bronwen clune

I’ve mentioned before that I’d like to start doing a bit of videocasting, but at the moment time is my limitation. That was until I was invited to be a “pre-alpha” tester for Seesmic, serial entrepreneur and man with the sexy accent Loic Le Meur’s latest start-up.

The Pulver TV show where I was interviewed by Chris Brogan also featured Loic so it was fitting that it was Chris gave me an invite to Seesmic and also a testament to the shrinking world we live in. Either that or we are all trapped in the same bubble

So what is Seesmic? I’ve heard it described as “video Twitter” and from what I’ve seen that sums up the basics pretty well and there are a lot of people using it as a video lifestream. I like that idea and it seems the users on there are really getting into it. A lot of the video conversations - you can reply to other videos - revolve round Seesmic itself. It will be interesting to see how this evolves, as more users join the community and think about creative uses for the service. I’ve said before that for me a community has really evolved when it finds new uses for services beyond the original intentions. Twitter is an example of this, it’s gone beyond just about “what people are doing”.

For me Seesmic is an easy informal way to video blog, and I intend to use it that way and try and try and show the world some of the great innovation that is going on in Perth and Australia. I’m going to make it my mission to interview as many people as possible and develop my Seesmic stream into a voice for the Australian start-up community. Yes, I could do it on YouTube, but Seesmic has the added bonus of sending it out to the social communities I’m involved in - it can post the video to YouTube, send it to Twitter and hopefully soon be able to send them to this blog.

My other motive for getting involved is I’m really interested in investigating Seesmic’s potential as a Cit J reporting tool, where Cit Js can upload video from Seesmic to norgs. Better still when they can do that directly from their mobile phones. I love this space and Seesmic really excites me.

I’m off to Sydney and Melbourne next week and would love to have a drink with local peeps to celebrate the launch of Sydney and Melbourne norgs. Spread the word - everyone is welcome. Here are the details:

Sydney Meetup
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Time: 6.00pm onwards
Location: Opera Bar
Where’s that? Lower Concourse Level of the Sydney Opera House

Melbourne Meetup
Date: Friday, November 30, 2007
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Riverland Bar
Where’s that? Federation Wharf
You can RSVP on facebook or just pitch up. Everyone is invited

Thanks to Cameron Reilly, John Johnston and Ajay Ranipeta for organising the events. I owe you guys a beer

Hopefully I’ll make it to Brisbane next time.

Also keep an eye out for me at the Walkley’s which are on Wednesday night - it’s televised live and I plan on spreading the new media message. Any ideas on how I can do that which does not involved being kicked out of the event?

Grum pointed this out on Twitter.

So do Twitterers all not value our privacy or do we value our openness?

Whatever!

It shouldn’t suck when things you love go mainstream, but it does!

Oh ye and kiraEDGE has a twitter feed - but it appears its just quick thinking a fan. Would have added a whole new dimension if they had created twitter feeds for those tangled in the virtual triangle.

Found this cool little tool called the Blog Readability Test. And it turns out that you need a high school education to understand my blog. Totally pointless, but fun all the same

I tried it out for a couple of friend’s blogs, and there was quite a variation, but I won’t say who was at the bottom of the class.

I knew that most people who write on PerthNorg were pretty bright, but this confirmed things:

Go Cit J’s!

Got this captcha on Shozu. At first I thought it was an IQ test, which I’m glad it wasn’t because it took me two attempts.

The Clunes are off on their first holiday EVA (sad I know) and we are headed to Kalbarri. I plan on spending as much time with my family as possible, but I will need to check in on email and my norgs from time to time.

I was thinking about getting a 3 USB modem, but I’ve read different things about whether I’ll actually get access there. Does anyone have any experience or advice on the best solution?

I read something about being able to roam via Telstra with a 3 modem - is that possible and what is the cost?

Thanks … I’ll be able to enjoy myself more if I can log in occasionally and know that all is alright in the world

Just a quick shout out to Rich and Grum and for the stellar job they did on Scouta TV - episode 0.

Scouta TV is a new podcast covering the most interesting videos that come through Scouta recommendations.

I love the videos they picked and I think the show has a lot of potential. The biggest controversey to date appears to be what they ought to wear

I’m sure it will only get better as they find their groove and get their post-production techniques down pat. But for a first off it was great and worth watching if you haven’t done already.

I love receiving mail in shiny silver envelopes - you can pretty much guarantee it’s not a bill.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find one waiting for me at home. Even more surprised that it was an invite to the Walkley Awards with a loving letter that said all the right things like “Australia’s best media”, “massive contribution” and “vital work”. Let’s just ignore the fact it’s a standard issue letter and assume that they really want me to attend, should I go?

I don’t want to attend and just be another guest, I want to be the Walkley star! The Glen Milne of 2007 Only not escorted out and much loved and admired.

I’m thinking of wearing a T-shirt that reads something like “Make way for new media”. Oh, and I need a date that will agree to wear a shirt that reads “Broadcast TV is dead”. So what do you think? Should I do it?

UPDATE: I’ve said yes, so if I can get myself organised I’ll be there!

Eek, when I watched this I kept thinking how Australian I sound!

Anyway, enough of my complexes here’s a link to the PulverTV appearance I made recently. It was 2.30am in the morning, so be kind

Last week we had some students from TAFE drop in to the Silicon Beach House to chat about what we have set up here and working in the web industry as a career option.

The students are part of the Gaining Access to Employment and Training project, which is trialling a new learning methodology called Heutagogy to explore innovative ways that students can use new technologies in an educational setting.

Harriet Wakelam told me the the project came out of an argument over whether or not Gen Y kids were ‘digital natives’ a la Mark Prensky, and therefore able to instinctively use technology to learn vs, they use technology instinctively for entertainment/communication, but do not know how to use it for learning/do not want to use it for learning.

Heutagogy is the process of allowing learners to decide what they want to learn, how they want to learn it and when they want to learn it. It enables the students to become responsible for their own learning. The project aims to use Web 2.0 technologies to engage and motivate the students and then mentor and support them while they complete a project based outcome.

The students all shared a bit of their background with us, most of whom had become disengaged with a traditional classroom setting.

It’s great to see the support for these sorts of projects and the students I spoke to had really enjoyed the experience with most now realising what they wanted to go on and do. I had no idea anyone in education was prepared to take these sorts of risks - big kudos to the people involved in setting the project up.

It was a reminder to me about how much I love what I’m doing and I think we may have even convinced one of the students that this could be his area of interest. Actually, in fairness I think it was Myles who did that with his live coding session.

Better still I learnt something. It occurred to me by it’s very nature being a founder of a web 2.0 start-up means I am learning based on the principals of Heutagogy. It’s certainly self-determined learning.