Sausage Races on Skis

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LoftCity Interview

This morning had a chance to interview Sagi Ruben, creator and CEO of LoftCity. This is a follow up to my previous post about this online film and TV studio.

During the interview Sagi gave me a login. Afterwards I took the tour. Here's some highlights from the video and from my interview:

The goal is to "facilitate production of original creative films by professional filmmakers designed primarily for web and mobile use." It can be used alone or to collaborate, but I think its the community features that will set this apart if they can attract a large percentage of independent filmmakers.

Each user gets a "unique virtual studio" called a Loft, where they can showcase their work in a variety of disciplines, most importantly video. Within your Loft, you will have the ability to communicate (messages), design (your Loft), manage materials (upload raw video), and display favorites (from others in LoftCity).

There will be a set of film production management tools, everything from writing a treatment to distribution. These features don't appear to be built yet or available in the beta site.

Your Loft will appear in The City, which is just the public area where others can find you. Users can search by Type (creator, advertiser, festival), and further refine the search by Professional (Producer, Director, etc.) and Location.

Other major areas to surf include the Bulletin Board, Call For Production, and Screening Room, where you can search for films already created.

Back to the interview, Sagi had this to say: They are a global company, based out of Israel, and opening a U.S. office in either New York or LA. They started a year ago, and include a group of people with a background in film production, web and mobile content including producers, tech people, and a marketing expert.

With regards to internet video, he referenced the estimates of a six to ten billion dollar market by 2010 or 2011.

He called the technology "global collaboration-based filmmaking." As I noted in my last post, I think this is perfect for someone going on location.

I specifically brought up action sports and adventure sports, and he said there's no reason they couldn't use LoftCity just like other creative filmmakers.

I also asked why the larger studios weren't already involved. He said "Down the road, the big studios will get involved, but will have to reorganize -- create own departments for video and web." Of course this leads into another whole discussion about web versus traditional media (see Mark Cuban's bloggers are bloggers post, for example).

Overall, though, I think this definitely fills a niche for independent filmmakers. Right between YouTube and traditional studios. Eventually smaller studios could rally around a service like LoftCity, if it can scale upwards and meet their demands.

I see this evolving like e-Bay, which was originally for individuals to sell their stuff, but has really become a turn-key solution for professional stores, too small to compete with large online retailers like Target or Best Buy.

For snowsports, TGR and Matchstick and the like could use LoftCity to network and find overseas film crews rather than paying to bring their own. And vice-versa.

Or as Sagi put it, "democratizing production."

Basecamp: Don't Do Spin

Fast becoming one of my favorite snowsports blogs, Base Camp Communications has good perspective on "spin" in a post today:

Play ‘Which Headline was Written by the PR Firm?’

Outdoor Retailer recently released the attendance numbers from Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2008 that showed a slight dip in attendance this year. Match the headline to the report of the news:

1) SNEWS

2) SportsOneSource

3) Outdoor Retailer’s press release

—————————-

A) “As Exhibitors Expanded, Buyer Attendance Slipped at OR Winter Market”

B) “Outdoor Retailer Winter Market audited numbers confirm buyer attendance down for 2008″

C) “OUTDOOR RETAILER WINTER MARKET CONTINUES STEADY GROWTH”

Answer Key: 1(B) 2(A) 3(C)

The press release framed the attendance numbers to represent attendance increase over the last 3 years–from 2005-2008–which is accurate and explained in the sub-head. But it is also spin. Spin gives PR a bad name. Don’t do spin.

Instead, perhaps..include quotes from exhibitors noting that while, yes, there was a dip in buyers that they saw more of the people who made the buying decisions and less shop rats cruising for bro deals (which was the sentiment we heard from our clients and friends).

The Snews piece does a good job discussing some of the dynamics and current events that may have impacted attendance. Why not include those in the official release and a discussion about how OR intends to address those challenges in the future.

Via Base Camp Communications

Which Online Video Format Will Prevail?

A nice follow up from yesterday's post about ad networks and ad inventory, today's post from Digital Media Wire offers insight into ad formats.

"Everything on the Internet should be free" is the motto of many consumers, but invasive advertising is a turn-off. Where's the balance? I pulled this quote from later in the DMW post:

“It should feel LIKE free then people will accept it”, said Marc DeBevoise, SVP, Business Development & Strategy, Starz Media Group and pointed to Apple’s iTunes store as a good example of how to sell TV programming.

