SteveandAmySly.com

Hi Henry. Bye Henry.

Tannerman — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:19:45 GMT

My friend Henry Zonio (henryjz on the TannerWorld Junction discussion forums) recently was invited to take part in a children's ministry event in California that focused on family ministry.

Steve and Henry

Unfortunately, his flight back home to Canada featured numerous stopovers, one of which put in him Chicago late Friday night. So we put him up for the night at the Tanner Manor... then Amy volunteered to get up at 4:45 a.m. the next morning to drive him back to O'Hare for his early flight.

Even though it was just for a few hours, it was good to see Henry again!

News: Pepsi redesigning logo, products

Tannerman — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:02:20 GMT

Pepsi is undergoing a drastic relaunching of their branding and imagery to bring some new life into their flagship brands. The most dramatic element is a redesign of the "Pepsi Globe" logo, which apparently is now supposed to represent a smile.

Read full update at BevReview.com

Review: Jones Soda Monster Mojito Soda (2008)

Tannerman — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:11:50 GMT

One of the workhorses of the Jones Soda Halloween collection every year is Jones Soda Monster Mojito Soda, a flavor that originated in 2006, returned last year, and now makes its third appearance here in 2008.

Read full update at BevReview.com

Review: Jones Soda Dread Apple Soda (2008)

Tannerman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:42:58 GMT

With a name like Jones Soda Dread Apple Soda, you'd hope for a great new take on an apple soft drink. Well, unless you like carbonated Jolly Rancher candy, you aren't going to find it. I had hope for this entry in the 2008 Jones Soda Halloween collection. but it comes up short.

Read full update at BevReview.com

Review: Jones Soda Blood Orange Soda (2008)

Tannerman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:00:22 GMT

Jones Soda Blood Orange Soda is an orange beverage that doesn't taste like you'd expect. It's fruity, but also bitter and somewhat grapefruit-like. Could be better, but as a limited time offering, not bad. It's part of the 2008 Jones Soda Halloween collection.

Read full update at BevReview.com

Review: Jones Soda Candy Corn Soda (2008)

Tannerman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:07:03 GMT

Returning for a record 4th appearance as part of the Jones Soda Halloween collection, it's the gag reflex-inducing Jones Soda Candy Corn Soda... a drink we ceremoniously described a few years back as "dirty urine". Yeah, do you really want to try this one?

Read full update at BevReview.com

Review: Jones Soda Buried Pomegranate Soda (2008)

Tannerman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:46:07 GMT

Featuring more of an herbal-infused taste instead of the expected cherry or pomegranate flavors, Jones Soda Buried Pomegranate Soda surprises the tastebuds... and that's not a bad thing. This 8 oz. novelty beverage from Jones provides a nice limited-time treat as part of the 2008 Jones Soda Halloween collection.

Read full update at BevReview.com

Review: Jones Soda Lemon Drop Dead Soda (2008)

Tannerman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:46:07 GMT

Jumping back to the original 2006 flavor, Jones Soda Lemon Drop Dead Soda revives the lemon-lime-without-the-lime drink category by dropping the sour flavor of last year's version and delivering a very sweet, but uniquely bitter tasting beverage. It's another entry in the 2008 Jones Soda Halloween collection.

Read full update at BevReview.com

Review: Jones Soda Spooookiwi Soda (2008)

Tannerman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:47:27 GMT

Looking for a liquid version of a Strawberry Jolly Rancher? Then give Jones Soda Spooookiwi Soda a try. It's part of the 2008 Jones Soda Halloween collection. Just a tad bit kiwi, with a strong influence of strawberry. Overall, a very drinkable 8 oz. novelty beverage from Jones.

Read full update at BevReview.com

Overview: Jones Soda Halloween 2008

Tannerman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:10:13 GMT

For the 4th year in a row, Jones Soda releases both cans and bottles of unique Halloween flavors. For 2008, flavors include Spooookiwi, Buried Pomegranate, Candy Corn, Lemon Drop Dead, Dread Apple, Monster Mojito, and Blood Orange.

