The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Stylitics

Quick Pitch: Mint.com for your closet.

Genius Idea: A new way to organize your wardrobe and track your spending.

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If you’re like me, your sense of your wardrobe is slightly nebulous. You might be able to recall half the brands and items in it, but you wouldn’t be able to tell me, for instance, how often you wear pencil skirts compared to A-line skirts, or whether you tend to wear Banana Republic clothing more often with accessories from J Crew or H&M.

Now you can. Stylitics, which launched in private beta in November 2011, is an analytics dashboard that does for your closet what Mint.com does for your finances.

Well, almost. What’s wonderful about Mint.com is that you only need enter your credit card details for it to work; the application automatically scans and compiles your spending data into charts and pie graphs. Stylitics likewise takes your data and makes it visual, but you have to input it yourself. Locating, categorizing and tagging everything in your closet is a labor-intensive process. Fortunately, it’s labor you can parcel out over time.

Stylitics is built around your personal style calendar (pictured below). Start by “checking in” your outfits every day, and pretty soon most of your closet will be saved to your profile. Over time, Stylitics will help you track how much you’re spending on clothes, the brands you wear the most, and what brands you tend to pair with other brands. You can also glance back at your calendar to see what outfits you wore when and at what temperatures.

Stylitics doesn’t just reward you with visual data. The company also doles out points for using the service, which you can redeem for free goods, discounts and other perks from brands and retailers. Each brand has its own profile page that allows you to connect with them elsewhere on the web.

Stylitics has raised $850,000 to date, primarily from angel investors, according to cofounder Zach Davis. The startup has no intention of pursuing an ad or affiliate revenue model, at least for now. Instead, Stylitics plans to generate revenue by working with brands, retailers and media partners to “give them a window into what their customers are wearing and buying, and how they’re being influenced in real time,” says Davis.

Next on the roadmap? Moving the site into public beta, and launching mobile apps that will help people add to and manage their Stylitics accounts on the go. The company is also working with several brands and retailers to give users the ability to sync their online purchases immediately to their Stylitics accounts. That feature would, in fact, make Stylitics a good deal more like Mint.com.
 

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Invites

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Stylitics is still in private beta, but is kindly inviting Mashable readers in. Just use the code mashable over on the signup page.

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Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

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The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

More About: fashion, retail, stylitics

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The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: BetaBait

Quick Pitch: BetaBait connects startups with beta testers.

Genius Idea: Access to early adopters that doesn’t require PR skills.

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Startups that want to reach early adopters often resort to contacting publications. But I have 3,640 unopened emails in my inbox that can attest to the efficiency of that route.

“For somebody who doesn't have a public relations background and is tech focused, it can be pretty hard,” BetaBait co-founder Cody Barbierri says.

Barbierri does have a public relations background, and he’s figured out a way to share it with the startup founders who don’t. He’s busy promoting BetaBait, a site he hopes will net startups beta testers without any press.

Here’s how it works: Users who like to test apps sign up to receive daily emails. Startups sign up to have their services included in those emails for free. BetaBait keeps track of each app and feedback related to it in a database.

Barbierri is growing the database through the traditional PR route (see exhibit A here) and his connections. Thanks largely to these efforts, about 3,000 testers have signed on to BetaBait since it launched two months ago.

Now when a startup wants to reach those 3,000 people, they can do it through BetaBait instead of the press — the main advantage being that BetaBait isn’t very strict with its screening. As long as it’s functional and appropriate, it will be posted on the site.

Another advantage for the 750 participating startups is that BetaBait only reaches people who actually want to test apps. Why, you might ask, do these people want to spend their time testing apps? The startup is looking into building more incentives for app testing into its site, but Barbierri doesn’t think users need much motivation.

“The great thing about these early adopters is that they don't need incentive,” he says. “They want to have an app first.”

BetaBait recently started offering startups the opportunity to sponsor its daily emails. It’s launching a redesign on Monday that includes Reddit-style voting and the option to receive news of new apps through an RSS feed rather than through e-mails. Barbierri says he’d like to see the list, which started as a practical project, become a more substantial site.

We’ve seen some crazy takes on breaching the disconnect between app makers and testers, including one that involved auctioning off equity. Can BetaBait’s solution, which relies heavily on testers’ desire to test, be more successful? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, pressureUA

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Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

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The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

More About: betabait, bizspark, Startups

For more Business coverage:

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This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Companies that rely on a visual or photographic web presence often find it difficult to convey their media on Twitter. Take, for instance, apparel brands that need to get social media eyes on their merchandise, or a design firm that seeks exposure. How can these types of businesses ensure that Twitter followers see their wares?

Ecommerce or design companies may prefer Facebook, due to its inherently visual and expansive nature. However, businesses these days can't afford to bypass Twitter entirely — especially because many people keep their Twitter feeds open all day long.

Read on to discover four pillars of "visual tweeting," or how to make sure that your Twitter followers get the picture.

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1. Twitter Voice Should Be Consistent and Relevant

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Obviously not all businesses can afford to hire a social media manager who monitors and shares across social channels full-time. However, try to keep the same individual tweeting most of the time so that your Twitter account's voice and style remains consistent.

That said, people come to visual-centric brands for a reason. They follow these types of companies and individuals in the hope of discovering new clothing, products, design tips and inspiration in general. Therefore, be sure to provide that very thing.

Amazing new borderless display from LG. Now this looks like the future. cl.ly/D0TS

— Mike Rundle (@flyosity) January 2, 2012

Remember these two tips: Be descriptive and be relevant. If you want to share a new collection of animal print blouses or a fancy new gadget, explain as much about the product as you can in 140 characters. If you include detail, like in designer Mike Rundle’s tweet above, people will be more inclined to click when they're intrigued by the prospect of a visual payoff. Then, either link or embed an image at the end of your description.

Inexplicable craving for Lucky Charms – does this ever happen to anybody else?

— Topshop (@Topshop) January 5, 2012

On the other hand, if your Twitter account represents a visual brand, don't get too personal to the point of being off-topic (read: Lucky Charms?). People are following your business, not your personal account, for a reason. It's a tough balance to strike, especially because people want to feel that a brand is relatable and human. A good rule of thumb is to keep every tweet related to your visually-pleasing products or personal brand, but to kill two birds with one stone by injecting a fun or off-beat voice at the same time.

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2. Favor Native Images

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Now that you've got a tweet's description down, it's time to attach an image. There's no rule that says you must embed your images into your Twitter feed, but now that Twitter allows you to do it, why not make it easier for your followers?

Third-party photo apps like Instagram, TwitPic and yfrog allow you to attach images to a tweet that can be expanded immediately within a Twitter feed, so the user doesn’t have to jump to a photo app’s website. Keep in mind, however, that these apps perform differently on mobile. For instance, on Twitter's iPhone app, Instagram kicks you out to a separate page, but you're able to view a TwitPic image directly underneath the tweet. Perform a test-run to determine which app suits your business best.

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3. Pageviews Are Paramount

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Although embedding images into tweets is convenient and visually pleasing, you're likely still clamoring for pageviews, and therefore, will want to link out to your site as often as possible. That means you'll have to be more strategic than ever.

15% OFF for type lovers at @FontShop until Friday. Use ‘Veerle15′ in the promo code field. fontshop.com

— Veerle Pieters (@vpieters) January 4, 2012

Try putting attractive language at the beginning of a tweet that your followers can't resist. Designer Veerle Pieters advertises a sale using caps lock, and then directs people to her site.

The Doctor is in. ow.ly/8jCMX

— NASTY GAL (@NastyGal) January 5, 2012

Above all, don't be vague or else people won't click through to see your product or design, ultimately losing you valuable pageviews. For example, women's apparel company Nasty Gal may have a distinct and irreverent voice, but its tweets often do little to introduce attached links. How are we supposed to know that "The Doctor is in" refers to a blog post about Doc Martens?

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4. Backgrounds Still Matter

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Although more and more people are accessing Twitter profiles via simplified mobile design or dashboard applications like TweetDeck, you might still consider customizing your Twitter.com profile background.

Take a tip from Etsy, which set up a contest for users to submit a background design. Winning designs were featured as Etsy's Twitter profile background for one month.

Or create your own background that reflects your product or design aesthetic. But be sure to take into account Twitter's new profile design, which locates the tweet feed on the right-hand side of the page, and lists and suggestions on the left-hand side. Therefore, don't let important images fall underneath your profile's opaque boxes. For instance, can you spot the elusive third model in Topshop's background above?

Instead of obscuring important information, create images that account for the placement and width of the Twitter feed, like designer Grace Smith, whose left-hand mini-bio adds a smart touch.

How do you or the brands you follow optimize a tweet to reflect its visual content? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, SteveByland

More About: design, ecommerce, fashion, features, Marketing, open forum, Twitter

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Crowd-sourced social photo sharing appears to be the latest community engagement trend among professional sports teams, largely powered by the online startup Olapic.

Olapic’s service allows organizations to quickly and easily enable fans, readers or other types of audiences to submit photos of their own experiences at a game or event. Members of a crowd use social networks to submit their photos to the larger organization. The photos are then automatically collected on a subdomain and published after a moderator approves them. No new site, no new laborious curation process.

After launching in June by running a crowdsourcing campaign with the New York Daily News for the city’s gay pride parade, Olapic has found a niche with sports teams. It has since partnered with the New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts of the NFL; the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks; and international soccer powerhouse FC Barcelona. Olapic is also running a new contest with the Giants for Super Bowl XLVI.