Via Digital Media Wire

Techcrunch also has a post today about Google's latest attempts to marry targeted advertising with contextual search. Techcrunch says the 850 pound gorilla needs to fix its "MySpace problem." The problem is that social sites are highly demographic and don't play by traditional search rules that Google has grown itself on. So last Friday, Google had this announcement on Inside Adwords: "Today we're announcing that demographic bidding is now available for all AdWords advertisers." Techcrunch analysis:

As of last Friday, advertisers could target their ads by age or gender on 31 participating sites in Google’s ad network that provide such information. The most noteworthy ones are MySpace, Friendster, and YouTube. The rest, with a few exceptions, aren’t exactly the type of sites that big advertisers clamor for, so this isn’t going to have a big immediate impact. (Here is a list of the participating sites). AdWords already lets advertisers target demographically by site, taking generalized demographic data for entire sites from comScore. But this is different because it allows targeting by individual user.

This would be the oft-sought after "Holy Grail" and if anyone can do it, it's GOOG.

Via Inside AdWords
Via Techcrunch

ESPN Turns Off Ad Networks

For snowsports filmmakers and video distributors that are ad-supported, one of the challenges to address is excess ad inventory or "availability" -- the commercials spots they can't sell to their own, endemic advertisers. Many turn to advertising networks to fill this space with cheap advertising, often to the detriment of the overall experience. The other option, one we employed at nossaTV, is public service announcements -- ads for non-profits, sponsors, trade, etc. -- from within our own space, action sports.

Assuming a publisher goes with the ad networks, the real challenge comes with placing their ads. What content gets the targeted, endemic ads? What content gets the scraps? (Or conversely, what content IS the scraps, that in turn winds up with the cheapo ads?).

Via Techmeme
Via MediaWeek

Top Web publishers are planning a revolt. Even as more prominent sites experiment with selling remnant inventory through online ad networks, and in some cases ad exchanges, ESPN.com is saying thanks, but no thanks.

The site recently cut ties with Specific Media and several other unnamed ad networks, and is taking the bold stand that ad selling that relies heavily on arbitrage and algorithms is not for them.

Jason Calacanis chimes in:

I've never liked the ad network business. They're a very short term solution and they are very damaging to high-end publishers because they create massive channel conflicts (i.e. many people selling your inventory confusing advertisers), they run horrible ads that people hate (think punch the monkey), and the space is filled with dishonest players (i.e. they promise to not run certain types of ads... but they do).

Via: The Jason Calacanis Weblog

Come on Down to South Park

On the surface, this doesn't seem to have anything to do with the snowsports industry. But dig deeper and it's an example of the "give it away now" ideology, popular 50/50 revenue share model, and vertical site. It's this last part I'd like to comment on.

For a while, it seemed like all the rage was distributing your content via a consolidated site and hoping for a share of any revenues. But Trey Parker has taken the moral high road. Rather than let their content become aggregated (or flat out stolen and made available) elsewhere, South Park uses readily available technology to allow embedded video. This encourages use elsewhere AND drives traffic back to their own site, the only place you can watch the full clips.

If you are the sensitive type, cover your eyes and plug your ears, it is South Park after all!


Edit: The "WATCH THIS FULL EPISODE" link after the clip doesn't seem to work on the embedded player, but it does on the site itself. That's one thing they will want to fix.

Via NewTeeVee.

The web just got a whole lot funnier as the guys behind South Park have made every episode of their hit show available for free online. That’s right — every. episode. (Take that Hulu, and your five weeks’ worth of shows window). South Park Digital Studios will house everything South Park including all the episodes (not embeddable — boo!), 3,000 video clips (embeddable — yay!) and spearhead other digital initiatives.

The studio is part of a joint venture between creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker and Comedy Central, with the two splitting ad revenue 50/50. The site continues with MTV Networks’ strategy of launching many vertical sites around individual brands. (Disclosure: I used to work for Viacom).

In addition to housing South Park content, the Digital Studios will also serve as a launchpad for other animated projects Stone and Parker come up with.

See our previous South Park-goes-online coverage here and here.

Additional insight from Techcrunch

LoftCity Debuts Online Community for Pro Filmmakers

"Submit your films and get revenue for distribution." We've all heard that before. What makes these guys different? For one thing, its a community site first. Not that you couldn't do this in Facebook or any other community site. But with film as the focus here, this will be much better for networking. Let's face it, if you're already friends with someone what's the point of a community site where to have to "friend" or "invite" them into your inner circle?

