|
The eNaugural.com Ball
Washtech.com
Discussion with
TVWorldwide.com's Dave Gardy.
Friday, Jan.
19, 2001; 2 p.m. EST
Join us Friday at 2 p.m. EST for a live chat with Dave
Gardy, president and CEO of TVWorldwide.com. Gardy will
discuss Saturday night's eNaugural.com Ball, the first Presidential
Inaugural Ball with a high-tech theme. He will also discuss
his background in Web video and in making the Web more accessible
for persons with disabilities.
Gardy got into the online video business early, launching TV
on the Web in 1996 and later starting TVWorldwide.com to provide
a network of community-based interactive internet TV channels,
initially concentrating on the business-to-business market.
Gardy's company, TVWorldwide.com, is a presenting sponsor of
the eNaugural.com Ball and will be Webcasting the event and
interviewing participants. The Ball will be Webcast with special
"webcaptingTM" technology
to offer captioned video streaming for the disabled. The eNaugural.com
Ball's charitable mission is to help bridge the digital divide.
(Note: Washtech.com is a participating sponsor of the ball.)
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial
control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant
questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline
to answer questions.
Washtech.com: Hello and welcome to our Live Online
chat with TVWorldwide.com's Dave Gardy. We invited Dave to talk
about the eNaugural.com Ball, but we also want him to share
his expertise in Web video and, more importantly, making the
Web more accessible for persons with disabilities.
Dave, thanks for joining us. To get us started, please give
us an overview of the eNaugural.com Ball. What is it? Who's
sponsoring it? And who's expected to attend?
Dave Gardy: We're expecting 1000-1200 industry leaders,
congressional staffers, senators, congressmen, a cabinet secretary
or two, etc. are confirmed. Congressmen include Rep. Tom Davis,
Speaker Hastert and Rep. Goodlatte.
Arlington, VA: What kind of content is TVworldwide
producing? Are you just a contract Webcasting operation, or
are you creating real channels for the public?
Dave Gardy: TVWorldwide.com is a streaming video applications
service provider with emphasis on state-of the-art applications.
We are also developing a community-based interactive Internet
TV network of B2b and special interest communities. We are geenrating
real revenue (including a profit in December) and along with
our disabled channel, Abletv.net, we're the first to pioneer
live video "webcapting," or captioned video streaming for the
disabled.
Washington, DC: If I'm working at a federal agency
and am responsible for a growing archive of video, what should
I be doing to get myself Section 508 compliant?
Dave Gardy: Section 508 is a very important ruling for
the disabled.
"Webcapting" and archived video stream captioning will be necessary
to comply with "alternative" and "multiple" means of communications
to aid accessibility for the disabled community. You'll need
to use magpie software to transcribe and metatag the video with
captioning to aid the deaf and learning impaired.
Washington, DC: I helped run a video-on-demand Web
site that covered Campaign 2000. We got a lot of traffic to
the site, but few people watched the videos -- they came for
our other content. My question is: What makes compelling video
content on the Web?
Dave Gardy: Compelling video is compelling to a target
demographic because that video isn't available anywhere else.
Building "aimcast" community Internet TV channels is a way to
get to these "ultraniches." We're doing to cable what cable
did to broadcast. We just did a Webcast for accountants and
500 of them showed up, compelled to hear about a new ruling
that affects them. That market is too small for cable, but with
the economy of scale for video content distribution, we can
turn a profit because there are sponsors who will pay to get
to that market.
Chantilly, VA: How do you see the future of Webcapting
benefiting the disabled community?
Dave Gardy: The deaf community and the learning impaired
can benefit. All out streaming at the ball will be webcapted
so they can understand what master of ceremonies Buzz Aldrin
and others have to say.
Washington, DC: Aren't there other high-tech events
going on around the Inaugural weekend?
Dave Gardy: Planning an inaugural event was tough this
year with the election problem. Tech events were the last thing
on everyone's mind. We decided to go for it because we knew
there would be interest in galvanizing the community around
DC. Lately, I call the area "Silicon Valley with electricity"
-- hehehe.
Bethesda, MD: What are some examples of Web sites that
are doing a good job of being accessible for disabled persons?
Are there any big e-commerce sites or gov't agencies doing good
in this area?
Dave Gardy: ican.com online is a great example, run
by a disabled person who understands the issues. The best, of
course, is abletv.net, which brings disabled technology demo's
and programming to people with disabilities. The Justice Dept.
has indicated it will force compliance with section 508 for
all federal agenices and that will impact those agencies using
extensive streaming video.
