Updated: PBS Says Bon Appetite! with New Food Site

Written by Ashley Carufel, Contract Producer, PBS Interactive

In early May, the SPI blog gave stations an introduction to the upcoming PBS Food content channel that will serve as a centralized web location to better aggregate and promote cooking content from both a national and local level. The Food team has some exciting project updates.

The Food team launched a micro-site on Saturday promoting July 4th recipes (called "PBS Celebrates July 4th") which we are using as an experiment to test the concept of the Food vertical. The site includes content from "Everyday Food," PBS Parents' Kitchen Explorers- a food blog, and local content from three of the test sample stations involved with the project (KCTS, WGBH, and KQED).

The site has been performing tremendously with promotion via the PBS.org homepage, PBS Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as the PBS and PBS Parents newsletters. The micro-site has been averaging 5,000 pageviews daily with a maximum bounce rate of 1.35%! We feel this micro-site is an exciting representation of the type of features the Food content channel will explore as well as a demonstration of the volume of traffic it stands to attract- and thereby direct back to station content.

From On Air to Online: The PBS NewsHour Offers Livestream to Stations

By Lauren Knapp, PBS NewsHour

We are seeing it more and more: broadcasters are meeting the needs of their audiences by meeting them where they are - and where they are is often online. Now, with this in mind, every weeknight PBS NewsHour viewers will be able to watch the broadcast live on UStream from 6pm to 7pm EST. But rather than pull viewers away from their local stations, The NewsHour wants to use this livestream as an opportunity to drive that audience to station websites through a special link off the NewsHour’s homepage. Online users who watch the PBS NewsHour aren't just bouncing in and out for a particular story, they're settling in - sometimes for a 10 minute segment, sometimes for the hour.

This is a great opportunity for stations to showcase the best of what they have to offer, increase engagement with projects they already have underway and potentially convert this new audience into members of their station and community.

In addition to streaming the PBS NewsHour nightly broadcast. Stations will also be able to point viewers to streaming of live news events. From ongoing stories such as last spring’s BP oil spill to presidential addresses to events like the Royal Wedding, livestreaming has allowed the PBS NewsHour to enhance their reporting and meet people wherever they consume the news.

The PBS NewsHour is offering local stations a livestream of the nightly broadcast and other news events that they can easily embed on their sites. You can get a rundown of the five steps to embedding this livestream and how it could benefit your station in a special webinar with Hari Sreenivasan and others on Thursday, June 30, at 2pm EST.

The PBS NewsHour looks forward to working with stations to bring coverage of major news events to the audience wherever they are.

Can't attend the webinar? Don't worry, we'll archive it - but in the meantime, if you have any comments, leave them for us below.

The Weekly SPI Debrief - June 24, 2011

by Mike Smith, SPI Intern

Welcome to the Weekly PBS Interactive Station Products & Innovation Debrief, designed to give PBS stations a rundown of product updates and opportunities announced this week on our blog.

This week, ShopPBS announced an added benefit to the Affiliate Program. The addition allows Stations to earn an 8% royalty on purchases made at the newly-launched PBS KIDS Shop by helping direct traffic to the site. Through the Program, stations will receive specially-tracked banners and interactive shopping widgets that can be added to any web page. All purchases made by viewers who arrive at the site via your station's widgets or banners will generate an 8% royalty for your station.

Also this week, PBS and its member stations announced the winners of the 2011 PBS Teachers Innovation Awards. These awards are presented in recognition of the educators’ creative and inventive use of public media to engage students and improve learning. Sponsored by The Henry Ford and SMART Technologies, the second annual PBS Teachers Innovation Awards honors teachers who continuously strive to inspire young minds and cultivate the nation’s next generation of innovators and leaders.

Special Agent Amy Baroch returned to the SPI dept. this week after being on assignment in NYC attending the 140 Conference. As the name suggests, this 2-day event was held to educate and inform the leaders in public media about the many ways Twitter can be used to tell stories and increase an organization's digital presence rather than just to distribute funny pictures of cats with insatiable "cheezburger" appetites. Check out her report for a video and a list of the top 25 things she learned while on assignment.

Also this week, SPI Intern Rachel Lim gave readers an inside look into the mysterious world of PBS Interns. Join her as she attends seminars, interviews station managers, or even just enjoys the free coffee that gets her through the rainy days.

• NEW! PBS KIDS SHOP: Station Affiliate Program
• Stations Reach Out to Innovative Teachers
• Twitter by the #s: 25 things I learned at the 140 Conference...
• Tales of a PBS Intern, Part 1

As always, the SPI team appreciates all of your valuable comments and participation on our site this week and every week.