“Everyone has a camera now and everyone is taking pictures, so what we’re trying to do is help these sports teams and brands leverage those photos in a new way,” Olapic co-founder Jose de Cabo said in an interview. “We want to help replicate that warm, fuzzy feeling people get again and again.”

Crowdsourcing photos isn’t a new idea, but Olapic makes it exceptionally easy to do so. Photographers snap a shot and upload it to a page of the team’s website or — easier yet — tweet it to the team’s Twitter handle. Tweeted photos are automatically sent to the corresponding team page, then go live after a moderator approves, which they can do in batches. When the submission is published, the photographer gets an automated tweet back letting them know.

Teams have so far used the service to run a variety of promotions, often for prizes like gear or tickets. The Mavericks told fans to imitate their star player’s signature move, and FC Barcelona asked fans to submit supportive photos when their star suffered an injury.

The Ravens ran a contest in which they painted a series of golden logos around the Baltimore area. Fans who found and submitted a picture of themselves with the hidden emblem were entered in a drawing for free tickets to the AFC Championship game last month.

Dave Lang, the Ravens’ digital media manager, said that the team ran a similar contest last year but received about four times as many submissions after adopting Olapic’s solution. Lang also said that several fans were so excited to see their photos on the Ravens’ official site that they would then capture screenshots to post to their own Facebook or Twitter pages.

While Olapic can be used for a variety of purposes, the marriage between social photo sharing and sports seems especially strong.

“Football isn’t just about the game. There are so many things that go on around it like fan clubs, tailgating, and traveling to road games,” Lang told Mashable. “So this is obviously something people get really excited about and a way to get them involved creatively on a more personal level.”

More About: Marketing, photography, Social Media

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If you’re not aware of Kim Dotcom, the man who changed his last name to pay homage to the World Wide Web, we offer you this brief history lesson. Born in Germany, Kim Schmitz (a.ka. King Kimble, a.k.a. King of the Kimpire, a.k.a. The Kim-pin), is a larger-than-life Internet hustler who hauled in money hand-over-fist by creating Megaupload, a site that essentially allows — er, allowed — people to share copyrighted content.

But that’s not all. His flair for the grandiose knew no terrestrial bounds. He loved to race fast cars and he coveted beautiful women — sometimes having them sprawl out on top of his massive, 6′ 7″ frame. His exact size remains somewhat of a mystery — it seems like each reporter uses a different measuring tape. His list of eccentricities goes on.

Check out our gallery and regale us with your favorite Kim Dotcom stories or anecdotes in the comments.

Additional reporting for this piece was contributed by Sam Laird.

1. MegaRacer Domination Ends

Until recently, Kim Dotcom was the top Modern Warfare 3 player in the world. He even apparently posted a video to prove it. We imagine it's tough to maintain such a coveted position while being held in jail for multiple copyright violations.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: Kim Dotcom, Mega, Mega Upload, Upload

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Macala Wright is the publisher of FashionablyMarketing.Me, one of the leading fashion and retail industry business websites. She is a retail consultant and business strategist who specializes in marketing consulting for fashion, luxury and lifestyle brands. You can follower her on Twitter at @InsideFMM or @Macala.

In 2010, branded content was one the largest trends among retailers and brands. In 2011, branded content shifted to branded entertainment. Now, in 2012, we’ll look toward content cultivation and aggregation.

By creatively using Pinterest and Tumblr, brands are becoming enthralled with consumer curation, primarily because these types of curated sites create non-linear paths to purchases.

First, retailers post visually appealing images and ideas that are accessible to the online user/consumer. Then, consumers post those images to curated sites. From there, retailers can build brand awareness by directly linking to product pages and encouraging purchase conversions.

"We're demonstrating the power of peer-to-peer shopping search," says Buyosphere's Tara Hunt. "Algorithms are a long way off from picking up nuances that a person can. And personal taste is full of nuance."

The future of ecommerce, search and social marketing is now tied to personality-influenced consumer curation. Here are 10 product discovery and sharing sites worth paying attention to.

1. Mulu

Launched in December 2011, Mulu is a social platform for sharing the things you love and making the world a better place at the same time. Mulu allows users to make product recommendations, ask for suggestions and earn money for themselves or a social cause they want to support.

Mulu CEO and founder Amaryllis Fox says, "Zooey Deschanel and HelloGiggles are using their Mulu to support 826 LA, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write."

Click here to view this gallery.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tetsuomorita

More About: content curation, ecommerce, features, Marketing, pinterest, Social Media, social shopping

Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks.

Century 21 has enlisted a team of celebrities for its first-ever Super Bowl commercial.

Reality TV star and business mogul Donald Trump, Pro Football Hall of Fame member Deion Sanders and Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno will help showcase what Century 21 feels are the primary characteristics of the company’s agents: “Smarter. Bolder. Faster.”

In the 30-second ad, which will air Sunday on NBC during a third-quarter commercial break, the trio is seen participating in the home-buying and home-selling process as a Century 21 agent one-ups each of them.

“The Super Bowl offers an unparalleled stage for showcasing our agents and their capabilities, and we wanted to make sure we were taking full advantage of the opportunity to quickly impact not only the more than 110 million viewers expected to tune in, but their social sphere as well,” Bev Thorne, Century 21‘s chief marketing officer, told Mashable. “Celebrities help us do just that — not only as stars of the commercial, but by building excitement for the ad on their own social networks.”

Historically, brands and agencies have often mixed in high-profile faces into their Super Bowl commercials, which this year cost $3.5 million each. On Sunday alone, for example, actor Jerry Seinfeld will be in Acura NSX‘s ad and actor Matthew Broderick (playing Ferris Bueller) reportedly will be in another ad.

SEE ALSO: Coca-Cola Polar Bears Will Watch, React to Super Bowl in Real Time

The celebrities tend to have strong online followings, which likely incite significant mentions on social networks for the brands shilling out the bucks to feature them. Trump, Sanders and Ohno have more than 1.6 million followers on Twitter and 840,000 fans on Facebook.

“All three are very active in the social space,” Thorne says. “Through social media we are able to amplify our message online.”

Philadelphia-based Red Tettemer + Partners created the ad for Century 21.

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BONUS: Are These the 10 Funniest Super Bowl Commercials Ever?

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1. Sprint

This ad from 2006 shows off a Sprint phone's advanced theft-deterring technology.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: Advertising, celebrities, century 21, Entertainment, Super Bowl

Travel is so much easier when you’re prepared and know what to expect. Airfare shopping website CheapAir.com now lets you find out which flights offer Wi-Fi, live TV and movies before you book.

Onboard technology can make flying a much more pleasurable and productive experience. But unless you book with a particular airline that offers Wi-Fi on every flight, you’re not guaranteed these services. There is often little or no difference between the price of flights with or without WiFi and live TV — but the difference in experience can make or break your flight.

A spokesperson from CheapAir.com said she didn’t know the exact number of flights with Wi-Fi but did say “from our experience, on domestic flights it's about 20% for WiFi and 10% for Live TV. For international flights, both are less common but that will change over the next couple years.”

CheapAir will never say a flight has Wi-Fi unless it is certain. The service is not yet perfected: In some rare cases, you might book a flight thinking there is no Wi-Fi or live TV and be surprised that the flight does offer those amenities.

We also asked if travelers can find out which movies will be playing on flights. No, said CheapAir, but “flights with personal video monitors and movies-on-demand usually have a pretty decent number of choices and a lot of variety to cater to every jetsetter’s tastes.”

CheapAir.com did issue one caveat: “last minute maintenance problems can, on rare occasions, lead to an aircraft change with fewer features.”

Over time, though, more airlines will be updated with modern technologies that consumers demand, making the probably of ending up on a WiFi enabled plane — even with maintenance problems — a more likely scenario.

CheapAir started in 1989 and operated from a call center under the name 1-800-CHEAP-AIR. The company was founded in a University of Michigan dorm room by Jeff Klee.

While Mashable was interviewing CheapAir, we thought we’d take the opportunity to tap them for travel booking tips. Here’s what they said:

• “A great travel trip that isn't widely known is that, very generally speaking, the cheapest day of the week to buy domestic airline tickets is Tuesday. In fact, Tuesday late afternoon or evening. This is because most weeks one or more airlines will announce a mid-week sale Monday night or Tuesday morning. To stay competitive, other airlines will typically match those sale fares and by Tuesday night all of them have will have joined. The sales usually last one to three days, but availability is best toward the beginning of that window.”

What do you think about CheapAir.com? Will you use it? How important is it to you to have Wi-Fi or live TV on airplanes when you travel? Tell us in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Clintus McGintus

More About: airfare, cheap airfare, travel

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News of Facebook‘s IPO swamped the Internet earlier this week, when the company’s 213-page S-1 document went up on the SEC’s website, promptly crashing it.

In addition to confirming previous reports that the filing was imminent, the document contained numerous interesting facts that many have long been wondering, such as the company’s revenue, how much Mark Zuckerberg makes, and who the company’s highest-paid employees are.

There were also several key company insights disclosed, such as the factors that Facebook considers to be risks.

Additionally, Mark Zuckerberg himself wrote a letter to potential shareholders, in which he said that Facebook was created for a “social mission – to make the world more open and connected.”

