Ken Pyle interviews Mike Volpe, HubSpot, on Inbound Marketing… What is it? Why Do It? How it will change your marketing plan.

Volpe suggest that marketers need to think like a publisher, instead of an advertiser. The implication is that companies need to be content producers, which is something consistent with what Viodi has been saying about telcos and why they should be involved in local content production. He stressed the importance of opening up your media to multiple social networking platforms.

Pamela White, of ANPI, provided a real-life example of how the techniques that Volpe recommended improved ANPI’s marketing efficiency. In a somewhat ironic twist, White and I met via cross-linking of Twitter accounts and the OPASTCO Tech and Marketing Symposium was the first opportunity we had to meet in person.

ViodiTV at OPASTCO is produced by Ken Pyle interview, Roger Bindl camera and video editor.

Michael Koons of Cisco discusses how service velocity is an increasingly important factor in a telco’s ability to remain competitive. He also talks of how the video headend is morphing into a video data center. Michael touched on these points and more as a keynote speaker at OPASTCO’s 2009 Tech and Marketing Symposium. ViodiTV is produced by Roger Bindl and Ken Pyle.

Old friend and frequent Viodi View sponsor, Entone’s Steve McKay will be a panelist at TelcoTV next week on the panel, “Connected Home Gateways”. In this video interview, shot at Parks Associates Connections Conference last June, McKay talks about what Entone is seeing with over the top services, as well as hybrid models that combine over the top and off-air, broadcast signals. He suggests that the cable operators may be at a bit of a disadvantage with their large embedded base of set-top boxes that won’t support some of these new services. He also talks about the power of the home network to simplify and reduce the number of set-tops in the home.

Ken Lowe of Sigma Designs will be speaking at TelcoTV next week on the panel, “Connected Home Gateways”. Unfortunately, we will miss that panel, but fortunately, we did catch up with him at Parks Associates’ Connections Conference last June. In this video interview, he discusses the role of Z-Wave; integration of Z-Wave into residential gateways will make it even easier for telcos to participate in the home control market.  

Lori Vergin’s tale of the telco that used popcorn in their showroom to help drive sales for its video service, reminded me of the old real estate trick of having the aroma of freshly baked cookies at an open house. The cookies are supposed to make prospective buyers feel at home and provide some sort of emotional connection with the house (and open up their checkbooks).

I lived this aroma theory at the MTA show last March in Minneapolis, as my normally insensitive proboscis detected the sweet smell of freshly baked cookies. In this reenactment, you can see how I was pleasantly surprised to find delectable disks of cookie joy on the tradeshow floor. Bauman and Associates, a CPA firm, was the brains behind this clever promotion.

This promotion worked, as seeing Bauman and Associates with their cookie oven at last week’s WSTA, reminded me of our video and how this simple promotion provided a lasting impression.

Roger Bindl does an excellent job of summarizing the Wisconsin State Telecom Association’s 2009 Fall Conference in this brief video, which mixes his commentary with sound bites from the excellent speaker line-up.

A conference summary video followed by ViodiTV interviews at the WSTA 2009 Fall Conference in Green Bay Wisconsin. ViodiTV at at WSTA 2009 Fall Conference was sponsored by CHR Solutions and Extreme Networks.

Dean Mischke, Finley Engineering, "imagines if"… on technologies of the future that will impact our lives and the way we do business.

Lori Vergin, CHR Solutions, talks with ViodiTV on culture change for telco’s for adapting to the marketplace. CHR Solutions was a sponsor of ViodiTV at WSTA.