Recently Listened: 99% Invisible: Palaces for the People [Audio]

I fondly remember the time spent in the Carnegie Library in my own hometown. The smell of the books, the wood floors and the feeling of the large, wooden Windsor chairs around the big tables. As a young kid, though, I found the larger-than-life busts of Lincoln and Washington a bit frightening, though. I would climb the outdoor steps, come through the double foyer doors (which were so heavy I could barely open them) and then up another rather grand set of steps with the librarian’s desk looking formidable above you. (SMILE). — Douglas

New London Public Library, Ohio

Recently Listened: 99% Invisible: Palaces for the People [Audio]

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99% Invisible: Palaces for the People

Eric Klinenberg is the author of a book called Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life. The phrase “palaces for the people” actually comes from Andrew Carnegie who was known as a titan of the Gilded Age and one of the wealthiest people in the world when he lived.

Carnegie was a ruthless capitalist, famous for strike-breaking and doing things that promoted inequality in many parts of the world, but he was also an immigrant, and was committed to the idea that the US was a country where people could get ahead in life. Carnegie wanted to help build a social institution that would facilitate that.

Over the course of his life, Carnegie helped to fund more than 2,500 libraries around the world—about 1,700 of which were in the United States. He called greatest of them “palaces for the people.” The great Carnegie libraries had high ceilings, big windows, and spacious rooms where a person could read, think, and achieve something that they felt proud of. Although it should be noted that these palaces were not always for everyone. Many of the great Carnegie libraries remained racially segregated throughout the early 20th century, and they later became battlegrounds in the civil rights movement. 

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** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Douglas E. Welch Talks Creativity and More on The Grantcast with Grant Baciocco [Audio] (33:50)

It was so much fun sitting down with Grant Baciocco to talk creativity this week. Grant is an old friend from the earliest days of podcasting (2004) and I am always watching his career and enjoying whatever work he us currently engaged in, including his own podcasts — like Grant’s Advent Calendar, which we watched religiously when Joseph was younger — and his in-theater and on-screen work with PuppetUp! and much more!

Check out everything he does on MrGrant.com and also over at Saturday Morning Media, where he is always creating great, kid-friendly content. —Douglas

Mrgrant combanner

Douglas E. Welch Talks Creativity and More on The Grantcast with Grant Baciocco

 

15 Minutes With author and podcaster Douglas Welch – GrantCast EPISODE #101

Douglas Welch is an author, podcaster and new media and social media consultant.  

In this interview we discuss how he uses creativity in his work, plus discussion on his past int he world of theater, Walt Disney Imagineering and more.

Listen to 15 Minutes With author and podcaster Douglas Welch – GrantCast EPISODE #101

From the podcast…Nintendo wants a piece of that YouTube Money and plans on taking it out of the pockets of Let’s Play video makers

From the New Media Interchange podcast with Douglas E. Welch: Episode 1…

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Gaming is the #2 category on YouTube, behind music, and you can find a wide variety of gaming reviews, recaps and a growing number of Let’s Play video series, where a gamer walks you through their experience of game from beginning to end. Some of these Let’s Play series can go on for 30 or 40 episodes as the gamer hacks and slashes their way through the zombies of Dying Light, works to save the fictional country of Kyrat from a crazed dictator or performs speed runs of amazing dexterity in Zelda or Mario Brothers. While many game manufacturers have a good relationship with Let’s Play producers — even providing them explicit license to play the game on video — the aged “big boy” of the gaming world — Nintendo hasn’t been playing nice of late.

Back in mid-2013, Nintendo starting claiming all YouTube revenue from many videos that included Nintendo Copyrighted content, like Let’s Play footage. They eventually backed off this wholesale money grab and last month created a “licensing” program that allows YouTube producers to continue sharing YouTube videos of Nintendo games in exchange for 30%-40% of the revenue according to articles from Game Informer. com.

While this certainly is a better deal than taking 100% of the revenue, I always look suspiciously at large companies taking money away from some of their biggest fans — turning off many of these fans from ever playing or sharing a company’s products in the future. Is this a sign that Nintendo is struggling overall and looking for a quick way to gain a quick cash boost? The company has been struggling of late, but I think trying to level out their balance sheet on the backs of fans might not be the way to do it.