I did notice the current members seem to have a pretty international flavor. Perhaps that's to be expected out of New York. Or perhaps its because they are still in the early stages. Either way, might be good for action sports filmers on location overseas.

At least they are putting up some real money. They have five "call for production" offers with actual cash amounts listed, ranging from $1500 to $3000, including such formats as "New Frontier Video" and "LoftCity Viral Ad." I'm thinking an action sports spot could take either of these.

Here's the very brief press release...

New York - LoftCity, a site that offers an online community, production tools and digital distribution services for professional filmmakers, on Thursday announced its launch after a six-week beta trial that attracted 3,100 filmmakers from 60 countries. The site offers filmmakers a "private and secure virtual 'loft' where they can showcase and manage the entire production process from start to finish," the company said.

Via: Digital Media Wire
Site: LoftCity

Tele Pow Wow and Telemark Reggae Party

I guess I would be extremely remiss if I didn't post this on my own blog...

Flipside: The Making of Absinthe's Optimistic

Flipside is the "show" covering the making of Optimistic. Included as an extra with the DVD, its will also show on FuelTV. Don't have the dish? Go buy the DVD! Here's a short glimpse on YouTube (note lack of YouTube watermark, though, curious).

"Flipside is a documentary style show that takes the audience behind the scenes of the filming." - FuelTV.

Apparently its served its purpose as an exclusive video you only got with purchase of a DVD. Now its on to its second life as additional marketing material. I think this is a good model for ski and snowboard filmmakers to follow. Sort of like declassifying military secrets after ten years. On that note, I'm off on my monthly cross-country trip for the Reserves. "Peace Out" as they love to say in Cali.

Via FuelTV

Branding in Action Sports

Keeping Brands Relevant In Rapidly Changing Environments

If I still lived in SoCal, this is the kind of thing I'd be making plans for. In fact, I'd be searching out Group Y and other action sports "collectives" to network and socialize. Its the modern equivalent of the "professional organization." Without sounding so professional.

Via Malakye.com

How can brands remain relevant in a changing market when the avenues to communicate with consumers have never been more varied? Are there truly marketing "best practices" that companies ignore at their peril? Once a brand starts down that steep slide toward irrelevance, can anything be done to save it?

The next group Y panel discussion will cover these topics and more on the evening of Wednesday, March 19th at Oakley's world headquarters in Foothill Ranch, California. Our expert panel will examine marketing and brand strategies that have endured the often fickle and volatile action-sports industry.

The group Y board is excited to be hosting a knowledgeable and experienced group of panelists, including:

* Pat McIlvain, global sports marketing director at Oakley
* Jim Anfuso, director of marketing at Fox Racing
* Danielle Beck, director of entertainment and sports marketing at Roxy
* Carl Harris, director of global marketing at C1RCA

The discussion will be moderated by Sean O'Brien, marketing content manager at Surf Expo. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the panel will begin at 7:30 p.m. sharp. Admission is $20 and includes appetizers and an open bar. This is an RSVP-only event.

For more information and to RSVP, please visit our website at www.groupYnetwork.com.

About group Y:

group Y is a collective of youth marketing & communications professionals with a focus on action sports and entertainment industries who meet once a month to network & socialize. Founded in 2006, the group is vehicle to bring people together and assist new relationships between others within our sphere of Action Sports and Entertainment. group Y meets once a month in Southern California, rotating venues between Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles. For more information, please visit us at www.groupYnetwork.com.

Best of the West Film Competition

From the Best of the West Film Competition site:

The Shea Family Foundation, along with REELcomp, our Double Black Diamond sponsor, is pleased to announce the First Annual Best of the West Snow Sports Film Competition. Designed to spotlight up and coming snowboard, ski and snow mobile athletes, the competition will be held on April 12, 2008, in Park City, Utah.

