24/7 Blog

SI's McDonell on Building a Great Magazine App: "Build It and They Will Come"

Sports Illustrated unveiled a new video of its tablet demonstration at yesterday's Google I/O conference in San Francisco. Managing Editor Terry McDonell made the presentation and was the narrator of the riveting 3-minute-long video featuring how content would be displayed using HTML5, which is a technology that might change online video. The demonstration spotlighted stories with embedded video (like a piece on a boxer). "The idea is simple," said McDonell, "combine the best of the web with the best of the magazine." He even poked fun at himself when he showed last week's issue with a prominent Cleveland Cavalier on the cover. "Not my best call putting Shaq on the cover," he quipped. McDonell concluded the video saying, "This prototypee is meant to illustrated ways in which journalism can flourish and how business models can be transformed...If you build it, they will come." oogle I/O conference Wednesday pledging their devotion to HTML5, and support for the royalty-free VP8 codec and WebM format available free to anyone. The video format, billed as a technology that will revolutionize online video, got a nod from the magazine Sports Illustrated. But it's getting nods from advertising and marketing agencies, too. HTML5 gives advertisers multiplatform support. The campaign will play back on an iPad, iPhone, Android phone, desktop and Internet-enabled televisions. It also enables developers to create online games. Agencies won't need to develop 19 formats to support just as many campaigns. If the format takes off and is widely adopted, it will enable campaigns to easily work across devices. Some devices do not support Flash or Silverlight today. Apple, however, does support a version of the new codec called H264. Today, HTML5 on YouTube is a TestTube experiment. It does not support ads at this time. What's in it for publishers? Evidently, support for paid-content subscription models online. Terry McDonell, editor at Sports Illustrated, demonstrated a magazine application in development that featured video running within a frame of text. It looks similar t

Mochila Prez Joins the "Monetize Your Brand's Authority" Panel

Carolyn Bekkedahl (above), President and Chief Revenue Officer, Mochila, has been added to the "Monetize Your Brand's Authority" panel.  She joins fellow panelists Nancy Hallberg of Bonnier's The Parenting Group and Eric Patterson ofGamePro.  We don't want to spill the beans about everything she'll be discussing, but we know that she'll be referencing the ways Mochila is helping magazine brands distribute content to many outlets including newspapers.  One specific example will be the relationship Mochila brokered between IDG and the Kitsap Sun daily newspaper in Bremerton, WA.  Check it out and you'll see content from IDG brands like PCWorld and MacWorld in the Technology section of the newspaper website. 

24/7's Social Networking Expert

If you're interested in social networks, be sure to read the March 2 Fortune cover story by Jessi Hempel (left) about "How Facebook Is Taking Over Our Lives."  Hempel is interviewing Jeff Berman, EVP of that other social network behemoth MySpace at our March 3 digital conference.  In this week's Fortune story, Hempel brilliantly examines why marketers are so eager to connect with the Facebook community.  The story also looks at Facebook CEO Jeff Zuckerberg's goals and the new feature Facebook Connect.  Should be interesting to see how she compares and contrasts Facebook and MySpace when she interviews Berman. 

Presenter for the Third Annual MPA Digital Awards

Kate Maxwell, Conde Nast Traveler senior editor has agreed to be the host of the Third Annual MPA Digital Awards. Kate is featured in many wonderful videos for her brand and she's a frequent guest on TV programs like Today. The British accent ain't bad either. She's shown here in a video about dining in Las Vegas.