Saturday, October 23, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Understanding the omnibox for better security

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 09:45 PM PDT

Google Chrome Blog: Understanding the omnibox for better security

National Cyber Security Awareness Month is a good time to learn more about how you can use your browser's security indicators to stay safe online. One of the most important security indicators in Google Chrome is the "omnibox," the spot where you enter web addresses:



The first thing to notice about the omnibox is that Google Chrome highlights the domain name of the website that you're viewing with a slightly darker color. The domain name indicates which website is being displayed by the browser in the current tab. For example, the domain name in the image above is "www.google.com".

Before interacting with a website, check that the omnibox has highlighted the domain name you expect. If the domain name doesn't match what you expect, the website might be spoofing the "look and feel" of another site as part of a phishing attack. Google Chrome has built-in protection against phishing, but checking the domain name yourself is a good security habit — especially when entering sensitive information, such as your password or credit card number.

When entering sensitive information, the second thing to notice about the omnibox is the lock icon, which is displayed to the left of the web site address and, in the case above, is colored green. The lock icon indicates that Google Chrome has established an encrypted connection that works like a tunnel between your computer and the domain name displayed in the omnibox. An encrypted connection helps prevent malicious parties from eavesdropping or tampering with the data sent between your computer and the website. Most websites will use an encrypted tunnel when asking for your password or credit card number to help prevent people using the same wireless network as you, for example at a coffee shop, from being able to eavesdrop on your sensitive information.

Some websites have an "extended validation" certificate that lets the browser determine the name of the organization that runs the web site. Notice the green box between the lock icon and the web address in the omnibox:



The extended validation indicator makes it easier for you to determine which organization is responsible for the displayed web page. For example, the extended validation indicator for https://www.benefitaccess.com/ says "Citigroup Inc [US]," indicating that Citigroup is responsible for that web page – a fact which might have been difficult to determine without the indicator. You should be careful to share sensitive information with a website only if you trust the organization responsible for the site.

If you would like to learn more about the browser's security indicators, you might enjoy reading our Help Center article on Chrome's indicators. Until next time, safe surfing!


Posted by Adam Barth, Software Engineer
URL: http://chrome.blogspot.com/2010/10/understanding-omnibox-for-better.html

[G] Creating stronger privacy controls inside Google

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 09:25 PM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Creating stronger privacy controls inside Google

Posted by Alan Eustace, Senior VP, Engineering & Research
(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

In May we announced that we had mistakenly collected unencrypted WiFi payload data (information sent over networks) using our Street View cars. We work hard at Google to earn your trust, and we're acutely aware that we failed badly here. So we've spent the past several months looking at how to strengthen our internal privacy and security practices, as well as talking to external regulators globally about possible improvements to our policies. Here's a summary of the changes we're now making.
  • First, people: we have appointed Alma Whitten as our director of privacy across both engineering and product management. Her focus will be to ensure that we build effective privacy controls into our products and internal practices. Alma is an internationally recognized expert in the computer science field of privacy and security. She has been our engineering lead on privacy for the last two years, and we will significantly increase the number of engineers and product managers working with her in this new role.

  • Second, training: All our employees already receive orientation training on Google's privacy principles and are required to sign Google's Code of Conduct, which includes sections on privacy and the protection of user data. However, to ensure we do an even better job, we're enhancing our core training for engineers and other important groups (such as product management and legal) with a particular focus on the responsible collection, use and handling of data. In addition, starting in December, all our employees will also be required to undertake a new information security awareness program, which will include clear guidance on both security and privacy.

  • Third, compliance: While we've made important changes to our internal compliance procedures in the last few years, we need to make further changes to reflect the fact that we are now a larger company. So we're adding a new process to our existing review system, in which every engineering project leader will be required to maintain a privacy design document for each initiative they are working on. This document will record how user data is handled and will be reviewed regularly by managers, as well as by an independent internal audit team.
We believe these changes will significantly improve our internal practices (though no system can of course entirely eliminate human error), and we look forward to seeing the innovative new security and privacy features that Alma and her team develop. That said, we'll be constantly on the lookout for additional improvements to our procedures as Google grows, and as we branch out into new fields of computer science.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to update one point in my May blog post. When I wrote it, no one inside Google had analyzed in detail the data we had mistakenly collected, so we did not know for sure what the disks contained. Since then a number of external regulators have inspected the data as part of their investigations (seven of which have now been concluded). It's clear from those inspections that while most of the data is fragmentary, in some instances entire emails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords. We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and I would like to apologize again for the fact that we collected it in the first place. We are mortified by what happened, but confident that these changes to our processes and structure will significantly improve our internal privacy and security practices for the benefit of all our users.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/10/creating-stronger-privacy-controls.html

