Below is a video Connector recently produced for HP Snapfish.  Although this video is for the UK market and used in a large marketing campaign with the Daily Mail, we had a happy client for this ‘How To’ video produced here in Dublin.

The lovely voice you hear is from the excellent voice-over artist Nicola Lyndsay sourced from Piehole.ie

Connector Studio creates ‘How To’ digital videos for HP Snapfish is a post from: Connector

This morning I had a very pleasant and interesting morning tea with Marie O’Riordan who is a self-styled international communications & media expert.  Marie has been doing really well of late and carries our speaking and consulting engagements for international clients.

She introduces herself in the video and is a serious connector who was the last interviewer of Mother Teresa.  Marie O’Riordan has also been interviewing & building instant rapport with Hollywood’s Elite & scores of Academy Award winners face to face for many years such as Paul Newman, Michael Caine, Quentin Tarantino, Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchett, Renee Zellweger & many, many more “A list” legends. Marie travels the globe as a Worldwide Communications Excellence Specialist™ & is the Author of ’66 Secrets To Nailing Any Media Interview.’™

Her next event in Dublin is as follows called the Entrepreneur Marketing Workshop and features the thrilling trilogy of with Debbie Allen (USA), Tracy Repchuk (USA) & Marie O’Riordan (IRL) ;-0

It is on Friday, June 25, 2010 from 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (GMT) and I hope to check it out.

Entrepreneur Marketing Workshop with Marie O’Riordan in Dublin is a post from: Connector

Video is taking over the Internet. After Google, You Tube is the second largest search engine in the world ahead of Bing and Yahoo. Last year they hit 6.6 billion streams and currently have over 73% of the online market. With this in mind, anyone who wants to seriously market themselves online needs to be doing video.

You’ve probably heard already how video is great to add to your website, how it can be great for SEO and how users love to share good  video with their friends. The reason many people are not doing video is because they think that it is either too expensive to produce or requires technical skills they don’t possess. Luckily there are a number of tools available that make it possible to edit your own video.

Microsoft Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is the one that most people are familar with. It comes freely available with Windows software or can be downloaded for free from the Microsoft website. It has basic video editing features that allow you to make your own videos without any great technical knowledge.

It allows you to import various clips, sequence them, clip them and apply basic transitions and effects. In addition to this it allows you to record voice narration and produce and share your video on YouTube or your blog. The drag and drop interface is really easy to use and the functionality is perfect for making basic promo videos for events or customer testimonial videos. There are limitations however.

If you want to use more advanced video techniques like screen record, Movie Maker does not offer this. Nor does it offer features such as callouts, zoom and pan or cursor effects. Overall it is a great package for most of your needs and it’s ease of use makes it ideal for beginners.

Apple iMovie

If you are using a MAC then Apple iMovie pretty much gives you the same deal as Microsoft Movie Maker. It is freely available with any new MAC but unlike Movie Maker it is not freely available to download.

It offers pretty much the same functionality and ease of use as it’s Microsoft equivalent and is ideal for anyone looking to do basic promo videos without having to spend a fortune or learn how to operate complicated software.

Camtasia Studio

Camtasia offers all that the others do plus loads of nifty features, plus it is available for PC and MAC. Like Movie Maker and iMovie the interface is intuitive and easy to use although the additional features add a little extra clutter if you’re not planning on using them.

Some of the extra features include Record Screen and Record Powerpoint functionality which are great for doing video tutorials. In addition to this it offers more advanced effects such as Zoom and Pan, Callouts which allow you to write over your video or images, Cursor Effects that allow you to highlight mouse clicks, and more advanced audio editing features.

Camtasia will cost you around $300 to buy so if you’re not planning on using the extra features it’s probably not worth your while. They offer a 30 day free trail that will allow you to test the product before putting your hand in your pocket so it’s definetely worth a look in.

Conclusion

Basically if all you need to do is pop up a few video interviews or make a very basic promo, the first two options are ideal. If you would like to feature video tutorials or use more advanced editing techniques then Camtasia is the way to go. We’ll be posting some live tutorials ourselves really soon to help you get to grips with each of these products so keep in touch!

Connector Review: Movie Maker, iMovie and Camtasia Studio is a post from: Connector

The Connector 10C’s is a strategy model to devise, implement and evaluate any digital and social media marketing plan. Aimed at businesses and organisations of all sizes and industry sectors, it can help executives and entrepreneurs to combine their website, social media and email marketing to attract and retain more customers and to gain the best return on investment possible.

The video below discusses the Connector 10C’s model in more detail.

