GANA Perspectives

See for Yourself
Online Resources for the Industry
by Brian Pitman

The online video boom began in earnest half a decade ago with the explosive take-off of sites like YouTube and Google Video, making unknowing celebrities of the likes of the “Numa Numa Kid” and the “Star Wars Kid.” Since the early days, many industries have embraced online video as a credible new media to disseminate a variety of information, from news and how-to features to entertainment for the masses. One of the products of this movement is the creation of a video blog (vlog) or a video podcast.

GANA Ventures Out Online 
GANA has been looking at a variety of new media, including online video, for the past three years. After almost a year of preparation for an online video effort, GANA staff went to the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show and Conference (K/BIS) in Chicago in April to implement a trial run, and the GANA Video Podcast was officially born and is a tremendous success.

GANA’s Video Podcast focuses on glass and glazing issues and events of interest to the industry. The first shows featured booths from K/BIS, as well as a look at the Glass Experience, an innovative exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry that illustrates the many ways glass has changed society. Recent podcasts have covered speakers from the GANA Glass Fabrication & Glazing Educational Conference in Las Vegas and the AIA 2008 National Convention and Design Exposition in Boston, as well as GANA’s efforts in the industry, other industry associations collaborating with GANA and more. Each video can be streamed over the Internet through any Flash-enabled browser, and viewers may also choose to download the videos for future viewing from a computer, a video-enabled iPod or on a television with an AppleTV.

A typical episode of GANA’s Video Podcast runs in length from six to fifteen minutes so as to not draw an excessive amount of precious time from those in the industry. In addition to the podcast format, we have also offered a couple of presentations from recent GANA events as an added educational value to viewers, such as Edgetech IG product manager Mike Burk’s presentation from the 2008 BEC Conference. Additionally, several presentations are being added to GANA’s Glasseducation.com website, which offers a wide array of educational content for the glass, glazing and architectural communities, all at no charge.

In the near future, GANA will be broadcasting video from the NeoCon World’s Trade Fair in Chicago, GlassBuild America, the GANA Fall Conference and other industry events. We are also interested in hearing your thoughts on our Video Podcast. If you have any show ideas, please send an email to vpodcast@glasswebsite.com. We look forward to hearing from you, and making the show even better. 

Brian Pitman is the director of marketing and communications for the Glass Association of North America. Mr. Pitman’s opinions are solely his own and not necessarily those of this magazine.

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