[G] Google Apps Script support in Google Sites

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 08:11 PM PDT

Official Google Docs Blog: Google Apps Script support in Google Sites

Google Apps Scripts can save time by sending emails, scheduling calendar events and more with one click.

We just announced on the Google Enterprise Blog that you can now create, edit, and launch Google Apps Scripts from any Google Site. For example, you can create a site to browse and sign up for training sessions. On a training site, you could have a "Register Now" button on each classes page that would automatically add users to the class roster, add the class to their Google Calendar, and email them to confirm enrollment.

To learn more about how to automate tasks in Google Sites using Google Apps Scripts, check out our post on the Google Enterprise Blog.

Posted by: Laurent Tu, Google Apps Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/10/google-apps-script-support-in-google.html

[G] Query Paths in Search Funnels

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 08:01 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Query Paths in Search Funnels

Hot on the heels of the new Search Funnels features that were recently launched, here's another new feature: The Top Paths (Query Paths) report.

Broad match keywords in your AdWords account may be matched to a variety of keywords your users are searching for. You bid on certain keywords, but what about the actual queries that these keywords were matched to? You can see Keyword Paths within Search Funnels - and now, you can see Query Paths as well.

Within the existing Top Paths reports:



Select the Top Paths (Query Paths) option in the Dimension drop down menu to show you the actual queries that were matched to your ads and clicked prior to a conversion.



Note: this option will only show queries for search ads that were clicked, and not for impressions.

This data gives even more insight into the searches users make before finding and then purchasing on your site. With this information, you should be able to better target these users by seeing how they find you, and gain confidence in bidding on keywords that convert or assist in the conversion path.

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/10/hot-on-heels-of-new-search-funnels.html

[G] This week in search 10/22/10

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 07:54 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: This week in search 10/22/10

This is one of a regular series of posts on search experience updates. Look for the label This week in search and subscribe to the series. - Ed.

One of our core philosophies has always been launch and iterate. We'll bring you a useful new feature or product, and then use both data and your feedback to continuously make it better. This week, we're excited to announce three enhancements to some of the Google tools that have been around a while. So the next time you're searching for the latest news, traveling abroad or looking for daily updates on a topic of interest—we've got you covered. Here are this week's updates:

Realtime counter in search results
Since Realtime Search launched in December of last year, we've steadily updated the feature making it more comprehensive and easier to use. This week we added a Realtime counter underneath the News section of your search results. Now, when people on your favorite social networks are commenting on a particular topic you've searched for, you can easily see how many updates have been shared, all in real-time. This makes it easy to see when a news story is popular on the social web. Click the link to see the full Realtime Search results page.


Local flavor of Autocomplete, now international
It's been more than a year since we launched localized versions of Google Autocomplete (formerly Google Suggest) that offer relevant search predictions tailored for different regions (we're at 155 domains and growing!) More recently, we took these tailored predictions to a new level in the U.S. by targeting to specific metro areas like San Francisco and Chicago. This week, we extended these hyper-local predictions around the globe to every country that has Autocomplete. This means that the list of predictions beneath the search box will seem more locally relevant than ever.

For example, when you're in Barcelona, Spain and you start typing [rest] there's a good chance you're actually looking for restaurants in Barcelona:


However, if you're in Madrid, you'll probably want to check the restaurants there:


Better support for news-lovers in Google Alerts
It might be hard to believe, but Google Alerts have been providing email updates on your topic or query of interest since all the way back in 2003. Over the course of the past few years, we've spent a lot of time improving the way Google Alerts works to handle very specific queries (like a business or hobby), and while we've still got a lot of work to do, we've made steady improvements in the quantity, freshness and relevance of the content that we send you.