Read full update at BevReview.com

Win free Mountain Dew stuff from BevReview.com!

Tannerman — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:47:27 GMT

Want a chance to win some free stuff from BevReview.com? Learn how you may win a year's supply of Mountain Dew... or other nifty prizes that we're giving away. It's all in celebration of the newest Dew flavor, Mountain Dew Voltage. So don't miss out on getting some nice swag from your favorite beverage review site... check it and and enter to win!

Read full update at BevReview.com

Please Stand Clear of the Doors

Tannerman — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:48:40 GMT

If you've ever been fortunate to ride on the Walt Disney World monorail system, then you no doubt have been greeted by the following announcement:

"Please stand clear of the doors.

Por favor manténganse se alejado de las puertas."

Audio: "Please stand clear..."

This safety spiel was recorded by "the Voice of Disneyland", Jack Wagner. Even though he passed away in 1995, his voice lives on via the monorails and many other Disney attractions. (I've written about this previously.)

Get on board and hear the safety warning!
(January 2006)

The "stand clear" warning has become somewhat of a fun meme amongst Disney theme park fans. And thankfully, Disney has brought an official piece of merchandise to market with the phrase... a T-shirt:

Awesome shirt!

Sold only in the parks, when I saw someone post about this online, I made the following comment on Twitter on June 27:

"I totally want this T-shirt http://tinyurl.com/6b28wy"

Curiously enough, someone who follows my updates and lives in Florida was actually able to purchase this shirt on my behalf... today it arrived in the mail.

The Internet rocks!

The Rise and Fall of LiveNewsCameras.com

Tannerman — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:41:57 GMT

On February 5, 2008 -- the presidential election Super Tuesday -- a unique mashup of web technologies was launched at LiveNewsCameras.com. Concepted as a pet project by our local Fox station here in Chicago, the idea was to take live news feeds from around the country/world, feature them all on one spot, and provide context/highlights to those feeds via a video-based moderator streaming live from a Fox newsroom.

An early design for LiveNewsCameras.com

Click to view larger image

I found out about this site upon launch and was very interested. It reminded me of my college mass communications internship at a CBS affiliate in Rockford, IL (WIFR-23), where I worked with the news team for the summer. Seeing all these live feeds on one page reminded me of spending my breaks in the control room or master control looking at what was happening elsewhere on the various television monitors.

The official description provided by the site upon launch was as follows:

Thanks for visiting the Beta version of LiveNewsCameras.com!

A group of us here at Fox News Chicago had a big idea - to let you see news the way we see it.

Everyday hundreds of live events take place around the world, and while you only see a few of them on our newscast - many are available to watch live on the internet as they are happening...

The idea behind this page is simple - to bring together the resources of Fox and other broadcasters around the world, and make it easy to find live streaming video to watch on your computer.

When no moderator is available, this logo appears

As of today, there are more than 50 channels of live streaming video for you to watch on this page - that number will certainly grow over time.

You can even preview what is on any given stream just by leaving the site open on your desktop - many of the thumbnail images will refresh automatically every minute or so.

Kat Bockli (Chicago - WFLD)

We've also got a live moderator to help along the process - that's the video window on the upper left side of the screen.

You can control the volume of the moderator by using the plus and minus buttons below the video window - you can also control the volume of the content by using the sliding bar on the main video player in the middle of the screen.

Sondra Solarte (Chicago - WFLD)

If you have any comments, please let us know - this site is still in beta and we are looking for feedback from a variety of users on both Mac and Windows platforms.

Being based out of the Fox Chicago newsroom, the bulk of the moderators originated there. Over time, additional moderators were added from Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Milwaukee. As the concept progressed, other news feeds were added as well, branching out from Fox-exclusive sources to include other network affiliates as well in many areas.

Embedded Twitter updates

As a guy who is very interested in online communities, it was curious to see the dynamic changing over time between users of the site and the moderators themselves. Originally, it was just the moderators on video, mentioning certain feeds to check out, while they also updated a Twitter account embedded into the mashup. The only way to really communicate with them was via an e-mail address, sometimes prompting the moderators to do a shoutout!

