Posted on by Lauren Stasko
Amazon’s acquisition of Twitch has created a buzz in the video streaming space and has many wondering, who’s next? Read the Variety article and learn more about how Ustream and live streaming technology is fundamentally changing traditional media.
Posted on by Lauren Stasko
September 4, 2014 – SAN FRANCISCO – Ustream, the world’s leading live video platform, today announced veteran-focused non-profit, Oscar Mike Foundation, as the newest recipient of a ‘Ustream for Change’ award. As part of the honor, Ustream will provide Oscar Mike a complimentary license to the Ustream Enterprise Pro Broadcasting product for a period of three months, allowing the organization to put a public spotlight on the challenges and opportunities facing veterans, with topics including living with post-traumatic stress, adapting to life after combat injury and the impact on spouses and caregivers. Oscar Mike’s series of live video discussions is titled the “After Action Panel” and can be found at Ustream Channel, http://www.ustream.tv/AfterActionPanel Broadcasts will begin on Saturday, September 13, with the first episode covering veterans’ personal struggles with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). The panel will feature a landmark gathering of veterans representing every major conflict in the nation’s history back to World War II. “As a West Point graduate, I’m thrilled the Ustream for Change panel chose to recognize the sacrifice and dedication of our Veterans,” said Brad Hunstable, CEO and founder of Ustream. “Live video takes audience experience to the next level and so we are proud that our technology can help further bring veteran support to life for these heroes.” Launched at the start of 2014, ‘Ustream for Change’ is a philanthropic program that seeks to advance Ustream’s mission of empowering businesses and societies to be more transparent and productive through the innovative use of video. The program was originally inspired by three Ukrainian citizen journalists, whose coverage of events in Kiev captured the attention of more than 50 million viewers across the globe. More than 400 applications from every continent have been submitted since launch, with causes spanning education, civil rights, politics, and evangelism sectors. For more information on Ustream for Change, visit http://www.ustream.tv/our-company/change “We are excited to partner with Ustream to bring these important topics more prominently into the national consciousness,” added Noah Currier, Oscar Mike president and founder. “Veterans have always made amazing sacrifices for their countries during active service. Using video to share experiences assists this process, and platforms like Ustream allow us to do this with the reach and impact of a global media organization.” Live video series for veterans will kick off Sept 13 with representatives from every major conflict since WWII About Oscar Mike Oscar Mike exists to assist and promote disabled Veterans. The term “Oscar Mike” comes from military radio jargon used on the front lines, and translates to staying “On the Move”. Being Oscar Mike means being active, staying positive and living life to its absolute fullest. The Oscar Mike Foundation helps to rehabilitate disabled veterans and individuals through participation in high-energy extreme sporting events. A registered 501c3 non-profit organization, The Oscar Mike Foundation is comprised of a group of Veterans, athletes, artists and individuals from all walks of life who view disabilities not as roadblocks, but as challenges to own and overcome.
Posted on by Lauren Stasko
Watch the exclusive Fox Business interview with Ustream CEO, Brad Hunstable, as he discusses the business of live video streaming.
Posted on by Lauren Stasko
Watch Bloomberg’s “Market Makers” interview with Ustream Founder and CEO, Brad Hunstable, as he discusses the business of live video streaming and enterprise opportunities.
Posted on by jferrer
SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Live online video is quickly emerging as an engagement tool for marketers looking to cut through the clutter of communicating with external audiences. Whether the video is used to extend the reach of product launch events, to create engaging descriptions of merchandise for sale or to provide richer forms of customer support, the technology is helping to transform best practices in corporate outreach. Based on a survey of 1,007 executives in Q4 2013, live video within the enterprise can serve as a catalyst for increased productivity and improved corporate brand image, amongst a variety of other attributes.
Wainhouse Research, an independent market research firm that focuses on critical issues in the unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) market, in partnership with Ustream, has uncovered many key insights in “The Evolving Role of Live Online Video in Corporate Marketing.”
