HPL Website Stats for January

Last weekend we experienced what I refer to as a "Digg.com/YouTube Tornado" and it generated over 106,000 hits to the Lab's website in a single day. This was a new record more than doubling the 53,000 hits generated when Cisco launched Cisco TelePresence in October. We have had a couple of smaller Digg/YouTube Tornados in the past: Someone will post a link on www.digg.com to one of the videos that we have on our YouTube Channel or an article on the Lab's website and the next thing I know there are dozens/hundreds of automated e-mails in my inbox informing me that YouTubers have posted comments on the video that are awaiting my approval, have subscribed to our YouTube Channel, and/or have signed up for the Lab's newsletter: The Art of Productivity.

Here is what happened last weekend:

Background: We have been operating our own Channel on YouTube for about 9 months now. I generally upload or favorite videos on my favorite topics: Telepresence and Effective Visual Collaboration, Videoconferencing, Networks/Carriers/ISPs/Telco Hotels, and Human Computer Interaction. Because all work and no play make Jack a dull boy, I also collect videos of Kewl, Random Assorted Stuff I Have Found Along the Way and what I call: Videos of Retarded Hilarity.

Someone "Dugg" a video that I posted to our YouTube Channel on www.Digg.com. The video was for a 3D desktop prototype called BumpTop which was designed for pen-based computing platforms.

The BumpTop Video that Generated the Tornado

One of the HPL's YouTube Channel viewers posted the video to www.digg.com, a website that allows their members to either "digg" or "bury" a particular story or video. Videos that get "dugg" at "digg" climb in the ratings which creates a virtuous cycle as fast rising and top rated videos are highlighted to the greater Digg community on their front page and in their most popular lists. Since Digg is one of the top 100 sites on the internet in any category that exposure can send a video or news article to the stratosphere.

This is obviously very good for the HPL on a number of fronts:

1. It allows those who share our interest in telepresence, visual collaboration, productivity, human computer interaction (and videos of retarded hilarity:-) but have not yet heard of the Human Productivity Lab to discover us for the first time.

2. Some fraction of new visitors then subscribe to our YouTube Channel, RSS Feeds, and/or newsletter which then exposes them to our website, publications, and consulting services.

3. The expanded audience then increases the chances of another Digg.com/YouTube Tornado, press mention, news article etc. which then contributes to the continuing, virtuous cycle that has allowed us to go from Zero hits per month to 400,000+ hits per month in less than a year for a website whose target audience (those interested in telepresence, visual collaboration, and personal/organizational productivity) is fairly niche.

What a difference three weeks makes!

We provide the YouTube Channel as a service to our readers, consulting clients (and future consulting clients :-) so they can get a one-stop shop where they can view the product offerings of almost all the major telepresence and effective visual collaboration vendors, videoconferencing vendors, managed service providers, and network / carrier-neutral collocation providers.

The HPL's YouTube Channel is also good for the telepresence and visual collaboration industry, network and managed service partners, etc. whose videos we host and promote for free as a service to our main and most important audience: The C-level executives, collaboration and conferencing managers, videoconferencing managers, technology evaluators, and industry analysts that are researching and evaluating telepresence and effective visual collaboration solutions.

The vendors in the industry get exposure on the #1 channel on YouTube devoted to telepresence and effective visual collaboration for free! By allowing us to upload their videos to our channel directly (vs. simply uploading it to YouTube generally) dramatically expands the visibility of their video marketing and communications efforts by putting their videos where they can be discovered, forwarded, and/or posted by our self-selected audience specifically interested in telepresence, effective visual collaboration, productivity, and human computer interaction browsing our channel. (There are some instructions for those vendors interested in adding their video content to the Lab's YouTube channel at the bottom of this article.)

HPL Original Video Content
In 2006 we began experimenting with producing our own video content. It was such a success that we will producing more in 2007. BTW, For those that have been waiting patiently for the videos we shot at MacWorld and CES a quick update: We goofed! We rented a high power MacBook for the week to give us more horepower and capacity to pull video from tape and edit while on location in San Francisco and Las Vegas. The rented MacBook was running a newer version of the software we use for editing: Final Cut Pro and when Director Dave returned the MacBook and went to finish editing the videos he discovered that the work we had done was not compatible with the version of Final Cut Pro that he has on his machine in Austin. Since we are a small (but Mighty!) start-up with two consulting clients 60+ and 110+ late in paying us getting the new $1,200 version of Final Cut Pro wasn't immediately in the cards and then the editing window temporarily closed as both Director Dave and I were both committed to other projects.

We will eventually get our videos from MacWorld and CES uploaded to our YouTube Channel and the Lab's website. Here is a sampling of the original HPL video content coming at you in the coming weeks:

* An interview with Pat Friel, a Partner at Heidrick and Struggles, the premier provider of executive search and leadership consulting services, on the importance to organizational productivity of getting the right leaders in the right roles.