It’s a fascinating look at Facebook, but also a massive document full of legalese and complicated facts. We’ve done our best to break down the most important figures and bits of information, but now you can test yourself: how well do you know the Facebook IPO? Take our quiz below and let us know in the comments what questions you have.

More About: Facebook, facebook ipo, mark zuckerberg, Social Media

If you bought a smartphone in 2011 — and didn’t buy a PC — you were part of a history-making trend.

For the first year ever, total PC sales around the world were outpaced by total smartphone sales, in units at least, according to data released Friday by market analyst firm Canalsys. Nearly 488 million smartphones were shipped, compared to just (just!) 415 million PCs.

SEE ALSO: The PC: Old, Unsexy and Still King of The World

Of course, this doesn’t mean PCs are dead. The global PC market grew 15% in 2011, Canalsys says — almost entirely because of the 274% increase in tablet sales, which itself is largely due to the iPad. (Canalsys counts the tablet as a PC, which is not exactly a settled point).

The real story here is the inexorable rise of the smartphone. Total shipments of the devices grew by a whopping 63% over 2011. Again, this was partly driven by the success of Apple; thanks to the iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S, the Cupertino company not only smashed the record for the most smart phones shipped globally by any single vendor in one quarter, it also displaced Nokia as the world’s leading smartphone vendor. (Nokia’s Symbian-based devices, very popular in the global market count as smartphones.)

For those of us in the U.S. who are quite familiar with — even blaze about — the iPhone’s market dominance, this global performance is something of an untold story. Apple shipped an incredible 93.1 million iPhones worldwide in 2011, a growth of 96% over 2010.

Figures like that simply have not been seen before. Nokia’s record was 28 million smartphones shipped in a quarter; Apple’s new record, set in Q4 of 2011, is 38 million. To be fair, the record would have been smashed with or without Apple; Samsung shipped 33 million smartphones in Q4.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, svariophoto

More About: apple, Nokia, PCs, samsung, smartphones

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Stephen Colbert asked his fans to share his passion for space by donating to NASA to support its work with the International Space Station.

Colbert rallied behind NASA’s efforts to create alternative vaccines to fight diseases — including salmonella and pneumonia — that have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

“I love looking up at the stars and wondering what distant planets are still out there and to be discovered and can we frack them for methane,” Colbert joked in his public service announcement released on NASA’s website on Thursday.

NASA has long enjoyed Colbert’s support. In 2009, Colbert urged his viewers to nominate his last name when NASA asked the public to suggest names for the Node 3, a room in the space station. Colbert won the majority of votes, but NASA didn’t want to name the space module after him. The space station chose the name Tranquility instead.

“We don’t typically name U.S. space station hardware after living people and this is no exception,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations in a NASA statement.

NASA did name the treadmill the astronauts train on after Colbert. It’s called COLBERT, which is an acronym for “combined operational load bearing external resistance treadmill.” But the treadmill isn’t enough for Colbert — he wants the space station to create caramel space chip swirl ice cream. Doesn’t that sound tasty?

Colbert has become a sort of spokesperson for the space agency. Does his love for NASA motivate you to donate to space research?

More About: International Space Station, NASA, space, stephen colbert

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Social and mobile technologies aren’t just important for guerilla marketing campaigns and grassroots outreach.

They’re also changing how the world’s biggest broadcast media companies do business.

Mashable recently spoke with top executives and personalities from the sports behemoth ESPN during the company’s biggest week of the year for Super Bowl XLVI. The interviews reveal how the evolution of digital impacts the original mass broadcast medium — what is traditionally thought of as “radio.”

Perhaps nothing shows the shifting landscape better than a recent name change for ESPN’s audio division. Until about three years ago, the entire division — the company’s second-most consumed medium, behind its ubiquitous television presence — was known simply as ESPN Radio.

“Then we said, ‘Looking at the trends out there, we shouldn’t be just ESPN Radio,’” Mo Davenport, a senior vice president and general manager of the company’s audio division, said. “We recognized that we should really be ESPN Audio and realign ourselves with saying that we want to serve sports fans at any time, wherever they are, and on whatever platform they want to be served on.”

That increasingly expands beyond traditional broadcast. In 2011, ESPN Audio podcasts were downloaded 358 million times — a 129% percent increase from 2010. A quarter of digital listening was done through mobile devices, according to company representatives. On the ESPNRadio.com website, more than 10 million listening hours are logged per month, according to measurement company AndoMedia.

During Super Bowl XLVI week, the sports world’s most elaborate annual media circus, ESPN Audio combines with the television division to create 110 hours of programming. The avalanche of content is produced by some 350 producers, writers, editors, event staff and other personnel, according to company representatives. ESPN Audio executives said they expect much of their Super Bowl XLVI week programming to be consumed digitally.

But behind the microphone, it’s social media that has had the biggest impact. Mike Golic, one of the co-hosts of ESPN’s hit radio show Mike & Mike in the Morning, said that social media’s “immediacy of reaction” has changed the way he and partner Mike Greenberg operate.

When Golic and Greenberg began their show more than a decade ago, they would solicit listener feedback via phone — and even fax. Assistants would print out faxed-in opinions during breaks to be read and discussed on the air. Now, as their show is both broadcast live on radio stations and packaged for future download, they receive a constant stream of user feedback via Twitter.

Greenberg said that’s especially true during Super Bowl week, “when show prep is basically your life,” and he and Golic report on and discuss not just the game itself but the hullabaloo surrounding its build-up.

“The world has become one continuous conversation that everyone can take part in now,” Greenberg said. “Now you feel like the leader of a huge chat and you’re just in charge of steering it. It’s a fascinating dynamic.”

According to Davenport, that philosophy applies to the ESPN Audio’s executive level too.

“It’s not longer a one-way street, where you have athletes and producers saying, ‘I’m giving you this, be happy with it,’” he said.

“That influence of digital technology is only going to continue to grow,” Davenport said. “It’s going to massively impact our business, but I think that the culture we have around here is, ‘Bring it on.’ People who decide that their businesses can stay static are the ones who will be left in the dust.”

Image of Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg courtesy of Frank Dale/ESPNRadio.com

More About: Business, Media, Super Bowl XLVI

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Meaghan Edelstein has gained national media attention through her blog, I Kicked Cancer’s Ass, which she started to document her battle with end stage cancer. She is an attorney, the founder of the non-profit organization Spirit Jump, and works for the Global Strategic Management Institute.

Working with hundreds of speakers as an event producer, I've learned a lot about what makes a speaker truly great. Below, four nationally recognized speakers — all of whom I've had the pleasure of working with — share their insights on how to give a stellar presentation that resonates with any audience and gets them invited to speak again.

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Know Your Audience

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Whether you've been asked to speak or you're pitching a session, the first step is to research your potential audience. Knowing the audience provides speakers with information necessary to craft an on-point, well received presentation. You will want to know several things about the audience including, their level of sophistication in the area you're presenting, learning objectives and topics of interest.

Rick Wion, director of social media for McDonald’s, has been speaking publicly since 1997. "If you don't know your audience, you are pretty much guaranteed to fail,” says Wion. “Your presentation could be too rudimentary, too advanced or completely off topic without understanding the core audience."

There are numerous ways to get to know an audience in advance of an event. These can include contacting event organizers to ask about audience make-up, researching past events, reading the agenda, checking out other speakers and finding out what other session topics are being offered. Marcy Massura is Weber Shandwick's digital community manager and the co-founder and president of the largest North American regional blogging organization, BlogCrush. She says, "Understanding your audience is key to your success." In preparation for any speaking engagement, Massura "[asks] for attendee lists and often watches videos of previous speakers. Keep in mind, many attendees return to the same conference year after year."

Knowing the audience puts you at a distinct advantage because your session will be more likely to resonate. This is something Jeffrey Hayzlett, best-selling author and former CMO of Kodak, knows. Publicly speaking for over 20 years and at least 70 times a year, Hayzlett always takes the time to know his audience because, as he states, "the audience walks away appreciating that the speaker has taken the time to understand them and be honest with them."

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Selecting the Right Session

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Crafting the right session topic with your audience in mind is a must. Select an on-point topic and work with event organizers to get your session approved. Do your research and ask producers what other sessions are being offered, read the agenda and abstracts and all the while keep in mind what expertise you have to offer. Wion shares, "It is important to have a well-rounded set of topics within a given event, so I am always flexible in what I present and try to tailor it to be complementary and not repetitive to the rest of the event's content."

Charlene Li, founding partner of Altimeter Group, has been speaking publicly since 1996. When crafting her keynotes Li looks "at the specific needs of the audience and then prioritizes. I find that many sessions either try to cover too much or they are not focused on what the audience wants and needs to learn."

In addition to having the right topic and including relevant issues, great sessions also keep an audience interested and engaged. This might mean you will have to be flexible, and if speaking often, keep reshaping your presentation in order to avoid getting stale.

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Putting Your Presentation Together

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Having worked with many speakers, I've found the process of putting a presentation together varies dramatically, and all depends on what works best for the individual.

If this is your first time putting together a deck, selecting a presentation software tool will be the first step. There are lots of fantastic presentation software options including PowerPoint, Keynote and Prezi. You may want to play around with several of them to find what works best for you.

Many speakers prefer PowerPoint because it is easy to work with and easy for audiences to follow. Massura explains, "People think linearly — brains like concepts on separate pieces of 'paper.' PowerPoint gives a sense of progress as the slides change. It might be old school, but it works."