NEW! PBS KIDS SHOP: Station Affiliate Program

by Natalie Engel, PBS KIDS Shop

Stations! There is an addition to the ShopPBS Affiliate Program. Stations can earn an 8% royalty on purchases made through the newly-launched PBS KIDS Shop by helping direct traffic to the site. Through the PBS KIDS Shop Affiliate Program, stations will receive specially-tracked banners and interactive shopping widgets that can be added to any web page (see example banner above). All purchases made by viewers who arrive at the site via your station's widgets or banners will generate an 8% royalty for your station.

Check out the Interactive Shopping Widget below:

Shop your favorite PBS KIDS characters for toys, games, apparel and more!

Key benefits for Stations

• Generates revenue at no costs to stations
• Allows stations to earn royalties for purchases made within 30 days via affiliate banners
• Includes monthly reporting and payments
• Widgets and banners come in a variety of sizes to fit any web page. Widgets can be customized to highlight specific characters or product categories.

More information is available on Connect under Attend/Learn --> Past Meetings and Conferences --> Webinar Slide Deck - PBS KIDS Toy Line & PBS KIDS Shop.


To sign up for the Affiliate program or if you have any questions, please contact Natalie Engel via email.

Stations Reach Out to Innovative Teachers

Assistant Principal Erik Hermansen,
Joanne Urofsky, general manager of WUSF,
Eric Johnson and three of his students.

This article authored by Tamera Bogusky, PBS Content Mgr, PreK-12 Ed.  

 
PBS and its member stations recently announced the winners of the 2011 PBS Teachers Innovation Awards in recognition of the educators’ creative and inventive use of public media to engage students and improve learning. Sponsored by The Henry Ford and SMART Technologies, the second annual PBS Teachers Innovation Awards honors teachers who continuously strive to inspire young minds and cultivate the nation’s next generation of innovators and leaders. First place was awarded to the top 12 educators, one from each of twelve subject and grade-level groupings, and 28 educators were selected as second place winners. All winning entries can be viewed http://www.pbs.org/teachers/innovators/gallery/2011/.

In the weeks following the announcement, numerous PBS stations connected with the Innovation Award winners in their communities to both congratulate them and plan for how they can work together to encourage the utilization of public digital media and innovative teaching practices in classrooms. Below are just a few local stories of collaboration and celebration.

Twitter by the #s: 25 things I learned at the 2 day 140 Conference in NYC on June 15-16, 2011

by Amy Baroch, PBS Station Products & Innovation

First things first, what is a 140 Conference? The 140 Conference is a concept created by @jeffpulver to provide a platform for the worldwide twitter community to: listen, connect, share and engage with each other, while collectively exploring the effects of the emerging real-time internet on business.”

The events are designed to keep things moving by having quick “sessions” with a variety of different speakers talking about various topics over a full one or two days. The conferences have taken place in cities all over the world including Barcelona, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv with smaller theme specific conferences like the #140edu or Fashion 140 events in New York.

Last week’s conference featured 139 speakers in 91 sessions over two packed days. The registration, a mere $100, is almost unheard of these days and the content is presented in such a fast-paced yet digestible way that makes the 140 Conference stand out from other social media events.

And here’s the kicker...

Tales of a PBS Intern, Part 1

by Rachel Lim, PBS Station Products & Innovation

This is the snapshot look inside the life of an SPI intern. Follow my day-to-day activities as I jump headfirst into the world of public media.

Monday

8:00am – I came in an hour early today because I have to leave an hour early. Looks like everyone gets a late start after the weekend – the second floor, a.k.a. Interactive Land, is deserted.

8:37am – It’s lonely in here!  I have a desk in front of a window, but today it is unfortunately cold and rainy.

I love my desk by the window.

11:52am – I’m working with Max Duke and Marla Krueger to update the Mobile Resource Center within Station Remote Control. We’re compiling station stories and experiences with mobile as a supplement to the numerical data about the mobile landscape. I just got off the phone with the very articulate Libby Peterek from KLRU. Sneak peek of the words of wisdom I’m collecting: “Probably the craziest thing about mobile is that everyone thinks it’s really hard – but it’s really not. Going mobile is not about making your entire site mobile. It’s about making just the elements that people want mobile.”

1:09pm – I opened the blinds to see the sun peeking down on me. It is officially sunny!

2:24pm – Reasons Why I Love My Internship #1: I get to tweet at work! #bestjobever

3:46pm – It’s a ten minute walk to the Virginia Railroad Express station, where I’m catching a southbound train at 3:57pm. Ta-ta for now!