What do you think? Are YouTuber’s getting a free ride on Nintendo gaming content? Is Nintendo making a desperate money grab? What does this mean for the thousands of hours of Nintendo gaming already available on YouTube and its creators? I’d love to know what you think. Send along a comment on the blog, email to nmi@3rdpass.media or via Twitter to @NMIPodcast.

Audio: Dog Days of Podcasting 2014 – Dr. Rosanne Welch on Television and Movie Writing – Day 2/30

Careers in New Media LogoDr. Rosanne Welch

A short interview with Dr. Rosanne Welch (my wife) on the most common mistakes made by beginning screenwriters. (20 min)

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Previously in the Dog Days of Podcasting 2014:

What is the Dog Days of Podcasting?

“Essentially, it is a challenge to do a podcast for 30 days in a row.

In 2012 Kreg Steppe was looking to give himself a little push in regards to recording his own personal podcast since he wasn’t recording it very often. That turned into a challenge for himself to record a show everyday for 30 days believing that after 30 days it would turn into a habit. Once it was mentioned to Chuck Tomasi he took the challenge too and they decided it would be a great idea to record starting 30 days before Dragon*Con, culminating with the last episode where they would record it together when they saw each other there.”

Dog Days of Podcasting – Day 28 – Video: Career Conversation: Andrea McClain of M Street Coffee

Douglas talks with Andrea McClain, owner and operator of M Street Coffee, an independent coffee bar in Studio City, California now entering its 6th year of business. I first interviewed Andrea during her first year of business, so in this interview we discuss lessons learned, challenges faced and the future of M Street Coffee.

 

Part of the Dog Days of Podcasting 30 Day Podcasting Challenge

Andrea mcclain

Watch my original interview with Andrea McClain from 2009

M Street Coffee Web Site
M Street Coffee on Twitter

Find more career interviews at the Career Opportunities blog and podcast

 

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Dog Days of Podcasting – Day 21 – Career Conversation: George Krueger and Mary-Lynn Foster of Bigg Success.com

Douglas talks with George Krueger and Mary-Lynn Foster of Bigg Success.com about building success on your terms.

Part of the Dog Days of Podcasting 30 Day Podcasting Challenge

Career op interview bigg success

Bigg Success Web Site

Bigg Success on Twitter

From the Bigg Success Web Site…

“BIGG Success is an e-learning, coaching and small business consulting firm. We provide educational resources to entrepreneurs, professionals and the organizations that serve them, like Chambers of Commerce and community banks.

It’s your place for entreprenurturing™ — a learning community built around winning in life and business. We help you fight the fears and frustrations we all face on the way to finding freedom and fulfillment. That’s BIGG success!”

 

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Dog Days of Podcasting – Day 19 – Video: Container Garden Update Live – Recorded Version – Episode 39

As part of the Dog Days of Podcasting (http:/dogdaysofpodcasting.com) I am showing off a wide variety of podcasting styles and methods.

Today, I will be streaming my weekly series, Container Garden Update, LIVE using Google+ Hangouts on Air.

Join us at 7pm EDT/4pm PDT, using the links below, to watch and interact live.

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Watch live and ask questions via Twitter, Google+ and more. I will embed the video on A Gardener’s Notebook blog page, (http://welchwrite.com/agn/) too, so you can watch directly from there.

Come join in the fun!

Video: Bill Farmer, The Voice of Disney’s Goofy, Talks about “A Career in Voiceover” – Dog Days of Podcasting – Day 7

Bill Farmer, The Voice of Disney’s Goofy, Talks about “A Career in Voiceover” 

Douglas sits down with Bill Farmer, voice actor for Disney’s Goofy and many other well-known animated characters. We talk about a career in voiceover, how to build it, how to sustain it and career potential of becoming a voice actor today.

Bill Farmer Interview Opening

More information on Bill Farmer:

More career interviews at the Career Opportunities blog and podcast

Subscribed 37: Podcast Community on Facebook

Subscribed 037: Podcast Community on Facebook

This week’s Subscribed entry is a bit of a departure as it isn’t a podcast, YouTube Channel or blog, but rather a Facebook community dedicate to Podcasting. The Podcast Community has nearly 800 members and a depth of new media information not found in many other places.

The Podcast Community is a place for questions and discussions, not just announcements of upcoming shows and guests. If you have a new media question, this is one of the best places to get it answered. You’ll find a wide variety of advice, guidance and support in this community.

Podcast community

What are some of your favorite Subscriptions? Share them here in the comments!

