16. Some statistics from 2010:
15,870,000 wall posts, 2,716,000 photos
and 10,208,000 comments posted on
Facebook ... any 20-minute period ...
25 billion tweets were sent ...
200 million views of YouTube via mobile
per day ...
16
25. 28.500 tracking’s, 16 min. per tracking = 10 months tracking.
Aprox. 5000 unique users = 5,7 tracking’s per user = aprox. 90
minutes per user.
TracTrac:
Engaged in Volvo Ocean Race -> Leading global provider of live
tracking
Aarhus School of business:
350 signed up for the survey.
Paper accepted: European Marketing Academy Conference (EMAC)
Sailing Aarhus:
Better and exciting coverage for the event -> better brand.
25
33. The result:
We found a solution.
StreamFactory:
The company StreamFactory was created: one of the best
providers of lightweight on-water live streaming in the
world.
33
40. rjohnsen1: RT @planetcrypton: How live
does it get: live tracking, live video,
live tweets and live pictures RIGHT
NOW: http://bit.ly/aXb2Lz #sap505 ...
40
41. The result:
Site: 47,363 visits, 151,971 page views, 3.21 pages per visit,
18,059 visitors from 102 countries, every visitor stayed on the
site for an average of 5 min 13 seconds; finally, we had 22,702
views on Bambuser.
…and, well, everyone was happy!
41
51. 1.Buy the parts that are already produced
2.Download the files for the 3D printed parts
3.Download and use a CAD-program (if you want to manipulate the files)
4.Buy the 3D parts through a company that offers ‘rapid manufacturing’.
5.Get the remaining bits and pieces
6.Assemble your own open source camera mount
http://activeinstitute.dk/2010/12/introducing-the-open-source-camera-mount-oscm/
51
60. The result:
It’s all about understanding what’s going on.
43D: “The project has helped us change our strategy. As such, it’s
been an important factor in a series of actions with the purpose of
exploring new business opportunities. Because of the project, our
focus has changed and something very real is happening right now…”
TracTrac: “The project was important for TracTrac because it
challenged us in all areas of our technology and service. In
practice, it led us to develop our service in a number of areas,
with relevance to both immediate and long-term objectives…”
60
62. Sportcasting 2.0
Sportcasting 2.0: A combination of the words “sport”,
“broadcasting” and “Web 2.0” – meaning the broadcasting of sports
in a Web 2.0 context.
62
63. Long Tail Sports
Exposure
The Long Tail
Pre-internet
Post-internet
Sports & Sporting Events
63
76. 1: Write a good biography (fill out as much as you can, as accurately as possible).
2: Promote 5–10 good reasons why someone should follow you on Twitter and/or subscribe to your podcast/
newsletter.
3: Follow everyone who follows you on Twitter.
4: Un-follow anyone who does not “follow you back” on Twitter.
5: Be interesting, transparent and provocative (on Twitter).
6: Publish regularly.
7: Post interesting links on Twitter.
8: Keep an eye on what’s being said (RSS, Google Alerts, Google Blog Search, Twitter Search, YouTube, Bing).
9: Mention people through their user name (via @… on Twitter) and links: provide kudos, answers and comments.
10: Post media – (links to) pictures, films, sound.
11: Post on other sites, forums, etc. (Fill out everything, including the link back to your site.)
12: If you have many followers, repeat your most popular tweets (but not to excess).
13: Follow the most popular twitterers, and take note of what they say and how they interact with their
followers.
14: Invite people to retweet (“pl retweet” – explain “what is retweet” – send link to the explanation!).
15: Follow people who are interested in the same things as you.
16: Search for and retweet tweets with keywords that interest you (and your followers).
17: Include “Follow us” links on your website, in emails and newsletters etc.
76
78. KEY-ELEMENTS CONTENT
What Who can drag a Kia car fastest? Start at one end and drag/run
with the car as fast as possible to the end point app. 50 meters
away.
Time needed 30 minutes.
Equipment 2 Kia cars, ropes.
When Possible all week.
Notes Obvious choice: Antoine Albeau (F-192), he'll probably have a
hard time deciding whether to eat or drag the car. Possibly two
men against him ...?