Sometimes the moderator video window was used to relate news

Eventually, the contact improved with a web-based form for submitting news tips or other messages to the moderators, who would then communicate back via the video or Twitter system. In the beginning, it was more about the moderators "programming" the site by talking quite a bit, pointing out feeds of interest, and reading e-mails "on the air".

Athenia Veliz (Los Angeles - KTTV)

This worked in different ways depending on the time of day. During the afternoon in prep for an early evening newscast, there was a lot of newsgathering going on. However, at night or late morning, you were stuck with a lot of weather radar feeds or traffic cameras. Not exactly exciting to watch... but I still had it open in a browser throughout the day because you never knew what would happen.

The first chat platform: Unmoderated Mogulus

This dynamic changed greatly with the introduction of live chat. At first, Live News Cameras utilized the built-in chat features of their existing moderator video system (Flash-based and powered by Mogulus). While this did bring the interaction between moderator host and users much closer, it also opened a whole new world of problems. It seems the powers that be forgot that something like being able to moderate and control what takes place in a live chat might actually be kinda important. Things got a little out of hand with that chat platform.

The second chat platform: ShoutBox overlaid on top

The site then moved to a JavaScript-powered chat add-on from ShoutMix. This provided much needed moderation tools to the live chat, but at the same time really broke the user experience -- the chat box sat on top of the page and could be moved around, often getting in the way of other stuff.

Redesigned LiveNewsCameras.com

Click to view larger image

A new site design was eventually launched, adding a new feature... the "Right Now" bar at the top. This allowed moderators to showcase certain video feeds that had stuff going on at the time, providing quick access for users. It also allowed for scheduling of feeds to appear on a routine basis (such as a regularly occurring newscast that was streamed online each day). The embedded Twitter feed was dropped from the design, replaced with an embedded version of the chat client. Usability improved with better search and pagination features.

Final chat integration with ShoutBox

And then, not too long after the new design rolled out, things started turning south. Moderators showed up less frequently. The chat didn't seem to be monitored as closely. The Twitter feed stopped being updated. Then the following blog post showed up on the site in July:

Just a quick update regarding moderators.

Everything is fine - we're all here - however for a few reasons, you're going to see a decrease in the amount of time moderators spend on-camera.

Amy Kant (Milwaukee - WITI)

We'll still be here to manage the site, register and administer live chat, and add new streams - so don't worry about that.

And by no means is this site closing down or going away - in fact, part of the reason for reducing the amount of time moderators are on-camera is to allow us to work on some new features for the site that we're hoping to roll out soon.

We are also about to begin renovations of our newsroom in Chicago which will require relocating the LiveNewsCameras on-camera position so that complicates things a bit.

One reason we're able to make this change is because of the great job chatters are doing monitoring news as it happens around the world - so if you’re one of the 3-thousand people registered for live chat, thanks for your help!

Bottom line - you'll see less of Kat, Jeff, Julia, Christine and the other moderators, but rest assured LiveNewsCameras will be here, and we should have some great new features to make the site even better in the coming days/weeks/months.

Since this announcement, I haven't really gone back to the site. Why? A couple reasons.

First of all, in today's Web 2.0 era, anyone can really pull off assembling content together like LiveNewsCameras.com (whether or not that's done legally is another question). All it takes is a programmer with some skills. So the content itself is not unique. The ability to chat or read Twitter updates... also, not unique.

George Obi (Phoenix - KSAZ)

In my opinion, what set apart Live News Cameras was not so much the content, but the way the moderators framed the content for users. The same model could be applied to a lot of dying media models today, such as newspapers and in some regards, television. We're in an information age, thus that's not a rarity. What is missing is the ability for the info to be filtered, processed, and showcased in such as way as to help a person digest what is being said.

