NG Farrell Marketing

We at NG Farrell don't generally offer free advertising for big global coporations. Nor do we think there's a cheque with our name on it coming for the plug we're about to give.

But we know what we like when we see it, and we like Google Sites - a lot!

Our team uses many, if not most, of the free services, products and platforms in the Google family.

At last count, everyone in our office uses:

• Gmail - to manage a wide range of email accounts
• Chrome - a great browser with intuitive keyword search right in your browser navigation window (and a ton of super cool extensions)
• Calendar
• Documents
• Google+ -   a profile and networking tool that helps you enhance your online presence
• Voice - convenienty make free calls to any telephone number in North America - right from your Gmail window (holding a phone to your ear feels so 20th century once you start making telephone calls from your computer)
• Chat
• Hangouts - a really fun way to run way to host and run multi-party video conferencing, with the added convenience of being able to simultaneously take notes, access Google docs,  and, if you're bored, watch a YouTube video, all within one browser window.
• Fusion Tables - still in BETA this tool allows you to visualize data in a few simple steps

But the Google product we're most excited about lately is Sites. With a free Google Apps account, you can start building and sharing a group website in minutes. With a wide range of easy- to-use templates, and some uber-fun plugins such as chat, forums, news etc, Google Sites are a great way to help run projects, especially for project teams that are multi-organizational or have members working from various locations. Not only can you easily add your Google Calendars and Docs, you can use Sites as a central, private repository for those very important project-related files that normally end up as cumbersome email attachments, desktop clutter, and trashbin fillers.

We have been using Sites to help manage projects with our clients for the past half year. They are a great way to keep everyone on the same page, in real time, and (this is big) we have found that they really help mobilize a team and provide an additional level of inspiration and creativity. So many of our client-side users have indicated to us that they learn so much from the experience of using a Google Site with our projects. The site can also be a great, low-pressure training ground for people who are interested in improving their skills and confidence in the area of website management.  Most of the templates are very light on design. We tend to use the most basic templates for our group project sites, so that people don't have to worry about "breaking" the site when they are adding content or making updates. Again, the point of these intranet sites is to provide an easy-to-use, central repository of information, news, documents and communications. Accessibility is key for a team that may include users with diverse levels of experience in web publishing.

So check out Google Sites - or - contact us for some free tips and advice on how you can integrate a Google Site into your own marketing or communications project.

These days it can be a challenge to get your members and target audiences out to events. People are busy, travel is increasingly a nuisance, and everyone is looking for ways to cut back on budgets for hosting or travelling to events. The solution? Broadcast your event sessions live online!

To do so, all you need is a camera and a live connection to the Internet. There are a number of superb hosted solutions that allow you to easily make the connection between your live event and your audiences. Moreover, if you have an easy-to-use web publishing system powering your website (e.g. WordPress, Drupal etc.) you can also easily embed your webcast right on your site. If you know how to embed video from YouTube, then you already know what to do!

Two well-known streaming services are UStream.com and Justin.tv. Now, if you don’t mind having the occasional commercial broadcast along with your event, then you can use these services for free. If that isn’t your taste, or you have sponsorship commitments, there are services with inexpensive pay-as-you-go, or subscription packages that are based on viewer hours. Most services now also have amazing Social Media plug-ins that will easily allow you to promote your broadcast on Twitter, Facebook etc.

Here is a quick list of what you’ll need, and what you’ll need to watch for, as you prepare for your live streaming webcast:

1. Know your audience. Will they watch an event online or not?

2. Choose your date and time, and consider those people who might be in different time zones.

3. Understand what technology services your venue has or can offer you. You’ll want to have a dedicated hardwire Internet for your webcast. We suggest you do a test before you go live to make sure you’re not sharing your Internet connection with 100 hotel guests!

4. Make sure your video camera is the right kind. Read up on it to make sure it can handle streaming video. There are lots of online forums that describe the camera models that support streaming video. If you don’t have one, don’t despair, most cities have camera rental shops and for around $50 you can rent a camera for a day.

5. Decide if you are going to be broadcasting solely on your streaming provider, or also on your website. You will need to know in advance the URL of your show, in order to promote it to your audience and members. If you are going to embed your broadcast on your website, get your page set up in advance, so that you can properly test it. We suggest also creating a test page, in addition to the webpage you will be promoting for the event, so that you can play around with your test broadcast, without worrying that people will be watching and listening (and laughing) while you experiment!

6.  Do a full test in your venue. Like any kind of event, you’ll want to decide on your production values for the event, like the stage setup, lighting, sound etc. So just include your webcast on your main checklist of things to take care in your room or venue, and then you won’t have to worry about it as an afterthought.

7. Most hosted streaming services also provide a live chat feature, which is a great way to get people engaged with your event or presenter. But you’ll want a trusted person to act as moderator, in case the chat starts going in an unwanted direction.

8. If you pay or subscribe to your streaming service, you’ll also be able to record live to that service, and later download your broadcasted event as video. This is great way to kill two birds with one stone, and you’ll have top quality video and audio to repurpose and possibly resell after the event!

We hope you find these tips helpful, and we would love to hear from you if you have any other streaming webcast tips to share, or if you would like to know more about how you can get your event into the offices, homes or mobile devices of people you need to reach.