Name Cold Hawaii - king of KIA
Organizers Kia cars & ACTIVE institute
78
80. Daily Schedule: Day 5, Saturday the 17th of September
16/9 2010 by Lea in daily schedule | 2 Comments
Tags: cold hawaii, pwa, world cup
Weather forecast looks really good – again click here to see
12.00: Skippers Meeting
12.30: First possible start, Super Session – best jump (2-4 hours).
??.00: Announcement of the winner (Right after last heat)
??.00: Post-race Interview (Right after the price Announcement)
Use #coldhawaii AND #tv, on twitter to ask questions during the live streaming. After
the days action you’ll also be able to use the chat to ask questions to the top 3
riders. Visit The Cold Hawaii PWA Mashup – it’s where the action is.
Follow the 2010 KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup live on:
http://worldcup.coldhawaii.eu/live-mashup
Media guide for the KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup website
Event guide for the KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup website
Further interesting link:
http://bambuser.com/channel/coldhawaii
http://www.youtube.com/user/coldhawaiiworldcup
http://twitter.com/coldhawaii
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=122058047837435
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46186474@N07/
80
When I introduce myself on an occasion like this, I say that I represent ACTIVE institute. \n\nACTIVE institute is a small social enterprise working in close collaboration with Aarhus University. \n\n“The purpose of ACTIVE institute is to increase Danish knowledge of sport and physical activity, in terms of research and commercial potential. We bring together companies, organizations, government agencies and research to act on specific projects. We act as advisors and create a catalyst for co-operation and knowledge-sharing.”\n
For us, the paradigm of a project is a situation in which we match knowledge, education, business and society in way that creates innovation that ideally benefits all parties.\n\nFrom our perspective, it is not rocket science. Co-operation is necessary: knowledge, education, business and society are ingredients in the melting pot that guarantees all of us sustainable livelihoods.\n\nSince 2008 we’ve been working together with Sailing Aarhus on several projects, all of which have focused on finding new ways to build popularity within dinghy sailing. \n\n\n\n\n \n
Regarding my talk: \n\nFirst I’ll tell you a bit about what I think is fascinating about the present and the future and suggest how that relates to dinghy sailing.\n\nThen I’ll run you through the project’s we so far did i collaboration with Sailing Aarhus and the Danish sailing community. \n\nAfter that I’ll sum up some of the generic concepts that was derived from the process and give you a glimpse of what that means to the solutions we’re working on. \n\nFinally I’ll share my advice to Thomas and Sailing Aarhus with you - and from that you can use whatever you find usable - if anything ;-)\n
So what’s fascinating about the present?\n\nWell, there’s a lot to be excited about, but when we talk about “building popularity” in dinghy sailing, I think we should be aware of two things in particular:\n\na) Moore’s Law and b) the World Wide Web.\n
Let’s start with Moore’s Law...\n
What is Moore's Law? It can be difficult to understand – but if you enter “IBM RAMAC 305” in the search field on YouTube, it’ll bring up an old promotional film about IBM’s state-of-the-art computer from 1956. \n\nThis is a little fellow about the size of a Fiat 127, with the capacity to store information similar to what in 2011 fits on a memory card about the size of a thumbnail – if, that is, you stack RAMACs and keep stacking them until you have approximately 6km of them!\n\nWhile the RAMAC 305 cost a fortune, the cost of a 16GB memory card in 2011 is €32.00, or €2.5 per GB – and remember, for comparison, 1GB equates to 400m of RAMAC’s.\n
And here you have it: CPU transistor counts from 1971 to 2008…\n\nIt’s also called exponential growth!\n\nMoore’s Law notes that the number of transistors in a chip of a certain size will double approximately every two years, without affecting the price. In addition to calculating density, Moore’s Law also applies to bandwidth, processing speed and, as we have just seen, storage capacity.\n
If Moore’s Law continues to hold true over coming decades, it suggests that, in 2045, for €670 we will be able to buy a computer chip with a calculating capacity one billion times greater than that of the human brain.\n\nIt’s not only fascinating, but it represents enormous potential in a world where data, and the ability to process and present data, is what we need to be able to show the essence of this fascinating sport to the rest of the world.\n
The other important element is the World Wide Web…\n\nThere are several ways to approach the essence of the phenomenon. I’ll give you one of them.\n\n