Several findings from the latest report include:
Feeling inspired yet? Businesses have harnessed live video for a variety of external and internal communications needs. Vooza, a video comic strip about the startup world, recently created a Ustream-inspired video snippet for earnings calls. Check out the video: http://vooza.com/videos/earnings-call/
Ustream founder and CEO, Brad Hunstable and Wainhouse Research senior analyst, Steve Vonder Haar, will be hosting an interactive webinar on July 22, 2014 to further discuss live video trends within the workplace.
Webinar: July 22, 2014, 10 a.m. PDT
Title: “Live video for hiring, firing, and everything in between”
Registration and more information: http://www.ustream.tv/lp/wainhouse3
“Live video is no one-trick pony online,” said Steve Vonder Haar, senior analyst with Wainhouse Research. “Looking beyond the popular corporate video stalwarts of employee training and executive presentations, executives are discovering that live online video also can play a central role in more creative corporate messaging for external audiences. As a result, marketing applications for live online video are poised to boost viewership and adoption – fostering even greater awareness of the role that the technology can play in day-to-day business communications.”
“Live video is an incredibly powerful medium and even though the uncut, raw nature may be intimidating, the upside cannot be dismissed,” said Brad Hunstable, founder and CEO of Ustream. “Thousands of companies rely on our business solutions to meet their growing needs to be more productive and build deeper relationships. Fun videos like the Vooza earnings call only scrape the surface of possibilities — ultimately, Ustream is a socially-fueled way to cut through the clutter and be heard in today’s constantly connected society.”
The Wainhouse Research report released this week and the July 22 webinar are the third in a series of white papers and webinars tracking the corporate use, deployment and executive perceptions of online video,Business Video Now. The first in the series, “Executive Visions on Video in the Workplace,” notes that C-level executives are using the technology at more than triple the rate of associate-level employees, and the second report, “Gauging Viewership Trends in Live Online Video Business Communications,” projects live video business communications consumption will nearly triple by 2017.
To download “The Evolving Role of Live Online Video in Corporate Marketing”:http://www.ustream.tv/lp/wainhousewp3_web
About Ustream
Ustream is the world’s most scalable and social live video platform. Originally created to connect remote military servicemen to significant personal and cultural events, the company has evolved into a socially-fueled vehicle enabling anyone to reach global audiences and share experiences in real-time. Whether it’s a press conference, product launch, educational class, or an act of citizen journalism – Ustream’s Cloud Platform offers users high-quality streaming capabilities, deep social networking integration, and the scalability to reach millions of viewers concurrently. Our mission is to empower businesses and societies to be more transparent, more productive, and build deeper relationships through the power of video.
Founded in 2007 by John Ham, Brad Hunstable, Gyula Feher, Ustream is located in San Francisco andBudapest. Company customers and partners include Cisco, Sony, Discovery Communications, Georgetown University, and Samsung. Ustream is a privately-owned company. For more information on Ustream, visit Ustream.tv, Twitter.com/Ustream, or Facebook.com/Ustream.
Contact
Joellen Ferrer
Ustream Public Relations
jferrer@ustream.tv
415-308-8209
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Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140325/AQ89956LOGO-a
Posted on by Victoria Levy
Posted on by Victoria Levy
April 30, 2014 – SAN FRANCISCO — Ustream, the world’s most scalable and social live video platform, today announced that it has selected Miami-based non-profit organization, Luz Para Venezuela (Light for Venezuela), as the newest member of Ustream for Change. Launched two months ago, Ustream for Change is a philanthropic program that seeks to advance Ustream’s mission of empowering businesses and societies to be more transparent and productive through the innovative use of video. The program was originally inspired by three Ukrainian broadcasters that have now captured the attention of more than 60 million viewers across the globe.
More than 170 applications from every continent have been submitted for Ustream for Change since launch, with causes spanning education, civil rights, politics, and evangelism sectors. The program is spearheaded by David Gibbons, Ustream’s vice president of marketing, and is run by a cross-functional group of volunteers within the company.
“An internal committee of Ustream employees selects the recipients, helping to ensure that the causes chosen are things which reflect the spirit of the company, not just the outlook of the leaders. The application from Luz Para Venezuela was very moving, and made it clear that their cause was urgent, their plans were specific, and their passion ran deep.”