Jimmy Shea, on the hot seat with Ori at Park City TV:

Best of the West Snow Sports Film Competition


Full disclosure: I held a film festival in Park City just like this a few years back called The White Room, Wasatch Winter Film Festival. Clearly focused on skiing and snowboarding, we would have accepted snowmobile films if any submitted. It was pretty suprising the turnout and industry support for a grass roots film festival. We were actually TOO successful with the sponsorships. We asked for swag instead of cash, and the industry was more than happy to oblige. In hindside, I think this became sort of a "relief valve" for all the advertising trades that I turned down with FreeRide Magazine. As in, "Only want to trade? Sponsor this film festival instead!" We wound up with $10,000 worth of gear to give away, and six pairs of skis or boards alone. The smart ones in the crowd bought extra raffle tix.

A little older and a little wiser, I like how Jimmy and the Shea Foundation are handling the sponsorships. Limit the sponsorships, ask for money but accept "in kind donation of goods or services." Pretty easy to make the connection here, though. REELComp is hosting the video in exchange for the marque Double Black Diamond sponsorship. But coming from nossaTV, that's probably worth $12,000. A lot of work goes into coordinating such an online festival, more than you'd expect.

Unfortunately Jimmy says there's "nothing here in Park City" for kids to learn about filming. Maybe he doesn't know about the high school program that has like 50 kids every semester. One of those kids won the Shorts category at the White Room and went on to have it open the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival that year. On Main Street in Park City. During Sundance. Oh well, another film festival won't hurt, Park City seems to be a good place for that.

Sweetgrass Productions: Hand Cut

These guys put out a short ski video called "Hand Cut - Las Lenas" last fall. It was even the viewers choice at The Beating Film Festival in Silverton.



They must like the name, because here's a trailer for what looks like a feature length film due out next fall.



Via: Dave's Backcountry Blog
More: Sweetgrass Productions

Rules for Startups

Wow, another beauty from Mr. Cuban. It's good to see him back blogging vicariously and not just re-posting some of his earlier posts. I've got to print this one in its entirety. I know its scrapping, but in the off-chance I get a take-down notice I will comply. This sort of wisdom needs to percolate, up down or sideways, into the grapes of all the start-up founders out there. I can only hope my former bosses read this before they try again. Especially rules 1, 2, 4, 10, and 12. And especially rule #4, perhaps with an additional caveat: Know your runway.

Here it is:

My buddy Jason had a GREAT post about rules for startups. Read it, love it learn it.

Of course, anyone who has started a company has their own rules and guidelines, so I thought i would add to the meme with my own. My "rules" below aren't just for those founding the companies, but for those who are considering going to work for them as well.

1. Don't start a company unless its an obsession and something you love.

2. If you have an exit strategy, its not an obsession.

3. Hire people who you think will love working there.

4. Sales Cures All. Know how your company will make money and how you will actually make sales.

5. Know your core competencies and focus on being great at them. Pay up for people in your core competencies. Get the best. Outside the core competencies, hire people that fit your culture but are cheap

6. An expresso machine ? Are you kidding me ? Shoot yourself before you spend money on an expresso machine. Coffee is for closers. Sodas are free. Lunch is a chance to get out of the office and talk. There are 24 hours in a day, and if people like their jobs, they will find ways to use as much of it as possible to do their jobs.

7. No offices. Open offices keeps everyone in tune with what is going on and keeps the energy up. If an employee is about privacy, show them how to use the lock on the john. There is nothing private in a start up. This is also a good way to keep from hiring execs who can not operate successfully in a startup. My biggest fear was always hiring someone who wanted to build an empire. If the person demands to fly first class or to bring over their secretary, run away. If an exec wont go on salescalls, run away. They are empire builders and will pollute your company.

8. As far as technology, go with what you know. That is always the cheapest way. If you know Apple, use it. If you know Vista... ask yourself why, then use it. Its a startup, there are just a few employees. Let people use what they know.

9. Keep the organization flat. If you have managers reporting to managers in a startup, you will fail. Once you get beyond startup, if you have managers reporting to managers, you will create politics.

10. NEVER EVER EVER buy swag. A sure sign of failure for a startup is when someone sends me logo polo shirts. If your people are at shows and in public, its ok to buy for your own folks, but if you really think someone is going to wear your Yobaby.com polo you sent them in public, you are mistaken and have no idea how to spend your money

11. NEVER EVER EVER hire a PR firm. A PR firm will call or email people in the publications, shows and websites you already watch, listen to and read. Those people publish their emails. Whenever you consume any information related to your field, get the email of the person publishing it and send them an email introducing yourself and the company. Their job is to find new stuff. They will welcome hearing from the founder instead of some PR flack. Once you establish communications with that person, make yourself available to answer their questions about the industry and be a source for them. If you are smart, they will use you.