However, we've found many people are specifying general topics like "finance," "entertainment" or even simply "news." Up until this week, Google Alerts would return a long list of content from across the web about these very broad topics. This worked, but we realized it's probably much more helpful to send you the corresponding section from Google News, since it seems like you're looking for a digest of the big topics of the day. So we're now including News sections in Alerts if you enter one of the following terms like: news, world news, business, entertainment, finance, health, science, sports or technology. This allows you to have your favorite part of Google News delivered to your inbox every morning.

The week in searches
In addition to all of these enhancements, are you curious to know what Google searches shot off the charts this week? The Google Beat gives you an inside look into the pulse of U.S. searches. In this week's edition, we cover everything from BCS Football to Snooki.

We hope you find these updates useful!

Posted by Amit Singhal, Google Fellow
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/this-week-in-search-102210.html

[G] Creating stronger privacy controls inside Google

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 07:54 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Creating stronger privacy controls inside Google

(Cross-posted on the Public Policy and European Public Policy Blogs)

In May we announced that we had mistakenly collected unencrypted WiFi payload data (information sent over networks) using our Street View cars. We work hard at Google to earn your trust, and we're acutely aware that we failed badly here. So we've spent the past several months looking at how to strengthen our internal privacy and security practices, as well as talking to external regulators globally about possible improvements to our policies. Here's a summary of the changes we're now making.
  • First, people: we have appointed Alma Whitten as our director of privacy across both engineering and product management. Her focus will be to ensure that we build effective privacy controls into our products and internal practices. Alma is an internationally recognized expert in the computer science field of privacy and security. She has been our engineering lead on privacy for the last two years, and we will significantly increase the number of engineers and product managers working with her in this new role.

  • Second, training: All our employees already receive orientation training on Google's privacy principles and are required to sign Google's Code of Conduct, which includes sections on privacy and the protection of user data. However, to ensure we do an even better job, we're enhancing our core training for engineers and other important groups (such as product management and legal) with a particular focus on the responsible collection, use and handling of data. In addition, starting in December, all our employees will also be required to undertake a new information security awareness program, which will include clear guidance on both security and privacy.

  • Third, compliance: While we've made important changes to our internal compliance procedures in the last few years, we need to make further changes to reflect the fact that we are now a larger company. So we're adding a new process to our existing review system, in which every engineering project leader will be required to maintain a privacy design document for each initiative they are working on. This document will record how user data is handled and will be reviewed regularly by managers, as well as by an independent internal audit team.
We believe these changes will significantly improve our internal practices (though no system can of course entirely eliminate human error), and we look forward to seeing the innovative new security and privacy features that Alma and her team develop. That said, we'll be constantly on the lookout for additional improvements to our procedures as Google grows, and as we branch out into new fields of computer science.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to update one point in my May blog post. When I wrote it, no one inside Google had analyzed in detail the data we had mistakenly collected, so we did not know for sure what the disks contained. Since then a number of external regulators have inspected the data as part of their investigations (seven of which have now been concluded). It's clear from those inspections that while most of the data is fragmentary, in some instances entire emails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords. We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and I would like to apologize again for the fact that we collected it in the first place. We are mortified by what happened, but confident that these changes to our processes and structure will significantly improve our internal privacy and security practices for the benefit of all our users.

Posted by Alan Eustace, Senior VP, Engineering & Research
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/creating-stronger-privacy-controls.html

[G] Working to stop bullying, National Ally Week and navigating online LGBTQ resources

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 07:54 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Working to stop bullying, National Ally Week and navigating online LGBTQ resources

We've all been saddened by the recent suicides of gay youth, especially as tragedy has piled atop tragedy. Each of them is a signal that we need to do more to put an end to these incidents that destroy the lives of both the children being bullied and children who bully.