Whatever tool you use, do not rely on it too heavily. What truly matters is the content and your delivery. Wion advises, "The best use of any presentation tool is to help organize your thoughts … but that should be the extent of the use of these tools. Successful speakers know the material well enough to work from scribbled notes as much as a glitzy presentation."

For those who expect to speak at numerous events, having several presentations on a variety of topics and simply reshaping them to fit the particular event and audience is suggested. Both Massura and Li present at a variety of events throughout the year. Massura often works "for many months on a new presentation. I might use it with small changes for more than one conference." Li shares that in order to keep her keynotes fresh and on-point, she has "a few base presentations which I modify for each speech."

After selecting the right presentation software tool, you'll need to fill it with relevant and compelling content. Presentations containing bright and exciting images, few words and which move along at a good pace tend to do better. "I use very few words on my slides,” says Massura. “I want people to listen to me — not be reading the screen. The right visuals can make or break your deck."

This may be difficult at first, as you will undoubtedly have lots of things you'll want to put on slides, but as Hayzlett advises, "Do not come to the stage with hundreds of slides, each with 50 bullet points that no one can read. Understand that your audience is filled with "real people" — people who are running the gauntlet of business every day."

Finally, you will want to practice. Being prepared allows speakers to do their best on presentation day. Even the most seasoned speakers practice. Keynote speaker Li believes, "The most important thing to practice is your opening — you need to have this nailed because if you get a last minute case of the jitters, your practice will put you into auto-pilot and sweep you into the momentum of the presentation. But just as important is your close — when you step off the stage, what will be the last impression that you leave?"

While practicing is recommended and even encouraged, do not turn your presentation into a memorized monologue. Massura practices but avoids "full fledged rehearsals because they can really spoil the 'magic' of a presentation." So what is the right amount of rehearsal? Wion advises "Practice to the point that you know your material to a conversational point but don't over practice to the point that you can't adjust."

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It's Presentation Time

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If you've taken the time to know your audience, selected the right session topic, pulled together a presentation you're proud of and practiced sufficiently, this part should come together easily.

Wowing the audience is a surefire way to leave a lasting impression, and the best presentations all share key aspects: They connect with the audience, tell a story and teach something valuable. How can you incorporate all three?

Connect through simple gestures, like making eye contact rather than looking down at notes, moving around and even getting off the stage. Hayzlett reminds us, "Your connection with the audience is a function of your energy, passion, preparation and genuineness."

Wion of McDonald’s does several things to make his presentations stand out. "I love to wear my vintage Mayor McCheese t-shirt — helps me represent the brand in a different and memorable way. And I hand out freebies, because who doesn't like free food?" Handing out swag as a reward for people who ask and answer questions is a guaranteed way to get audiences involved.

Another successful trick is to incorporate a company you know will be in the crowed, says Li. "I will ask the organizers if there are companies that are held in high regard, or [have] knowledge of ‘inside baseball.’ I’ll put up a screenshot of the company and ask them to stand up. They are usually surprised and thrilled to be included and recognized in the presentation!"

Telling a compelling story will help you avoid putting on a “Death by PowerPoint” presentation. According to seasoned speaker Wion, "the emotion of a tale is remembered long after even your most compelling numbers have faded from memory."

Finally, be sure your presentation is not only entertaining but also educates. Keep in mind people attend conferences with the hope of learning new strategies and tactics. Those presentations that meet learning objects stand out.

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It's Not Over Yet

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After you've finished speaking, it's a perfect time to continue your relationship with the audience. "I love meeting the audience following my presentations. We take photos and I always encourage them to post to my Facebook and Twitter accounts. I love staying in touch via social media and keeping the conversation going," shares Hayzlett. Continue to network, build your community and wow long after you walk off stage. Presenting creates a perfect opportunity to build your personal brand, so take advantage.

Be sure to get feedback from attendees and event organizers so that you can make your next presentation even more memorable. "One way to do this is to go back and read the Twitter feed to see what resonated and answer questions that people may have posed," says Li. Whether you read the Twitter feed, talk to people post-presentation, or review evaluations from event organizers, don't miss out on an opportunity to grow and improve your presentation skills.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, kupicoo

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Virgin Galactic, the aspiring space tourism company founded by Sir Richard Branson, is on track to begin powered test flights of its spaceship this summer, with the goal of starting passenger flights in 2013.

Virgin CEO George Whitesides discussed the coming test flights at a meeting in January with the Aerospace & Defense Forum. The coming test flights mark the first time the spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo will fire the actual rocket that it will use to fly into sub-orbit, 60-plus miles above the Earth.

In the first part of the flight, SpaceShipTwo is carried into the air by WhiteKnightTwo, a special plane built specifically for that purpose. Virgin has been performing test flights that involve SpaceShipTwo gliding back down to the ground for more than a year.

“Over the next few months we’re integrating parts and pieces of the hybrid rocket motor into the SpaceShipTwo airframe, completing ground testing of the rocket motor, and then [will] try and start powered flight over the summer,” Whitesides told SPACE.com. The tests will continue over many months, and Whitesides says he hopes they’ll get to space altitudes by the end of the year.

He also said he hopes Virgin Galactic will begin commercial operations by 2013. Originally, Virgin had planned to start ferrying passengers into space by 2008. That was later pushed back to 2010, then 2012.

SEE ALSO: Virgin Galactic to Charter Suborbital Flights to Space With NASA

Natasha Pavlovich, a Serbian-American who was one of the first people to buy a ticket on Virgin Galactic, isn’t getting her hopes up that the 2013 date will stick.

“I wish it would have happened sooner,” Pavlovich told Mashable. “But in light of safety, there’s no time limit. I don’t think it’ll be for another several years, because every year for the last six years they’ve been saying ‘next year.’”

The multiple delays haven’t dampened Pavlovich’s determination to fly into space, however: “I’d still like to venture into space and carry the American and Serbian flags up there,” she says.

Virgin isn’t deterred either. Even though it hasn’t put a single passenger in orbit yet, it’s already begun construction of a second pair of vehicles — another WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo — in anticipation of demand for flights. Whitesides said they’ve already collected $60 million on tickets, representing $100 million worth of business.

Are you optimistic that Virgin Galactic will start flying for real next year? Or do you think it’ll be delayed again? Let us know in the comments.

More About: space, space tourism, Virgin Galactic

Apple has updated the End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) for its iBooks Author app, clarifying its terms and ownership conditions.

Immediately after its release, the EULA for iBooks Author was torn apart by the tech press and copyright analysts. The original wording stated that authors would only be able to sell books created in iBooks Author in Apple’s iBookstore.

The broadness of the terms made it appear Apple was claiming ownership of the content generated in iBooks Author.

With the 1.0.1 update [Mac App Store link], the language in the EULA is now much more clear on what Apple’s actual policies.

Here is the old agreement:

B. Distribution of your Work. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, your Work may be distributed as follows: if your Work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute the Work by any available means.
(ii) if your Work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service), you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions:
(a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution.

This is the new agreement:

B. Distribution of Works Generated Using the iBooks Author Software. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, works generated using iBooks Author may be distributed as follows:
(i) if the work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute it by any means;
(ii) if the work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service) and includes files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author, the work may only be distributed through Apple, and such distribution will be subject to a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary); provided, however, that this restriction will not apply to the content of the work when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author. You retain all your rights in the content of your works, and you may distribute such content by any means when it does not include files in the .ibooks format generated by iBooks Author.

The new agreement makes it clear that Apple is only claiming sales exclusivity for the .ibooks format. If a user wants to tapiBooks Author to create a PDF version of an eBook, that PDF can be sold in any online bookstore, not just iBooks.

Users can only sell .ibooks formatted books within the iBookstore.

Apple further clarifies that “you retain all your rights in the content of your works.”

We’re glad that Apple clarified the terms of conditions on the software. While it’s clear the main goal in creating the software was to foster the creation of ebooks in the .ibooks format, the tool is easy to use and stacks up well against the competition.

Are you glad Apple clarified the iBooks Author EULA? Sound off in the comments below.

More About: apple, ebooks, iBooks, iBooks Author, publishing

If there’s one thing we learned after Facebook dropped its S-1 to file for an IPO this past week it’s that the company makes a lot of money through advertising.

However, zero came from mobile advertising. That’s about to change, according to a report from DigiDay that quotes Razorfish‘s mobile head as saying the company is working with Facebook on “mobile and cross-platform rich-media ads.”

As more of Facebook’s audience turns to mobile, it’s no surprise the company is seeking ways to monitize off of those users. However, mobile advertising has proved a tough nut to crack. Aside from search ads, users seem to find advertising on their mobile phones to be an intrusion.

Update: Paul Gelb, vp/mobile practice lead for Razorfish tweeted "I would like to clarify a statement I made in an interview yesterday regarding Facebook. Razorfish is NOT working with Facebook on any mobile media ad buying. Rather, in the interview I was referring to rich media featured stories, not paid ads."

More About: Advertising, Facebook, mobile advertising

Mashable’s Davos coverage is presented by BMW i, a new concept dedicated to providing mobility solutions for the urban environment.

GE’s Chief Marketing Officer Beth Comstock sat down with Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore to talk about her role leading business innovation at GE and how their using social media as part of their business model. This is part of Mashable and Scribd’s Documented@Davos, where they documented the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Comstock explained her job at GE as trying to new ways to bring their products to market. She explained it as “creating the jet engine, then creating the iTunes of jet engines to bring it to market.”