What you see here is an “old media” end-user: \n\nsomeone sitting in the darkness, viewing whatever others have decided to show him – it could be sailing, but mostly it's stuff that is much easier to understand, for example soccer. \n\nThis was the case when all that was available was old media – that is, traditional TV, radio, newspapers, magazines etc.\n
This is the same – in a larger perspective ... \n\nNow, what’s in the middle?\n
Well, primarily a business model that’s based on quite a heavy infrastructure. These are buildings, OB vehicles, television helicopters, television towers, TV studios, cameras, attractive and well-paid TV reporters … etc.\n\nIt’s an expensive setup and the number of viewers – or simply eyeballs – determines income.\n\nThe more people that see it, the more money they make; which, of course, is why there is no dinghy sailing in mainstream media. \n\nIt’s that simple.\n
But in 2011, this can be held up against a reality in which all of us – and yes, I do mean all of us – with a so-called smartphone and a standard mobile broadband connection basically have access to the same broadcasting opportunities that were previously reserved for those who could afford the expensive production infrastructure.\n
Today, reality looks like this…\n
And yes, we do not just text, take the pictures, record small videos; we share the content and thereby our experiences with friends and pretty much anyone else who wants to see what we’re doing…\n\nWe have gone from being consumers to being users of what we call “new media”; in effect, a new consumer is also a new producer.\n\nThe World Wide Web is symmetrical in the sense that all of us have access to, and use, exactly the same tools as everyone else – including “the big guys”…\n
And it actually happens. Here are some statistics from 2010:\n\n15,870,000 wall posts, 2,716,000 photos and 10,208,000 comments posted on Facebook – in any 20-minute period ...\n\n25 billion tweets were sent in 2010 … \n\n200 million views on YouTube every day – VIA MOBILE.\n\nCompared to the printing press, radio and later television, the World Wide Web represents the largest increase ever in our ability to express ourselves, which has affected and will continue to affect all of us.\n
This is 36-year-old Gary Vaynerchuk, co-owner of a large-scale wine store called Wine Library.\n\nIn 2006, he started the video blog called Wine Library TV, a daily internet webcast on the subject of wine, which launched his career as an internet celebrity.\n\nVaynerchuk’s informal style, described as “unpretentious, gonzo approach to wine appreciation”, is in contrast to the conservative wine-industry norms.\n
Wine Library TV is an example of some of the spin-off from the World Wide Web. \n\nIn this instance, it means that some of us, who previously could only take whatever the TV gave us, now watch Wine Library TV instead, and, while we are doing so, discuss it, chat about it, tweet about it etc.\n\nIn other words, Mr. Vaynerchuck embraces a niche and thereby addresses the interests of a very specific group of people. It’s possible because Vaynerchuck is using cheap technology and the internet to broadcast – completely independently of traditional media…\n\nIt is this kind of bottom-up approach to the exposure of dinghy sailing that we’ve been exploring and experimenting with, together with Sailing Aarhus.\n\nBut in general - maybe one should ask oneself: Who is the potential “Gary Vaynerchuk’s” of sailing? How many such people are there, and what are we doing to support them?\n
Now to some of the things we have done in our attempts to find new ways to disseminate information about dinghy sailing.\n\nAnd before I begin I would like to emphasize that Sailing Aarhus in all the projects have served as an invaluable facilitator between on the one hand, us and our partners on the other hand, the local and national sailing community. Without them their glowing hearts and professionalism we would never have been able to do what we’ve done so far. Further - we are pioneers in this field - hopefully this is only a beginning.\n
Our first project was back in 2008, undertaken during the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship.\n
The purpose of the project was to experiment with a new media platform. Our goal was to facilitate a combination of live tracking and the ability for spectators to chat and discuss the action live.\n\nThe partners were Aarhus School of Business, the company TracTrac, Sailing Aarhus and ACTIVE institute.\n
The data sources were the tracking units, which are now well known and used widespread within elite dinghy sailing.\n
The units have a GPS connection and connect via GSM or mobile internet to – in this case - TracTrac’s servers, which process the data and deliver it in a format that can be displayed in a normal browser.\n
This was what the end-user saw - the live chat is marked in red at the bottom of the screen. \n
