Origins, Facts, and Fiction about Web 2.0 and Online Strategy – Part One

Okay, sometimes we really must post humorous information because the world is just too serious a place. And besides, today is Saturday. Unfortunately, for some people, we need to post a sarcasm warning. Times are tough and it stresses out sensitive individuals, particularly those who are angry that it takes so much effort to make a few million. So here's your warning: SARCASM IN EFFECT.

This article is about the origins, facts, and fiction concerning the internet. This is Part One of a series of three. There is absolutely no truth to it. As you know, the internetS is a series of tubes. (In reality, it actually is.) Here goes.

The Web (or Web 1.0) – this is online stuff. Back in the day, you went to Yahoo and AOL. Companies were tripping over themselves to get a web page created. Your phone did not ring while you surfed the Web.

Web Media – this is online stuff, too. Used to be Javascripted animation, that annoying page art-with-sound some web designers still insist upon using for the landing page of their client’s website (as an example). Sometimes you will see that Javascript thingy open in your taskbar when this garbage is coded into a webpage.

New Media - Today, it’s called New Media, and it is mostly video. It is coded better to stream better. That means it plays right away without you waiting for it to download. Professional animation geeks use Adobe Flash, but various site builders use similar intelligent coding. In reality, there really is no “streaming” done much anymore. Most people’s computers have the players necessary to watch files, or the files are linked and neatly coded in embedded players. Server bandwidth and hi-speed internet takes care of the rest. Whatever that means (tubes). How cool is that?

Web 2.0 – this is online stuff, too. As recent as this past decade. This means all those cool “interactive” sites and applications that everyone uses is brainless to the naked eye. It incorporates New Media and Social Networking. Biggest experts are five year-olds and internet entrepreneurs. It is a mystery to everyone else, including politicians and people who get graduate degrees in Computer Sciences. After all, the Web is one big happy world-wide market. Programmers are just a necessary evil.

Texting – this is the 21st Century version of Morse Code. You must learn the correct abbreviations or no one will understand you. Applies to tweeting, also.

Social Networking – this is the “interactive” stuff mentioned above. I use quotation marks, because I really consider user-participation online to be bi-directional, not “interactive.” Examples are Facebook and Twitter. The ancient versions were instant messenger services (Windows, Yahoo, AOL), chat-rooms, and things like MySpace (which basically started the revolution of online “friends” as some sort of popularity contest, and became a great way to market to a particular demographic).

Viral Marketing – this is what happens when WHAT you do or say or offer online takes off like a hot potato. There is no magic internet fairy. It can be manipulated for a cost (time, money, human resources) or it can be quite organic. More on this later.

SEO – stands for “Search Engine Optimization” (or, "Something Everyone Offers") and was very huge in the dark ages of Web 1.0, whatever that means. You could buy SEO software to help you set up keywords and submit your site to 100’s of search engines. These are useless today. Google, or DMOZ actually, “crawls” over the content of your web page. But if you’re not saying much relevant to what you are trying to convey or sell, your site will be buried way Off-Off-Off Broadway into the swamps of New Jersey. Yes, title and description matter, too. Refreshing your website with new content is helpful. Content is king. You can pay someone to “trick” your site up for $5,000, but much of that doesn’t work anymore.

Blogging – this is kind of Web 1.5 in a way. Considering people, especially Westerners, are all afflicted with ADHD, the blog has moved back into its rightful place as the personal web page of the early 1990’s. Most people and businesses that start a blog will let it fall off after a few entries. Successful blogs do continue to emerge, for sure, as it is useful for alternative news from the more serious writers. (The Huffington Post is one example.) Work-from-home bloggers that make money through click and affiliate programs have flooded the blogosphere. The better ones have something useful to say and sell. The rest… well, if it looks like spam, smells like spam, tastes like spam…

Forums - Many techie people still keep blogs, but you’re better off joining a serious forum where these folks are most helpful talking shop with other forum members. This is where you will learn lots of useful stuff about whatever subject you’re interested in. There are forums about everything imaginable.

Vlogging – this is blogging using video or at least adding videos to your articles. It helps to keep your readers entertained, so throw a video at them now and then.