The Weekly SPI Debrief, June 17, 2011

by Mike Smith, SPI Intern

Welcome to the Weekly PBS Interactive Station Products & Innovation Debrief, designed to give PBS stations a rundown of product updates and opportunities announced this week on our blog.

PBS has been increasing its Facebook audience while experimenting with ways to increase users, support on-air programming, and promote local content and events. With over 85% of PBS member stations using Facebook, this is a huge opportunity to make history. This week, in the spirit of social media, we hope that your station can help us cross the million-fan-mark. Check out the post to learn how we can work together to grow our collective Facebook audience.

We also checked out the many ways that video-conferencing can be a valuable asset to stations, whether you find yourselves with exorbitant travel expenses or not. Does your station use it? Are you interested in learning more about it? Check out our poll and cast your vote, or leave us a comment and tell us what kinds of things your station is doing to conserve its valuable resources.

• PBS: Making Facebook History

• Video-Conferencing: Can You See Me Now..? Good.

As always, the SPI team appreciates all of your valuable comments and participation on our site this week and every week.

Welcome, WUCFTV!

by Rachel Lim, PBS Station Products & Innovation

We are so excited to welcome WUCF-TV to the PBS fold. As a partnership between the University of Central Florida and Brevard Community College, WUCF will be serving Central Florida as its primary PBS channel, and will hit the airwaves on July 1^st. Want to show some love to the newest addition to the PBS family? We have a few suggestions for you!

• Follow them on Twitter @WUCFTV – and maybe tweet them a welcome! Don’t forget to use the #localpbs hashtag.
• “Like” them on Facebook. Rack up the love – or the “like” – by finding WUCF on Facebook.
• Blog the news! For those stations with a news or announcements blog, consider calling attention to the opening of our newest PBS station. Include a link to their site that uses the keywords, PBS and Orlando to help boost their search engine rankings, and allow interested readers to check them out on their own. For example: Check out WUCF, the newest PBS station serving Orlando and Central Florida!
  

Do you have any other ideas to help bring WUCF into the PBS fold? Let us know in the comments below!

PBS: Making Facebook History

By Amy Baroch, Station Products & Innovation

I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. Sometimes I wonder how I could have ever lived without it, other times, I wonder why I spend so much time interacting with “friends” I haven’t seen since middle school or playing Bingo.

One thing is for sure, Facebook is an invaluable resource for social media communication, business marketing, and getting information about what’s happening in the world around you, whether it’s calling attention to human rights injustice in the Middle East or who the next host of SNL should be.

PBS has been increasing its Facebook audience and experimenting with ways to increase users, support on-air programming, and promote local content and events. With consistent promotion within the organization and to the PBS audience, best practices provided for member stations, and an actively growing fan base, PBS is on the cusp of a major milestone: reaching 1,000,000 fans. That’s one million with 6 zeros! With over 85% of PBS member stations using Facebook, too, the organization has huge opportunity to make history in the next few weeks.

Along with the prestige of reaching this milestone comes the great responsibility to continue innovating. Our goal is to continue to expand all cross-promotion of content on social media sites between PBS, stations, and programs. We are determined to continue reaching new audiences and serving the national and local community. In the spirit of social media, it’s a collective effort and we hope that PBS member stations and other public media outlets can help us reach this goal.

Let us know what you are doing at your station and in your communities – we are happy to promote it. And encourage your audience to “like” the PBS Facebook page when they visit yours – we’ll do the same for your pages so we can continue to grow our collective audiences.

Here is a sample post you can place on your station's Facebook page to help us:

Example: Do you "like" the PBS Facebook page? (station) does! Check out the PBS page for even more info, extras, and information about your favorite programs and events. Visit and like PBS here: http://www.facebook.com/pbs. Thank you!

How many fans do you have at your station? Let us know in the comments below or contact us anytime!

Video-Conferencing: Can You See Me Now..? Good.

by Mike Smith, SPI Intern

I would be willing to bet that if you were to so much as whisper the words “gas prices” in a crowded office, you would get no less than a 90% response rate. I would also be willing to bet that nearly 100% of those people wouldn’t be happy with how much it costs to fill up their tanks.

This type of reaction is absolutely warranted, as prices throughout the country remain at nearly $4/gallon. This cost can seriously hurt metropolitan commuters residing in rural areas outside of major cities who may spend an hour (or more) on the road every morning, blasting the AC and their favorite talk-radio stations, just to sit at a computer for awhile and make the trip all over again at 5PM.

