The latest episode of The Voice is now online.

You can download the episode here, or subscribe to The Voice on iTunes here.

This week’s episode features Danny Star talking to DJ Waldow, the CEO of Waldo Social, to discuss the relevancy of email marketing in 2012, and harnessing the power of Batman and Robin to integrate social and email.

As always, if you’d like to inquire about producing your podcast at the MediaStyle Studio, contact me at travis@mediastyle.ca.

Banner image courtesy Sterlic.

Some of you might already be familiar with The Dirty Rectangles, the team of indie game designers that convene once a month at Avant Garde bar to show off new games and talk shop.

Next Wednesday is their last Show and Tell event of the year, and The Dirty Rectangles are letting me present a talk I did this summer at the Northern Voice conference.

The talk focuses on the idea of “gamifying the news”, but it’s basically an excuse to talk about why gamification marketing methods never work and how proper video game design can encourage people to do un-fun things, like read the news more (that might ruffle a few feathers, but the presentation rests on a pretty specific definition of “fun”).

The event is free and is always packed with interesting people. Feel free to show up check out some games, and disagree with me completely. I love a good debate.

The event is December 21st, 8 PM at the Avant Garde bar. More details can be found at The Dirty Rectangles site.

Banner image courtesy Jaymi Heimbuch and Alfred Hermida.

David MacIntyre has been with us since this summer when he helped us shoot the Beau’s documentary. He’s been an integral part of the team, helping out immensely with all of our client work since we brought him on as a full time co-op student from the University of Ottawa in September.

Starting in January, David joins us as our part-time associate producer. Our massive thanks to David for keeping us sane these last few months, and a warm welcome to our newest team member!

Be sure to follow David on Twitter at Dave_Mac.

We have a few positions open at MediaStyle, scroll down on the blog for more information.

- phone, email and in-person outreach to a diverse group of communities across the country
- working with a team to create an digital hub of activity and vibrant online community
- writing, editing and formatting text for blogs, communications reports, and a variety of other materials
- implementing and monitoring social media campaigns
- drafting and presenting community engagement reports

Our ideal communicator will have:

- post-secondary education in a communications related field
- related communications and community work experience

- strong writing and editing skills
- an ability to shoot and edit video OR visual design experience

- confident communications and presenting skills
- experience working to tight deadlines

- ability to work in French (considered an asset)

We’re located in downtown Ottawa, where we work a standard 37.5 work week with flexible hours. This is a six-month contract with the possibility of extension.
Please email travis [@] mediastyle.ca with your portfolio and cover letter.

The Producer’s responsibilities will include:

- editing and recording audio and video
- assisting at events and video shoots
- writing, editing and formatting text for blogs, communications reports, and a variety of other materials
- implementing and monitoring social media campaigns

Our ideal communicator will have:

- some post-secondary education in a communications related field
- related communications work experience
- strong writing and editing skills
- an ability to shoot and edit video OR visual design experience
- confident communications and presenting skills
- experience working to tight deadlines
- ability to work in French (considered an asset)

We’re located in downtown Ottawa, where we work a standard 37.5 work week with flexible hours. Please email travis [@] mediastyle.ca with your portfolio and cover letter.

OpenFile invited me to blog for them as part of their new Saturday coverage and I got to write about some stories MediaStyle readers would love.

Here’s a brief rundown of what I got up to:

The MorningFile and Saturday Reads were all the news you needed today.

Reporter Glen McGregor crowdsourced the research for a profile inspired by @WeAreTheDead.

Everything you need to read about pedestrian safety this week.

Who designed the new John McRae memorial garden?

A list of clubs for Ottawa robot enthusiasts.

Banner image courtesy TheGiantVermin.

Last week I posted a teaser for a documentary I’m shooting about modern homes in Ottawa.

I was also hard at work producing an OpenFile story about a promising new modern development in Hintonburg. You can find that story right here.

For a quick summary of what the building will look like, I produced this video to accompany the story. It features architect Anthony Bruni of Colizza Bruni Architecture describing some interesting features of his latest design.

Banner image courtesy Anthony Bruni.

One of the most important communications fundamentals is that media attention begets more media attention.

The bigger the media outlet interested in your story the more interest you will receive in the weeks that follow. Size matters– well, distribution size, specifically. If the New York Times picks up your story you’re set for a few weeks of media attention. Print media (newspapers and blog) tends to provoke radio stories and TV needs images to make news, so the better the images and colour, the more likely others will want to capture your story on video.

Media events, when executed correctly, can help shortcut the standard “pitch and place” of public relations and help make the story fresh again for reporters.

Keep a few important questions in mind when planning your media event:

What is it going to look like on TV? What visuals am I showing to the media?

How many people can reasonably speak at the press conference/event?

Does it really deserve a full media event? Is this really new news?

Makeup, lighting, technology that works, and convenient for reporters to use are essential elements

Crowd briefing, placement, blocking and scripts should all be rehearsed ahead of time, and several times if possible

And finally, always keep in mind “media makes more media.” So how are you going to keep the story alive through several news cycles? How do you add fuel to a story once a few outlets have covered it?

Photo courtesy Jennuine Captures

1) Sound board with outlets for recorders: a simple order from most technical rental companies, these handy devices allow journalists to plug in their recorders straight to the sound source

2) Lighting: outside or inside, please light your own press conference. Test it on camera and then inform the camera people what the light temperature is on arrival. For bonus points, hold up a blank white card on occasion for white balances.

3) Podium: no matter what bright light tries to convince you that “a music stand will work fine” or “a mic stand is more approachable,” don’t believe them and rent a podium. Lug it up the hill if need be. Just make sure your spokesperson has a solid object to stand behind. It’s a press conference, not an episode of Donahue.

4) Staff: communications people run press conferences, not spokespeople. This is an important lesson, always have a few extra pair of hands to help find plugs, hand out releases and trouble shoot. Skills needed: whip-smart intelligence, common sense, sense of humor and ability to stay out of the camera shots.

5) Control: You can’t touch journalists. Ever. But, you can kindly ask them to take seats if they are provided, stand back a bit in a scrum format (where all the reporters huddle around) and ask their questions one at a time. You can’t control what they ask. But, you can politely set some boundaries.

(A note here about live TV cameras: there are more and more attending press conferences and broadcasting live, you can nicely ask other shooters to stay out of live shots. But, really… it’s best if you just inform the the live-camera operators where you fear their might be a problem and let them work it out. Almost never fails.)

Banner image courtesy NASA Goddard