We believe the Internet can provide a safe space and resources for youth who are struggling with their identity and looking for help. And we've been happy to see products like YouTube being used to deliver messages of hope. There are many organizations out there doing an extraordinary job providing resources for LGBTQ youth, and we wanted to highlight a few as part of GLSEN's National Ally Week: Trevor Project, GroundSpark's Respect for All Project, the YouTube "It Gets Better" project and the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network. GLSEN's Safe Space campaign page provides resources and support for educators, policy makers, community leaders and students to take action to make a positive difference. We recently made a $50,000 donation to the Trevor Project, in support of the Levi's Challenge Grant announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show—they will be matching up to $50,000 dollars in donations to the Trevor Project. We've also donated to GroundSpark and GLSEN. We hope that other companies and individuals will consider doing the same.

We also wanted to share a video some of our own Googlers made for the "It Gets Better" project documenting their own experiences and sending messages of encouragement to LGBTQ youth.



Finally, the Matthew Shepard Foundation has been in the forefront of LGBTQ issues educating the world and sharing the tragic story of Matthew Shepard. We asked Judy Shepard, Matthew's mother, to share her thoughts with us on the recent tragedies and what we can do to help. Here's what she said:
It's been devastating lately to see so many families losing their LGBT kids to suicide and frankly, incredibly frustrating to see so many cases that seem to be linked in some way to bullying. My husband Dennis and I started the Matthew Shepard Foundation in the hope that by helping youth connect with resources, supportive allies and positive messages about their future, that it might prevent tragic outcomes like suicides or hate crimes. We're just one part of a huge community of allies. And we are allies for all youth, whether they're being singled out for their sexuality, or their race, or something else that makes them different. But if we can't get the word out to the young people who really need to hear from us, and can't make them more comfortable reaching out for help when they're in crisis, then we'll continue to struggle to protect them.

I've been out speaking at schools for the last 12 years to give these students a little hope and show them there are people they can turn to even if their own families aren't accepting. I've also tried to open the eyes of the kids who are doing the bullying too—to show them the pain a victim's family suffers. We lost a son, but the young men who killed Matthew are a sad example of how you can basically lose your life by victimizing people, too, almost as much as by being the victim.

-Judy Shepard
We honor the memory of Matthew and of the children who lost their lives this fall, and our hearts go out to their families. We thank Judy for her words and encourage everyone to work to help our youth to find safety and a better way to engage in the world—including using the Internet for the amazing good it brings, and not to bully others.

Posted by Megan Smith, Vice President, New Business Development Google Inc. and General Manager, Google.org and Laszlo Bock, VP of People Operations
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/working-to-stop-bullying-national-ally.html

[G] Web Analytics TV #13 - For the Ninjas

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 07:10 PM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Web Analytics TV #13 - For the Ninjas

Well it's another episode of Web Analytics TV. In this exciting series with Avinash Kaushik and Nick Mihailovski, you ask and vote on your favorite web analytics questions via the Google Analytics Google Moderator site and we answer them.

In this episode we introduce our new ninja award program (and ninja chop to go with it). Going forward, we will pick our favourite question and award the person the Analysis Ninja of the Episode award! They will get an autographed, personalized, copy of Web Analytics 2.0.

Our first winner is Sushant from New York for his excellent question on tabbed browsing and it's impact on session level data. Congrats and please keep the great questions coming (and win!).

Here is the list of last weeks questions.

In this action packed episode we discuss:
  • (2:35) Combining (A AND B) OR (C AND D) in advanced segments
  • (4:03) Is there a way to tell how many people have opted out of being tracked by GA
  • (6:18) How does tracking Google Analytics and Urchin work together
  • (7:53) How is tabbed browsing tracked in Google Analytics?
  • (10:30) Do Website Optimizer A/B tests only track direct traffic?
  • (11:27) Are there any survey/voice of customer tools that integrate with GA?
  • (12:47) Does the async code execute faster than the traditional snippet?
  • (14:40) You can't track users who have opted out of GA
  • (15:13) Why table report filters get removed when you navigate away from a page
  • (16:30) Why are there differences between Unique visitor reports? Which to use.
  • (18:00) Can Google Analytics track live chat forms?



Here are the links to the topics we discuss:
As always, if you need help setting up Google Analytics or leveraging the advanced configuration options, we recommend hiring a Google Analytics Certified Partner.