All of this almost makes you wonder, “What if there was some way I could do the same amount of work, with the same efficiency, without ever leaving the comfort of my own home?”

Enter Video-Conferencing.

In recent years, face-to-face communication has become something that doesn’t necessarily have to be done face-to-face. Online resources like Go To Meeting (used here often at PBS) and consumer-friendly tools like GChat, TinyChat, Skype or Facetime have made video chatting commonplace for everyday use by the general population.

When it comes to station communication, emails, forums, webinars, and conference calls can sometimes feel impersonal. With none of these tools can you actually see the other person and limited station resources don't always allow for the invaluable face-to-face connections that can take place at PBS conferences.

Finding a middle ground between cost-effectiveness and effective communication can be tricky, but video-conferencing might just be the answer.

In an article titled "4 Ways Video Conferencing Can Benefit Small Businesses" on Mashable.com, June Bower, vice president of Cisco’s online collaboration software group, highlights four ways that video-conferencing can be an incredibly valuable resource.

Give it a read and let us know what you think! Leave a comment below or just contact us with your ideas. We are always eager to hear your opinions. You can even vote in the corresponding poll to the right and see how your thoughts stack up against the will of the masses.

The Weekly SPI Debrief, June 10, 2011

Welcome to the Weekly PBS Interactive Station Products & Innovation Debrief, designed to give PBS stations a rundown of product updates and opportunities announced this week on our blog.

Great News! This week, we announced sign-ups are now available for ALL stations to gain access to the Merlin tools to promote your local content to pbs.org visitors. We have greatly streamlined the process to get you set up and trained to be claiming your share of promotion to pbs.org's millions of monthly visitors.

Earlier this week, we saw part 1 of a story from Teresa Peltier, an Emerging Media & PR Specialist for WSKG, New York, who shares a few diary entries about her station's journey into the world of Google for Nonprofits. Check out her story to learn all about how NPs can get free or discounted access to Google AdWords, Apps, and Checkout, as well as access to premium YouTube features and software grants and support for Google Earth Outreach.

We also had a story on online security habits and password managing products. One such product, called 1Password, allows users to set unique, strong passwords for every site they use and then encrypt and store these passwords on the user’s machine for quick access.

Also this week, we retired 4 forms from Station Remote Control. These forms included:

• Education Contact Info & Primary Web Content Forms (we will no longer be using these forms to collect personal information, if you need to alert us to a new primary web contact, please send an email directly to pbsi_stationservices@pbs.org)
• Educational Mission Statement & Local Educational Resources Forms (the content from these forms is no longer being used on the PBS Teachers site)

Last but certainly not least, your Station Localization Stats are now available for May. Check out the link below for more information on how to access this report.

• Open Call - Sign up for Merlin Access

• A Google for Nonprofits Station Diary, Part 1

• FYI Corner: Good Online Security Habits

• Your Station Localization Stats for May

As always, the SPI team appreciates all of your valuable comments and participation on our site this week and every week.

Open Call - Sign up for Merlin Access

Great News!

Sign-ups are now available for ALL stations to gain access to the Merlin tools to promote your local content to pbs.org visitors. We've completed w on-boarding cycles with over 60 stations, and based on their feedback, have greatly streamlined the process to get you up and running on Merlin... claiming your share of promotion to pbs.org's millions of monthly visitors.

Benefits of participating include:

• Promote your station's content on the pbs.org homepage to visitors coming from your area.
• Make your content eligible featured nationally on pbs.org. Stations that have been featured have seen 100 – 400% increases in traffic to their station’s web site.
  
• Learn editorial best practices that will help optimize your content for search engines and syndication across the web
  

To sign up, send an email to pbsi_stationservices@pbs.org, and save the date for one of these training webinars to get you started:

Merlin Training Session (Everything you need to know to get started).

Attend ONE of the following:

• Merlin Training #1: Thursday, June 16th, 3:00 – 4:00 ET (Register at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/459309706)

• Merlin Training #2: Tuesday, June 21st, 3:00 – 4:00 ET (Register at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/247893787 )

• Merlin Training #3: Thursday, June 23rd, 3:00 – 4:00 ET (Register at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/668136074 )

FYI Corner: Good Online Security Habits

With so much of our day-to-day lives tied so closely to the Internet, whether it be for work or personal use, it's important to make sure that information we pass across the web waves is secure.

With that in mind, we thought we should devote this week's FYI Corner to some personal online security best practices. It's important to make sure that passwords that protect your sensitive information are "strong" and varied. By strong we mean secure, using over six characters, and utilizing numbers, letters, and non-standard characters. It's also good practice to not use the same password across multiple sites or systems. If one system is compromised, this will help limit the damage that can be done.