Previously highlighted on Subscribed:

Subscribed is a Careers in New Media series  highlighting the Podcasts, YouTube Channels and Blogs that I follow on a daily basis. Check out this entry, and past entries, for some great New Media Content — Douglas


Archive: Douglas talks Careers and New Media with Bigg Success – March 10, 2010

Originally appeared on BiggSuccess.com

Bigg Success Podcast LogoCareer Success with New Media

We were happy to visit with Douglas E. Welch today on The Bigg Success Show today. Douglas is an expert on building the career you deserve and spreading the word about your talents using social media. Among other things, he’s the host of two great blogs and podcasts: Career Opportunities and Careers in New Media. Here’s a recap of the conversation:

Read Douglas talks with George & Mary-Lyn on The Bigg Success Show! with complete text transcript.

Listen to Douglas talk with George & Mary-Lyn on The Bigg Success Show!

4 Years Ago: Video: State of the Music Industry Panel Discussion – Feb 9, 2009

I am re-sharing this today, as it still has a lot to say about the current state of the music industry even 4 years later . I will be revisiting other past posts on their anniversary dates whenever their content is evergreen, like this one. — Douglas


On February 7, 2009, TK Promotions in association with the Coalition of SoCal Music Organizations (COSMO) and New Pants Publishing, Inc., presented the 2nd in a Series of Pitch-A-Song™ Industry Panels at the Guitar Merchant.

A “State of the Industry” panel proceeded the “Pitch-A-Song™”, moderated by Steve Scott, Pres. of COSMO (Coalition of Socal Music Organizations) with industry guests including writer/podcaster/new media consultant Douglas E. Welch, producer Mandi Martin and film/tv professional WinJow speaking on hot topics covering the music industry.

“How to Live stream?”question and answer session via email

One of my posts from 2010, “What do you need to live video stream your event?” is one of the most popular posts on my web site, according to my stats. This post also leads to a large number of emails from folks with questions about live streaming.

I had a great question and answer session via email with a reader the other day and wanted to sure my answers with all of you. I hope that this is useful to you and answers some of the questions you might have about live streaming.

The reader’s questions are in bold below, with my answers below each question. — Douglas


First, let me say that I am a big proponent of starting to stream in any way possible and then building up the quality of your streams as you go. This allows you get some of the benefits of streaming while still learning and building up your equipment. Perfect is good, but done is better. I recommend jumping in and just “doing” it — even as practice. You will learn so much.

1.  What type of cameras do we need?  We were going to start with 2 (2 different angles), but we don’t know what TYPE of cameras we need.  What do they need to be equipped with?

You can use anything from the built-in webcam on a laptop, an external webcam (check out the Logitech C920 for an HD one), a Firewire-capable camcorder or high-end “TV” cameras. I am not an expert on the high-end stuff, so I will have to leave that to more knowledgeable folks. That said, anything you can get a video signal from can potentially be used for streaming. You may need to run analog cameras through some sort of switcher or analog-digital convertor to connect it to your computer, but if you have a video source, you should be able to stream it, 

2.  We need a switcher, yes?   We’ll be switching from 1 angle to another during the stream.

If you want to have multiple cameras, yes, you will probably need a switcher. That said, on a very low-end scale, you could also have 2 webcams and then switch which input is being used by the streaming site at any time. This is a pretty low-end way of doing it, but it works and would allow you to experiment a bit first.

If you are looking at video mixers, here are two examples from Amazon.com:

 Roland V-4 4-Channel Video Mixer

 

3.  We were told we also need a streaming encoder.  Do we?

A streaming encoder is used for higher-end situations. Basically it is just a locally run piece of software the pre-encodes the signal before sending it along to the streaming site. For most free streaming setups, this encoding is done by the site. You may not need this initially. 

4.  Can a switcher and an encoder be part of the same equipment?

Yes, there are a couple of systems that have been introduced lately that are basically rack mounted streaming “systems” that include switch, encoder, a PC with network/wifi, etc. 

 Here are two systems I have seen recently:

 

5.  We are NOT looking to TAPE the concert for later viewing.  Do we still need a “capture card”?

Most streaming sites will also record and archive your show for later watching, but you can also capture a copy locally yourself. In this case, your local copy will always be of higher quality than the streamed version, due to bandwidth limitations, etc. I think archiving your streams is a great idea as you will always have many more views from the recorded versions that you will from the live stream. Live streams require people to be in a particular place at a particular time and so limit the number of people who can “attend”. Recorded versions can be watched whenever and wherever the person might be, so more people view it. This is not to say you can’t charge for access to these recorded versions. You don’t have to give them away for free. 