If you found this post or video helpful, we'd love to hear your comments. Please share them via the comment form below. And, if you have a question you would like us to answer, please submit a question and vote for your favorite question in our public Google Moderator site. Avinash and I will answer your latest questions in a couple of weeks with yet another entertaining video.


Post content Posted by Nick Mihailovski, Google Analytics Team
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/10/web-analytics-tv-13-for-ninjas.html

[G] Plugging into Google Apps for Education: partners, platforms and products

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 04:36 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Plugging into Google Apps for Education: partners, platforms and products

Last week, we celebrated a big milestone for Google Apps for Education: 10 million active users. While a lot of the credit belongs to the school IT leaders and teachers who recognized the collaboration and learning potential of services like Google Docs, Google Sites, and school-wide Gmail, we'd be remiss if we didn't also mention the many partners and integration projects that have helped support Google Apps for Education.

We were lucky enough to have several of these partners join us in our EDUCAUSE booth last week, and share how they've helped deploy and connect Apps with many widely-used learning management systems in higher ed. If you weren't able to make it to these sessions in our conference booth, here's a recap of how schools can integrate Apps with the technology platforms commonly used by colleges and universities today:

Blackboard + Apps: Northwestern University's Bboogle project is a free, open-source integration that lets schools integrate Google Apps with Blackboard's learning management system. This video and case study shows how a history professor at Northwestern used Google Sites to create a collaborative encyclopedia with his students; Bboogle managed authoring permissions for the class and provided links between the Blackboard course site and Google Sites.

Sakai + Apps: rSmart showcased the new Google Apps functionality that's available in the upcoming 2.7.1 release of their Sakai collaborative learning environment. Sharing a Google Doc in Sakai now lets Sakai handle which users have access – often a volatile course roster as students drop and add classes – without having to manage a separate list of usernames with Google. For a sneak peek, check out this video and case study.

Moodle + Apps: Moodle solutions provider Moodlerooms displayed the single sign-on, automatic user provisioning, and Google Apps widget integration available in joule™. More information is available in this case study, or the related Moodle-Google open-source code.

MyCampus + Apps: The CampusEAI Consortium's student portal solution includes an out-of-the-box Google Apps integration that's used by over 50 universities and colleges, allowing students to engage with Google Apps without leaving their portal environment. A case study is available here.

We also owe a hat tip to the leading Google Enterprise Partners who joined us at EDUCAUSE, like Appirio, who shared their plan for training faculty and staff at Brown University, LTech, whose 'Power Panel' app allows limited administrators (ideal for university helpdesk staff), and SADA Systems, who explained the opt-in, on-demand content migration solution they developed for Kent State.

We're impressed with how these partners have used our open APIs (plus App Engine and the Apps Marketplace) to make Apps even more useful to schools, and we look forward to sharing even more success stories in the future!


Posted by Jason Cook, Google Apps for Education Team
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/10/plugging-into-google-apps-for-education.html

[G] Going Google across the 50 States: Investment advisory firm in Illinois turns to technology to get ahead

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 04:36 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Going Google across the 50 States: Investment advisory firm in Illinois turns to technology to get ahead

Editor's note: Over 3 million businesses have adopted Google Apps. Today we'll hear from Dustin Bonnema, Portfolio Analyst and IT guru for MainStreet Advisors based in Chicago, Illinois. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our community map or test drive life in the cloud with the Go Google cloud calculator.



Founded in 2003 by two veteran investment professionals, MainStreet Advisors is a Chicago-based Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Registered Investment Advisor. We provide investment advisory services, portfolio management, and marketing support for our clients, and are expanding rapidly - we've already outgrown our current office space, two years ahead of plan.

Such fast growth prompted us to focus more on technology and find ways to remove communication barriers for all employees. So we switched to Google Apps earlier this year and are already using many of the products in the suite including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Sites. We couldn't be happier with Google Apps, and the best part is that everything is online and all the products are easy to learn and use. We're trying to put as much as we can into a Google spreadsheet or document.

Shared Google Calendars are used to track time-off, conferences, committee meetings, and individuals' travel schedules. This is a critical component of our internal communication strategy since Managing Directors and other executives travel as much as 40 - 50% of the year. This same group is reliant on mobile phones, and use either iPhones or BlackBerry devices to access Gmail and other applications, while they're on the go.

