Tycoons Row

It’s 9:35 pm EST, and I just got off a live video chat session with Amanda Congdon, and aprox. 26 other PalTalk Chat members. I joined a bit late, and wanted to jump in on the conversation. However, I think it only lasted about 30 minutes which was really quick. But here is a low down of the session.

There was a moderator, who I didn’t get the name of because I was busy trying to purchase the PalTalk Extreme so I can actually see the videos of the people who were talking. The problem w/ the free version, you only get to see a 5 second view of a users live came while in session.

The session discussed some interesting points about the future of new media. One member asked Amandas opinion on if monetization will be for every person that seeks to get into video blogging. Amanda’s take was that “Advertisers need to shift perspective,” that there are going to be niches, for example video blogs that cater to golfers, or v-blogs that cater to men at home who cook.

At some point, the discussion got heated for some unknown reason, and one of the PalTalkers was booted from the room. Glad it wasn’t me because I was getting fustrated on having to purchase the Extreme which would let me actually see the live videos.

Other topics that was brought was pretty much common sense info, such as production values & the cost to produce new media versus old media. Amanda stated, at Rocketboom they “originally started producing on a $300 dollar camera.” Rocketboom was just one of the methods which aided Congdon’s rise in the light of new media. Congdon, a co-partner worked in collaboration with Andrew Barron, Founder of Rocketboom.

One interesting point Amanda made was regarding about new-media content. Last year, it was about “viral video and YouTube, but now people are making shows.” A great example of this is Ask A Ninja, ZeFrank, HappySlip. They are creating their own shows, monetizing their content, and making a living.

Overall, it comes down to a few things, content, distribution and audience. Without content you won’t be able to provide to an audience. Without a distribution method, you won’t be able to get your content to your audience. Audience is at the top of this pyramid.

Currently, Congdon, after her rise from Rocketboom is doing her own show, using Blip.tv as a distribution platform called Starring Amanda Congdon. Additionally, she does a weekly (Wednesdays) video blog for ABC News on Demand. Lastly, she is also working on a project which is hush hush at the moment for HBO.

I’ll be featuring more later, just wanted to get this out as it was fresh to you and on top of my dome.