SAF's slow, but sure propagation into the realm of social media continues as we've added a YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/SAFVision to our growing number of outposts. Our first official attempt at capturing video was at the recent SAF 125^th Annual Convention at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, AZ. And I would say the results are great.

I first started to explore starting a YouTube channel earlier this summer after SAF's Technology Committee suggested at the Spring Meeting we try to capture video vignettes at all futures events. So my first action was to canvass the gadgetland for light, cheap video handhelds. You can check out my exploration here. We eventually decided on the Flip, mostly for its reputed video quality and it did not disappoint. I then checked out how to get the association on YouTube and documented the process in this Floral Management Plugged In column.

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I want to push the Society of American Florists (SAF) from a primarily photo oriented publishing shop to video. SAF will certainly not abandon photos altogether but video is it when it comes to providing a richer media experience especially when delivering content via social media.

My mind was made up after attending the DigitalNow Conference a few months ago when uber geek Amber MacArthur provided me with some great tips (on stage no less) on how to better leverage several SAF Convention events to promote SAF's brand to the masses (member and non) via YouTube, Facebook, et al.  The events I have in mind are the annual Outstanding Varieties Competition and Sylvia Cup Design Competition.

In essence, every year, SAF selects the No. 1 Flower and the No. 1 Designer in America! The photos from these events have always been top notch and dramatic but still static. And if you're a fan of Iron Chef, apply those concepts to the Sylvia Cup Design competition. So it's almost a crime not to capture this annual floral feast on film.

I'll cut to the chase, I went with the Flip UltraHD for $199 rather than the Sony Webbie HD Series or Creative's Vado. Here are my reasons.

Video Quality. After reading copious reviews from several sources for all cameras, including CNET, PCMag, I was narrowed down the three options to two - the Flip and Vado. Almost all reviewers slammed the Sony Webbie HD for the less than stellar video quality, which quite honestly shocked me since I've always relied on Sony because of consistent video quality. But many of the samples I viewed online confirmed this opinion.

Finally, I went with the Flip because the Flipshare software. You can run it on a Mac (great for me!) or PC, which enables me to hand it to anyone on staff. The process was extremely simple, you press the lever on the Flip to release the USB extension, plug it in which then automatically launches Flipshare. Once you download all the movies you've taken, you can upload your movies to your YouTube account in about three clicks.

In addition, I found that the Mac sees the Flip as an external drive. You can download the clips manually and import them into iMovie if you'd like more editing capability and Final Cut Express or Pro if you're a video ninja.

For my floral industry friends, check out the August 2009 edition of Society of American Florists' Floral Management Magazine on how you can create a channel and use the Flip to market your talents to the world. For my association tweeps and peeps, check out the August 2009 edition of TechnoScope for the same but couched in our non-profit association flavor.

Check out a video sample I captured during a recent trip to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. The day was a bit overcast but I was taking a fast moving object aka the spectacular Griffon roller coaster splashing through water. 

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In addition to having no one online to make that first call, I see that you need to be connected to a wireless network. "Skype calls over 3g networks are currently not supported due to restrictions that may be placed on your data plan . . . " it says when I tried to make a test call to the Skype Test Call contact. Makes sense when you consider the bandwidth requirements especially if you were ever to do video conferencing with this App. I'm hoping the next iPhone will have a video cam to make full use of Skype's capabilities.

Overall, after tapping around a bit, the interface is simple, well done and is consistent with their computer client App. It's a straight forward port of Skype to the typical iPhone App gui. At the bottom, you have Contacts, Chats, Call, History and My info. The Call option presents you with the dialpad familiiar to iPhone users when making a regular call with a handy Skype contact button. The big thing that I can't find in the iPhone App is the conference call feature - will continue to tap around.

More on this App from Skype: http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2009/03/skype_for_iphone_yes_its_here.html

Regardless, VERY COOL addition to my growing stable of iPhone Apps. Now, just waiting for someone to get online to see if this thing actually works!

Call me on Skype at: renato.sogueco

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Still backup your data to tape? If so, consider the times a backup has failed or you actually prayed during an attempted restore. Bottom line, tapes suck. For the past several years, we've been using external hard drives with great success. Essentially, hard drives are just much more durable and reliable because they are made to be primary data stores. The moment someone figured out how to make them portable is the day IT shops should have switched out the tapes.

The only issue with external hard drives however is that they can be bulky and heavy. We take a backup drive home everyday so it's a minor inconvenience. However, this too has recently changed for the better.

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