Arlington, VA: Does the Federal government have significant
web-based video materials? And won't those materials need to
be converted so that they comply with the disability access
reg?
Dave Gardy: Last time we researched it, we found 16,287
streaming video pages in the fedaral government's Web archive.
They will all have to comply, according to Justic Dept., meaning
audio description and/or captioning
Washtech.com: Dave: The biggest local tech news story
of late was the final approval of the AOL-Time Warner merger.
Given Time Warner's significant cable and TV holdings and AOL's
huge customer base, what impact do you think the deal will have
on the future development of video on the Web?
Dave Gardy: In the entertainment sector, this merger
will have a significant impact, creating a media hybrid that
will use the media properties to interact with AOL users in
ways we can't even imagine, including thin client and wireless.
Video on the web in the narrow band sector won't be as affected
but broadband enhancements will soon create a plethora of "micro
cable" Internet specialized TV channels that will renew the
dot com industry. Video is the last great land grab on the Internet
Alexandria, VA: When will bandwidth stop being an issue
for high-quality video on the Web? In other words, how close
are we to being able to watch great content over the Web without
having to have access to a T1 line?
Dave Gardy: Bandwidth will always be an issue because
video is a bandwidth hog. The good news is that there is a bandwidth
infrastructure glut and compression algorithms like those being
developed by Diamondback will permit video through smaller pipes.
We find people stop complaining about the picture at 80 KBPS,
well within the realm of DSL and cable modems. Now we need to
develop targeted, compelling content to get people to watch.
Reston, Va: As a high-tech executive operating in the
Washington, DC region, do you see the tech shakeout hitting
the area hard? Or will the federal government's nearness insulate
the region?
Dave Gardy: The federal gov't sector has always been
an insulation barrier in the 20 years I've worked here, some
saying that it makes the area recession-proof. The gov't IT
sector is hot and entities like Washtech have evolved to serve
it and act as a catalyst for its growth. The tech sector certainly
took a hit this year, but I don't see too many webmasters in
the unemployment line.
Washtech.com: TVWorldwide.com worked on launching Abletv.net.
Who's using that Web service, and what kind of lessons have
you learned from that project?
Dave Gardy: The disabled community is very compelled
to use the Internet. It's very moving to see a quadriplegic
use a breathing tube to move a cursor online and experience
the freedom and access of the 'Net. It's rewarding to go to
the accessibility technology trade shows and stream the new
enabling toys to the screens of theose who couldn't make it
to the show because of their disability. That just wouldn't
fly on cable, and the adverstisers here are there to support
to that targeted community.
Washtech.com: If folks want to watch the eNaugural.com
Ball and other events, but can't tune in tomorrow night, will
the video be archived on the eNaugural.com site?
Dave Gardy: Yes. Archived for one year
Silver Spring, Maryland: How do most people use Web
casts? I mean, it's usually on a screen smaller than a miniature
TV. Seems to me the format limits its appeal. So what kinds
of web casts have you found that people really watch?
Dave Gardy: Webcasts that fill a void for interactive
communication. Shareholders wanting to know what's going on
with the company and who want to see the CEO, CFO in person.
Medical Webcasts of new techniques. Webcast training for lawyers
and accountants that get them accreditation, and save them and
their firms huge time. Inside the govt., regulatory discussions
too arcane for C-span but which have big implications for businesses
that are participating.
Vienna, VA: What kinds of cameras do your crews typically
use? And are you using profesional edit bays or just Macs/PCs
with specialized software?
Dave Gardy: Both. After 20 years in the production business,
I've worked with both levels. There are applications that are
facilitated by both technologies. Even though we may be producing
something for the Web, others may want it as a a conventional
video or for TV, so we've still got to be concerned with production
quality.
Vienna, VA: One more question about Web video. Do you
need to format video for different browsers, or is it the same
on everyone's screen? I know there are a lot of IE vs. Netscape
compatibility issues in building pages, but I wasn't sure if
the same applied to streaming content.
Dave Gardy: You are correct. Depending on which version
of the browser you're using, each has implications for Real/
Windows media and Quick Time. You learn with experience and
respond with compression algoritms and work arounds to insure
the greatest population will be able to interact with the video
comfortably. When I started this in 1996 I was trying to compress
video for 14.4 modems.
Washtech.com: Thank you Dave Gardy for answering all
these questions. We apologize for the technical glitch that
prevented responses from being posted during the live event,
and we thank everyone who submitted questions and later clicked
into to read this discussion.
© 2001 The Washington Post Company
|
