Over the weekend I moved my blog to the WordPress platform and in the process, I also checked every single link in all of my posts. I found more than 600 broken links due to vendors changing the directory structure for the site and moving the location of their press releases. While many vendors have re-launched their website with a new look and feel, in the process, quite a few changed the default path to their press releases from something like /press to /media. As a result, all of the previous links to your news are now broken, not just on my blog, but on the hundreds of news sites around the web. For some of the larger vendors that get a lot of news coverage or put out a lot of releases, this adds up to thousands of broken links to your news. Some vendors have re-mapped their old directory structure to default to their home page, but most vendors haven’t even done that, so readers simply get a 404 error.

I spent nearly 15 hours manually fixing all these broken links on my blog by going to each vendors site and finding the new URL, but most blogs and websites aren’t going to take the time to do this, especially the larger ones, which will have the most broken links. So if you’ve recently re-launched your company’s website, please take a look at your directory structure and make sure that previous links to your press releases still work.

Over the long holiday weekend, my blog was offline for a bit so I could make some changes that should make reading and commenting on my posts more enjoyable. A lot of the changes were on the backend, like moving from TypePad’s platform over to WordPress, but many of the changes will also be noticed by readers. Pages should load much faster now and posting comments no longer requires you to have to type in jumbled words. You can also sign up to be notified via email whenever anyone responds on one of your comments and there is a new interface just for mobile devices, which will make viewing the blog on small screens much easier. There’s also a new related posts function, which allows readers to see posts similar to the one they just read and the introduction of new tags, so it’s easier to find all posts pertaining to a particular subject.

The most exciting update for me is that I now have the ability to check my posts for grammar and spelling problems, something I need to get much better at doing. I also spent nearly 15 hours manually fixing all broken links within blog posts, for the past three years. Over the new few weeks, I’ll fix all broken links for posts from the 2007-2009 time frame as well.

I hope these changes will make it easier for you to read, follow and comment on my blog going forward and I thank you for your support and readership over the years. If you see anything that looks broken, please let me know.

Updated: Not all of the comments are showing up for all posts. Disqus is working on fixing that.

In April, Livestream announced a new hardware encoder called the Livestream Broadcaster. I’ve just received my unit in the mail and have included some unboxing photos below. I’ll be posting a full review of the device shortly, but in the mean time, my initial impressions from being hands-on with it is that it’s really well designed.

One of the first things you notice when you pick it up is how solid it feels, even though it is only 4.8 x 3.0 inches in size and 1.25 inches in height. It’s small, but the broadcaster doesn’t feel cheap at all. It’s also been really well thought out with the top cover held on by magnets so that it’s easy to swap the AA batteries inside. The two buttons on the front that also act as joysticks to navigate the on-screen menu work really, really well.

If this performs as well as it looks and feels, then this $495 encoder will make encoding and distributing live HD events to the web and mobile devices easy and very affordable for many.

If you have specific questions about the device you want to know the answers to, put it in the comments section and I’ll make sure to answer them during the testing process.

Last week I blogged about our newest conference, the Enterprise Video Conference, taking place in conjunction with our Streaming Media West show, Oct. 30 – 31 in Los Angeles.

Today I’m happy to announce the seven advisory board members who will help with the planning of the show, will co-chair the event and will lend their industry expertise to put together the best lineup of speakers and content. The advisory members are:

• Patty Perkins, Team Leader, Creative Services Technology, Wells Fargo
• Erica Schroeder, Director, Business Video, Cisco
• Larry Bouthillier, Media Technology Architect, Harvard University
• George Levar, Video Service Delivery Lead, Accenture
• Michael Newman, VP/GM, Video Content Management, Polycom
• Paul Riismandel, Director, Curriculum Support, School of Communication, Northwestern University
• Eric Hards, Manager, Digital Media and Streaming, Enterprise Digital Media, Lockheed Martin

While I am in the very early planning stages for the event, the schedule will permit for a total of 18 session slots, eight of which will be 45 minutes in length and ten of which will be 60 minutes in length. About a third of the slots will be reserved for customer case studies and in total, I expect about 70 speaking slots. We’ll also be having four keynotes, two each morning, and dedicated networking events.

Next month we’ll have the website live at www.EnterpriseVideoConference.com and the call for speakers will officially open. But anyone interested in speaking is welcome to email me now with their speaking request and I’ve already gotten a few dozen submissions from some great Fortune 500 corporations and universities. In a few weeks we’ll also have details on sponsorships and the first batch of confirmed speakers.

If you have any questions about the Enterprise Video Conference, feel free to reach out to me anytime. I’m still recovering from arm surgery and am not online much yet, but I will respond to your inquiry when I can.

What would you think our Twitter hash tag should be for the event? Love to hear suggestions in the comments section.

