I’ve been working on a few new sponsorship deals for my podcasts recently and so I was really excited to point my newest client towards the recent draft standards put out by the ADM. The client in question is looking at trying out new ways of acquiring customers through non-traditional advertising. He had a lot of questions about what I mean by a download and how I measure my podcasts statistics.

I said, “Great questions and I’ll answer them for you. First, I am a member of the Association for Downloadable Media and they have just released the first draft of their advertising and measurement standards. You should take a moment to go over to their site and take a look at the standards and definitions they use to define these important concepts.”

His response to me was classic.

Read more »

I noticed a stream of Twitters going by yesterday from podcasters Leo LaPorte and Steve Gillmor about the ADM. They caught wind of our Ad Council press release and hadn’t heard of the ADM before.

Here are their comments:

Read more »

This month I’ll follow up with the next piece from my series on education and the use of new media production techniques as a tool for learning.  I have already outlined the overall points in the first installment.  Last time, I discussed the ways teachers can save time and effort by putting podcasting and other new media production techniques to use in the classroom.

While it’s always helpful for an instructor to provide resources to students directly, there are a number of ways for a student to find the resources they need for themselves.  Students can find existing downloadable audio and video content via search engines and podcast directories that better fits their own specific needs beyond the suggestions of the teacher. But these students have the potential to be more than just consumers of new media. One of the most powerful aspects of new media creation is that anyone can produce it.  Savvy students are creating powerful study tools for themselves and others with a minimum of effort and skill.

It is through creativity that higher forms of learning takes place.  Learning progresses along many levels from the early phase of knowledge acquisition and rote memory through basic comprehension and into simple application of learned concepts.  Beyond this the student begins to take their learning and examine it in order to adapt it to new situations.  One great way to do this is through creation of new media that instructs themselves as well as others.

Read more »

There are particularly good number of interesting blog posts this week about podcasting and downloadable media that I want to point you toward:

David Schroeder of American Chronicle writes about the value for marketers of reaching customers in niche markets.

TechMoz uncovers a new patent, filed by Apple, that aggregates specific snippits of multiple podcasts and talks about the implications for advertising inherent in this mash-up concept.

Read more »

Downloading today’s available update to the Apple TV (aptly named “Take 2″), I can now experience within my living room, the promise that was buzzing about at last month’s MacWorld conference.  That is, the Apple TV may very well revolutionize the way we consume (and track!!) downloadable RSS media.

These are tall words.  You’ve probably heard this story before (the Roomba will revolutionize home cleaning? Pet owners might disagree);  but let me explain the two reasons why:

1. Watching and listening to podcasts is straightforward and simple.   Quick navigation leads to consumption without the prior subscription hassles.  Devices need not sync.  Desktop media management disappears, just sit back, and watch or listen.  The navigation of popular and featured content is a snap.  When (if?) Apple comes out with a qwerty entry device instead of the painful text entry process via the super-simple remote, we might soon easily explore the over 125,000 available subscription points within the podcast directory.

Read more »

The ADM is busily preparing to present our 1.0 version of Advertising and Sponsorship Standards and Guidelines for Traffic Measurement to get 30-day public feedback from the ADM members and greater industry at our upcoming event, 9 am - 11:45 am PST in San Francisco at the ad:tech Expo.

ad:tech is the leading conference for digital marketers and agencies who focus on emerging media. They are hosting a morning of ADM programming. In three sessions, we will present the latest numbers in podcasting/vidcasting and downloadable media, case studies of successful programs, new ad units around which our industry can standardize and guidelines for audience traffic measurement.

We currently seek panelists for these sessions. If you are an extraordinary speaker who can talk about numbers, case studies, ad standards and audience measurement, please send an email to susan at personal life media.

Read more »

I posted a few weeks ago about my views on the benefits to teachers found in podcasting and downloadable media. These benefits reach both the teachers and the students.

This week, I thought I would focus on the benefits specifically for teachers at all levels of education in using downloadable media. First, though, let’s go back in time to the old way of presenting multimedia lesson segments.

I’m probably dating myself but, do you remember watching filmstrips in school? The teacher would load the film strip into the projector and then play a cassette tape or vinyl record to provide audio content.

Read more »

From this N E W S R E L E A S E
Issued January 28, 2008

RAJAR PUBLISHES FIRST SURVEY INTO PODCASTING AND RADIO LISTENING VIA INTERNET

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd) releases findings of its first survey into Podcasting and radio listening via the Internet today, Monday January 28, 2008.

The RAJAR Podcasting and Radio Listening Via Internet Survey was conducted during September and October 2007 by Ipsos MORI, using a sample of RAJAR respondents from the previous 9 months who had claimed to listen to the radio via the Internet or downloaded Podcasts. The findings are based on the responses of 639 respondents who were asked
to complete an online questionnaire.

Read more »

A new super-thin Apple notebook computer was not the only sexy thing to come out of MacWorld. ADM held its all-member committee working group, and what could be more attractive than progress towards infusing our industry with copious ad purchases?

Thanks to Kiptronic and Porter Novelli for hosting the meeting in San Francisco and New York City respectively, and for Blog Talk Radio to connecting the dots through conference and chat. The hour was packed with reports and ideas. There was a lot worth covering, but I want to lay out the two biggest initiatives on our near-term plate.

Ad Units - (part of the Ad Standards Committee)

Read more »

From a recent letter from the AAAA’s to it’s members, copied to the ADM:

New Advertising Media Associations Formed

As more new and emerging media seek to become advertising-supported, relevant media trade associations are forming to standardize creative ad units and metrics and set other guidelines. AAAA works closely with many of these trade associations to develop industry-supported guidelines.

Read more »