6.  How LARGE a computer do we need?  What type of capacity does that computer need to have?

You want the fastest computer you can get, with plenty of memory (4GB-8GB) and several large hard drives (1TB+) Audio and video files can grow very large and you need enough space to hold each show, archived shows and editing space, if you want to edit or convert the files.

7.  How do we get the live feed onto our website?

When using a streaming service like uStream.tv, etc, they provide you an “embed code” that you simply copy and paste to your site or anywhere else you want the stream to appear. It is just a small snippet of HTML that should work nearly anywhere.

8.  How can we sell tickets on their website via Pay-Per-View?

Sorry, that is outside my knowledge area, unfortunately. 

9. We want the best quality — HD — that we can get, although we’re on a very strapped (i.e., small) budget.

Surprisingly, even a consumer camcorder can take quite decent 1080p HD video. The streaming software/equipment/service/bandwidth will always be the limiting factor for the foreseeable future.

I hope this has helped a bit. My knowledge is more at the level of the “beginner” live streamer, so I am not sure what more I can offer. 

Podcasting/New Media Advocacy Group – A Public-Facing Group Designed to Promote Podcasting and New Media Content to the Public

Podcasting/New Media Advocacy Group – A Public-Facing Group Designed to Promote Podcasting and New Media Content to the Public

One of the things I have always found lacking in the Podcasting Community is a public advocacy group dedicated to promoting podcasting (and other forms of New Media such as YouTube Channels) to the general public.

While this group, and others, do a good job of podcasters supporting each other, we all seem to be left on our own wen it comes to introducing our shows to the public, as well as the concept of New Media in general.

With advances like the AppleTV, Roku, Boxee and smart TV’s, it should be easier than ever for podcasters to get their shows before the non-technical public who are just interested in good content. I have often said that one item required for podcasting to grow into a more powerful medium is to “get on the TV!” By this I don’t mean get purchased by a television network, etc, but rather “get on the box” that is in nearly everyone’s home already.

In that regard, I am proposing the creation of a New Media Advocacy group specifically to promote podcasting and New Media to the general public. If there are other interested people, we can set up some online structures to start this journey and begin got move forward as 2013 begins.

I can offer some more thoughts on this topic if people are interested. It is something that has been on my mind since 2004.

Interested? Let’s start a conversation!

New Media Gear 003: Clay Dugger of The Righteous Dude’s Dudecast

This is the third installment of a new series here on Careers in New Media/New Media Interchange — New Media Gear. I started collecting information for this series by posting a question in the Facebook Podcasting Community Group — “What equipment to you use?” I know that I like to know what others are using — and finding useful — in their New Media work and ways that it might make my work a bit easier. Over the next several weeks I will highlight a podcaster in each post and let your know what equipment they find useful and provide links to where you can pick it up yourself. — Douglas

New Media Gear 003: Clay Dugger of The Righteous Dude’s Dudecast

Find out more about Clay Dugger of The Righteous Dude’s Dudecast

Here is some of the equipment that Clay is using to produce his shows. He passed along this information via the Facebook Podcast Community Group. You can ask your questions and find lots of podcasting discussion there.

If you have any questions about Clay’s podcasting equipment, please drop them in the comments.

New Media Equipment:

 Macbook air Apple ipads

 

New Media Questions: If you had a Blog, Podcast or YouTube Channel, what WOULD you say?

Often, when I talk with people about New Media and how they might use it, their first response is…

“I have no idea what I would talk about!” 

The truth is, though, we all have our special interests, hobbies, and topics that cause us to rant at the smallest opportunity. 

New Media holds so many benefits to you, your organization or your company. It seems a shame not to use it. So, hopefully, this question will help to draw out your inherent interests.

In my case, each and every one of my blogs and podcasts grew out of an interest I already had. Whether it was gardening, careers, new media itself or technology, once I recognized my interests, it was easy to create the blog and/or podcast.

Over the next several days, think about — If you had a Blog, Podcast or YouTube Channel, what would you say?

As you go through your day, notice what sparks your interest, what makes you rant, what holds a conversation together. These are exactly the topics you should be creating in New Media.

Leave your ideas, thoughts and comments below! I’d love to hear what you come up with!