The result was:\n\n28,500 tracking’s were displayed, 16 min. per tracking = 10 months tracking.\n\nApprox. 5000 unique users = 5.7 trackings per user = approx. 90 minutes per user.\n\nFor TracTrac it meant, quite specifically, that they were engaged in the Volvo Ocean Race.\n\nAarhus School of Business got 350 respondents to a survey on lead-users: they wrote and published a paper that was later accepted by the European Marketing Academy Conference (EMAC) in 2009.\n\nSailing Aarhus got better and more exciting coverage of the event, greater brand exposure and… well, a big smile on their face!\n
In 2009, we ran a small project that dealt with live video streaming.\n\n
The aim of the project was to explore models for lightweight live streaming, and therefor to test a system that made it cheap and easy to stream live video and store recordings in order to reach a global audience.\n\nBesides dinghy sailing, we worked together with elite Danish basketball and a kids’ soccer tournament.\n\nSo the partners were the Bakken Bears (basketball club), Dana Cup no. 1 (the organization behind the kids’ soccer tournament), Sailing Aarhus, Center for Industrial Production at Aalborg University and ACTIVE institute.\n
We began with an inventory of free live-streaming services. The inventory is produced and published by an Italian called Luigi Canali De Rossi – better known as Robin Good.\n\n
After a series of tests, we chose Ustream.\n
So, as you can see, the source was a camera with the ability to connect to and transfer a video signal to a PC.\n\nThe PC was running Flash media encoder software. The software is free, and turns the PC into a “portable encoder”.\n\nThe PC was connected to the internet. The good thing is that standard mobile broadband makes it possible to live-stream the signal wirelessly to the internet. If you have a connection with a constant transfer rate as low as 1.2Mb/s, it’s possible to broadcast in low-HD or 720p.\n\nWe also had an account at Ustream. Anyone can create one, and it’s free. Ustream provides the Flash streaming server and the ability to access the live stream through a normal browser.\n\nFrom there on, it is “just” a matter of pushing a button – and yes, you’re streaming live video that the rest of the world can watch.\n
Here’s how the setup looked from the outside. \n\nThe person who’s steering the powerboat is Finn Jensen. You might know him: he’s a former elite sailor and \nnow an elite coach in Aarhus. During the event, Finn worked together with another coach from Aarhus, Pierre Baad Jensen, as a volunteer commentator. In addition, there is the camera and cameraman and a technician with a water-proof laptop on board.\n
Here is what the end-user saw. \n\nThe actual broadcast is “wrapped” in social components ... they are marked in red.\n\nIn addition to live chat, a viewer can leave his or her own video-comment and it’ll automatically be connected to the broadcast. It is possible to share links on Facebook and Twitter. To the right is an option to embed the broadcast. This means that anyone can grab a little piece of code and paste it into his or her website, and bingo! – the broadcast will be embedded on their site as well. \n
We found a solution, and a company called StreamFactory was created: and I think it’s safe to say that they are now one of the world’s best providers of lightweight on-water live streaming.\n
In 2010, we combined our experience of live tracking and live streaming and created what we called the SAP 505 World Championship Mashup.\n
The partners were Sailing Aarhus, SAP and ACTIVE institute.\n
Here are the sources:\n\nAgain there were the tracking devices (provided by TracTrac), the camera now provided by StreamFactory, a volunteer commentator – in this case, our own Pip Pearson, who got his international breakthrough as a yachting commentator on that occasion! – and finally, what we called our “tweet-amigos” - those were dedicated volunteers reporting via smartphones.\n
The services we combined were:\n\n• TracTrac for live tracking\n• Bambuser for live video streaming and sound\n• Twitter for live text\n• Flickr for live still images.\n\nWe “wrapped” it in WordPress: a freeware, open source blogging system that anyone can download, install and use for any purpose – commercial as well as non-commercial. Incidentally, The New York Times uses WordPress, as does Wired magazine, eBay and 25 million other users.\n\nFinally, we use Google Analytics to gain insight into the traffic and effectiveness of the site.\n\nThe items marked in red are those that cost money; everything else is free. Flickr is indeed free, but we chose a so-called Pro account. It costs the tidy sum of €17 per year (so this one won’t ruin your budget).\n\nPut another way: the only service as a service that cost us money was TracTrac. \n
Here’s what the end-user saw:\n\nIn the upper left corner is live tracking alongside live streaming.\n\nRight under that are images and text – uploaded on the fly. As you can see, our text and photo feed is themed, so we had our tweet-amigos cover what happened at the marina, near the race committee and on the race committee boat, and we also had a person who was reporting directly from the gate launch boat.\n\nTo the right was what we called “public cheering”, which was all tweets in the whole world containing #sap505. This meant that everyone could make their comments visible on the site. \n
