It’s been two years since we opened the doors and turned on the lights here at Let’s Do Video.
We couldn’t have picked a better time to start, because the last two years have arguably been the most exciting in the history of business video. We have witnessed the rise of software and cloud video, while seeing that the predictions of hardware’s death were a little premature. We have seen the emergence of an exciting new workflow with persistent project-based chat. We have seen a number of new players enter the space (and we know of even more to come). Most recently, we are starting to see some big roll-ups and mergers.
While we don’t expect things to slow down any time soon, we thought we would take a minute to thank our followers and look back at some of our favorite pieces. While there is no shortage of analyst firms in the space, LDV’s goal was to be the most public facing, and most interactive, source of industry insight. We strive to provide a solid mix of media coverage and expert analysis in each and every article/video we produce. The incredible feedback we get on an almost daily basis from our readers and viewers have helped to guide us as we continuously work to improve our efforts.
So to celebrate this anniversary, we thought we would take a quick look back at some of our favorite pieces so far. In no particular order, here are five articles and videos that we really enjoyed creating and sharing with you.
A Critical Look At Cisco Spark:
Our readers have provided feedback regarding our generally positive coverage at LDV, asking for us to occasionally take another perspective. While we tend to write about things that we like, not everything in our industry is perfect and there are plenty of nits to pick. With that in mind, we decided to “go negative” and take a critical look at one of the biggest players in our space. In general we are fans of the Cisco Spark service, and huge fans of the persistent project-based chat approach. However, there were several aspects of the UI and workflow which we felt either didn’t make sense, or could be improved.
Perhaps it is a coincidence, but it appears that Cisco was listening, as a mere 3 months later some of our suggestions now appear in the latest version of Spark. We started the article by noting Spark rooms could be tagged as “favorites” or as “important”. We felt this was confusing and unintuitive. We explained why “favorite” made sense to us, but “important” didn’t belong there. If you load up Spark today you will notice that the “important” tag is gone!
Our next complaint was about the notification settings. We felt they were confusing and complicated. Today, the notification schema has been completely revamped and is far simpler and more intuitive. Again, could be a coincidence, or perhaps Cisco likes the way we here at LDV think about team workflow. Either way we appreciate the improvements!
The “Desire Path” Approach to Video Technology Design:
As our readers know, here at LDV we are very big on the user experience. We have watched over and over again as developers fall in love with their own technology, then fail in the marketplace. When it comes to business communications you can’t expect viral growth of your product, just because the technology is cool. Sometimes you have to let your users take the lead and show you what they really want. In this article, I took a look at the concept of desire paths and tried to apply it our space. Desire paths are created (often on college campuses) by simply growing grass on the fields between buildings, and then paving where the students trample down the grass as they go from class to class. The result is a solution that perfectly meets the users’ workflow. It would be great to see more of this in our industry.
Converging Trends: How Consumer Video is Inspiring the Enterprise:
We have undeniably become a video culture. Video is no longer a tool for the AV geeks and extroverts. Everyone is sharing their lives on YouTube and other, newer, video platforms. As we become more video savvy, and the technology becomes more flexible and accessible, we are finding more and more ways to use video at home and at work. In this piece, we take a look at some of the new consumer video applications, such as Periscope and Twitch, to see how they can influence the future development of business video. This was a fun piece, as these new tools are cool and interesting, but the potential business applications are no joke.
LDV Podcast #16: The Evolution of Meeting Room Video Hardware:
When Scott Wharton took on the job as Logitech’s VP & GM for Video Collaboration, we knew things were going to get interesting. Logitech was already on a roll with their ConferenceCam series, but Scott was the perfect mix of innovator and seasoned business exec they needed to take it to the next level. We interviewed Scott asap to find out whether he planned to simply keep the ship on course, or to shake things up. His excitement was palpable as he made it clear that he was given the freedom to get creative and he was planning on having some fun. Less than a year later, Logitech is the number one vendor of meeting room video cameras (by units sold). We are big fans of their updated GROUP ConferenceCam, and their very clever “kit” bundling the GROUP with an Intel Nuc running an extremely user friendly collaboration UI. We are keeping in close contact with Scott and his team and while we can’t share anything at this time, there is more to come, so stay tuned!
LDV Podcast #15: The Secret to Pitching Your Product to AV Integrators:
Our interview with InfoComm 2016 Award Winner, Kelly Perkins (Marketing Communications Manager at AVI Systems) has resulted in more personal feedback that perhaps any other piece we have produced. In briefing after briefing, people bring up this video podcast and tell me how helpful and informative they found it. Too many startups believe the key to success is creating a product that the integrators will love to work with. They focus on things like easy cabling and manageability. While that is all very nice, it isn’t what the integrators themselves are looking for. As Kelly explains, the integrator’s prime goal is to solve their customers’ needs. So stop sending her sales materials designed to woo her IT installers, send her materials that will help her explain to her customers why your product is right for them! For more of this invaluable insight, check out the podcast.
Of course, none of this would be possible without our readers and viewers. Thank you all for tuning in, and for giving us incredible feedback in the comments, on Twitter, and through email. We love to hear from you and we want to keep adding new features and programs to keep you informed. If there is anything you would like to see more of, something you would like us to start covering, or a new feature you would like to see us implement, please let us know in the comments below. We appreciate you taking the time to visit our site and we thank you all for being part of the LDV family!