The jet engines Comstock is referring to will be able to “talk” to technicians, and even diagnose themselves. She said that GE is also investing in 3D printers for manufacturers to use themselves. Both these are examples of how the company wants to help others run their businesses better by making them more productive.

“At GE, we make things like turbines and jet engines. They're not very sexy, when you think about your iPad, but they are the inventions that power the world,” Comstock said.

Social media is another way that Comstock is helping businesses work better together. She said GE is trying to help groups of professionals, such as doctors or service engineers at a power plant.

Comstock said that she also thinks social media use goes beyond just customer service or focus groups, allowing a circle of communication between customers and GE.

“We're using it to redesign our customer service in our appliance business. We get to people early if they have a problem, but we can also do product development together, figure out what features people like,” she said. “I believe business is truly social.”

What do you think about GE’s innovations? Let us know in the comments.

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Documented@Davos

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Mashable is working with Scribd on a program called Documented@Davos, where we'll be interviewing young leaders, technology pioneers and forward-thinking organizations to share the important issues being discussed at Davos with everyone online. You can follow along with the hashtag #DavosDocs.

Here’s the lineup of leaders who will be interviewed for Documented@Davos:

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Coverage presented by BMW i

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Mashable’s Davos coverage is presented by BMW i, a new concept dedicated to providing mobility solutions for the urban environment.

More About: Digital Davos, features, GE, mashable

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Two international cancer prevention groups think the online community can — and should — take a stab at the worldwide cancer epidemic. In honor of World Cancer Day, Feb. 4, Stand Up To Cancer and the Union for International Cancer Control are launching a Facebook app that they hope will create a digital buzz that will reduce the spread of the disease.

The World Cancer Day Facebook app asks you to commit to make a change in your life — or help a friend make a change — to prevent cancer. Most of the preventative behaviors the app suggests are the standard adages associated with healthy living; eating green vegetables, exercising regularly, avoiding cigarettes and alcohol and wearing sunscreen. You can also pledge to help a friend quit smoking, learn about cancer or donate money to cancer research.

Both Stand Up 2 Cancer and the Union for International Cancer Control hope that the app, video and social campaigns will help raise awareness about behaviors that prevent cancer. The groups claim that one in three cancer deaths can be avoided through lifestyle changes like those the app addresses.

The app also allows you to make your pledge in honor of someone in your life who may have suffered from the disease or be affected in some other way.

“On World Cancer Day, we can unite people globally to take a stand against it through social media," says Stand Up To Cancer co-founder and ABC correspondent Katie Couric. “Working together, we can end cancer's reign as a leading cause of death.”

Last year, nearly 67,000 people donated their Facebook status for World Cancer Day. The campaign hopes the new app will increase that number.

Other aspects of the digitally focused World Cancer Day campaign include the #WorldCancerDay hashtag on Twitter. The two organizations also put out a star-studded video (above) featuring Natasha Bedingfield, Kate Bosworth, Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer Garner, Seth Rogen, Emma Stone and more.

Do you think Facebook status updates are a good way to generate awareness? How should social good campaigns best use Facebook? Let us know in the comments.

More About: Facebook, facebook apps, philanthropy, Social Good, world cancer day

The online storm surrounding Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood came to a close on Friday when Komen reversed its decision.

Score another point for social media.

On Tuesday, the Komen Foundation announced new funding criteria that would severely restrict grants set aside for Planned Parenthood to provide mammograms for low-income women. Planned Parenthood’s CEO alleges that the Komen Foundation pulled support because of political pressure from anti-choice groups.

Planned Parenthood issued a statement Friday thanking the public for its support and pledging continued partnership with Komen.

“With the outpouring of support over the past week,” it said, “even more women in need will receive lifesaving breast cancer care."

In an apology letter posted to Komen’s website and Facebook, Komen said it was “distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.”

Twitter and Facebook users once again directed a national organization’s policy.

Komen said on its blog on Friday that it initially retracted funding from Planned Parenthood because of an investigation against the organization — not for political reasons. However, Komen says it has changed its internal rules to only restrict funding to organizations that are undergoing criminal and conclusive investigations.

Planned Parenthood is being investigated by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., for possibly using federal money to pay for abortions.

Komen posted a video on its Facebook page with Founder and CEO Nancy G. Brinker giving some “straight talk” to viewers. In the three-and-a-half minute clip below, Brinker says the de-funding of Planned Parenthood was mischaracterized by some.

“We have the highest responsibility to ensure that these donor dollars make the biggest impact possible,” Brinker said in the video. “Starting in 2010, I initiated a comprehensive review of our grants and standards — this isn’t unusual — we’re always looking at our policies and procedures to be sure that we are doing the right thing for our supporters and the women we serve.”

During the past three days, “Planned Parenthood,” “Komen” and a meme saying “Still Standing With Planned Parenthood” with an arrow pointing to the username have circulated Facebook. The word “Komen” spiked in popularity on Tuesday night when the story first broke, according to WebProNews and Trendistic.

“Social media can play a significant role in organizations’ communications and community building, particularly for nonprofits like Komen and Planned Parenthood whose donor and advocacy base are active on social networks,” said Allyson Kapin, founder of Women Who Tech. “This past week we saw Komen's community revolt after hearing the news that Komen was planning to take away Planned Parenthood's funding for breast cancer screening services. And it was not pretty. They broke all rules of community engagement.”

Below are tweets and posts that sum-up the past few days of controversy:

Komen Reverses Decision

Planned Parenthood posted this picture on Facebook for people to share. It was shared by more than 21,000 people.

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: Facebook, Komen, Planned Parenthood, Social Media, trending, Twitter

So you just got a Facebook friend request from a woman you don’t know. Maybe she’s already connected to some of your friends, maybe she isn’t, but she has about 700 friends total. She seldom updates her profile, but tags her photos like crazy. She went to a college relatively close to her high school. She isn’t too interested in entertainment, but she is interested in both men and women.

If that sounds like your dream friend, sorry — it also sounds exactly like the average fake profile set up by malicious users intent on spreading spam and malware once they’ve friended you.

Security research firm Barracuda Labs studied 2,884 active Facebook accounts, looking for key differences between average real user accounts and fake accounts created by hackers and spammers. Check out the results in the infographic below.

Of course, it’s hardly surprising that malicious users are using pictures of cute-looking women (note the fake profile pics in the border) with exotic sexual interests to reel in the unsuspecting. But the other details are likely to raise an eyebrow.

For instance, if the user’s college was 300 miles from their high school rather than 600 miles, that makes them more likely to be fake. We’ve no idea why this should be. Perhaps malware makers think that’s a believable pattern of movement.

The excessive photo-tagging makes some kind of sense — it’s the kind of thing a malicious user can do quickly to make multiple profiles seem active interconnected. Evidently they should be adding more updates and entertainment interests too.

Have you ever friended a fake profile? Time to ‘fess up — in the comments.

More About: Facebook, malware, spam

Steve Rubel is EVP of global strategy and insights for Edelman, the world's largest public relations firm. Rubel studies the future of media and helps clients unify their communications strategies across traditional, emerging, owned and social channels.

Modern technology can’t actually fix the weather — at least not yet. However, social networking and mobile devices can certainly help us cope with mother nature when she shows her wrath. In addition, they may also play a role in how scientists crowdsource data to develop long-range forecasts. (Maybe it can help to explain why it’s 60 degrees here in New York in February.)

Bonnie Schneider, a meteorologist who appears on CNN and HLN, has written a new book called Extreme Weather, in which she details what’s behind all the wild weather we seem to be having lately, and how to best prepare.

In the following Q&A with Schneider, we cover how to use mobile technology and social networking to prepare for and cope with unusual weather events. We also discuss how she increasingly uses social media in her work.

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Q&A with Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider

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It seems like every day the media writes about an extreme weather event that we hadn’t seen before. What’s going on? Is this just our perception, or are we witnessing real climatological change?

Last year was an incredible year for extreme weather. According to NOAA, last year 552 people were killed in tornadoes. That tied 2011 with 1936 as the second deadliest tornado year on record. There are climatologists that point to a warming climate bringing about an uptick in extreme weather, as well as scientists who regard extremes in weather part of climatological cycles.

From a societal note, our population has significantly increased in the past 50 years or so. Many communities are more densely populated, and therefore, more people are at risk for a dangerous weather event to impact them directly.

In your book, you detail how to best prepare for floods, tornadoes, snowstorms and more. How should we prepare our mobile gadgets for such events? What services are essential?

There are many. FEMA has an app that offers disaster safety tips and an interactive emergency checklist. In a new and free app called SOS from the American Red Cross, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Sharecare make it even easier for the average person to help in an emergency. It provides real-time emergency care instructions and an expansive resource guide for emergency care information in order to help save lives.

However, I want to emphasize that people should not rely solely on their cellphones in the time of an emergency. During disasters, cellphones don’t always work. This is especially true when traveling to campgrounds and remote places. A NOAA Weather Alert Radio that’s battery operated is more reliable to alert you to severe weather.

The book has a chapter specifically on using social media in extreme weather events. What are some tips we should consider either ahead of time or in an emergency?

The main point on using social media tools in extreme weather events is to not wait until the event happens to learn how to use them.

In the event of a natural disaster, Twitter, for example, may be the fastest and most accessible way to get and receive information. This was evident for many during the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March 2011. During extreme weather situations, following and posting with hashtags on trending topics like #tsunami or #wildfire are helpful to follow to gather information quickly.

