Literally Speaking Moves to Video: Let’s Talk About It Online!

You may have noticed that my colleagues Jim Sturdivant, Brian Howard and I have been blogging regularly for the last few months on certain days of the week (and if you have noticed, thank you, reader!). Jim writes his Pub Talk column on Tuesdays with his unique (and, dare I say, sparky!) take on contemporary media events. Brian writes Pub Ex Machina on Wednesdays to explore his interest in all things technological and digital (except for this week, for which we will excuse him, as he is on his honeymoon!). And I write Literally Speaking on Thursdays to explore what I refer to as “the stories behind the stories,” and why we publishers make the choices we make about what to (and what not to) publish.

Since I never met a microphone I didn’t like, I’m happy to announce I’m taking Literally Speaking to the next media level—or perhaps I’m even skipping and moving two levels ahead, passing right over podcasts and (yes, Mom!) going to video.

Starting tomorrow, May 3rd, I’ll be introducing the Literally Speaking Publisher Chats, a weekly water cooler gathering to talk over publishing topics together. We’ll be partnering in this venture with the new video platform Shindig.

Shindig is a revolutionary patented technology for large-scale video chat events. The platform enables hosts to give a talk, be interviewed, show multimedia presentations, and more to an online audience of thousands. Meanwhile, everyone in the audience can see and be seen by one another, and they can engage in private video chat conversations within the event. Best of all, selected participants can be brought up to "share the stage" with presenters and directly ask them questions before the entire gathering. All events can be recorded and repurposed for follow-on use, quickly generating an invaluable video archive of new content. To find out more about how Shindig is pioneering the next generation of online engagement, visit www.Shindig.com

Here’s how the series will work: every Friday at 11am EST I’ll schedule an interview with a publishing industry figure. If you want to attend, you can go to the URL listed below and RSVP, and then go back to that same URL when the event is live. You can listen to our Q&A, and then ask questions. If you have a webcam, we’ll see you on screen. And you can see who else is there, and interact with other attendees as well as with the guest and with me.

You can RSVP at this URL, which is also the URL you’ll use to attend:

Sign up, share the link, and join us next Friday to hear my interview and join in the follow up conversation.

Oh, did I forget to mention who the guest is? Sorry, gotta run! Tune in tomorow and meet our mystery guest!