It was possible to press a button to maximize just the combination of live tracking and live streaming.\n
Rasmus re-tweet…\n
\n
2010 was also the year where we experimented in 3D. This project was called “Social in 3D”.\n
The partners were the companies TracTrac, 43D and Blom, the Alexandra Institute, the Computer Science Department at Aarhus University, Aarhus School of Architecture, Sailing Aarhus and ACTIVE institute. \n\nThe aim of the project was to experiment with a new platform for broadcasting inaccessible sports – and to get good ideas on how to make them more interesting to follow. In this case, the concept was also applied to the 505 World Championship in Aarhus.\n
We actually used some of the same sources that we used for the mashup – namely the data from the tracking devices, and the images and text from mobile devices controlled by our tweet-amigos.\n\nAs a new element, we added onboard live video cameras on six of the boats – two on each boat.\n\nThis gave two strands in the project.\n\nOne strand was carried out together with the Aarhus School of Architecture. It was, quite simply, about finding a durable solution to the question:\n\nHow can we, cheaply and easily, get a live video feed from onboard cameras onto the internet so we’ll be able to integrate that feed into a 3D model?\n
We chose to entitled this strand “The Open Source Camera Mount (OSCM)”, and we engaged primarily students from the school of architecture in the process.\n\nThe idea was to build a unit out of existing parts or parts that could be printed from a 3D printer, and in a way that would enable everyone to reproduce the device and also develop the device further.\n
As a camera, we chose a standard smartphone – in this case, an HTC Desire. It’s a technology that exists and can be purchased for a relatively modest amount.\n\nA modern smartphone is a computer much more than a phone, and contains a number of sensors, including a camera and it connects to the internet.\n\nFinally there are quite a few services that can be used for live streaming, and almost all of them have an application that makes it possible to stream live, directly from your mobile device.\n
An HTC Desire isn’t waterproof. We solved this by vacuum-packing the phone – and yes, now it is possible to find a video on the internet, explaining how to vacuum-pack an HTC Desire!\n
But the main requirement was the camera-mount. We made this out of parts from two existing products: namely a Go-pro camera mount and an Irwin spring clamp. \n\nThe holder for the phone was designed in 3D, using the program K-3D, which is open source and freely downloadable. \n\nSubsequently, the holder was printed by the company Materialise for a relatively small amount of money.\n
…and this is the final result.\n
Here is Michael, a student from the School of Architecture, mounting the camera on the transom of a 505 dinghy.\n
And yes, now there is a page on the internet where you can find short and precise instructions on how to make the “Open Source Camera Mount” – and where you can also download the 3D files for printing and further development.\n
The second strand focused on the 3D model.\n
This was created in collaboration between the Computer Science Department at Aarhus University, the Alexandra Institute and the companies 43D and TracTrac – while the company Blom, as a supplier of overflight images and topographic data, also had a minor role.\n\nThe 3D software we used is called Topos R2; it is closed source and was developed by the company 43D.\n\nBefore we begin, I must say that I tested the projector this morning and I found out that the recordings form the 3D model doesn’t look too good on the big screen. I’ll take you through anyway. I'm obviously interested in showing the following on my own screen after this presentation if anyone should be interested. You can also find it on the Internet. \n\n
Prior to this project Topos R2 was build with the aim of supporting design and environmental planning professionals.\n\nThe good thing about this software is that it gives a very high degree of flexibility and supports on-the-fly experimentation in 3D.\n\nThis was exactly what we needed in order to involve the sailing community in a high-speed process concerning the development of a suitable demonstration of the possibilities for showing dinghy sailing in 3D.\n\nNow, as you can see on the right side of the screen there’s a leaderboard showing the ranking in the current race, with the ability to scroll down or search to find any boat. It’s possible pause the race. If the race is live it’s possible to rewind the race, if you’re watching a recorded race, it’s possible to rewind and fast forward.\n\n\n\n
As I’ve mentioned we had tweetamigos positioned on the race committee boat. From that location they uploaded geo-tagged photos to Flickr from their mobile devices. The images were integrated whereby these external inputs also became part of the 3D model. \n\nI’m not entirely sure what it’s good for - but it shows that it’s possible to integrate for instance spectator contributions, and that might give us or someone good ideas. \n