Communicating via your cellphone sounds basic, but in preparation for a natural disaster, make sure everyone in the family knows how to text and how to upload pictures and send them. Family members’ phone numbers can be grouped together in a special list so you can reach everyone at once. Lists are also a good idea on Facebook. You can make lists of your family members on your "friends" list with the same intention of reaching more people quickly. Geolocation apps are also helpful in order to quickly post where you are.

Also, in creating a family disaster plan, social media comes into play. It’s recommended that each family member knows and is comfortable with what their role is in the event of an evacuation on short notice — that includes how to use social media. You want to avoid someone saying, “We didn’t know how to reach you.”

How did Facebook play a key role in helping you find great anecdotes to include in the book? What kind of advice would you give authors in this regard?

Years ago, when I was writing the proposal for this book in order to sell it to a publisher, I was researching specifically for my sample chapters. I wanted to interview people with real life survivor stories of living through the devastation of a natural disaster. But the question was: How would I find these people? I knew my book would cover all types of weather from all over the country. So this would not be an easy task.

After a tragedy occurs, like a destructive tornado or a hurricane, often a Facebook page is set up where survivors can share stories and comment on other people’s experiences. At that time, I was on a Hurricane Katrina page and one woman’s comments stood out to me as especially compelling. I sent her a message on Facebook about my book.

This was years ago, but I still remember her response: “If you are indeed the real Bonnie Schneider, I will help you with your book. If you are some kind of impostor, I won’t!” Well, that made me laugh, and of course, I wanted to interview her even more!

I would advise authors to not be afraid to message people you don’t already know to introduce yourself and request an interview. The worst they can say is no.

I also know that you are now using social media to more actively engage your audience. What tips can you share?

I had a fan page with nearly 9,500 fans, and then another page that was a mix of friends and fans. I'd reached the 5,000 friend limit and had over 1,000 friend requests pending that I couldn't accept on that one. Facebook explained to me that I should change this page to the subscriber option in order to reach more people. I did that, and it seems to be working. On that page, I've maintained the 5,000 friends and now have over 60,000 subscribers. Many are international.

In terms of engagement, I'm sure most people who use Twitter already know the more you tweet and the more people you follow, the more followers you get in return. I use weather-related hashtags, and I've tweeted back and forth with other television meteorologists. Some I've never met in person. I regularly tweet with my followers too.

In terms of engagement tips, I think questions are great for status updates, I can get a lot more feedback when I post a question. Also uploading pictures works well.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, joruba, Flickr, Stuck in Customs

More About: apps, contributor, emergency, features, Social Media, Weather

Red Bull sponsors several extreme sports pros who produce videos with gnarly titles such as “Wakeboarding in the Swamps of Louisiana” and “Dust and Bones.” But through a partnership with online health startup Fitocracy, the company now wants to motivate average joes to submit decidedly non-extreme reports with names such as “20 crunches.”

Fitocracy is a one-year-old fitness tracking platform that incorporates gaming elements. Users earn points to “level up” and rank on a leaderboard by reporting any fitness activity.

They earn extra points for completing specific groups of fitness tasks or “quests.” The “Paperboy” quest, for instance, suggests this: “Take a ride around your neighborhood. If you hit a trashcan make sure you sprint away from that lady with the knife and rabid dog.” That’s 20 minutes of biking and 0.5 miles of sprinting, according to Fitocracy.

It’s pretty unique concept — but one that turns out to be in demand. About 230,000 people have signed up for the site and together have completed more than 100,000 quests.

Red Bull has sponsored both a surfing-themed quest (clap push ups, getups, woodchoppers, twist jumps) and a snowboarding-themed quest (split jump squats, lateral lunges, lateral hurdle jumps, jump roping), but its new challenge is more involved. The brand has created a challenge board within the site. Anyone can join, and 47,000 people have already done so. Whoever in the challenge earns the most Fitocracy points before Feb. 13 will win a trip to Santa Monica to train with Red Bull’s aforementioned team of professional extreme athletes.

This is the first brand partnership for Fitocracy, and it could also be the first trickle of a new revenue stream for the site, which already takes in money from advertising and a premium version of its product.

“There's a high volume of fitness forums online,” Fitocracy co-founder Richard Talens says. “But there are very few fitness communities that are powerful for brands.”

The startup has added about 200,000 users since June, and it’s done so while still in invite-only beta and without a mobile app. Fitocracy’s user base will likely continue to grow as it launches its iOS app sometime this month and opens membership to everybody. That should make it even more appealing for brands seeking new partnerships.

More About: fitness, fitocracy, red bull

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Steve Appleton, the chairman and CEO of Micron Technology, has died in a plane crash, the company confirmed Friday. He was 51.

Appleton was reportedly flying the small plane when something went wrong and the plane caught fire. He was the only person on board the experimental fixed-wing plane when it crashed at Boise Airport in Idaho, according to The Washington Post. A press conference at the airport is scheduled for 2 p.m. Mountain Time.

“Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time,” a statement from Micron reads. “Steve’s passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large.”

Founded in 1978, Micron is one of the original PC companies when the industry began more than 30 years ago. It began as a semiconductor consulting business but soon branched into making its own low-cost DRAM chips (DRAM is generally referred to simply as “RAM” in PCs and other devices). In the early 1990s it started manufacturing PCs under the Edge Technology brand and later as MicronPC.

Appleton came to Micron in 1983, shortly after graduating from college, and started his career there working the night shift in production. He rose through the ranks, becoming production manager and vice president of manufacturing before becoming president and COO in 1991. He was appointed CEO and chairman in 1994.

Under Appleton, Micron launched an Internet business, rolled it into a new company that bundled PCs and Internet services, then spun it off completely in 2001. Production of RAM once again became the core business of Micron, which it continues to this day. Micron was fourth in world market share in the DRAM market, according to IHS iSuppli, a tech research and analyst firm. Micron acquired Lexar Media in 2006 and maintains it as its consumer brand.

This isn’t the first plane crash Appleton has been involved in, The Post reported. In July 2004 Appleton suffered serious injuries from another crash of a small plane he was piloting. Appleton didn’t reveal publicly how severe those injuries were at the time, sparking an investigation years later. According to Wikipedia, Appleton’s aviation background includes “multiple ratings and professional performances at air shows in both propeller- and jet-powered aircraft.”

Appleton is survived by his wife, Dalynn, and children.

More About: Micron, News, PCs, plane crash, Steve Appleton

Leo Widrich is the co-founder of Buffer, a new way to publish tweets and Facebook posts at better times for more impact. He writes more about social media tips and tools on the Buffer blog. Follow him on Twitter @LeoWid or subscribe to his Facebook updates.

When Twitter recently launched the newest version of its iPhone app, the company focused on streamlining and simplifying the user interface.

Ryan Sarver, head of Twitter API, said, "In a world where Facebook and Google are competing on features, Twitter wants to focus on being simple."

However, even as the official Twitter app keeps it straightforward, developers are providing more in-depth Twitter capabilities on other apps. I took a look at various Twitter iPhone applications on the market today. Learn how you can expand your Twitter capabilities using these apps.

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1. TweetList

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TweetList can greatly enhance your tweeting experience on your iPhone. A full-fledged Twitter client, the app comes with other advanced features, like ReadItLater and Instapaper to save and read things later on.

Why is it worth checking out?

People in the marketing and social media industries accumulate a steady stream of followers, many of whom they follow back. As time goes on, it becomes much harder to keep up with the quickly flowing streams.

Twitter lists are a great way to organize your followers conveniently in one place. TweetList helps you do exactly that in a focused and aesthetic way.

How can you get the most out of it?

TweetList comes with a list swipe function. You can conveniently swap between all lists and catch up with your focused circle of top thinkers.

While I can easily reply to mentions and DMs or view my stream from my desktop, lists are harder to tackle. Whenever I am on the move, I can pull up TweetList, cycle through my lists and engage with different sets of people in my network more easily.

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2. Flipboard for iPhone

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Only a few weeks back, Flipboard unveiled its brand new iPhone app. I anticipated it would just be Flipboard for iPad in a smaller format, but I couldn't be more wrong. The adjustments between the iPad and the iPhone app are fantastic, and truly reflect the different reading and scrolling habits of users.

Why is it worth checking out?

If you primarily use Twitter to consume content, Flipboard is made for you. You can browse by lists or individual Twitter accounts, or pick one of the browsing tools from Flipboard. I especially enjoy the "Flipboard Picks" for consistently quality information.

How can you get the most out of it?

You can use Flipboard's Twitter search function both for tracking events and monitoring a keyword. The app allows me to browse and engage with articles by keyword, for instance, "CES2012.”

Bonus: To access top Twitter news, try Summify's iPhone app. This app only presents a limited number of posts (five, by default), so you’ll never be overwhelmed with too much content at once.

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3. Boxcar

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Boxcar lets you connect to email, major social networks, RSS feeds and lots of other services. In return, the app sends you messages as push notifications, whenever something newsworthy happens on your connected services.

Why is it worth checking out?

Many Twitter apps send push notifications for mentions or new DMs, but the notification capabilities of Boxcar are unmatched. You can set up any of the following notifications.

New tweets from individual people: Don't want to miss certain updates from a few select people? Add them to Boxcar and receive push notifications whenever they tweet.

Twitter lists: Get notified of any new messages from your connected Twitter lists.

