Taking Home Some Hardware

Finally, we have a trophy to put on the shelf. The Cascade crew had a great time last night at the Portland Business Journal's 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies banquet at the Portland Art Museum. Congratulations again to our clients who also made the list:

• AKT Services, LLP #88
• Papa Murphy's International #89
• Info Group Northwest #32
• Lewis and Clark Bank #16
  

Water Logged

You might think we're all brain, but there's some brawn mixed in as well.

A few weeks ago we took a company rafting outing to the Clackamas River and navigated the rough waters thanks to our guides at Blue Sky Rafting. Due to our Portland-esque spring weather, the water was insanely high which made for a turbulent and speedy ride. After a few cliffs jumps and potential raft spills, we made it out safely and lived to tell about it.

Check out the rest of our trip photos on the Cascade Facebook page.

Just Do It

The term made world famous by Nike seemed a fitting title when I discovered the success story of fashion brand Burberry's use of live video to sell product. "Just do it" is most perfectly used for the moment before the leap of faith that a person or a brand makes when trying something new.

To be an early adopter takes guts and in business deep pockets. The inevitable course corrections take skill, insight and an ability to sustain. However, the moment the path has been charted by a select few is the moment to Just do it.

For the launch of it's fall 2010 line, Burberry used live video (in 3D) to broadcast the exclusive runway show to thousands of buyers that could not be there in person. During the broadcast, viewers could ask questions and chat with each other and Burberry staff. For the 72 hours following the show, viewers could buy the exclusive merchandise, sight unseen, before it hit retail stores. Burberry will continue their use of live video for Spring/Summer by broadcasting the show direct on their website. Read more on the Mashable website.

Supporting Your Audience on brandlive

A lot of technologies are built with hundreds of bells and whistles that 90% of users never know exist, let alone need. For brandlive, we purposely left out all those unnecessary features making it simple for you to implement and even easier for your viewers to operate.

Given it's ease of use, it is extremely rare for a viewer to experience a technological issue with brandlive. Regardless, we still want you to be prepared for those rare circumstances.

Below you'll find a short list of troubleshooting topics to refer to when an audience member encounters a problem. Follow these steps when you are hosting a brandlive session to ensure you and your customers get the most out of broadcast:

1. If customers are having problems seeing the live video, ask them to refresh their browser OR click the "arrow circle" in the lower left corner of the video player.
   
2. If the video keeps 'buffering" (meaning they get a little spinning wheel), remind your viewers that video plays best when only a few web pages and computer applications are open.
   
3. No audio? First try the volume button and make sure you have speakers. If they do not work, suggest headphones for the next live session.
4. If your customer reports not seeing a video screen at all, only a puzzle piece in it's place, they will need to install adobe flash (http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/).

That should be it! We've worked out the kinks saving you the troubleshooting headaches. Brandlive is easy to use and should not require much support. If you do encounter a problem not listed above, please contact us.

Linking Social Media Channels to Facebook

Sure, Facebook allows you to upload and post your own media files in tabs, but, as a business with time already invested in Flickr, YouTube, twitter, etc. are the time worth it? Granted they give users a peek into the personality of your business, but why not just link your audience to your other social media accounts?


Thanks to the app developers at involver, you can link all those social media channel to your Facebook page in the blink of an eye. Involver developed a series of apps you can insert in the Tabs bar of your Facebook page linking users to your YouTube channel, Twitter feed, Flickr galleries, RSS feed, etc.


It is a free and easy, 5 minute installation process that cleanly integrates with the Facebook interface. Check it out on the Cascade Facebook page.

Brandlive: What camera should I use?

When broadcasting live video, what is the best camera to use:

1. BUILT IN CAMERA: Your first and easiest option is to use the built in camera on your computer. Typically these cameras are about 2-4 megepixels on the newest modules. PRO: is is easy to use, requires little set up and works without fail 99.9% of the time. CON: They do not handle light changes very well so if you are moving around the camera will re-focus and change aperture and it is only good picture quality, not great.
   
2. Logitech USB WEB CAM: These cameras create a really nice image. They are getting better and better every day. Some even come in HD. However, it is important to note that mac/apple don't always work with USB web cameras. Be sure to read if the camera is mac compatible. PRO: really nice picture quality, easy to use, you can get them in wide angle, they often come with a mic built in and you can control zoom with a PC. CON: predictability on a mac, great but not the best possible picture, ability to zoom easily while broadcasting and lack of tri-pod connections.
   
3. CAMCORDER: The highest end option in terms of features and video quality, camcorders provide a number of benefits but there are some things you need to know. 1. the camera must be a mini DV camera with firewire and your computer must have firewire. 2. settings on the camera must be adjusted right for light, exposure and sleep settings. PRO: ability to zoom, ability to record a local copy of the video, tri-pod hook ups, wide angle attachments and picture quality. CON: More options means more can go wrong, firewire is not available on all computers and it requires more set up and lighting.
   

We hope this helps you make the right choice. All options will provide a high quality brandlive video experience, so pick the one that seems right for you.


Web Cameras:
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam_communications/webcams/




Camcorders:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Electronics/Cameras-Camcorders/abcat0403001.c?id=abcat0403001

Getting the Most Out of Your brandlive Sessions

Below you'll find several ideas on how to add value through your brandlive sessions:

1. USE IT and do so often. Make it a practice to frequently broadcast sessions with customers and employees so they're accustom to using it and recognize it as part of your business process.
2. Perfect your pitch. As with any speech and presentation, you want your points to be concise and direct.
3. Place yourself in the viewers shoes. What are the best methods to engaging the viewer and enhancing their experience?
4. Be personable. Talk to the audience as if you were face to face. This is were you add the most value. Joke around, make conversation, don't be stale--just be yourself!
   
5. Be prepared for questions. You never know what you'll be asked.
6. Be creative. Use brandlive where ever you see potential. Set up sessions at events. Use it as a social media tool. Make company announcement via brandlive. We don't limit you on how you can use it so why limit yourself?
7. Evolve. None of our solutions at Cascade are out-of-the-box tools. Brandlive is no exception. If you have an idea on how to improve it, lets talk about it. We're always open to new ideas.