Tom Anthony Personal Blog

I just finished up a new video – this time for my own company, IMS Strategic Internet Marketing. This was a fun but really important project. Google Business Center was renamed and re-launched a couple of months ago and it’s now called Google Places. That’s where every business owner can claim their own listing – and add content such as business hours, types of payments accepted… that sort of thing. But Google Places also allows you to add other content such as Photos, coupons, even blog type posts and up to five videos to help make your case. That’s pretty powerful.

I decided to make a video specifically to be viewed from within Google Maps under the listing of my own marketing company to illustrate what could and should be done in Google Local. I also wanted to create it using hardware and technology my company owned and operated to make the case for selling the production of such videos. To this end I used a portable backdrop stand we own, with a big roll of special chroma key paper. This is also known as blue screen. I used a photographers light with reflector screens to not only illuminate the subject – which in this case was me – but also to create an even light on the blue screen.

That’s important when you are editing the video – if the blue screen is well lit it is easier to remove the background so you can replace it with something else. That’s how your local TV weather forecaster does it, only for this video instead of a weather map I used a loop of video showing an office building. It looks like I am in front of a window and you can see the office building and street activity below.

Laptop Teleprompter

I think the best item is the wireless mouse which powers a PowerPoint file containing the script. The PowerPoint is being displayed on a laptop that is located immediately in front of and under the camera so it acts like a teleprompter. I have been on both sides of the camera for over 30 years and even if you memorize what you intend to say it ALWAYS comes out better with a teleprompter or similar device. Of course a lot of my early professional life was behind a radio microphone with a script so perhaps that’s just my comfort zone.

I would enjoy your feedback on the video – call me.

You should be able to view the video directly from Google Maps if you type in the following:

“IMS Internet Marketing Services, Chesapeake, VA” or just click here.

I just finished a new flash banner for Joe Cipriano’s client site and am reminded of what fun it is to be associated with a guy who is in such good company. I have been doing all of Joe’s Internet marketing for over 10 years and the relationship goes a little beyond client-vendor. I take a lot of pride in having Joe voice my podcast open and close – it’s the same voice that introduces America’s Got Talent and well – listen to a “Web Strategies Podcast” episode when you get a chance and you’ll know what I mean.

Here are Joe’s instructions for the new animation and below is the work I just launched earlier this evening.

Signature Voice of:

Fox, CBS, Hallmark Movie Channel, The Simpsons, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement (CBS), Mike and Molly (CBS), Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, America’s Got Talent.

Radio Imaging: Boom 973 Toronto, Star 941 San Diego, The Fish stations (portland, cleveland, honolulu), Country 105 Calgary, KLLY Bakersfield, ED FM Albuquerque, 102.3 The Wave Vancouver Island, Mix 106 Owen Sound, Magic 93 Charlottetown.

Live Shows: Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, PGA Awards

In December 1981 cable television programming was still pretty new. CNN was barely 18 months old and MTV had just debuted 7 months earlier in August. Previously the only revenue stream available for Cable Providers was the monthly fee for bringing premium movie services such as HBO or Showtime into the home. Now with the advent of cable-only programming the carriers had an opportunity to score with advertising dollars formerly reserved for the local television stations.

I was selling radio advertising at the time and the manager of the local cable company knew I was also a producer and announcer. That’s when I was recruited out of a radio job by Centel Cable Television of Florida to head their first local insertion advertising efforts. They put my office down at the technical center – also called the “Head End” so I could be close to the actual tape machines used to feed the network.

Each month I would get reels of promotional videos from the networks like Cinemax and HBO, add a voice over announcing local phone numbers for the cable company and schedule the spots to run on the first ever cable networks such as ESPN, CNN and MTV. Recently I was transferring my last bits of video from VHS to DVD and came across a reel of those spots. Here is a group of commercials for Cinemax, HBO, Schlitz Beer, and Florida based music retailer Specs.

Back in April 2007 I uploaded this Today Show segment which featured featured Don LaFontaine, Joe Cipriano, George DelHoyo and Mark Elliott. About a year later Don passed away (September 2008) and the clip generated over 250,000 hits in a short time – and at this posting is now well over 300,000. Recently I found the original HD DVD master and in response to the incredible interest now re-posting in a higher quality. enjoy.

In October 1994, the Star Trek Association of Towson, a fan club in Towson, Maryland, sponsored “The Big E Con,” a convention held aboard the carrier Enterprise while the ship was at its home port of Norfolk, Virginia. The events featured tours of the ship and appearances by Star Trek notables including James Doohan, or “Scotty” on the original series.

At the time I was the production Director for WFOG radio. The week preceding the convention as part of the pre-promotion I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Doohan by phone at his home in Redmond Washington. I tried to keep the interview interesting by focusing on Jimmy Doohan, and not just the Character he played on Star Trek – but you be the judge. Here it is, almost 18:00 unedited and real life. There is a point where he corrects my pronunciation of his last name – his son called to ask for money during the interview, this was the real deal.

 Tom Anthony Interviews Jimmy Doohan [17:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The following week I toured the real USS Enterprise with some of the convention celebs. By some weird stroke of luck I remembered where I stashed some pictures I took during that tour. In this picture I am standing with Actress Terry Farrell from Deep Space Nine, Michael O’Hare the original Commander of Babylon 5, Herman F. Zimmerman the Chief Production Designer for Star Trek Next Generation and DS9, and another actress who’s name totally escapes me. But I think I did pretty good remembering Farrell, O’Hare, and Zimmerman after 15 years!

For many years I have had a box of old cassette tapes in my closet – or attic – or wherever was out of the way at the time… I finally went out and found a cassette deck at the thrift shop the other day and began transcribing them to digital.   Mainly because at some point the cassettes actually lose the information stored on them.  Audio cassettes, VHS tapes, 8 tracks – there is a reason they are not around anymore.

Each uses the same technology originally known as “Magnetophon” and invented by the Germans during the 1930′s. (more info)  The information is stored by passing a generated magnetic field to a ribbon of plastic tape impregnated with some form of ferrous material.  The little do-dad that generates the magnetic field is called a record head. The tape becomes magnetized in a certain pattern.   Then when passed in front of a similar do-dad called a playback head the magnetic field is transformed back once again into an audio signal.   In my mind this was a kind of magic– especially for the time.

Well the problem is that the magnetic tape is wound into a spool inside the cassette. Eventually the magnetism passes from where it is stored on the tape to the section it is wrapped around. At some point the magnetic field reaches a sort of equilibrium and the original sound or picture is not retrievable.  So the dozens of recordings I had stored away will actually fade away.

Not Ed Scales

I started running the tapes through my studio to get them in MP3 format and found some interesting stuff. Mostly old air checks of me in the early 80′s on the radio in Lakeland Florida. Routinely each radio announcer would record their show on a cassette deck that was wired to record only when the microphone was turned on.  In the jargon of the business it was sometimes called a “telescope” as it condensed an entire workday into a 30 or 40 minute recording. You can hear the song starting and then the tape jumps to the end of the song when the announcer next turns on the mike. The program director would then review your“telescope” to give you constructive critique – or in my case to tell me to stop talking so much.

The one below is pretty long – 45 minutes! It was a show I did on WQPD on a Monday night somewhere in March or April of 1983. I had to figure that out by some clues on the tape. A really talented high school kid named Ed Scales was my guest and we did several improvised “bits”.  Basically I got on the control room studio phone a pretended to talk to a character that Ed performed from the adjoining studio.  We did this live and without rehearsal. In fact in the one where I “interview” Maurice Gibb I had no idea what Ed was going to do. He came on the phone in a falsetto voice that totally cracked me up. Since Ed was in school I knew the recording was made before June. One of the last comments I make on the recording introduces the number one hit song of the day, Billy Jean by Michael Jackson. That was not released until February of 1983 – thus this recording had to be made in March or April.

The last eight minutes of the recording is the air check of the next announcer, Woody Boyer.

 WQPD Aircheck [45:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I just can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve updated this blog! Now that I’ve been invited to speak on the topic of Social Networking I figure it’s time to return to being social on the network.

Last week an old friend and colleague of mine sent me a note – pretty much out of the blue. Back at the dawn of the internet I worked for the New York Times Company at their Norfolk Virginia Television Station WTKR. I was the first “Webmaster” for Newschannel Three and had a desk in the promotions office above the studios. I had also worked as a Producer for WNIS radio – writing and producing the morning news casts for the station presented by the television news anchors.

Straight across the newsroom was Danny Epperson, who was one of the main Producers for the local news effort. I remember having fun talking with Danny about what I was doing with HTML and how the nuts and bolts of the internet were actually connected. Keep in mind this was in the early 90’s and the internet was “new” – heck – this was BG! (Before Google)

Flash Forward about 15 years and now Danny is the Producer of “HearSay With Cathy Lewis” on WHRV-FM and “What Matters” on WHRO-TV. If you are out of this market you should know that Cathy is highly respected in Hampton Roads by her peers in Broadcasting and has been doing her very popular Public Affairs radio talk show and the TV version for many years.

Danny spotted me on FaceBook and invited me to be a guest on the HearSay program this March 3rd. I’ll be talking about Social Networking… so… I came to work early this morning so I could post this tidbit to my blog and well, now we’ve come full circle.  OMG I just can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve updated this blog!