What for a year ago started with This Week In Startups, a live podcast by Jason Calacanis to embrace entrepreneurship and help out startups, has now turned into a web television network ThisWeekIn, covering a wide range of topics from tech to entertainment. Together with co-founders Kevin Pollak and Mark Jeffrey, Jason is now airing 12 weekly shows from their Santa Monica studio. Whether you want to catch up with funny YouTube moments, Twitter trends, coolest Android and iPad apps, or get the latest Internet industry deals and juicy insights, there’s a show for that.

The latest edition to the schedule is This Week In Social Media with the highs and lows of the social web, hosted by Alana Joy and Sean Percival. The very first guest on the show was none other than Brian Solis himself, who got to give his view on the all time trending topic Internet privacy, as to reflect on the impact social media and social networking have on our very own behaviour.

Catch up with the entire interview and social media blunders of the week.

Broadcasting 2.0 – turn your audience into fans and co-producers

The statistics on the two-screen experience keep showing an increasing trend, at the same time more devices are being connected to the Internet. As Justin Kan of Justin.tv already pointed out at the LeWeb conference last year, two-screen experience also counts for 15% of the revenues of the traditional TV.

So, now that services like Justin.tv, Ustream, Bambuser, Qik and soon YouTube (?) are democratizing live broadcasting, and together with social networks making it possible for almost anyone to reach an audience, what is it that makes ones audience to turn into fans?

Include and Engage. I talk based on my own experience: This Week In Startups has managed to keep me engaged since the very first episode, because it stays relevant to its audience by refusing to become an echo chamber and a megaphone for marketing messages. It’s a show built together with its audience using all the interactive tools and possibilities of social media, both before, during, and after a show. The audience becomes the co-producer in choosing guests, topics and participating in the show in a sincere way.

I think Scooter Braun, manager of Justin Bieber, summarized it well in his advice regarding Justin’s engagement with his fans across social media:

“The moment you think you’re too big for your fans, they’re gonna abandon you”.

Which leaves us with one thing that’s certain: The future of broadcast media is social. #EngageOrDie

Paula is online strategist and startup evangelist. She blogs at paulamarttila.com and here at Bub.blicio.us.
Follow her on Twitter: @paulamarttila
Drop her email at paula.marttila[at]gmail[dot]com

By Miiko Mentz

I am a big fan of the weekly Quick-n-Dirty podcast (@quickndirty) hosted by Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter), who also blogs about Social Business at ZDNet, and Aaron Strout (@aaronstrout); so when I ran into Jennifer at a recent tweetup I asked her if she’d be interested in swinging by for a “quick-n-dirty” interview to talk about the podcast series. To my delight she said yes.

Jennifer was kind enough to swing by the Bubblicious studio the Friday before Labor Day weekend to talk to us about how the podcast originated, its format and guests. Watch the video to hear it first-hand from Jennifer, but let me quickly tell you why I love it so much.

These days it seems that everyone is talking about social media, but the problem is too many “social media experts” are staying at the 30,000 feet level and spewing their opinions, thoughts and theories. What’s missing is the practical hands-on, in-the-trenches, results-driven talk. You know, the “quick-n-dirty” of social media.

At this stage of the game, most of us “get” social media, know how to use it and want to move beyond the 30,000 feet level. We want to dig in and examine real-world campaigns and case studies. Sure, we want to share our own experiences, but we also want to hear from others — from big brands to startups. It’s important to learn from each other on what’s working and what’s not.

Real-world stories on practical uses of social media and hearing about what’s resonating and gaining traction for brands and individuals is exactly what you get with the Quick-n-Dirty podcast.

Every week, Jennifer and Aaron share with us new social networks that are unique and off-the-beaten track. They present social media case studies where special guests share their social media campaigns and the strategy and tactics behind them.

One of my favorite guests was Bert DuMars (@bwdumars), vice president of e-business and interactive marketing for Newell Rubbermaid. First, I never knew how many popular brands Rubbermaid had under its umbrella. It’s quite extensive. Bert shared three very interesting examples of leveraging social media to help the community thrive and give customers and brand enthusiasts what they want without pushing messages on them. He shared what they have been doing with the Rubbermaid “Adventures in Organization” blog, the Graco Baby blog, and some very cool communities around the Sharpie brand, Sharpie Uncapped and the Sharpie blog. If you’re interested in hearing the interview, it was episode 11 on August 13, 2009.

Each week the Quick-n-Dirty duo also highlights interesting Twitter users who are bringing value to the community. And let’s not forget their point/counter-point topic, which is when Jennifer and Aaron take a topic and share their opposing views. It’s quite fun.

And on special occasion they give away free passes to upcoming conferences to audience members who are listening live and are the lucky caller that day. They recently gave away passes to the upcoming BlogWorld Expo, and on today’s show they will be giving away a pass to the Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston next month.

Check out our interview with Jennifer to learn more and be sure to tune into the Quick-n-Dirty podcast, which “airs” live every Thursday on the BlogTalkRadio network.

Follow me on Twitter @MiikoMentz