It’s was of course possible to get an overview of the course, and also to mark a boat and thus get an overview of the boat number, current placement and position in the race, speed and the number of marks the boat had passed. \n\nAs a convention build in to the system the length of the wake indicated the speed of each boat, and thus allowed a quick visual comparison between two or more boats to be made.\n
At a distance, wind direction was marked with a big arrow on the line between the top and bottom mark; when zoomed in, the waves indicated the wind direction. \n\nAgain this isn’t how it is in reality but another convention build in to the system and as such maybe an example on how to use 3D to make sailing and in the case the wind-direction - visible and understandable to outsiders. \n
Here’s another convention: \n\nBoats that run before the wind had a green spinnaker, which made it possible to see which boats had already rounded the top mark and which were still moving up the course.\n\n... also notice the colored lines: Any specific boat could be marked, whereby lines of different colors indicated the distance from that boat to the five nearest competitors.\n\n
... and finally here’s the most complex feature namely the ability to choose any six boats with a camera on board and move down to each boat to get a relatively vivid picture of what was going on - live.\n
The result:\n\nFirst of all we learned a lot, - and based on that - here’s a thought: \n\nOne thing is to make sailing in 3D look like reality, we’re not sure that it’s the way to go - maybe we should focus on how to use data and conventions in 3D to make dinghy sailing not only viewable but also understandable. \n\nI have also chosen the two main companies - that was involved in the project.\n\nThe company 43D changed their strategy because of the project ... and apparently something very real is happening right now. \n\n... for the company TracTrac: They Developed their service - with relevance to both immediate and long-term goals - I think it’s fair to say that they certainly got something positive out of the project. \n\nAs far as Sailing Aarhus goes - well, I think Thomas will be the right person to tell you more about that. \n\n
Where are we now?\n
Firstly, based (among other things) on the work we did together with the Danish sailing community, we have defined the scope of the area we’re working in.\n\nWe call it Sportcasting 2.0.\n\nSportcasting 2.0 is a combination of the words “sports”, “broadcasting” and “Web 2.0” – meaning the broadcasting of sports in a Web 2.0 context. \n\nIf you’re not familiar with the term Web 2.0 you should definitely look it up. \n
We have tried to define what a sport like dinghy sailing is, with regard to coverage.\n\nIn our terminology, dinghy sailing belongs to what we now call Long Tail Sports.\n\nChris Anderson, the chief editor of Wired magazine, first coined “The Long Tail” as a media phenomenon in 2005, in reference to things that have an audience, but not one that’s large enough to reach the standards of mainstream media.\n\nWhat he draws to our attention is that old media, or media based on pre-internet technology, simply didn’t have the capacity to exploit the potential that exists within The Long Tail.\n\nThere simply wasn’t room for it – and because big money and therefor very high numbers of viewers determines the funding for the mainstream media, it was – and still is – filled with things that the majority wants to watch.\n\nNow, as we’ve seen the combination of Moore’s Law and the World Wide Web has brought new possibilities to Long Tail Sports. I’m not saying it’s easy to utilize; I’m saying it’s now possible, and, at the same time, that it’s hard work and requires that we begin to think differently about how to expose for instance dinghy sailing.\n
Last, but not least, it’s clear to us that “building popularity” in a modern media landscape is about making whatever you want to make popular not just viewable, but also understandable and sharable. \n\nJust to give you a glimpse of what I mean when I say “viewable, understandable and sharable,” and to emphasize that it isn’t necessarily rocket science, I’ll show you a little sub-project we did in conjunction with the the PWA World Cup in Klitmøller in 2010.\n
There is no doubt that windsurfing wave performance is a spectacular sport. This is Kauli Seadi from Brazil in a backwards loop in Klitmøller, Cold Hawaii. \n\nBut how many people in this room can tell me, by watching a heat in windsurfing wave performance, what it is that determines the winner and the loser? You shouldn’t worry if you’re not able to – nobody else can!\n\nThis is a big problem – and it is simply incredible to me that nobody so far has come up with a solution. \n
Therefore, we set out to introduce the first iteration of what we called the Live Scoreboard as an integral part of the live mashup that we used to communicate the event.\n\nWe did this - two guys - in under a week. Some of the things worked and some didn’t, but hey: nothing ventured, nothing gained – and we got really far. Just a little bit of funding can get us all the way. \n
