reasons to invest in online video

Incorporating Video Into Your Online Marketing Mix

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:29:21 +0000

by Joe Chernov, A Wider Net blog

Idea: Press releases that include video components receive a 500% increase in views, among other benefits.

How 12 CEOs & Founders are Leveraging Web Video

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:25:08 +0000

by Erica Swallow,
American Express OpenForum.com

Idea: Great ideas, for all kind of businesses and budgets

YouTube and Video Marketing:

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:21:11 +0000

An Hour a Day

by Greg Jarboe with foreword by Suzie Reider

Idea: A step-by-step guide not just to a video but also to a video marketing strategy, by a PR veteran who is also a true SEO expert

Get Seen:

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:18:22 +0000

Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business

by Steve Garfield with foreword by David Meerman Scott

Idea: Success stories, plans, tools and step-by-step directions for creating marketing video

Web Video:

emily — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:15:14 +0000

Making It Great, Getting It Noticed

by Jennie Bourne and Dave Burstein (book)

Get The Book
Idea: How to produce high-quality Web video, for beginners to experts

“The Zen of PowerPoint, Facebook and Twitter”

emily — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:00:05 +0000

Read The Book Review

Idea: Venture capitalist and prolific blogger Guy Kawasaki provides his take-away lessons from Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations, by Garr Reynolds

Presentation Zen:

emily — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:31:24 +0000

Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds