Orange County Register

PowerMark in San Juan Capistrano has moved its podcast show, PowerUp, featuring interviews of technology innovators to a video format.

A marketing and public relations agency that focuses exclusively on technology companies has to stay ahead of cutting edge, says Colleen Edwards, PowerMark president and PowerUp host.

Here’s PowerUp’s first V-cast on YouTube, an interview with Communicado founder Kerry Shih, the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year for the Technology Council of Southern California:

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“There is a huge wave heading our way with video, and we want to make sure we’re out ahead of it,” says Edwards who doesn’t just feature PowerMark clients in her shows. “We already had the mixing equipment and microphones; all we had to buy was a camera. We shoot them in our conference room. The editing and posting are done in-house.”

Edwards credits O’C. best-known technology podcaster, Frank Peters, with winning her over to the medium.

But Peters, creator and host of the Frank Peters Show won’t return the compliment and migrate with Edwards to V-casts.

“Most of my audience is listening while they do something else; that’s the real advantage audio podcasts have, multitasking,” Peters says. “Video on the other hand, requires your fixed attention. At the Podcast Expo last September I attended many video break out sessions. What I learned: The average attention span is 3.5 minutes, that’s all. So the video podcast lends itself to cat-up-a-tree or other sensational, but brief content snippets. No one would watch one of my 45 minute in-depth interviews on video; it’s just a talking head or two, so there’s not enough sizzle for video. Instead my audience listens in the car, at the gym or while walking the dog.

Peters doesn’t want to leave the impression that he’s a tech dinosaur in training. He has videoed some interviews and edited them to under three minutes. Here’s a Peters’ sample.

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“But lately I’ve rethought even that approach; it’s not worth it,” he says. 

You be the judge. Will you watch V-casts? 

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