Streaming Media Hearts Ustream!

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SM100 award

Wow, color us overwhelmed — not one, but two recognitions for Ustream in the last couple of weeks from Streaming Media.

Every year since 2011, the editors of Streaming Media have assigned themselves an unenviable task: Review more than 250 companies to create their list of The One Hundred Companies that Matter Most in Online Video.

This year, that list includes Ustream.

Over the years, the growing popularity of online video has forced the editors to narrow their scope, deciding in 2013 to “focus exclusively on the technology companies that enable content creators and publishers to innovate and build their audiences.”

With the field of candidates decided upon, Streaming Media asks its editorial and publishing staff to rank each one on a scale of 1 (doesn’t belong on the list at all) to 5 (absolutely must be on the list if the list is to have any credibility). After the votes are counted and averaged to yield a score for each candidate, those with the 100 highest scores make the list. This year, that includes us!

And it’s not just the Streaming Media staff that sings the praises of Ustream. The magazine’s readers like us plenty, too, nominating Ustream in five categories for the 2014 Streaming Media Readers Choice Awards. This is the highest honor in online video technology and products, as it’s the only awards program in which winners are decided by end users — that’s you!

To cast your vote, visit the 2014 Streaming Media Readers Choice Awards page between now and October 24. Ustream is up for awards in the categories of:

  • Education Video Platform
  • Enterprise Video Platform
  • Live Video Platform
  • Cloud Encoding/Transcoding
  • Video Advertising Solution

Streaming Media will announce the finalists — the top three vote-getters in each category — on October 31 and present the awards at Streaming Media West on November 19.

Tour de Force: Ustream Brings Dreamforce 2014 to 10M Worldwide

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Dreamforce logo

This week, up to 130,000 people will gather in downtown San Francisco for the world’s largest software conference, salesforce.com’s Dreamforce 2014.

And thanks to Dreamforce’s partnership with Ustream LiveAd, up to 10 million more around the globe will be able to experience the event as it happens.

Dreamforce will broadcast the four-day event over its three Ustream channels, bringing live presentations from speakers such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, Al Gore and Arianna Huffington to a worldwide audience. The 2013 broadcast drew between 5 and 7 million viewers, and the 2014 numbers are projected to be even larger.

Since July 2014, Dreamforce has used live streaming video to generate buzz for the event via its weekly “Road to Dreamforce” broadcast, featuring conversations with salesforce.com executives, partners and MVPs. Viewers had exclusive access to breaking news on this year’s event, plus the chance to ask questions and get answers in real time using the hashtag #RoadToDF14.

Dreamforce 2014 continues through Thursday, October 16; to view the live broadcasts, check out Dreamforce Channel 1, Channel 2 and Channel 3.

To learn more about Ustream, watch this overview video or download our Wainhouse Research white paper that shows how video is becoming the main way enterprise’s communicate.

Forbes Recognizes Ustream for “Most Engaging” Annual Report of 2013

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forbes blog

Let’s face it: when you think of annual reports, the word “engaging” is probably not one that immediately springs to mind.

Unless, of course, you’re thinking of the Ustream 2013 Annual Report. Go ahead, check it out. We’ll wait.

Pretty cool, huh? We think so … and so does Forbes. That’s why Ustream made their list of “5 Brands That Nailed Their Annual Reports” and was singled out as most engaging of the bunch.

Forbes contributor Ross Crooks set out to prove that it is possible for annual reports to “do the seemingly impossible: engage stakeholders and win loyal fans.” And while he singles out four other worthy examples, he declares that “the award for Most Engaging Report goes to Ustream.”

A few more of his comments:

  • “an engaging motion-filled masterpiece”
  • “a clever piece of work that communicates a willingness to do the unconventional”
  • “Takeaway: Beauty and reporting can go hand in hand.”

Download our white paper and learn more about how Ustream helps marketers leverage live video.

How Multichannel Marketing Breaks Through the Noise

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Did you know that according to a recent UC San Diego study, consumers are exposed to an average of 100,000 words of information daily — the average length of a novel?

As marketers struggle to be heard and remembered in this crowded, noisy environment that is the online marketplace, innovative multichannel marketing methods are beginning to get their attention. One of those just happens to be live streaming video, which is gaining ground as an effective tool for driving engagement to unprecedented levels. And it’s not just big brands that benefit from multichannel live video. Earlier this year, a small ale brand created a game around live streaming video to drive consumer engagement. As a result, the company outperformed its annual sales goals by more than 13 percent.

