As most of you know, we've tended to hand over new pieces of the Magnify.net platform to our entire user base just as soon as it was ready. But in the case of the "Vlog in a Box" WebCam, we've decided to manage the the process a bit differently. You may wonder why -- and I think you'll find the thinking useful.

First, while we've had some blog and vlog templates in the platform, we've never really had partners using Magnify.net as their blog or vlog home. We expect that this new group of users will have a bunch of new needs, some of which we've anticipated and tested, but a bunch more that we wanted to learn about before we went wide with the new tools. So we wanted to be able to engage and then adjust the product with a small test group before we let the new code go live for the platform.

Second, Chris Brogan and I have been looking for something to do together for a while -- and this turned out to be the perfect thing. (If you haven't checked out www.AttentionUpgrade.magnify.net yet, please do.) Chris is vlogging his *ss off, which is to say he's really digging in and put the same smart, timely, spot on content on his vlog that he's been twittering and blogging about for a while now. If you haven't subscribed to this feed -- I highly recommenced it.

So -- overall, the private beta is our way of introducing the Vlog in a Box to a small number of diverse users, get some solid feedback, solve any last minute tech or fit and finish issues, and then let it out. If you've got some unique uses for the WebCam tool, you can apply to the beta by sending an email to privatebeta (AT) magnify.net and we'll let you know promptly if you're in the first round of users.

More cool stuff on the way -- stay tuned.

Steve