We'll, it is that time again. The annual pilgrimage to Vegas for CES and Digital Hollywood.

If you're planning to be in Vegas, please join us - as we explore "Personalized Media Platforms - Widgets, User Generated Media, Personalized News, Blogs & PodCasts"

Tuesday, January 8th
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Session C - DH7
Location: Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall, 2nd Fl.

Moderator:
Ian C. Ballon, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP, Moderator

Panelists:
Chris Fralic, Partner, First Round Capital
Brady Gilchrist, EVP of Strategy, Fuel Industries
Michael Jones, CEO, Userplane and VP, AOL
Rhonda Lowry, VP - Emerging Technologies, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc
Steve Rosenbaum, CEO, Magnify.net
Chris Tolles, CEO, Topix

Send us a ping if you'd like to get together in Vegas.

12/21/07

New Year-End Gifties for Magnify Channel Producers

It's just days before the new year... and we've been laying back and chilling out.

Ok, maybe not.

We've been hard at work - and have a few neat surprises.

First, as you may have already read in Tech Crunch yesterday - we've set the WebCam feature loose so all of you can play with it and explore the world of instant video publishing. You'll find the web cam module in the Design section under Adjust Home Page Layout - click on Tools.

You can set a number of configurations that make it very flexible. First, you can set WebCam recordings so that they have a special tag (which means that you can have them automatically arrive in a playlist). Also, you can adjust behaviors so that Admin posted WebCam records (like your Vlog posts) go live immediately, and user-recorded web cam recordings are placed in cue for admin review. Expect more features and evolution of this tool with your input.

Thanks to all for the great coverage on CenterNetworks, SiliconAlleyInsider, TechnicallySpeaking, Mashable, and many more.

Then, you may have noticed that we've added a detailed Categorization Tool to your admin panel.

With this you can more accurately spe... [More]

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We just opened up our video blogging platform to the public. Check out what the press had to say!

TechCrunch: Magnify.net Releases Video Blogging Platform, Seesmic Competitor? <blockquote>Magnify.net, hitherto a platform intended primarily for collecting and sharing videos found around the web, is broadening its focus with the release of a service that lets you record video clips directly into the browser using a webcam.</blockquote > CenterNetworks: Magnify.net Moves Their Video Blogging System Public - Make Yourself Internet Famous <blockquote>I think of this tool as being similar to Wordpress.com for text blogging. Unlike Wordpress.com, publishers can share in the revenue generated on their video blog. It's very easy to use from my testing.</blockquote> Mashable: Magnify’s Public Launch Of Webcam Vlogging Network <blockquote>Magnify, the video tool that lets you create your own network, has made some strides this year, even extending its service to third party networks for a custom, integrated video tool and rolling out ad options. Now Magnify is spreading in a new direction, with the inclusio... [More]

Magnify had its holiday party last night. We all had a good time -- and still managed to make it into the office this morning! I got a chance to meet the extended Magnify family (spouses, significant others, children...) and eat some excellent Italian food. It was really great getting the chance to talk with the rest of the team here -- and not being on Skype while talking! It turns out that people here actually have lives outside of Magnify -- who knew?

Oh, we also played some Guitar Hero. It took me a little while to get in my groove, but ultimately, I rocked. The real Guitar Hero though is Paul: he really rocked! I'm looking forward to a rematch at the next Magnify party.

Freewebs & Magnify hold hands!

Ok, we're not married, or even going steady. But we are holding hands with our friends at Freewebs. For the next 90 days, we'll be offering the Magnify.net service to their Advanced members. The Advanced community is already 3 Million users strong - so they've got a lot of smart developers who've chosen to build on Freewebs.



If you've got a Freewebs Advanced account, log into Freewebs check out the Magnify.net integration. Or, if you're one of Freewebs 17 million other users, stand by - we'll be exploring ways to expand our partnership with the Freewebs team in the months to come.

Magnify.net Finds Videos For Your Site
Published at November 28, 2007 in Viral Exclusives and Announcements. <blockquote> I think Magnify.net is an interesting concept.

If current statistics are any indication of the future, then websites will need to have videos on their site in order to remain competitive. And sometimes, the hosts of those websites won’t want to produce their own material. They may just want to include other material found throughout the web, which may still be of great value to the visitors. Enter Magnify.net. Their service aggregates the links to these videos for you, eliminating the daunting task of searching for it all on your own. And since their service includes any ads originally placed with the video, I think this concept could be very beneficial for anyone producing content for the internet.

We caught up with Magnify.net’s CEO, Steve Rosenbaum, at this year’s Streaming Media West Conference. </blockquote> <center></center>... [More]

Magnify is in TechCrunch again! Check out our most recent write-up here: http://tinyurl.com/2k9rd6

Here's a quote from the post:

Magnify.net users will have access to content from providers including ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates, Bloomberg, AP and Fox News. The additional content allows for the creation of new channels that can be used to build communities around topical news and niche markets.

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=800702 <blockquote> Dec 07, 2007 08:30 ET
Magnify.net to Power Web Video Curation Platform With Amazon S3

Tremendous Growth Market Represents Direction of Online Entertainment and Transforms People Into Network Producers

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - December 7, 2007) - Magnify.net, a peer-driven online video discovery and broadcast channel for people, groups and businesses, today announced their use of Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) to host its rapidly growing online video curation platform.

Currently delivering more than 12 million page views per month and serving over 20,000 high-quality user-generated content publishers, Magnify.net is the fastest growing video platform on the web today.

Unlike typical social networks that host video and connect people, Magnify.net turns couch potatoes into content curators by giving them the tools and resources to discover, review, organize and broadcast themed video with others -- regardless of where it's hosted. Videos can be easily collected from other networks or uploaded directly to Magnify.net and aggregated into one action-packed, topical channel. Users can fully customize their channels to reflect their personal... [More]

Here's a great article from the Wall Street Journal: http://tinyurl.com/32xhb4

Basically, the WSJ is writing about what our channel publishers have already learned: online video drives action and conversion. The article cites a survey in which 501 adults were asked whether they had viewed a video ad on the internet. Check out the results here:



Of those that viewed a video ad, more than half took actions ranging from checking out a website to making a purchase! The results speak for themselves: online video is an extremely important tool for any website. What's your video strategy?

Having had two whole weeks off from the conference circut, Ari and Steve are back out again next week. Yes, its true, the live show is back - and this time we're not in San Jose, but NYC!



Monday - 5:30pm - 7:00pm

*OPEN TO ALL ATTENDEES! New York-style Video Innovation and Networking Reception

• Andrew Baron, Founder, Rocketboom • Bendrix, Digital Media Strategist, JWT and Codedsignal Inc. • Brian Conley, Founder, Alive in Baghdad • Guy Nouri, CEO, Dragonfly.com • Steven Rosenbaum, CEO, Magnify.net • J. Smooth, Producer, WBAI-FM