\nNow, as you can see - marked in red - the live scoreboard was located directly below our live streaming.\n
Through the system we were able to show the result online within 60 sec. after the head-judge had approved the score - and we actually prepared the system to be able to show each score by each individual judge live. \n\n... but as you can see, this edition of the scoreboard “only” shows where we are in the competition and who’s competing.\n
Next is “understandable”…\n
We can see who beat whom and by how much, that’s of course why he won – and yes, I’ll bet that some of you are already starting to see how points are given for “best jump” and “best wave”, and I can tell you that “DP” is an abbreviation for “double push-loop” … (get it?)\n\nAll in all - I think it’s better than nothing. \n\nAnd I cannot help but mention: \n\nIf you look at how the Professional Windsurfer Association operates now, where judging is done on paper and literally thrown out afterwards that data is lost - forever! \n\nImagine what you could do with that data, if you collected and stored it – all sorts of statistics that could make the sport even more … understandable, more entertaining.\n
And finally, “sharable”…\n
In this case, there’s a simple connection to Twitter: click on the icon and your twitter-account opens with an “auto-tweet” prepared, making it easy for you to share the experience.\n
What can you do? I speak from time to time with Thomas and Sailing Aarhus and others from the Danish sailing community about that - and when I do the conversation always revolves around the same topics.\n
You need to work on your community. \n\nThe fact is, you do not need mainstream media to reach your audience - and if you do, you have a problem: they won’t be interested!\n\nInstead you need to have a very direct contact through for instance Twitter and Facebook to people who are interested in sailing. \n\n\n
I won’t go into details – I’ll just underscore that there are many things you can do. \n\n... and well: here’s a list.\n\nIt doesn’t come easily. If people have a choice – and with the internet, they do – you must be worth following. \n\nFirst of all - it’s a dialog and you should be willing to participate in the dialogue and set aside time to do it. \n\nBut start by asking yourself:\n\nWhy should anyone follow you? What is it that you can give them in a world where there are incredibly many other things that are interesting and accessible?\n
Work on your content…\n\nAgain, I’ll refer to the PWA World Cup. From the outside looking at what the organization offers, it’s apparent that it’s a really lousy value proposition! \n\nI mean: as it is right now, the wind has to be blowing stably over 10m/s before anything happens – and how often is that the case? Under those conditions, it’s simply impossible to do anything live. I mean: what about all the times when the wind is not blowing at 10m/s or above?\n\n\n
That was why, during the PWA World Cup i Klitmøller, we introduced a whole series of side-events involving sailors and spectators. Those events could be put into action with as little as half an hour available to entertain and engage our audience – both those who were present and especially those who were following through our online live mashup...\n\nHere’s one. It’s called “Cold Hawaii – king of KIA” – and, as you can see, it’s about who can pull a KIA fastest over a distance of 50 m. In this case, it was even a way of bringing the sponsors into the spotlight in a different and entertaining way…\n
Work on your workflow. By this, I want to emphasize that there’s a lot of processes, procedures and routines associated with a successful media production.\n
Here’s “The Daily Schedule” broadcasting which we posted each day during both the PWA World Cup and 505 World Championship. It looks fairly simple – and it is, IF you’ve prepared well.\n
Work on your revenue model.\n\nThere are many ways, and my contention is that the Danish sailing community, at least, is far from exploiting the full potential. \n\nHere’s a slightly different idea.\n
What if we can create an online platform for broadcasting events that enables each boat, each crew and each individual sailor to put themselves and their sponsors into the spotlight in different ways? \n\nWould this be attractive to the sailors and their sponsors?\n\nAnd if - would be possible for each boat participating in for instance a world championship to collect and invest an average of €335 in this kind of exposure?\n\nIf so, a 100 boats would provide a sum of €33,500. It could be more, it could be less, but it’s a lot of money. One thing is certain: it ought to be easier for individual boats and crews to go out and find €335 than it is for for instance Thomas and Sailing Aarhus to go out and find €33,500.\n\nIt’s just a thought, but actually it’s a system that we’re talking with several of our partners about introducing.\n