Luz Para Venezuela’s Ustream Channel: http://www.ustream.tv/luzparavenezuela
Understanding the Situation in Venezuela, as told by David Dorr, Executive Director Luz Para Venezuela
Since the beginning of 2014 civil unrest in Venezuela has escalated to levels not seen since the unsuccessful coup of President Hugo Chavez in 2002. His successor, Nicolas Maduro, has continued with a series of crushing economic policies that have pushed the country into experiencing soaring inflation and constant shortages of goods, particularly important basic necessities such as baby formula, toilet paper, and medicine. Crime has skyrocketed to the point that the government no longer publishes the shameful data. Estimates place the murder rate at approximately 24,000 annually making Venezuela’s murder rate nearly the highest in the world and for government corruption Venezuela is ranked by Transparency International as 160th out of 175 countries.
The power of live video allows individuals in oppressed and censored societies to have their voice heard and to tell their story. Democracy can only flourish in an environment where every individual is granted this basic human right. We are very excited to have been chosen by Ustream for Change. Their expertise and leadership in live streaming video is exactly what our organization was seeking to effectuate long lasting change in Venezuela. We are giving the citizens of Venezuela a much needed voice so that they are heard by their government as well as by the world.
“Live video is one of the most engaging and effective means for communication in today’s society, and we’re proud that our technology can also be used as a means for transparency and the greater good,” said Brad Hunstable, CEO and founder of Ustream. “Luz Para Venezuela is an excellent example of this and we look forward to expanding Ustream for Change to further promote internet freedom, stable societies, and emerging democracies.”
For more information on Ustream for Change: http://www.ustream.tv/our-company/change
Posted on by Victoria Levy
As more marketers and businesses are embracing Ustream as their live video streaming platform for both internal and external business communications, more publicists are getting involved in the process to generate buzz around their live event efforts.
Ustream has an array of tools for producers and marketers, but with some research and the know-how for where to go, publicists can take advantage of various features to spread their message to a wider audience.
Customize and Brand your Ustream channel for a seamless look
Martha Stewart is the queen of chic, so for her Ustream broadcast to blend with her brand, we helped set her up with a customized channel page. Not only does it legitimize the stream as a part of the brand, it can also be a hub for archived videos, upcoming shows, and other information you’d like to share with viewers.
Not Every Video needs to be Live on Ustream
For anyone nervous about a spokesperson on a live broadcast, or concerned the Internet connection may not be strong enough during the live stream; Ustream offers a recorded-to-live feature to alleviate your anxiety. Easily integrate previously recorded video — from any platform or format — into the Ustream player. So if the Wi-Fi doesn’t work, you can keep recording, and then share the content on loop in the Ustream player once the recording is finished.
Chat Features & Social Media Integration: Create Conversations with Your Audience
There is no better way to engage viewers than to use the social stream and chat features. Answer viewers questions live on-air to help create engaged conversation with the customer, while also capturing more eyes on the broadcast as their comments are published on Twitter and Facebook with quick links back to your channel.
The best part — as NASA successfully demonstrates below — is the integration of any hashtag or Twitter handle into the social stream to help create virality. In this case, anytime someone tweeted at #NasaTV, it showed up in the social stream.
For anyone concerned about inappropriate messages, conversations within the stream can be filtered and moderated to protect against unwanted commenters and spam.
Embeds Allow Anyone to Share your Content
Whether you want to drive viewers to your own site, share the video player with a journalist, or post on your social media account; Ustream players can be embedded anywhere on the web. You can also grow your Facebook audience by requiring viewers to ‘Like’ your page before they can watch.
The Excitement of Live Video is Contagious
Live streaming video is still a new space many companies and personalities are beginning to engage in. The ability for companies to reach large audiences in real-time has never been more pertinent for brands to engage customers in a fun, yet transparent way. The features highlighted above are only a sampling of what publicists can use to create a strong and consistent message that has all of the potential to go viral. Take a chance and play around with the features to test all of live video’s potential.