Cary Docter (Milwaukee - WITI)

I'm not talking about commentary or political viewpoints, though that seems to be what the big news channels seem to be clinging to with all their shouting heads. Rather, it's more just expanding on the topics at hand, showcasing things you might have missed, using the unique content and taking it one step further. In its heyday, LiveNewsCameras.com offered an overall product that was hard to duplicate because of its combination of Content+Guidance+Userbase. Yank the guidance part out of the equation and you have a site that pretty much anyone could create. Many moderators -- like TV stars -- built their own fanbases, which in turn attracted those audiences. They infused personality into a rather sterile environment on the 'net. (For those curious, here's a visual list of the moderators back when LNC had them in regular rotation.)

Jeff Merkel (Chicago - WFLD)

While it's not been said publicly, my gut is that while Live News Cameras was an innovative idea, the financials didn't make sense, namely in the cost of keeping the moderator talent going. There was no profit model in place... not even Google ads or preroll video advertising. The cost of actually running the site had to be pretty minimal, as you are tapping existing programmers at the Fox Chicago station.

Sarah Kustok (Chicago - WFLD)

The services being used like Mogulus Pro had to have some cost associated for bandwidth and no ads, but the bulk of the tools were pretty affordable. Twitter... free. ShoutMix... $2/month for ad-free version. The video streams featured on the site? They were all hosted by their sources, so LiveNewsCameras.com didn't absorb the high bandwidth expenses (unless they had some sort of cost sharing deal in place). The most expensive part of the job was the live talent... which is what got the ax. It was a nice Web 2.0 mashup with a ton of features, some live talent, and no way to make money.

Carlos Laack (Milwaukee - WITI)

The potential was there to make the Live News Cameras concept something great, especially as a mass aggregator for unrelated video feeds to build a sizable audience... and then monetize that via advertising or direct marketing. This is probably one of the reasons that Gannett has a stake in Mogulus... same idea, but not as structured or guided. But without the moderators, the LNC concept just falls flat. I can watch web video anywhere. Give me a reason to watch YOUR web video.

So sad. I'll miss you, LiveNewsCameras.com. You had potential, but that seems to be long gone.

Kidology University Chicago 2008

Tannerman — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:48 GMT

We at Kidology just wrapped up a conference that took place October 1-4. It was the 10th anniversary of Kidology University, Kidology's annual training event to equip and encourage those working in children's ministry.

To celebrate the milestone, we expanded the conference from a single day to a 4-day event that took place in the northern suburbs of Chicago. I've been involved in producing 8 out of the 15 Kid U events we've done over the years in various cities.

Things were jumping during our opening sessions!

Kid U 2008 was in planning for about a year and half with various challenges encountered along the way... such as our original location backing out (building program = demolition), our worship leader changing (he was involved in a major car accident), and a struggling economy impacting the budgets of churches and their ability to send folks to the conference. But in the end, it all worked out, as it typically does when only God can make things happen. Kid U attracted hundreds of folks from around the country, as well as from Brazil and Switzerland (seriously!)

This is the place!

Though the conference ran 4 days, it actually consisted of multiple smaller events. Things kicked off with a banquet where we looked back on the history of Kidology and gave a glimpse of where we think we may be heading. What was fun about that event is we were able to stream it online at the same time, so the event was shared with both folks in person as well as people watching as far away as Australia. I got to visit in the chat room with these folks as the event took place and it was a pretty unique blend of real world and virtual world experiences.

Talking with Jim Wideman

This was followed by 2 days of what we called Leadership Labs, which were extended workshops sessions with a presenter over an entire day, broken into multi-hour segments. This approach attracted folks who tend to be on the leadership side of children's ministry, such as a paid Children's Pastor or Director of Children's Ministry.

Leadership Lab with Greg Baird

Wrapping up the schedule was a single day of volunteer-focused workshops that were shorter in nature, but focused more on the practical elements of working with kids... things like puppetry, music, ballooning, discipline, storytelling, etc.

Big campus required a lot of signage!

It all took place at a large K-8 school in Northfield -- a Chicago suburb I didn't know existed until we booked the place (it's between Deerfield and Northbrook) called Christian Heritage Academy. The large campus provided us with ample space for classrooms, large-scale general sessions in their auditorium, food service areas, and an extensive exhibit hall with vendors. (Willow Creek actually uses this facility for their North Shore location.)