As the company grows, it has become harder to locate and share updated information and policies across all employees. Google Sites is solving this problem – we built an intranet that includes links to shared calendars, client websites, group email aliases, expense reports, gift matching instructions, and investment policies. A Google form is also embedded in the site so employees can submit vacation requests that are updated directly in our HR manager's spreadsheet. In time, we plan to add even more to the site – we're already showing gadgets with intra-day performance of market indexes across the world, and we'd like to add a map of client locations and charts outlining our company assets over time.

Aside from helping us create more efficient business processes, Google Apps has become a key part of our business continuity plan. We have the security of knowing that if something goes wrong in the Chicago office, we'll still be able to access our information from other places. This is critical to protecting our clients' investments, and the future of our business."

Posted by Dustin Bonnema, MainStreet Advisors
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/10/going-google-across-50-states.html

[G] Automating business processes in Google Sites with Google Apps Scripts

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 04:36 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Automating business processes in Google Sites with Google Apps Scripts

Google Sites lets you create public or internal web sites, and today we're enabling scripts to support multi-step workflows in sites.

For example, your company can create a site for employees to browse and register for training sessions and career development programs. On the page describing each training session or class, you could add a "Register Now" button, which would automatically add registrants to the class roster, add the details of the session to each participant's Google Calendar, and email users to confirm enrollment. All of these automated actions can be driven by a script embedded in the site.



Starting today, you can create, edit, and launch Google Apps Scripts from any Google Site, which allows you to automate business processes that involve multiple applications. As in the example above, an Apps Script function can automate tasks such as sending emails, scheduling calendar events, creating and updating site pages using data from other systems, and more.

You can build a script by clicking "More actions" > "Manage site" > "Apps Scripts." Once you've added a script to your site, you can add links or buttons to trigger the script from any page. For tips to get started with scripts, visit the Google Apps Script site.

Posted by Laurent Tu, Google Apps Software Engineer
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/10/automating-business-processes-in-google.html

[G] Individual Video Program, one year later..

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 12:05 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Individual Video Program, one year later..

What if Michaelangelo had sculpted the David, and that was his one and only masterpiece? What if Francis Ford Coppola had shot one scene of "The Godfather"', then called it quits on a film career? What if Jim Henson had only given the world Kermit the Frog, and then decided to become a plumber? Would you still want to see these hallmarks of creativity? Chances are, you would.



It's been well over a year now since the launch of the Individual Video Program (IVP), which celebrates the very nature of rewarding the one-hit creative spark or remarkable moments caught on video. Some of the most well known videos run the gamut through rough-cut home video ("Jessica's 'Daily Affirmation"), wonders of the natural world ("Praying Mantis Attacks Hummingbird"), or good old fashioned comedy clips ("Laughing Baby" with 33M views!). Here's one of our recent favorites:





What's even more powerful than sharing these moments through online video? Hearing how the lives of the people who have uploaded them have been changed. For instance, in one of the most heart-warming videos featuring a U.S. solider reunited with his dog after returning from Afghanistan, the earnings made from the video went to the local animal shelter where their pet was rescued.



Online video is evolving, and we believe there should be a place on the web where all forms of content are celebrated and brought to the masses. In fact, did you know that...





We're proud to have our Individual Videos share in our business success, and plan to find more ways to encourage a diversity of video on the site.





Lin Shi, YouTube Software Engineer, recently watched "Cows, Cows, Cows."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/cRJOJanwXZA/individual-video-program-one-year-later.html

[G] Digital bootcamp with Ingrid Kopp

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 07:20 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Digital bootcamp with Ingrid Kopp

Heather Menicucci, Director, Howcast Filmmakers Program, is writing weekly guest posts for the YouTube blog on filmmaking in the digital age. You can catch up on previous posts here.
Today being a filmmaker is more and more about using tools other than cameras and editing software – social media, mobile platforms, websites, and even augmented reality technology – to bolster the work, attract and engage audiences, and make money. Many filmmakers are being dragged into this new world kicking and screaming or simply overwhelmed by the options.