Take your encoding and transcoding knowledge to the next level with this instructional webinar, starting at 2pm ET, that will highlight the latest advanced encoding techniques. Get details on delivering higher video quality at lower bit rates and how to prepare high quality video for delivery to any screen using multiple formats. The webinar will cover advanced practices from Telestream, Harmonic, Haivision and Sorenson Media and will cover:

• advances in AVC algorithms
• advanced GOP features in H.264
• live and file-based transcoding workflows and requirements
• different frame types, what they are and what they mean
• how to optimize encoding presets
• optimizing video for the iPad and Apple TV
• what are the hot new formats, who's using them, and what settings do we recommend?
• how to prepare content for Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH)

Register here and bring your questions for the presenters for the live Q&A portion of the event.

I’m pleased to announce that in conjunction with our Streaming Media West show, taking place Oct. 30-31 in Los Angeles, we will be launching a brand new conference focused on video deployments within the enterprise and education verticals. While a portion of the content at our East and West shows have always included topics pertaining to video within the firewall, we think more focus is needed on enterprise video and will now have a whole show dedicated to the topic.

Called the “Enterprise Video Conference“, the event will be two-days in length and have two concurrent tracks with case study presentations, round-table panels, how-to sessions and possibly their own keynotes. While I wanted to wait until the website was up before I announced the show, I need to get started on the agenda and the call for speakers.

In addition to the work I will be doing to plan the show, I am also recruiting an advisory board of industry experts as well end-user customers who deploy and use these solutions every day to help me plan the content of the show. Multiple enterprise organizations who deliver video inside the firewall have agreed to help as well as numerous universities. I’ll announce the advisory committee shortly and if anyone wants to be considered for an advisory role to help me shape the content of the conference, please reach out to me ASAP.

As with all of our events, end-user customers are going to be a key focus of the show. There will be room for vendors to speak as well, but I really want to highlight as many customer success stories as possible. Vendors have done an excellent job at getting many of their fortune 500 customers to speak and present at past shows and I’ll looking for suggestions for the Enterprise Video Conference as well.

Until the website is up with more details, anyone interested in getting involved, submitting a customer to speak or wanting to pitch me any ideas or suggestions can simply send me en email. I don’t have deadlines yet for speaking submissions, but I suspect the deadline will be in about 30 days from now. Those interested in potentially being advisory members or moderators who want to organize a session of their own need to contact me quickly – by the end of this month.

There are tons of conferences and shows in the industry, but very few are focused, bring a qualified audience and are geared only towards the use and adoption of video amongst enterprise and educational institutions. This isn’t our show, it’s the industry’s and this is your chance to give feedback, pitch in and help make the Enterprise Video Conference show people that there is more to video than just media and entertainment content. Video deployments inside the enterprise and edu don’t get enough credit and with your help, we can change that.

So if you have ideas, suggestions, want to speak, moderate or be involved in way, the flood gates are open. Email me, call me (917-523-4562) and please realize that speaking spots will go fast. The content for this conference will come together quickly, so don’t wait too long to reach out if you want to be involved.

The call for speakers for the next Streaming Media West show, taking place October October 29-31 in LA, has been open for a few weeks and anyone interested in potentially presenting or speaking at the show needs to submit a proposal via the website. The deadline for proposals is June 22nd. Proposals are always welcomed after the deadline, but I get seven or eight times the number of submissions I can use by the deadline, so getting it on time is important.

At our May show in NYC, I cut out 1/3 of all the round-table sessions and replaced them with how-to presentations. I will be doing the same for the West show which means there will be fewer spots for speakers on panel sessions. Attendees have told us to "talk less and show more", so that's what we're doing with more hands-on presenters. If you'd like to pitch a hands-on presentation, please look at the list of ones we had at the May show to get an idea of the topics we cover.

I get asked time and again how I pick speakers and for info on the speaker selection process, as well as what is required from vendors if they want to speak. I've explained that in detail on my blog many times so if you are new to the process, please see my post here that explains it in detail. [Here's How Vendors Can Speak At The Streaming Media West Show In LA] While the post talks to last year's show, it still applies.

Based on the proposals I have already received, I probably have 75% of my topics decided upon and outlined. But if you want to moderate a session and help create the content and invite speakers, please contact me ASAP if you haven't already.

Also, I know that many other shows wait till a month or two before the event to place a lot of their speakers. I have 150 speakers, 20 how-to sessions, four workshops and two keynotes over three days, so a lot of the planning happens well in advance. Trying to get a speaking spot last minute is nearly impossible, so please understand that when you call me two weeks before the show asking why you can't speak.

We'll be adding a new conference to the West show this year called "The Enterprise Video Conference". The purpose of the conference is to have a dedicated event focused on the enterprise and education verticals and their adoption of video. I'll post more info on my blog about that event shortly and will announce a list of industry executives who make up the advisory committee helping us plan the new show.