Interacting in the Exhibit Hall

We had a lot of other events taking place too, such as evening dinner groups where attendees could have casual interactions with presenters at local restaurants.

The Speed Stacks BattleStack competition!

A bag of grits was exploded in front of our eyes on stage when the folks at Kidz Blitz put on a big event for everyone at Kid U... they do these family events at places across the country. Driving in from Canada were the folks from God Rocks to put on a concert with their own zany flair. And on the final day of the conference we had a large-scale Speed Stacks competition using the new BattleStack arena. Fun stuff!

Some of the Kidology Team

My role during Kid U was largely a logistics one, providing technical support, while also coordinating with the facilities folks in the areas of sound, lighting, Internet, and electrical. I rather enjoy being a troubleshooter/problem solver during events like this... not sure why. Since Kidology is a Web-based ministry, whenever we do something offline, all of the staff's traditional responsibilities get rather blurred, which provides a new set of challenges and opportunities.

Karl Bastian cooks up some teaching

On a more personal note, just as I got to meet Mary Rice Hopkins back in 2006, I was able to meet another person who helped shape my "kid's music" worldview back when I used to lead music during weeks of summer camp during my high school and early college years.

Alan Root & Steve

It started on Wednesday when I picked up Alan Root from Midway and spent a good hour or so with him as I drove him up to his hotel in Deerfield. Alan had stepped in at the last minute to fill the role of our conference worship leader for our morning and afternoon general sessions.

Steve leading music at camp -- complete with goofy hand motions
(July 1992)

My connection? During the summers of either 1992 or 1993, I picked up his very first commercial album titled Backwards in the Back. It featured a song that became very popular with the 4-6th grade kids I was working with at the time; that song was titled "Invisible".

Audio: Invisible

Alan has been around the block of the industry for a while and more recently reinvented himself as someone who focuses on the tween audience, having written some curriculum on the topic. In any case, I had a very enjoyable time hanging with him during the conference and was very thankful for the enthusiasm he showed throughout the event. He has a gift for interaction and building rapport and it really shows. It was great to have him at Kid U. (He also gave me a tip about another great BBQ place around Nashville that Amy & I just need to try out!)

Chad stacks up the cups one more time

As Kid U came to a close on Saturday and the Kidology team spent the next few hours tearing down everything, there was both a feeling of relief for having survived pulling off the event... but there was also a bit of sadness that this unique time was over. As much as we do online, there's nothing that can quite compare to interacting with people face-to-face. Our Kid U events aren't the largest or slickest children's ministry conferences out there by any means, but they do seem to resonate with folks for whatever reason... and that just makes me feel good.

Cubs AND White Sox? Baseball playoff time in the city!

Tannerman — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:11:05 GMT

So, for the first time in 102 years, both Chicago baseball teams are in the Major League Baseball playoffs. Crazy times here in the Windy City!

vs.

vs.

The Cubs are going to be battling the Los Angeles Dodgers. And as for the White Sox... well, we didn't know if they'd even be making the playoffs until tonight when they played a tiebreaker game with the Minnesota Twins.

Webcam + TV = Cheapo way to share the game

Of course, thanks to the greed of Bud Selig and his cronies, much all of the MLB Divisional Series on are cable... TBS to be specific. Heck, they aren't even broadcast on local over-the-air channels for the markets that are competing.

Well, because we have cable internet, we also have a few limited cable channels thrown in. Mostly it's C-SPAN stuff, but we also have TBS on the dial. My parents, however, don't have any cable.

Since a game like this is of importance, I rigged up a crazy contraption to stream the game online to them via a webcam mounted on a tripod and aimed at our TV. It looked goofy, but it did the job... as long as they didn't mind watching a tiny box with a lot of delay. Maybe next time, we'll just invite them over!

Even though I'm a Northsider, I'm going to be pulling for the White Sox... while wishing for one of the biggest crash-and-burn experiences for the Cubs. (Amy doesn't share this opinion)

P.S. Any bets on which team gets a lighted window message first on CNA Plaza?