Twitter search: Receive a nudge if any of your saved searches tweet.

Twitter trends: Choose to be notified only if there are any changes in the current Twitter trends.

How can you get the most out of it?

I don’t actively use Boxcar as a primary Twitter client, but more as a personal Twitter assistant. You set up key things to be notified about and then view the messages only. Plus, Boxcar separates notifications into different inboxes for easier filtering and review.

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4. SocialDash and Tweeb

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I always had a hard time finding good Twitter analytics iPhone apps. Tweeb and SocialDash helped me gain a better understanding of how well I am performing on Twitter.

Why is it worth checking out?

Tweeb focuses on hard Twitter analytics such as followers, click-through rate, retweets and mention rate. SocialDash, on the other hand, provides more soft analytics insights, such as Klout Scores, Peerindex rank, etc.

If you only have a few minutes to check stats, the two apps are a great way to take a quick peek. SocialDash’s handy "compare" feature lets you compare the social scores of any two users. 

At the same time, Tweeb's "summary" page gives you a great overview on whether your click rate and follower rate has been improving or slowing down.

How can you get the most out of it?

Although most Twitter apps have fantastic UXs, they still take longer compared to web interface usability. Having some analytics to help me make the right decisions can be very helpful, especially on my mobile phone.

Whenever I become overwhelmed with mentions and replies and I only have limited time to reply to a few, I check the person's social scores using SocialDash.

Also, use Tweeb to improve the copywriting on your tweets or to check on the number of clicks per tweet. Oftentimes, I’ll then schedule the tweet again for later.

In 2012, new apps will allow us to harness Twitter's power from the iPhone more efficiently. What are your favorite ways to use Twitter on your iPhone? How would you use the above apps to improve and streamline your Twitter presence?

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, SimmiSimons

More About: contributor, features, iphone, iphone apps, mobile apps, Twitter

Anonymous released sensitive documents Friday from the law firm that represented the U.S. Marine who led the 2005 Haditha massacre, which left 24 unarmed Iraqis dead.

The law firm’s website, Puckettfaraj.com, was vandalized in the same style as an earlier attack on the Boston Police Department.

The attack coincided with the release of 3GB worth of the firm’s emails that include records, testimony, trial evidence and donation records associated with the marine’s trial.

In November of 2005, Marine Sgt. Frank Wuterich led his men in a massacre of unarmed Iraqis. In a plea deal made last month, Sgt. Wuterich received a pay cut and reduction of rank, but no jail time.

A message left on the site referred to Sgt. Wuterich as a “scumbag” while lionizing Bradley Manning, the US Army solider who is accused of leaking U.S. diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to expose the corruption of the court systems and the brutality of US imperialism, we want to bring attention to USMC SSgt Frank Wuterich who along with his squad murdered dozens of unarmed civilians during the Iraqi Occupation,” read the post.

“We went ahead and fired off some shots of our own – at the servers and personal email accounts of Puckett & Faraj. We defaced their website and dumped nearly 3GB of private email messages belonging to Neal Puckett and Haytham Faraj.”

The message concluded with links to the file dump and Anonymous-related Twitter accounts, along with this warning:

“If you didn’t dig it then then you better dig it now. We are calling upon all allied battleships to rise up and make some mayhem. NDAA/PIPA/SOPA for real? The internet is ours for the taking, and we will destroy every corporation and government that attempts to stand in our way.”

SEE ALSO: Anonymous Unleashes Coordinated Attack Against Governments, Law Enforcement

The Puckettfaraj.com hack came hours after Anonymous members leaked a recorded phone conversation between the FBI and Scotland Yard, in which agents were discussing a cybercrime case. The FBI has since confirmed the interception and is investigating the leak. Anonymous operatives also targeted Greece’s Ministry of Finance Friday morning.

The full message left by Anonymous on Puckettfaraj.com is below:

Anonymous’ Puckettfaraj.com Message

Have you seen any more Anonymous-related attacks? Let us know in the comments below.

Update: Russia Today is reporting that DHS.gov, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website, was hit by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack Friday afternoon. As of 4:52 p.m. ET, it appears to be functioning normally.

Update 2: At 5 p.m. ET, an Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account took credit for knocking out citigroup.com. As of 5:28 p.m., the page is loading slowly.

Images courtesy of Flickr, Marco Gomes

More About: anonymous, trending

Roseanne Barr — known for her decade-long stint on the eponymous ’90s hit sitcom — recently announced on Twitter that she is running for president.

She will run on a Green Party ticket against the GOP front-runner and President Barack Obama for the White House, if nominated party candidate in July.

Barr has been tweeting fans and individuals on Twitter who have responded to the news with questions.

Her Thursday announcement said: “I am running for Green Party nominee for POTUS. I am an official candidate. I am4 the Greening of America&the world. Green=peace/justice.”

The actress whose background is mostly in entertainment and standup comedy wants to better the economy, health care and the environment as U.S. president.

“I will use the powers of the presidency to make sure that every american has a job and free health care,” she tweeted.

She often addresses young people in her social media messages, mostly promising to deliver jobs and pinning U.S. troubles on bankers.

so sad to see young strong/educated adults with no jobs in america. this was all planned by bankers.

— Roseanne Barr (@TheRealRoseanne) February 3, 2012

The Green Party will select their nominee in July in Baltimore, Md. Other Green Party nominees include Kent Mesplay, Harley Mikkelson and Jill Stein, currently leading the Green Party in polls.

The Green Party is about 30 years old. Barr describes it as “the synthesis between right and left” and pro-small business, safety on the Internet, women’s rights and gay rights.

A scan of the tweets with the hashtag #Roseanne2012 displays tweets from people that are skeptical about her nomination and tweets of support.

Tell us in the comments what you think of Roseanne Barr’s bid for the presidential seat and her social media campaign to reach potential voters.

Thumbnail Image courtesy of Monterey Media

More About: election, election 2012, Politics, Twitter, Video

Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning has unveiled a follow-up YouTube video to its wildly successful “A Day Made of Glass,” providing another look into what the future could be like with the growth of glass touchscreen interfaces, from innovative chalkboards and activity tables in classrooms to uses for it in hospitals.

Corning released two versions of “A Day Made of Glass 2″ — one with a narrator and another, abbreviated version without commentary — the video follows the life of young Amy and her family as they go through their day using various products made of glass. Amy does classwork on a glass tablet, controls the temperature of the car from the backseat and even attends a field trip at the Redwood Forrest with an interactive signage that brings learning to life. Her teacher also works with students on interactive touchscreen activity tables. Corning expects these activity tables to be rolled out in the near future.

Last year’s video, which followed the same family, brought in over 17 million hits on YouTube and left many in awe of Corning’s interpretation of what’s possible with photovoltaic glass, LCD TV glass, architectural display and surface glass, among others.

However, many left comments on YouTube asking which technology is actually possible with today’s resources and pricing. This time around, though, new technologies and applications are highlighted, such as glass tablets, multitouch-enabled desks, solar panels, augmented reality, electronic medical records and anti-microbial medical equipment.

Corning may be making headlines these days for its Gorilla Glass product — a super-strong, lightweight glass which can withstand drops and mistreatment — but it’s hardly a new company and no stranger to innovation. In fact, the 160-year-old business even worked with Thomas Edison to create inexpensive glass for his lightbulbs.

However, Corning noted at the press screening that there are several challenges the company is facing this year, largely due to lower LCD glass prices, higher corporate tax rates and declining equity earnings, which have combined to lower Corning’s profitability.

Although LCD glass sales are likely to be flat through 2014, the company said it will remain profitable and continue to generate large amounts of cash. Last week, Corning announced that it raked in record 2011 sales of $7.9 billion and plans to grow profits to $10 billion by 2014.

The company also recently announced that it is joining forces with Samsung Mobile to manufacture Lotus Glass for Galaxy-branded smartphones and Super OLED TVs. Corning’s ultra-slim, eco-friendly Lotus Glass is known for strong performance and withstanding higher-processing temperatures.

Although Corning’s first “A Day Made of Glass” video was unveiled a week ago this year, Corning’s vice chairman and CFO James Flaws told Mashable that he couldn’t comment on whether or not the clips will become an annual tradition.

“You can expect more from us though,” Flaws said.

More About: Corning, gorilla glass, smartphones, tablets, trending, TVs, YouTube

The good old 8-bit band is getting back together. Seamus Blackley, the co-creator of Microsoft’s Xbox, has assembled a super team of Atari’s original programmers to form a game studio meant to re-revolutionize the gaming industry.

Blackley grabbed 11 of Atari‘s game creators to form Innovative Leisure, a gaming company focused on developing mobile titles. The “Jedi Council,” as Blackley refers to the Atari developers, will include: Ed Rotberg (Battlezone), Owen Rubin (Major Havoc, Space Duel), Rich Adam (Gravitar, Missile Command), Ed Logg, (Asteroids Centipede), Dennis Koble (Touch Me, Shooting Gallery), Bruce Merrit, (Black Widow), and Tim Skelly, the only non-Atari developer. Innovative Leisure, though comprised of Atari veterans, is unassociated with Atari.

Blackley believes that Innovative Leisure can reignite that Atari magic and create a string of mobile gaming hits to rival (or at least compare) to Atari’s original string of hits back in the ’70s. Blackley has invested his own money with some help from game publisher THQ to support the Jedi Council and a team of young interns and turn their games into products.