Posted on by Victoria Levy
Ustream and Wainhouse Research unveil second research report in Business Video Now series, based on market research survey of 1,007 executives
SAN FRANCISCO – March 25, 2014 – While the widespread use of social media and video on smartphones and tablets has dominated perceptions of how Americans are using IT services, a rapidly growing number of executives and their companies are reaching out to employees and other key audiences via live online video at their desktop computers and laptops. Moreover, the number of hours that business users engage in live online video is expected to double by 2016, and total viewership will reach nearly 3 billion hours (2.92 billion) annually in 2017, according to a report being released this week by Wainhouse Research. The report also says the use of online video on portable devices will help fuel that growth as enabling technologies become more available.
The Wainhouse Research white paper, “Gauging Viewership Trends in Live Online Video Business Communications,” is based on a survey of 1,007 executives in Q4 2013, and was commissioned by Ustream Inc., the world’s most scalable and social live video platform. Ustream founder and CEO, Brad Hunstable and Wainhouse Research senior analyst, Steve Vonder Haar, will be hosting an interactive webinar on April 1, 2014 to further discuss the findings and distribute the full research report.
Webinar: April 1, 10 a.m. PDT: http://www.ustream.tv/lp/wainhouse2
“Enterprise Live Video Use To Double by 2016”
Posted on by Victoria Levy
New program promotes internet freedom, stable societies, and emerging democracies
February 18, 2014 — Ustream, Inc., the world’s most scalable and social live video platform, today announced the launch of Ustream for Change, a new philanthropic program that seeks to advance the company’s mission of empowering businesses and societies to be more transparent and productive through the innovative use of video. While thousands of forward-thinking enterprises are already leveraging Internet streaming video for business communications, brand building and social commerce, the goal of Ustream for Change is to encourage and support the use of video as a means to achieve positive social change.
Ustream’s cloud-based streaming video platform serves a wide variety of users, from global enterprises such as Cisco, HBO and Sony, to concert promoters and small and medium businesses looking to cast a wider net via live video. In recent years, however, another significant group has come to the forefront, as citizen journalists, activists and leaders around the globe have begun using Ustream as a communications vehicle to drive awareness to their causes and transform society at large.
When 33 copper and gold miners were trapped underground for more than two months in Chile’s 2010 Copiapó mining accident, for instance, citizen broadcasters streamed live video that helped call attention to the miners’ plight and raise awareness of unsafe working conditions in that country’s mines. The following year, agents of change across the Arab world broadcasted remarkable video footage as popular uprisings brought down rulers, sparked intense protests, and reshaped the region’s politics. And during Japan’s 2011 Tohuku earthquake and tsunami, hundreds of amateur videos chronicled the terrifying events and human consequences of one of the world’s most devastating natural disasters.
Most recently, three Ustream broadcast channels in Ukraine have helped to fuel a groundswell of international concern with their intense live footage of clashes between police and protesters in the capital city of Kiev. In less than three months, the three channels have collectively garnered more than 50 million viewers while attracting hundreds of thousands of loyal social media followers. Ustream for Change has donated nearly $900,000 of in-kind support to these three user groups, in support of the Ukranian democracy movement.
Among those channels, Spilno.tv, was founded as a platform for sharing open and uncensored information in a highly oppressive media landscape. “We have been successful because we have refused to stop pushing for what we believe: that people deserve to know the truth,” said Maxim Prasolov, Head of International Viche Maidan Center of Splino.tv. “Now, we are making a real difference. The exposure that Ustream has given us has allowed expansion that will put us at a totally new level – competing with major ‘establishment’ media outlets.”
“We created Ustream for Change to recognize the efforts of these inspiring citizen broadcasters, and we hope to encourage others to think beyond four walls and harness the power of live video,” said Brad Hunstable, Ustream’s CEO and founder. “Ustream is an enthusiastic supporter of Internet freedom, stable societies, and emerging democracies. Our technology offers a means of achieving transparency on both sides of the camera, and we fully intend to support those who are leading movements for positive change.”
Ustream for Change is led by a volunteer-based internal committee within Ustream’s San Francisco and Budapest offices. Broadcasters interested in applying for support from the program can apply year-round. Beneficiaries will receive a free Pro Broadcasting plan (up to 30,000 viewer-hours ad-free), promotion via public relations and social media, and phone support. For more information see: http://www.ustream.tv/our-company/change