12. Make the job fun for employees. Keep a pulse on the stress levels and accomplishments of your people and reward them. My first company, MicroSolutions, when we had a record sales month, or someone did something special, I would walk around handing out 100 dollar bills to salespeople. At Broadcast.com and MicroSolutions, we had a company shot. Kamikaze. We would take people to a bar every now and then and buy one or 10 for everyone. At MicroSolutions, more often than not we had vendors cover the tab. Vendors always love a good party :0

These are all off the top of my head. But they have worked for me so far.

Via Blog Maverick

Blog Maverick on Education

I have a couple close relatives, one in particular, who disdains college with much cynicism. The anti-education rhetoric is occasionally so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Why go to college? Mark Cuban recently posted a great blog, extolling the virtues of college and education in general. Here's a paragraph that hits the mark:

Going to college should be about experiencing as much academically as you possibly can, but more importantly, it should be about learning how to learn and recognizing that learning is a lifelong endeavor. School isn't the end of the learning process, its purely a training ground and beginning.

Immediately following this paragraph was another gem, which gives me some defense for my recent entrepreneurial ways (and current unemployed situation):

IMHO, once you have learned how to learn, then you can try as many different things as you can, recognizing that you don't have to find your destiny at any given age, you just have to be prepared to run with it when you experience it.

Props to Mr. Cuban. I've been reading his blog for a while now, and I dig his posts about being an entrepreneur and what he's learned on the way. On the sports marketing side, being in roughly the same "space" makes it relevant. As owner of HDNet, I tune into his opinions on all things video and marketing. And as an NBA fan, the owner insight into running one of the most exciting teams in the NBA is just icing on the cake.

Blog Maverick

NATO Telemark Festival

Guess where I'm skiing tomorrow? Mad River Glen. For only the second time ever, and coincidently second time this season, I'll be at the single chair spinnin', greasy breakfast servin', snowboard resistin', Vermont legend made famous by the ultimate in grassroots marketing, the cool bumper sticker.

But I digress.


The NATO Telemark Festival enters its 33rd year, and I'll be there coaching for the first time. I managed to make it up to the Mad River Valley a few weeks ago for the first half of a NATO Adventure Tour with Dickie Hall, NATO founder and telemark legend. I bent his ear enough about the next generation of telemark skiers and he offered to let me coach the kids' groups this weekend.

So I'll be there trying to round up some more kids for the East Coast version of the Tele Tribe. Even registered the Tele Tribe URL this week in anticipation of launching this thing over the summer. Right now its pointed at the PC Telemark site, home of the original Tele Tribe.

Wish me luck!

More: Where Will You Ski Today?
Info: North American Telemark Organization (NATO)

Theory 3 Media - "Journal"

I guess it's already trailer time for the 2008-09 season. Unfortunately I haven't seen any work from Theory 3 Media, but from what I've heard they are coming up as a ski video company. So I'll echo Derek's sentiments from 5ones: "Known more as a ‘B’ list movie producer in the ski industry, Theory 3 is quickly on track to make the ‘A’ list."

Here's why:



5ones.com
Theory 3 Media

We Ski on Wii

NAMCO BANDAI GAMES BRINGS THE SLOPES HOME WITH WE SKI™
Edge through the Alpine with Your Friends as Four Player Skiing Comes to Wii

SANTA CLARA, Calif., (March 3, 2008) – Step onto your Wii Balance Board™ or grab your Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ and hit the fresh powder as NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., today announced We Ski™, an exciting skiing game for Wii™. Now up to four skiers can experience the sweetest mountain runs in the comfort of their homes as We Ski’s highly responsive and intuitive controls take them down the slopes like never before. We Ski will slalom into stores in Spring 2008.

“We are thrilled to be the first publisher to offer a realistic and enjoyable skiing experience that can also support the new Wii Balance Board,” said Todd Thorson, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “NAMCO BANDAI is working to entertain both casual gamers and hardcore enthusiasts with a recreation of a beloved sport and pastime.”

In We Ski, up to four skiers can test their skills on more than a dozen runs from the bunny slopes to the most challenging Black Diamonds. Not only can players carve through the trails using the motion-based controls but they can also mix in the Wii Balance Board for a whole new level of realism. Players can ski using their own Mii™ or create a new character with a host of customizable options including changeable face and body types. Boosting the customization feature, additional skis, poles, goggles, and costumes can be unlocked.

