Ken English: marketing, event promotion and public relations | Back to Main Page

Over the years, I've been involved with most aspects of marketing, sales promotion and public relations.

Although I was reading about the internet in the late 1990s, I didn't become active online until 2003 while working with a travel marketing company. I became the webmaster because I had worked for a magazine and knew how to write and take pictures, but I didn't know how to get the content online.

I knew I wanted to shoot, edit and upload video, but bandwidth was a major concern.

Today, more than 70% of internet users have a high-speed connection to the internet. The number is much higher in major urban areas.

In October 2006, I uploaded my first video to YouTube, ripping the track from a promotional DVD we did to promote Miami Beach scuba diving. I worked with DVDPeanPro and Windows Movie Maker. I've evolved to Sony Vegas Movie Studio.

When I learned how to use Audacity, a free audio editor, I realized I could put together a nice online video. I have more than 1000 on elevent YouTube channels, and other video sites such as Viddler, Dailymotion, Metacafe and Vimeo, at the present time (23 March 2011):

While at an internet marketing conference in 2007, I heard about an online radio platform called BlogTalkRadio.

I signed up as a host and began producing shows on topics of personal interest. After hosting a couple of dozen shows, I realized the platform would provide communication between the director of a non-profit organization and the organization's members. While they could do it themselves, they know if I am the board operator, and co-host when necessary, the director of the organization only has to call in and talk, something they all can do.

The first BTR show for a non-profit was EcoAlert with Nadine Patrice, the executive director of Operation Green Leaves, an environmental organization dedicated to planting trees in Haiti - www.oglhaiti.com. It was quickly followed by Caribbean Perspective and Caribbean Sunday with Eddie Frederick. A Caribbean broadcaster living in Grenada, he produces a 15 minute news clip and emails it to various media outlets. On the weekend, he does a 60-minute 'life-style' show with a Caribbean focus. I produced 796 episodes before the series ended in April 2011.

As of 15 May 2011, I've produced more than 1200 episodes/shows, ranging from 15 to 90 minutes, including shows that originated from conventions, seminars and festivals. I've done shows using a cellphone while walking among exhibitors, via Skype from a Starbucks or hotel, but mostly from my home.

BTR has a pod-cast element called Cinchcast, a social media platform, so I can download a mp3 recording, edit and uploaded it to my account and play it during a show.  Google: how to use Cinchcast - and you'll see a video I produced.

BlogTalkRadio is a simple to use platform with global reach. If you have something to say, you can now say it online. I wrote BlogTalkRadioMadeEasy to explain the process of setting up and hosting a show. Since producing the ebook in April 2009, I've done several revisions, adding a Cinchcast section to the last one.

Background

I began a marketing and promotion career when I joined Great Gorge Ski Area as the manager of Group Sales in 1972.

As part of the job, I would make presentations to ski clubs and show 16mm movies. After watching them a couple of times, I began experimenting with creating my own soundtrack.

In 1974, I became the Director of Group Sales for two ski areas in the Poconos - Jack Frost Mountain and Big Boulder.

Following stops at the Arizona Snow Bowl in Flagstaff and Eagle Rock Ski Area in Hazelton, PA, I moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to be the Director of Marketing for a new resort hotel group. The company encountered financial problems, so I accepted an offer to be the VP of Marketing at Greek Peak Ski Area in Upstate New York in 1979. Two years of snowless winters encouraged me to go back to Florida. This time, I was the Director of Public Relations for a small cruise line.

Eastern Steamship Line became Eastern Cruise Line, then was acquired by Royal Caribbean. I became a 'consultant.'

My first client was a motivational speaker. I was the road manager, setting up and handling his AV system while he spoke, mixing  music for VHS presentations.

In the mid-80s, I became the executive director of the Miami Foreign Trade Association, then the executive director of the Greater Miami Hotel & Motel Association.

I discovered an interesting element of AM radio while with the Foreign Trade Association. I learned I could have a radio program on an AM station, if I found sponsors to buy the time. For the next 10 years, I produced and hosted a variety of programs, ranging from international trade to a Miami Beach waterside festival called Sinko de Mayo. Because the radio was used to promote special events, I'd have a 13 or 26 week run, then start over.

During my final year on AM radio, the internet was beginning to appear. Streaming technology was introduced, but stations were slow to embrace the concept. I decided to look into internet radio, but I couldn't get it to work, until BlogTalkRadio made its debut.

In 2010, I wrote the ABCs of Media Mojo for a presentation at a thermographer's conference.

MOJO, incidentally, doesn't have anything to do with Austin Powers, magic or voodoo. It's an abbreviation for Mobile Journalist, someone who uses audio, video and blogs to created content for the internet.

For more information, send me an email: kenenglishmiami@gmail.com.