The reason for live video’s growing popularity is simple: it’s engaging, it’s effective, and it’s scalable … and the cost is lower than you might think. To learn more about the power of live streaming video as a multichannel marketing tool, download our free white paper, “Gaining New Customers Through Multichannel Live Video Engagement.”

Key Features Of The New Ustream iOS App

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Ustream released the new iOS app on August 27th with plenty of new updates and features. Let’s see what’s really under the hood.

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The new iOS app has a modern design with reinterpreted surfaces and features, making content discovery seamless and engaging more viewers on both the larger format iPad screen and on iPhone.

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The app also allows users to upload videos they have recorded on the built-in iPhone camera app and easily create, edit and delete videos, channels and events inside the application. Live streaming capability has also been enhanced, allowing high-quality 16:9 format broadcasting directly from the phone. Users now have the freedom to upload their own pictures and connect their Facebook and Twitter accounts with the application. By expanding the use-cases to encompass capturing short clips intended for on-demand consumption, the Ustream platform is now even more suitable for applications like knowledge sharing and informal training.

 

Net Neutrality: What’s Next?

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For most people, September 15th was a day much like any other. But for Internet-based content providers — including Ustream — it was an important milestone in a story that will shape the future of the Internet.

On September 15, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially closed the public comment period on its latest proposal concerning net neutrality: the principle that all data must be treated equally by Internet service providers (ISPs). If the proposal passes, it will alter the definition of net neutrality by allowing ISPs to charge extra for broadband “fast lanes” between select content providers and users.

With the public comment period now closed, the FCC is set to issue a decision.

Public response to the proposal has been unprecedented: 1.7 million comments from the public, most of them strongly against the proposal. In addition to the grassroots reaction, an open letter cosigned by some of the biggest companies on the Internet has petitioned the FCC to ban fast lanes.

One of the signatories to the open letter was Ustream CEO Brad Hunstable. Hunstable recently told the Daily Dot that the FCC proposal will “force Internet-based businesses to choose applications and ISPs based on their priority lanes systems.” He added that it would be “like having to choose between power companies that provided different voltages according to the electrical devices you planned to run.”

For a detailed analysis of the net neutrality proposal, read the full article on the Daily Dot.

For more information on the video market, download this whitepaper by Wainhouse Research.

Sharing Hope Through Live Streaming Video

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Climate Reality Pic

Sure, we’ve all heard the bad news about climate change: it’s here, it’s huge, it’s devastating, and it’s not going away anytime soon.

Ever wonder whether there’s any good news around this global phenomenon?

Well, there is. On September 16–17, 2014, the Climate Reality Project broadcasted live streaming video on Ustream for 24 hours straight, sharing 24 reasons to be hopeful about the future of our planet. 24 Reasons for Hope is the fourth event in the Project’s annual 24 Hours of Reality series dedicated to sparking action on the issue of climate change.

Each hour of the event, hosted on the Climate Reality Channel, focused on a different reason to be hopeful about our future and encompassed presentations from Project Chairman Al Gore, town-hall meetings, musical performances from acts such as Linkin Park and Jack Johnson, and other features. Among the 24 reasons presented were:

  • Renewables are growing in use and getting cheaper all the time. (Hour 1)
  • Remarkable progress is being made in energy storage. (Hour 11)
  • Key financial institutions are realizing that dirty energy is a bad investment (Hour 21).

The 24 Reasons for Hope channel on Ustream drew more than 16 million views — 8 million unique views — in countries around the globe.

To learn more about the event and to access recordings from the live video stream, visit 24hoursofreality.org.

Live Video Content Marketing Kit

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As a marketer, communicator, brand or events manager, you need to engage massive, global audiences, deepen relationships with customers, and bring communities together to share information. With the power of LIVE video you can heighten brand awareness, reach a broader audience in real-time, and drive marketing results that you never thought possible. Get started by downloading your free Live Video Content Marketing kit which includes:

· The Evolving Role of Live Online Video – Wainhouse report that found product launches as the number one use case for live video by businesses.

· Viewership Trends in Live Online Video – by the Numbers –Wainhouse infographic that shows how live online video is trending with technology companies taking the lead.

· Streaming Your Way to Marketing Success – In conjunction with DemandGenReport editor, Andrew Gaffney, this On-Demand webinar discusses how live video is used to drive marketing communications internally, externally, and everything in between.

· Every Company is a Media Producer – SiliconAngle interview with Ustream CEO, Brad Hunstable where he states that some companies are producing more video than Hollywood!

Download your Live Video Content Marketing kit here.