The Connector 10C’s Model for online marketing strategies is a post from: Connector

Connector showcased its new training courses and connecting philosophy at this year’s Entrepreneur Event, Friday 23^rd to Saturday 24^th April.

Connector’s team helped man the stand for the weekend, making loads of new connections and spreading knowledge of the 10 C’s.

A huge part of the show this year were the bright and lively discussions that took place in the “Think Tank” and “Invest Test”  auditoriums which Conor helped chair as well as take part in.

One of the highlights of the show was hearing some of the Irish and UK dragons take part in these discussions. The connector team also had the pleasure of meeting Sean Gallagher who had his photo taken with them at the Connector stand.

Connector’s bright and inviting stand design, along with its engaging video content was down to the planning and hard work of new recruit David Dungan who has taken to his role with enthusiasm and gusto, as well as Sarai Fernández hard work managing the connector team and Connector’s Entrepeneur Networking Event at Lillies on Friday night.

Overall it was a busy but rewarding weekend at the stand for the Connector team and it will be a busy week again following the amount of interest shown at the show.

Connector @ The Entrepreneur Show is a post from: Connector

On the 22^nd April 2010 the IIAs Social Media Working Group held an event entitled Audio Video Culture: Behind the scenes of audio & video content online.  Conor the current Chair of Social Media Working Group at the IIA was the chariman for this event.

Speakers from RTE, RaboDirect, Channelship, Mason Hayes and Curran, CEUD NDA, Google Ireland and YouTube all spoke at the event and helped to make it a great success.  Pictured is Sebastian Missoffe from YouTube in action from Conor at the top table!

There was very positive feedback with most feeling they learned a great deal about  audio and video content online.

Review of iia Audio Video Culture Event is a post from: Connector

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve  added a new Connector Training Video to the training page of our website. The video introduces Connector Training in digital & social media.

Produced by Progressive Productions, the short video features some nice effects and innovative use of graphics, text and footage, not to mention an appearance by Conor Lynch himself who narrates with class and style!

New Connector Training Video is a post from: Connector

On Tuesday 22nd April I get the chance to re-connect with my ex-RaboDirect colleagues @ the iia Social Media event in the Clarion Hotel.  As I was saying last week this is a great opportunity to see the multi-award winning RaboDirect team who rarely have the time to share the secrets to their success.  I particularly am looking forward to the presentation from Aoife Mahon who was Offline Marketing Manager  while I was Online Marketing Manager for 18 months.

On top of all that emotional interchange, there are also top speakers from RTE & YouTube so if you are into digital video, this is an event you must not miss!

For discounts, contact events [@] iia.ie and then go to the booking page.

Re-connecting with RaboDirect is a post from: Connector

The Irish Internet Association (iia) is running an event in Dublin for those interested in learning more about how to promote their business using Online Video & Podcasting.  The event features a fantastic lineup of expert speakers from RTE, YouTube, Rabodirect, Mason Hayes & Curran and Channelship.

The event is organised by the iia Social Media Working Group (SMWG) and as the current Chair of the SMWG, I will be there on the day helping out and available to answer any questions you might have. The SMWG is a group of social media professionals who will also be on hand to ensure this is an excellent event for you to learn more about digital content.  We will also have some cool prizes to giveaway and an opportunity to network during the event and maybe afterwards too.

Event Details

Event Date : 22 Apr 2010
Time : 1.30pm – 5pm
Location : Clarion Hotel IFSC, Dublin
Price per person : €75.00
iia Members price per person : €45.00

Speakers and Agenda

Speakers will include a mix of case studies and strategic advice and include:

13:00 – Registrations

13.30 – Welcome & Introductions – Conor Lynch, Connector.ie

13:40 – Lucy Campbell, Marketing Manager, RTE Player

14:10 – Aoife Mahon & Gina McCrudden, RaboDirect

14:40 – Online Video on a Budget – Fred Caballero, Channelship

15:10 – BREAK

15:40 – Digital Content and the law: Points to consider – Peter O’Neill, Mason Hayes+Curran

16:10 – Sebastien Missoffe, YouTube

16:40 – Panel Q&A

17:00 – Close

IIA members should log into the site to avail of the member price.  For more info on bookings of tickets please click here>>

Learn how to promote your business @ iia Online Video & Podcasting Event is a post from: Connector

Here are the guys Conor got to spend the weekend with trying to learn to be funny!  Have a look at the video and check out what Conor learnt during the Comedy Crash Course.

Connect with the Comedy Crash Course is a post from: Connector