Podcasting – this is a kind of amateur broadcasting, but online, as it has become available for anyone to do. Lots of people (and companies) will stream audio, like an interview, on their websites or blogs. Radio stations and newspaper media use it on the web.

Tweeting – ah, finally. The 140 characters that killed the blog. Twitter may be the best or the most annoying thing to have ever come online. Now THAT’S the kind of stuff that makes something special – ya gotta either love it or hate it. You need private citizens and commercial interests alike on social media like this one (and Facebook), because after all, if it can’t generate money, why bother?

Facebook – Use this or go back to the chat room… which both Twitter and Facebook may one day turn into after something cooler takes their place. But because so many application creators have invested in making cool stuff for these sites, it may take a while… or maybe not. You can invite hundreds and thousands of "friends," but if you do it all at once, Facebook will get mad at you. They prefer you become a paid advertiser.

Smartphones (Mobile Web) – this is where it’s all going real fast. Third World countries are computing and communicating almost 100% by smartphone. Get with the program.

Online Strategy – this is my favorite and combines all of the above. This is like watching a hockey game and commenting on the great strategy even though the puck changes possession every two seconds. More on this later.

If you want to add your own Web definitions, that would be awesome. (Keep it Rated G.)

The next segment will expound on "Online Strategy." Hope you had fun reading! Please come back.

Had Fun at the Biz Expo - Meet the Street Team!

Last Monday, on February 8th, the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2010 Business and Technology Showcase at the Salem Civic Center. Star City FAME was there with bells on. We set up our booth for the first time as a company and Chamber member, and then, in Star City FAME fashion, had a blast!

Although this marks our first outing to showcase the business marketing end our Video Production company, we came to have fun and engage visitors to our "booth" in helpful dialogue about how they can promote their services and products in a visual, non-hardsell way. We gave out demo DVD's and CD's and even instructional inserts in our brochures to give them a clear understanding of the variety of ways to promote business through video on several marketing platforms. For some people, of course, point-and-shoot DIY videos are just fine. Knowing and keeping up with all the avenues to benefit them still can be a time-consuming task - in fact, a full-time job in itself. And then there are the bigger projects like instructional programs and full-on marketing videos that simply cannot be done on a $300 Flip or iPhone. And that's what we want you to know: No matter what your media project is, it can be done better and more effectively, whether it's on the web or CD/DVD.

The Street Team:
Several friends of mine, who often jump on-board with SCF projects, decided to form the official Star City FAME Street Team. Hans Moore of Ahha Pictures and Josh Seaman, his nephew, ran around the Civic Center with one of our smaller HDV camcorders asking Expo participants if they'd like to be on camera for a short video promo of the event. The two of them collected a nice collage of footage, which Hans, an accomplished video editor, will produce in the coming weeks. (Josh is the young man assisting me with the filming of last season's AMTRAK Excursions out of Roanoke, VA.)

Also, my dear pal Sam Roby manned the table for quite a bit while I snooped around chatting with other vendors at their booths. He is a genuine cut-up at 84 and fits right into our company's business profile! Hard work as our projects always are, we are "Fun about Business, and Serious about Fun!" Who needs another stuffy tie-and-jacket sour-face out there? (Business suits are out; Star City FAME T-Shirts are in! That's why we gave away SCF shirts for our door-prize drawing!!)

Here are some pics of the 2010 Biz Tech Showcase...

The catering was awesome, BTW. Thanks SR-Chamber for the eats, because I was starving by the time I got there and set up our table, haha. The fellow behind the electronic piano sang just like Barry White. (I will have to get his name, folks. I slipped up on that, which is a big no-no considering we support the Arts.)

So here's the Street Team...

Hans Moore, Videographer and Editor, Ahha Pictures

Josh Seaman, Assistant Camerman

Sam Roby, Assistant Sales

Afterwards, Hans caught up with Executive Town Car and Limousine Service owner Patrick Helvey... and disappeared into Pat's finest stretch limo to take some absolutely wild footage of this automobile's stunning interior. Josh and I joined him to horse around on-camera inside the limo. What was hysterical, Pat threw on some Cher in-concert videos. How appropriate without even knowing that we produce the Cher spoof series, "Cher on Crack," right?

How cool is this??

