Google Fiber “status update” for Kansas City

Patrick Pichette, Google's chief financial officer

For the last 10 years, I’ve been personally following the progress of fiber connectivity.  I first started to hear about the “miraculously fast” bandwith of fiber-optic cable in the summer of 2001 – said to offer up to 100 times the fastest DSL/Cable connection available today.  But, to my dismay, the market has seen almost zero progress on this front over that time (except for maybe network infrastructure development to “prepare the way” of an eventual fiber offering.)  I thought by now the internet would be a completely different animal.  A place where websites, movies/TV and games would all be a seamless fully interactive experience.  But, even though the technology is here, it simply hasn’t happened.

Well, in July of last year, Google elected to use Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS as testing grounds for building a real-working Fiber connection service!  

Success in a Foundation Campaign

Prizm is honored to have been a partner with Indiana State University Foundation during its $85 million campaign.  The campaign was the first comprehensive campaign in the school’s 160 year history.  Prizm was engaged to elevate the brand, showcase the March On! Moments through video storytelling, and design both a live event experience and an online presence.

We are so proud of Indiana State and are honored to have them as a client. Read more about their campaign’s success here.

SOPA: What it is and why it’s NOT good

The premise of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is to…well…stop piracy.  Which is a good thing, right?  In theory – yes.  But what the bill actually proposes will do A LOT more harm than good.

CES 2012 Recap: On the horizon for video

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is one of the largest annual technology “release parties.”  Thousands of tech companies and a whole host of celebrities (including Will.i.am., Ryan Seacrest, Justin Timberlake and Justin Beiber…just to name a few) are all a part of featuring new electronics from phones to robots – both in concept and in actual coming-to-market form.

There were many BIG announcements for video this year – both for video creation and for viewing video.  Most notably amongst them were the following cameras and TVs:

Google’s social search: Future for businesses?

Google search just came out with a new feature this week when they integrated Google+ updates into relevant Google searches. They are calling the feature “social search” and it has been getting quite a bit of press. (You can learn more about the service from Google’s promotional video.)

As for myself – having tried it for a week – I have to say, I am impressed with the functionality but more so the strategy it suggests Google+ will take and how it will help businesses profit from social media.

Facebook vs. Google+

Part of how I am forecasting social searches and Google+’s future success is in how I see where Google+ and Facebook differ, which is in the philosophy upon which they were built.

Creating a Mobile Marketing Strategy | Step One: Identifying if you need one

As 2012 begins, the mobile industry continues to grow and mature. Companies are just now beginning to understand the capabilities of these super computers in our pockets as the entertainment sections of the App Stores are giving way to corporate applications. Yet for most small businesses that are still working out the kinks in their social media campaigns, they haven’t even started to think about their mobile presence. The prevailing logic is that they don’t have an App that can bring value to their customers and modern mobile browsers do a pretty good job of displaying their website that was meant for the desktop so mission accomplished, right? 

The other day at Prizm, we were doing some research

Merry Christmas from Prizm!

If you haven’t already seen our Holiday EVM (Electronic Video Message), catch all of the marshmallow-y, hot cocoa-y, Christmas Carol-y goodness here.

Wish you’d received this in your inbox? Email your contact information to marketing@prizmproductions.com to receive future videos like this one.

The Browser Wars

To the average consumer, the differences between browsers have become marginal.  Historically, most of you used whatever Microsoft gave you because you really didn’t have a particular need to switch to something else.  But this has changed dramatically in the last couple years.  People have awoken to the fact that their web browsing experience can be faster, lighter and cleaner.  Now more than ever, the browsers are fighting for a bigger piece of the usage pie.   The graph below shows Worldwide Usage from Nov ’09 to Nov ’11 according to StatCounter.  With the rise of Chrome, IE has gone from nearly 57% to 40%.  Firefox (25.56%) and Chrome (25.31%) are in a dead heat for 2nd place.

A testament to the power of social media

It’s amazing how quickly social media has taken hold of the world.  Why, just a short three years ago, I was completely clueless as to what the term “social media” even referred to.  And then when I did finally gain some grain of understanding, I flatly refused to be a part of it for months!  And now, as you can see, I am immersed as deeply as the rest of you crazy cool people. 

Although, there are days that I wonder what will become of everyone.  After all, like everything else in life, moderation is the key.  With all of the different games and fictional societies that seem to be flourishing on the internet, it really could be quite easy to become so fully immersed that one’s days would waste away until there was nothing of reality left to experience and appreciate.

Thankfully, there are many facets to the social media revolution, or perhaps I should say evolution, and it is a great one that I sing the praises of today.  Last year, I lost my beautiful cousin Joy to a very long battle with cancer.  I won’t go into the sad details, because this story is all about greatness precipitated by social networking.  You see, Joy’s children wanted to help her achieve her biggest goals and dreams before she left us, so they asked for a “Bucket List” of things she wanted to accomplish.  It wasn’t a very long list, and really, there were three items that I would consider the least bit challenging:  Go on a cruise;  Swim with the dolphins;  Be a part of the audience at a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Facebook’s Comments Box Now Indexed by Google

Posts made via Facebook’s Comments Box are now being read and indexed by Google’s search bots. This is highly significant, as this added data will affect search engine optimization (SEO), therefore adding value to every discussion, both inside and outside of Facebook.

What is Comments Box?

A common discussion thread on Facebook using Comments Box

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Inside Facebook: At its core, Comments Box is what allows for discussion threads on Facebook itself. The ability to comment on Wall Posts, Status Updates, and so forth is made possible by Comments Box.