For anyone who knows me, it’s obvious that I’m a huge fan of curated, meaningful and historical content so I was very pleased to see this archive of TPT videos launching and immediately went to view it when I got the email. I care deeply about TPT, Minnesota Public Radio, the Minnesota Historical Society and many other resources in our state, but I feel I’m qualified to provide feedback to them while the Vault is in beta and you, our savvy and connected internet and web technologists, are equally (or more) qualified to let them know what they need to do to make this wildly successful.

I’m confident I’m right smack-dab-in-the-middle of their target market for MN Video Vault but in its current form, I won’t be using it. Here’s why…  

There were too many obvious and missing items that are “table stakes” to be in the online video game, especially for a non-profit like TPT. These are some of the top surprises that leapt out at me as I poked around the site:

• No RSS feed (for updates)

• No Twitter follow (also for updates)

• No “Sign up for Email Updates” (for updates by those who don’t use the others or are less than tech savvy)

• On their “About” page the TPT folks say, “Programs have been broken into segments and tagged with key information to make specific videos easy to locate” but I was surprised that they’re missing a tag cloud or any actual tags on the site, other than their own bookmarks of segments within a long program

• There are zero social components to the site. One example they might follow is Brewster Kahle‘s Archive.org and the movie section which enables commenting, rating and yes, even downloading. When it comes to tagging above, having the capability to enable users to call out interesting tidbits, historically significant elements within a video, and other items that add value would be great

• The quality of the video is low (e.g., it’s truly unwatchable in full screen mode). I’d be *highly* unlikely to watch anything they’re offering except, possibly, a 4-5 minute video at my computer or on my laptop, but I’d have to be highly motivated to do so and there’s not much there (so far) I find compelling enough to do so

• High quality video is an imperative and not just for full screen since IPTV is changing fast. High quality internet video is especially in demand by the rapidly growing base of users who’ve embraced media center technology (e.g., this post over at my personal blog is about my media center) and people are now watching, or have access to, HUNDREDS of video feeds from Hulu, NetFlix, TEDTalks, and a multitude of obscure offerings that any media center user can instantly call up and watch on an HDTV. With PBS offering high quality versions of their videos now, media center offerings like Boxee offering plugins to stream PBS shows in high quality on an HDTV, the bar has been set and TPT has to meet that qualitative standard to have MN Video Vault be taken seriously and used in any current, or future, meaningful way

• I’m unable to embed any of the videos on my blogs (Note: As part of this, it’s an imperative to be able to embed a video with a link to the timecode or minutes/seconds of a particular part of the video). Why should this matter to TPT and us? On Minnov8, I wrote this quick post about an MPR app (created by a local tech firm) and wanted to illustrate its power and the irony of a snippet of an Midmorning show I’d heard. Unfortunately, I had to jump through some hoops in order to get the audio in to the post, and based on the feedback I’ve received from a couple of dozen people it’s pretty clear that this one post created quite an incentive for people to get the MPR iPhone app, listen to that particular show in its entirety, and even subscribe to the Midmorning podcast. Wouldn’t enabling MN Video Vault videos to be embeddable and usable be key to a non-profit marketing strategy?

Right after this was posted, I emailed the TPT folks and gave them a link to this post in the spirit of helping them move MN Video Vault forward.  To let them know what you think, use this contact form on their site and give them some positive suggestions, recommendations and criticisms.

MN Video Vault is a post from: Minnov8 and published under a Creative Commons license.

Minnesota Public Radio has always endeavored to be a leader in employing new technology in the daily business of radio broadcasting. One look around their beautiful facility in St. Paul will tell you that. From state of the art broadcast equipment to the video presentations throughout the building it’s apparent that MPR embraces technology and innovation.

However, MPR isn’t just using new technology to make the lobby look great. There is genuine dedication to improving the listener’s experience whether they are music fans, news junkies or would be residents of Lake Wobegon. In fact, according to Michael Bettison, Director, New Media at MPR, “Our audience is where the power of our medium is going.”

Bettison joined MPR in 2001 after stints with a web development company in New York and worked with the likes of Time Magazine and PBS. His first of order of business was to properly position the information MPR was providing on air, what he terms “legacy content”, on line. Additional attention needed to be paid to correctly orienting the staff to use the assets given to them by broadcast to focus the content online. This also led to web getting “a seat at the editorial table” at MPR,” a place that some companies are still trying to sort out in their overall strategy. In fact, some still see web as a competitor to traditional media. Bettison noted no such trepidation at MPR. “The only concern was that of workload. However, we were able to take advantage of the enthusiasm shown by the staff to address those concerns.”

In the years following Bettison’s arrival many interactive features have been added to the Minnesota Public Radio websites. According to Julia Schrenkler, Interactive Producer, New Media, MPR seeks to provide communication with listeners on three levels; “To, from, and among.” The “to” encompassing the on-air content as well as the information online, the “from” including everything from e-mail to the Public Insight Journalism initiative and the “among” including public forums as well as the Gather.com social network started in 2005. Bettison also notes that one of the operating credos that is at the backbone of the “from” part of the equation is, “Our audience is smarter than we are.” and it has lead to many of the innovations.

So what are some of these innovations used by MPR and American Public Media that have been most successful? Clearly, the aforementioned Public Insight Journalism social application is a strong example of using social media concepts, if not breakthrough technology. The Idea Generator application, developed in conjunction with Ham in the Fridge of Minneapolis has also proven a successful application in seeking input from the listeners of MPR.

Bettison points specifically to the Select-a-Candidate application…he’s hesitant to call it a widget. It was developed for MPR and has become a “lightly branded quiz application that is available and embeddable to anyone.” Though it may sound grandiose Bettison says its development was inspired by the premise that an informed citizenry is the foundation of a strong democracy. In fact, the tool was viewed as important enough that its development was funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The podcasting arena has also proven very successful with 4 podcasts being noted in the iTunes Top 100 list including broadcast staples Marketplace and Prairie Home Companion as well as two that are web exclusive; Grammar Grater and The Current Song of the Day.

For many companies the success of adopting these innovations is judged on their return on investment in financial terms. While MPR’s online initiatives could generate dollars separately from its broadcast content, which is regulated by the FCC, they have yet to aggressively pursue interactive as a separate revenue stream. They have chosen to focus on the value proposition established by their on-air product meaning little to no advertising and a desire to judge their investment on the furtherance of its mission.

What’s next for MPR in the interactive space? Bettison points to more podcast growth noting that their “outrageous success” counts for a third of all content impressions. They’ll also look for ways to expand their video offerings as well as a moving into mobile. “We won’t chase the technology.” says Bettison, “But we’ll always look for ways to provide a better ‘public service’ experience.”

Accomplishing MPR’s Mission: Innovation at Work. is a post from: Minnov8 and published under a Creative Commons license.