We Ski features an entire mountain to explore, complete with a ski school, freestyle skiing, moguls and slaloms, photography, and a variety of other events. Players can even try their hand at night skiing while enjoying the spectrum of fireworks that color the sky. With We Ski no more long drives to the snow will be necessary to enjoy a day of shredding the mountains.

For more information on We Ski, please visit: http://www.namcobandaigames.com/

###

I swore off video games after graduating from high school. We had a Coleco, Intelivision, and Nintendo by the time I headed off to college. So we don't have a Wii yet, but that may soon change.

Someone in the ski industry should try to work some product placement into this. Imagine if you got to "accessorize" your gear from a selection of the latest skis, googles, or jackets? An online retailer could broker all this, and make a sweet penny from web sales.

Just a thought.

Firebrand to Shut Down

Advertising as entertainment, that describes Firebrand. According to the New York Times, "Firebrand, a television and online service that since October has been presenting commercials as content, is being shut down as its major investors decided to stop providing more money."

Firebrand had a show on Ion Television at 11 p.m. and of course the website.

Too bad. It's kinda cool. I just watched four spots from American Airlines. They were entertaining. I guess if you believe in your commercials enough to post them as stand alone videos, then they better be entertaining. At least a little bit.

Holy smokes, I just found all the ESPN commercials, even a few I'd never seen. They CAN'T shut down this site!

Edit: After watching for a few more minutes, this might actually be one of the most entertaining sites on the Internet. Even though brands pay Firebrand to run their spots, Firebrand maintains a pretty high standard. These are basically the best commercials you can see, anywhere. Just go to spots, then most viewed, and see for yourself. In order, I just watched:

• Fruits - a French commercial with copious amounts of nudity and, you guessed it, fruit
• Gorilla - as in: playing the drums to a Phil Collins song, ad for Cadbury chocolate
• Metric System - "Jackin Moon" putting in a plug for Old Spice, with some fuzzy math
• Magnetic Attraction - Pepsi commercial currently playing on network TV
• Swear Jar - an ABSOLUTELY INSANELY FUNNY commercial from Bud Light, why this wasn't a Super Bowl ad I don't know ... I haven't laughed this hard in a long time!

Finally figured out how to embed the video, rather than download and re-upload to Blogger. Use the "Post This" button.

So there you have it. Wish there was a way to "Save Firebrand."

Via NewTeeVee.

To Download, or Not To Download?

That is the question.

I've toyed around with using the tagline "Techcrunch for the Snowsports Industry" for Freeride Inc, and this blog post on Techcrunch is a good example why.

At nossaTV we constantly heard from critical filmmakers regarding the wisdom of offering free downloads of their latest content. The same content they are trying to earn a living off through DVD sales. We developed a comprehensive strategy that works right now. But what about tomorrow?


This blog post on Techcrunch addresses an online survey that Amazon is conducting. Amazon offers a movie download service called Unbox. Apparently they recognize its not quite there yet. They face stiff competition from Netflix. But they are smart enough to ask their customers what they can do to improve.

"Free streaming with ads is the most radical concept." - Techcrunch

Techcrunch adds their own survey in their blog post. They are cool on paid subscriptions, and relatively cool on ad-supported models as you can see from the quote above. Here's their list and the definitions:

Free Video Streaming with ads – The ability to watch movies and TV shows online within an Internet browser. Watching videos would not cost anything but would include advertisements.

Burn to DVD - The ability to burn purchased movies and TV show downloads to a DVD for playback on a DVD player. To burn videos to a DVD you would need to have access to a special DVD burner on your PC, and use a special type of DVD.

DVD & Instant Stream - The ability to purchase a DVD from Amazon.com and receive a streamed video of the same title you could instantly playback while you wait for your DVD to arrive. This would be included in the DVD price.

High-Definition Videos - The ability to purchase and watch High-Definition (HD) movies and TV shows.

DVD & Digital Copy - The ability to purchase a DVD from Amazon.com and, for a small additional fee, get a permanent digital copy in Your Media Library.

Hit Movie Subscription Service – The ability to watch a defined number of videos per month for a flat monthly fee, including top Hollywood titles. Not all movies would be available for viewing; however, the selection would be comparable to most pay movie channels (i.e. HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc).