However, if you’re anything like us, you have dozens of systems and sites to log into that you need to do your everyday jobs, and memorizing a different password for each system would be a pain. In order to combat the challenge of remembering multiple passwords across multiple sites, the development team at PBS Interactive recommends using a password manager product, such as a product called 1Password (http://agilebits.com/products/1Password). 1Password allows users to set unique, strong passwords for every site they use; these passwords are then encrypted and stored on the user’s machine for quick access.

As interaction over the internet grows increasingly complex, it's important to remember that security can never be overlooked. As you reset your passwords across your various logins, adopting 1Password – or a similar product – can help store and manage your passwords.

Presented by Incubation Lab: A Google for Nonprofits Station Diary, Part 1

The Presented by Incubation Lab series presents a multi-post series about one station's journey into the world of Google for Nonprofits . Teresa Peltier, Emerging Media & PR Specialist for dual-licensee WSKG in New York, shares their story with us:

Recently, a co-worker passed along a story about Google for Nonprofits. After a quick perusal of the offerings, I decided to submit an application for WSKG. Here’s the really awesome story of how it went:

March 18th, 2011
Emails from co-workers often include pictures of babies and raps about NPR. But today, I got this:

http://www.brandflakesforbreakfast.com/2011/03/google-gold-for-non-profits.html

Faith in humanity – restored.

March 28th, 2011
Spent some time looking through Google for Nonprofits today. Here are some reasons I got excited:

• Google AdWords will provide grants (up to $10,000 per month) for adword advertising on Google searches for approved 501(c3) organizations.
• Google Apps offered free for Nonprofits with less than 3000 employees and at a discount for Nonprofits with more than 3000 employees
• Access to premium YouTube features: branding, overlays, increased uploading capacity, donate button, inclusion in Nonprofits channel and video pages, call-to-action overlays
• Software grants and support for Google’s mapping technology, Google Earth Outreach
• Google Checkout – no transaction fees

The Weekly SPI Debrief, 6.3.11

by Mike Smith, SPI Intern

Welcome to the Weekly PBS Interactive Station Products & Innovation Debrief, designed to give PBS stations a rundown of product updates and opportunities announced this week on our blog.

It has been a wild and crazy week here at PBS Interactive in the wake of Monday's hacking incident. However, Station Remote Control is available once again, and every station has been issued new login credentials. Let us know if you have any further complications by contacting pbsi_stationservices@pbs.org.

In other news, the SPI Team has welcomed Rachel Lim as our newest summer intern. Rachel is joining us on break from the University of Virginia, where next semester she will be in her fourth year of study for a BA in English with a focus on digital communication studies. Welcome Rachel!

We also looked into how spending the majority of your day sitting down can have some serious health implications. Check out “Talk Amongst Yourselves: Lions, Tigers, & Chairs?” for more information on these risks and on the recent trend towards stand-up desks. And, be sure to let us know where you ‘stand’ on this issue by taking our new poll in the right sidebar.

Don’t forget to check out the June Pledge Videos on the Video Portal for an assortment of useful videos for June’s pledge-drives.

Finally, a few of you have noticed a delay in your TV Schedules this past week. This has been fixed and all data should be fresh. Check out our TV Schedules Resource page for more information on the Tune-In schedule modules.

• Getting to Know... Rachel Lim
• Talk Amongst Yourselves: Lions, Tigers, & Chairs?
• June Pledge Videos on Video Portal
• TV Schedule Resource Page in SRC

As always, the SPI team appreciates all of your valuable comments and participation on our site this week and every week.

Talk Amongst Yourselves: Lions, Tigers, & Chairs?

by Mike Smith, SPI Intern

Just how dangerous is sitting all day? As it turns out, very.

In March 2011, Men’s Health posted information on a recent health study conducted by the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal. The study, which analyzed more than 17,000 men and women over the course of 13 years, found that those who sit for the majority of their day are 54% more likely to die of heart attacks.

This startling statistic has begun to lead a sort-of “Stand-Up Desk Revolution” among desk jockeys everywhere. And though we here at the SPI Blog haven’t yet made the switch, it does seem like those who have may not ever go back.

Check out these interesting articles on Mashable for more information on Just How Dangerous Sitting Really Is and on How Stand-Up Desks Are Changing People’s Lives, and tell us whether or not you’d like to take a stand by casting your vote in our newest poll in the sidebar to your right!