*An interview with Phil Marechal, the Product Manager for Cisco Telepresence giving us a complete overview of the techical specs of the CTS 3000 telepresence system

* An interview with Randy Harrell, Director of Product Marketing at the Cisco TelePresence Business Unit discussing the success that Cisco is seeing with their own 24 internal systems (out of an eventual 110 systems) that have been deployed globally to-date.

* An interview with HP Labs research scientist Michael Harville and demonstration of a proof-of-concept racing simulator around combining: racing seats delivering haptic feedback and a souped up VooDoo PC powering multiple projectors that have been seamlessly stitched together across an immersive curved screen for the ultimate virtual driving experience.

* An interview with Brian Phillips, a Senior Marketing Manager at Polycom, on their excellent high-fidelity wideband USB speakerphone for Skype and other consumer VoIP services: The Polycom Communicator.

* An interview with Dennis Christensen, an HPL Board of Gurus member and inventor, on the importance of eye-contact in human communications and his recently filed patent on a methodology of delivering it at-will in a group telepresence environment.

* An interview with Chris Klein, an educational specialist with SMART Technologies, and a demonstration of several SMART Board interactive whiteboards

* An interview with C. Taylor Kew, President and Co-founder with Rich Baker, of Glance Networks on their superbly simple webconferencing tool: Glance

We will also be recording the telx conference: Inside the Carrier Hotel Meet-Me-Room - The Operators, Applications and Business Models in Atlanta on Monday, February 12 where I will particpating in a panel discussion on: Distributed Peering - The Application-based necessity for quality and performance and my keynote at the upcoming Killer App Conference and Expo which just announced Ray Kurzweil as a speaker as well.

The HPL's YouTube Channel - A Sampling
For those of you who would like to check out and subscribe to our YouTube Channel:
The HPL's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=HSL
Important Note: Parental Discretion is Advised!

HPL YouTube Channel Sampler - The HPL's Telepresence Playlist

MedPresence TelePresence Surgical Educational Suite

Cisco TelePresence - Interview with Cisco SVP Marthin De Beer

The HPL interview: Teliris - CEO Marc Trachtenberg & COO Steve Gage

Digital Video Enterprises - Telepresence Systems Provider

HPL YouTube Channel Sampler - The HPL's Videoconferencing Playlist

The HPL Interview: HSL interviews Jan Afridi of financial industry desktop videoconferencing provider Avistar

TANDBERG - Be There Now

HPL YouTube Channel Sampler - The HPL's Human Computer Interaction Playlist

Eon Reality Touchlight

Multi-Touch Interaction Research - Jeff Han

HPL YouTube Sampler - The HPL's Networks, Carriers, ISPs, and Carrier Neutral Telco Hotels Playlist

The HPL Interview: HSL Interviews Hunter Newby of telx

Chris Carr, Director of Video Markets at true QoS network provider Masergy

HPL YouTube Channel Sampler - The HPL's Kewl, Random Assorted Stuff Found Along the Way Playlist

The Space Camp Song! - Brent Simon

The Truth About Cigarettes

HPL YouTube Channel Sampler - The HPL's Videos of Retarded Hilarity Playlist

Dean Martin & Foster Brooks

Idiocracy - U-P-G-R-A-Y-E-D-D

Idiocracy-Its Got what Plants Crave

Vendor Marketing Folks: Interested in having your videos hosted for free on the Human Productivity Lab's YouTube Channel? Here is the Scoop:

1. We are happy to host/favorite videos of your solutions provided they address the interest of our readership/viewership and/or HSL. The primary focus of our channel is: Telepresence, Effective Visual Collaboration, Collaboration, Videoconferencing, 3D Visualization, Human Computer Interaction, Human Computer Interfaces, Organizational/Personal Productivity, etc.

2. It is better for us both if you send us the actual file via a large file transfer service such as www.YouSendIt.com or Pando. When we upload it to our own site it gets more visibility to our our viewers/readers/subscribers than videos we simply "favorite". This increases the chances of our self-selected audience of interest to discover your video and then forward and/or post an embed.

3. While we are happy to host your video on the HPL's YouTube Channel for free we do request that you add a link back to the HPL's website on your website although we understand completely if you work at a corporate behemoth where that is impossible. If you can't post a link then we hope you would consider purchasing an enhanced link for your company in the HPL's Telepresence and Visual Collaboration Link Exchange. If you are a start-up or don't have the juice to expense an enhanced link then hopefully you will at least tell your friends about us.

4. The HPL is a small (but Mighty!) start up so it might take us some time to get your video(s) posted to our channel. Please don't bug us about this especially if you haven't linked to our site and/or supported our research and dissemenation activities on the usage, ROI, and benefits of telepresence and effective visual collaboration with an enhanced link or other sponsorship opportunity.