Enter Ingrid Kopp, Director, U.S. Office at Shooting People, and her Digital Bootcamp, which I got a chance to attend at DCTV in New York on Monday night. "The technology should serve you and your creative practices" -- that was one of the first things Ingrid said to the audience of about 20 filmmakers. She went on to explain that all these new technologies are like a painter's palette. If you choose all of them, you'll end up with gray. They are there for you to pick and choose what works for you and your film.

This is excellent advice but questions still remain: Which one should I use? How do I use it? And do I really have to? As filmmakers raised their hands to ask questions it became clear that tailoring a web, mobile or other technology campaign for a film is a very personal decision and should be informed by the project and the filmmaker's goals. Are they happy simply with people seeing their work? Do they need to recoup some investment? Are they trying to invoke social change? Ingrid talked about a new production title, coined by John Reese, Producer of Marketing and Distribution (PMD), which a filmmaker could hire to create and execute a digital campaign, taking all this into consideration. She compared this to hiring a cinematographer. You could opt to shoot yourself, but if you have the money, why not hire someone with experience and skill.

That said, you don't need to hire a PMD. You don't even need to build a website, post your trailer on Facebook, or send even one tweet. But, if you're ready to dive in, Ingrid offered up fantastic insights and tips, some of which I'm going to share right here:

  • If you do one thing, create a home for your film online -- a website, a blog, a Facebook fan page, or a YouTube channel (of course) -- so that audiences know where to go to get information about you and your project. All your other online presences should link back to this main place.

  • Collect email addresses and zip codes from your audience. Remember that Facebook and Twitter could shut down your profile any time. In order to retain contact with your audience, ask for their email addresses. And, while you're at it, their zip codes too. Want to plan a screening? You'll know where to start based on where your audiences live.

  • Put your trailer online and allow people to embed the video. Embed and spread!

  • Much of the really creative stuff happening on the web is being launched by brands. Filmmakers can learn a lot from their unique uses of new technologies. Here are two excellent examples Ingrid screened: The Last Exorcism Chatroulette campaign and the choose-your-own-adventure campaign on YouTube for Tipp-Ex.

  • If you're going to start a fundraising campaign on a site like Kickstarter, create ancillary content around the campaign to promote it and get people excited to pitch in. Be creative with your rewards to really entice donors. Embed a video on the campaign page too -- campaigns with videos earn more.

  • Think about creating video clips other than your trailer that you can release strategically throughout the entire production process.

  • Don't do anything halfway. If you start a Twitter account for your film and only send one tweet, your project will look "dusty" as Ingrid put it -- a perfect adjective.

  • It's never too early to start building an audience with any kind of digital campaign. You can leverage your audience to solve problems with your film (anyone know a shooter in Dallas?), share their own footage, help with fundraising, write about your project, coordinate screenings, buy DVDs, and tell all their friends how great your film was.


In her brief but jam-packed session, Ingrid shared numerous sites, best practices, recommend reading, and noteworthy examples. Rather than link to them all here, here's a link to her Digital Bootcamp wiki where you can view the full presentation and check out tons of other resources. Ingrid called herself a bit of a "technological Utopian" and you can see that in her Creative Commons wiki where readers are also free to edit and share their own ideas.

I'm pretty sure I'm in that camp too, but I had to play devil's advocate and ask: "What do you say to filmmakers whose response to all this is, 'I don't want to. I care about making films and not all this other superfluous, unrelated media?' " Ingrid simply said, "Then you don't have to. If this other stuff is distracting from your film or what's in the frame then you shouldn't be doing this. This should never compromise your film. My hope is that filmmakers will see these tools as another creative outlet. If we're not embracing this technology, we, as filmmakers, could be left out of something amazing."

I couldn't agree more. Thank you, Ingrid, for a great evening and all the information you share through your wiki, Twitter feed and Shooting People.

Heather Menicucci, Director, Howcast Filmmakers Program, recently watched "The Rent Is Too Damn High Party's Jimmy McMillan at the NY Governor Debate." Come back next Friday for another session of our "Modern 101 for Emerging Digital Filmmakers."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/wZIw14tN-s0/digital-bootcamp-with-ingrid-kopp.html
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)