The thing is, there aren’t any official games on the schedule yet. Atari was able to create such amazing hits because of its collaborative, try-anything approach and the close-knit working relationships between its star developers. Blackley is bringing that spirit back by allowing his Atari vets to riff on game ideas, honing and refining their game prototypes until they come up with a hit. While its refreshing to see a studio committed to creating the best games possible, it also means there’s little to show at the moment.

Atari largely defined the video game industry when it launched in the mid 1970s. The company was a huge hit in arcades but suffered a sharp decline after the collapse of the home-gaming market in 1983. Blackley and Innovative Leisure are hoping to right past wrongs and mobile — the very latest in personal gaming — is the ticket. He sees mobile as the new arcade, where gamers can buy simple games on the cheap and where quality — not marketing, glitz, or huge budgets — will ultimately win the day.

Can the Atari team finally adapt to the new gaming market? What games can we expect from Innovative Leisure? Sound off in the comments below.

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BONUS: Atari Game Box Parodies

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Every Sport Ever in Pong Form

Pong. Superpong. Doublepong. Hockeypong. ...

Click here to view this gallery.

Image courtesy of Flickr, anitakhart

More About: Gaming, mobile gaming, video games, xbox

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1. Join

If you haven't already, sign up for a Pinterest account. There's a waiting list to join now — talk about exclusivity — but you can beat the system by having an existing Pinterest member send you a request. If you don't know anyone on Pinterest, some have had success by finding members via Twitter and asking for invitations that way.

Click here to view this gallery.

If you’re planning a wedding and knee-deep in collecting ideas for the perfect dress, hairstyle and invitations, there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with Pinterest.

The two-year-old social bookmarking site — which allows users to collect and share things they like on the Internet — is becoming a hotbed for the wedding industry. Not only are Pinterest users adding images to their virtual pinboards for inspiration to help plan their big day, but some are collecting ideas for the future and aren’t even engaged.

Either way, Pinterest is an easy way to make planning a wedding more manageable. It’s like ripping the pages out of wedding magazines and taping them to your bulletin board — but digitally. Even better, each picture is typically linked to a site where you can buy the styles you want, learn DIY crafting tips and become informed about the latest trends. Friends and other Pinterest followers can also leave comments and feedback to make the whole planning process more interactive.

SEE ALSO: Pinterest: 13 Tips and Tricks for Cutting Edge Users

To make the most of the site, here are simple and effective ways to use Pinterest for wedding planning — from which boards to create and who to follow to leveraging your findings while shopping in stores.

Are you planning a wedding via Pinterest? Let us know your tips in the comments below.

More About: Facebook, pinterest, Social Media, Twitter

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The Huffington Post Media Group revealed more details about its upcoming online news channel, the Huffington Post Streaming Network.

The announcement takes place just days before Huffington Post celebrates its first anniversary since its acquisition by AOL. AOL purchased The Huffington Post on Feb. 2, 2011 for $315 million and made HuffPo‘s front woman, Arianna Huffington, the president and editor-in-chief of the newly formed Huffington Post Media Group.

At a press event previewing the Streaming Network, Huffington celebrated the results from its first year under the AOL banner.

Some notable figures:

• The Huffington Post received 36.2 million unique visitors and 6 million comments in Jan. 2012
• In 2011, 44 new verticals were launched in the Huffington Post Media Group
• Three international editions launched in 2011 (Canada, U.K., France)
• Page views across HPMG in Dec. 2011 reached 1.2 billion

For 2012, Huffington Post Media Group is investing in video in a big way.

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Live Video News with a Social Twist

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Huffington tapped Roy Sekoff, a founding editor of The Huffington Post to run The Huffington Post Streaming Network. Sekoff showed off a concept demo of the network.

The plan is to launch the channel in early summer with 12 hours of live content five days a week. The content will repeat overnight.

The Huffington Post Streaming Network will produce content in New York City and in Los Angeles. New York will serve as the live hub for eight hours of the day, L.A. for four. In early 2013, Sekoff says that the plan is to aggressively increase live content to 16 hours a day.

Viewers can tune in live via the web, mobile devices and tablets as well as connected TVs and set-top boxes. Support for multiple screens and devices will be a core part of The Huffington Post Streaming Network.

So what type of content will The Huffington Post Streaming Network feature? This is where it gets interesting. Content from The Huffington Post Media Group, which include Huffington Post and its many properties as well as sites like Engadget and Tech Crunch will feed the live video content. In other words, the goal is to make The Huffington Post Streaming Network a live video extension of the web properties.

Rather than having a set schedule of programming (like The Engadget Hour), the network will focus on the stories that are most timely and that the online audience wants to see. This will allow breaking news and topics to be discussed in real time.

A staff of 100 individuals, including on-air talent and back-end support, will do much of the heavy lifting. However, many reporters and editors at Huffington Post will make on-air appearances as well. Think TMZ‘s TV show, but more serious. The goal seems to be to bring readers and viewers inside the process.

Huffington remarked that “people don’t want to be told the news, they want to have a conversation about the news.” As a result, viewers and readers will be a big part of the experience and contribute to the content. Using video services like Skype, Huffington Post Streaming Network will bring in readers and commenters to be part of the on-air conversation.

One of my favorite parts of the concept reel was a segment called “Defend Your Comment” — where two commenters are brought in via Skype to defend the comments left on articles on Huffington Post properties. I think this is brilliant — and, assuming it can work from a logistical point-of-view, represents the real promise of merging web news and live video.

Viewers can also engage directly with the site, sharing segments or live feeds on social networks and clicking on headlines within the player itself to open up stories. Verbal and on-screen call-outs to chatter taking place on Facebook and Twitter are also part of the network’s DNA.

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Video On Demand

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While live content will stream for 12 hours a day, editors will work to create clips from the best parts of that content for viewing on demand. These clips will be viewable within the main Huffington Post Streaming Network experience and also served on other AOL and Huffington Post websites.

This is one of the reasons Sekoff isn’t focusing on a set network schedule. Sekoff said that he doesn’t think web viewers want to tune in for specific content at a specific time, instead preferring to time-shift what they want.

Sekoff also said that by not having strict program schedules, segments can last as long as the audience and production team see fit. It will also allow for more agility when covering breaking stories.

This is all true, of course, but part of the reason live television and news radio tend to operate on a schedule (even if the schedule is loosely defined, such as CNN‘s blocks of live newsroom programming in the morning and afternoon) is because that schedule is what helps attract mass audiences.

It also suggests that from a monetization angle, The Huffington Post Streaming Network will put equal emphasis on live and video-on-demand viewers. I asked Sekoff this question directly and his answer was that “we value both equally, but in different ways.”

Eschewing scheduled programming blocks doesn’t mean, Sekoff stressed, that regular segment types, like the aforementioned “Defend Your Comment” won’t exist. Those segments will exist and will be tagged so that viewers and fans can watch them at will.

I’m not (completely) convinced that a more structured (yet technically unscheduled) approach won’t end up winning out in the end. My own experiences with live audio broadcasting have reinforced how much people enjoy a schedule, even for online content.

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The Question of Advertising

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The biggest hurdle The Huffington Post Streaming Network will face may not be filling sixty hours of live news a week, but advertising.

Advertising on web video is growing consistently, but the rates still don’t match what producers see on broadcast or cable. This is in spite of the fact that advertising on web video can get advertisers much better metrics on engagement and target ads to much more specific demographics.

The Huffington Post Streaming Network will be taking a two-pronged approach to advertising. The first will be to serve pre-roll ads on video-on-demand clips. The second will be to work with a group of close advertising partners to organically integrate into the live experience.

The goal will be to work with five or six partners at launch and to create integrated sponsorships. This could mean a sponsored segment or Twitter crawl or other on-air mentions. Still, the company stressed that they want the experience to be additive and vow that these partnerships will not undermine the integrity of the news content itself.

5min, a company AOL acquired in Sep. 2010 will handle the ad-ops and video transmission aspects of The Huffington Post Streaming Network.

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This Is Disruption

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While he didn’t dismiss the potential to syndicate some content to other sources, Sekoff clearly stated that his goal is “not going to become a cable network,” further remarking “what’s the point of doing this if it just becomes the same old thing.”

In my experience, that’s actually a rare attitude for web content creators. Whether they are willing to admit it or not, the goal for most online content producers is to transition from the web to a more traditional distribution channel. Successful podcasters want to be on radio; successful web celebrities want to be on television.

The fact that this doesn’t appear to be the goal for The Huffington Post Streaming Network is what makes this concept so disruptive. One gets the sense that it doesn’t want to be the status quo, it wants to reinvent what the status quo is.

Still, success is not guaranteed. Producing live content is challenging enough without the added challenges of supporting different devices and platforms. Moreover, the live content ecosystem on the web is really starting to heat up.

YouTube is embracing original programming in a big way in 2011 and is building out better support for live content. The Wall Street Journal is expanding its online video content and even wire service Reuters is getting into the game.

Traditional cable news services, including CNN, Fox News and CNBC are also increasing live video output on their sites, with CNN and Fox both embracing TV Everywhere initiatives.

Most importantly, The Huffington Post Streaming Network will have to convince HuffPo readers to become viewers, something that might be easier said than done.

In the meantime, we’ll be tuning in to watch it unfold. Let us know what you think about the concept of live online news networks in the comments.

More About: aol, Arianna Huffington, huffington post streaming network, online television, The Huffington Post

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