Well, that's it for now... We have some live music footage coming up soon from Nancy and Two Meteors at last month's Happy's gig and also a special Twelve O'Clock Knob performance from the Jefferson Center. There will be a couple surprises too, but I've got to go and edit now!!! See you around Downtown!!

What's New from Star City Fame in 2010

Well, we're just getting started for a new year and a new set of ventures. Our business model has been tweaked to accommodate an on-going need for New Media in the corporate, professional, and entrepreneurial marketing genres. This banner seen above will come with us to the Feb 8th Business and Technology Showcase at the Salem Civic Center. The event is hosted by the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce, and will begin at 3:30pm.

We will have videos of our productions available to pick up on CD's and DVD's, and visitors can chat with us about their multi-media marketing campaigns, online social networking, and video how-to's. More than that, we want to make sure people know that there are more ways to make an impression on their prospective clients, employees or new hires, and in public relations. To that end, we are now serving the business sector with DVD packages that they can include with beautifully printed materials.

The Tech Showcase promises to be a lot of fun for vendors and visitors. (I personally love going to them. It's like one huge, all-day water cooler for business people.)

Ringing in the New Year:
We got started off with shooting a 2-camera video production for the Science Museum of Western Virginia on Dec 31, 2009. The event was for their 2nd Annual Bouncy Ball New Year, during which 11,000 little bouncy balls were dropped at high noon from the Center in the Square's Atrium. This was a family event, and its theme basically set for kids in a similar fashion to Times Square's New Year's Eve Ball Drop at midnight.

Here's the Video of it if you missed it:


The first week of January, we took a chill-pill. But things got cooking really fast after that, with new video projects, new gear, new software, new ideas... busy, busy, busy. And that makes us better, better, better!!!!

We tested a Hi-grade Logitech webcam set-up with a program from SightSpeed to use for business video conferencing, and with an application from Booru that makes practically no-cost time-lapse videos.

We have been, by default, keeping up with IT as it applies to Video in the use of various applications such as the ones described above. With these, and using New Media, we can coordinate with your company's network admins, not just webmasters. (I have been in IT since 1999 and continue to service Windows-PC users, so this is a natural for me.)

And this year, we added a new print/ graphics/ media distribution partner out of Lynchburg. Of course, we continue to work with local Roanokers for a whole host of things. Our biggest supplier is Stage Sound, who also coordinates with our cameras to sync audio at various venues. We love you guys!!

We're still supporting the Arts here in Roanoke and maintain our great relationships with wonderful people in Downtown, where we do most of our work. We are grateful to Roanoke Public Libraries and their Emerging Artists Series program. We have just completed a video for their Sneakerhead Show, which will be on River Laker's Vimeo Channel shortly.

Also, we've done a couple shoots for the Music Lab at Jefferson Center, and hope to continue providing them with great concert coverage of local acts and alumni of the Music Lab program.

Here is our visit to the Music Lab recording facilty hosted by their Artistic Director, Dylan Locke:


Last weekend, we had the pleasure of shooting at the Jeff Center again. We will bring you footage of that concert on our YouTube Channel soon. (It was Groovuhtational Pull opening for Twelve O'Clock Knob. Amazing show!!!)

Another huge local Roanoke musical act is Nancy and Two Meteors. We grabbed footage of their recent show hosted by DJ and band member, Dickie Eikcid's Just Embrace Love Please at Happy's on Williamson Road. Also playing that evening were Hip-Hop artists Poe Mac, the always eclectic Bastards of Fate, and power-punk-metal band Heevahava. (Roanoke is bursting with HUMONGOUS original talent. If you're not connecting with the Arts and artists on Facebook, you are missing out big-time. They kick ass! Move over NYC, DC, LA, and Nashville. Roanoke is coming!!)

Here's a video of Nancy and Two Meteors:


BTW, another fascinating new happening in Roanoke is a venue provided for younger artists at the Penn Forest Worship Center. We will bring more information on that in another blog. We are working on a joint venture with a local journalist to carry an exclusive story on the PFWC venue and the great folks behind it, including Santiago Prada, leader of the Alt-Rock band Twelve O'Clock Knob and 3rd place winner of the recent Roanoke Times Music Poll.

Well, that's it for now... See You Around Downtown!!