Video Extras - The ability to select and watch video “extras” (i.e. DVD extras) when purchasing or renting a movie.

Paid Video Streaming without ads - The ability to immediately watch your purchased Unbox movies and TV shows on your PC within an Internet browser without commercials, instead of having to download them to your PC or TiVo.

Independent Film Subscription Service – The ability to watch a defined number of independent films per month for a flat monthly fee.

Browse your Unbox media library on your TiVo – The ability to access all of your purchased Unbox videos on the TiVo user interface.

I need to investigate the Unbox service a little more myself, but this discussion is extremely relevant for ski and snowboard filmmakers. They need to figure out how to monetize videos in the coming years, as DVD sales transition to downloads or streaming. If the market supports ad-supported video, where do the ads come from? The key for snowsports filmmakers will be to keep up, or stay ahead of the latest "adoptation" and develop a strategy to balance exposure with revenue. The key for snowsports marketers will be to understand how core snowsports video is being distributed, and how to stay, or get, involved.


Via Techcrunch.

Ski Resort Marketing

An indication where I'd like to take this blog, I present a well-written post from Twelve Horses. I remember contacting Twelve Horses a while back regarding e-mail services. We wound up going with Constant Contact for simplicity and low cost, but I subscribed to the Twelve Horses blog and haven't been disappointed.

Having worked at ski resorts for many years, followed by snowsport media the last four, I've always been curious how resorts develop their marketing strategy. This post begins to fill in the blanks. Its fairly short, so I will include it in its entirety.


In order to truly understand a brand it helps to experience it firsthand.

When we at Twelve Horses are not busy geeking out on the web, many of us here are charging hard somewhere in the outdoors. Whether it is around Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada range that rise above our Reno office, or the Wasatch Mountains that tower above our Salt Lake City location, a common means of experiencing these environs is on a pair of skis or a snowboard. Come visit us and you’ll find that the last powder day is a common conversation around the water cooler. Even as I type this blog post apres ski session, I am looking out across big, beautiful, snow-laced Lake Tahoe and looking forward to the next time.

This company culture is undoubtedly a major contributing factor as to why we service so many destination and sports marketing clients. Passion for these pursuits permeate our client work and online marketing endeavors such as brand building, web design and development, email and multi-channel marketing, social marketing, and search engine optimization. It works well because we are marketers and technologists that are a part of the target snow sport audience.

When I came across this blog post titled, Seasonal SEO and Online Marketing for Ski Resorts, I couldn’t resist beating our own drum. Not only is it an informative and well-written post on online marketing for ski resorts, but it also touches upon one of our clients that we have serviced for more than 12 years - Heavenly Mountain Resort. It is a great compliment, but it also gives you a window into what we have been doing for them. Here is an excerpt.

Heavenly Resort in Lake Tahoe is perhaps the best example of a ski resort with an effective online marketing strategy. They are relatively well optimised for search and have good visibility in the search results. They have developed a MySpace profile and their website offers a range of initiatives including videos, daily podcasts and RSS feeds for their interactive blog, mountain condition updates and their own TV show.

Our work for Heavenly has also garnered several awards including a Web Award, ADDY, and California Travel & Tourism Award, and this success stems from a well-designed website that relies on the right online tools to reach and resonate with a global customer base. But I also believes that it comes from a deep and personal understanding of their brand.

See you on the hill!

Via Twelve Horses blog.

Swift, Silent, Deep trailer

Another much-awaited ski documentary. "The story of the Jackson Hole Air Force and skiing's rebel spirit."

A once elusive bunch, much has been written about the guys who opened the Jackson Hole backcountry gates at JHMR.

On a personal note, I met and skied with Benny Wilson at a PSIA event. That's right, he's actually a certified instructor now-a-days. Or at least he was a couple years ago. Imagine the stories he shares with his clients!

I'm looking forward to hearing the ski patrol perspective on the whole history of the JHAF. The trailer alludes to it. One guy says "we wanted to go with them" but couldn't. Except to chase them, of course.

I never knew the impact the Jackson Hole Air Force had outside of Jackson. Hearing that JHAF athletes took the top five places at the first ever World Extreme Skiing Championships (WESC) in Valdez was an eye-opener. Talk about lineage and pedigree.

What have you done lately to push the sport of skiing? And where, or what, is the next JHAF?

Click here to watch