Photos from the Mini Chocolate Salon @ Williams Sonoma (SF, Union Square),

Photos from the Mini Chocolate Salon @ Williams Sonoma (SF, Union Square), featuring Saratoga Chocolates and Sacred Chocolate can be seen here.

Budgets for Online Video may Shrink at Corporations

As a follow-up to the previous post that included the video from the Beet.tv Online Video Roundtable, we’ve included this interesting one that includes an interview with Dina Kaplan of Blip.tv on how the economic crisis is affecting corporate tests of the effectiveness of online video.


Should Online Video Advertising Matter to Publishers?

Below is a very informational video from the Beet.tv Online Video Roundtable. The attendees address the question of “Should Online Video Advertising Matter to Publishers?” There’s a lot of back and forth about who or if to monetize the videos on a publisher’s site, or whether the videos are part of an overall package.

AOL Abandons User Generated Videos

AOL Abandons User Generated Videos, leaves them for someone with more time and money to worry about, reports TechCrunch:

AOL is on a product-cutting spree. In addition to the shuttering of XDrive, AOL Pictures, MyMobile And Bluestring, the company will also be shutting down the AOL Video Uploads service starting this week.

Users must move their videos prior to December 18, when the service closes for good and the videos will no longer be available. AOL is recommending that users transfer videos to Motionbox, a New York based video sharing and editing startup that we first covered in 2006.

Now that this particular online video bandwagon has been left in the hot desert sun to rot with the cactus of “good ideas past,” where will the big media caravan go next for inspiration? It’s not clear, but it better have guaranteed dollar signs around it.

We love two of the comments to this post. They basically say –  social networking and user generated media — “where’s the beef?“

When in San Francisco, Don’t Order Cabernet Sauvignon

Here’s some friendly advice: when visiting San Francisco, don’t ask for “Cabernet Sauvignon.”

For that matter, don’t order a “Pinot Noir,” a “Zinfandel,” and absolutely do not even think of uttering the dreaded phrase “White Zinfandel.”

Why? Because the labels “pretentious,” “rube” and “non-wine drinker” will be stuck to your forehead and nothing else you say will be taken seriously, at least pertaining to food. Let’s face it, being so close to Wine Country, even SF biker bars serve a decent vintage or two.

Here’s a TasteTV tip: When in San Francisco, the “proper” way to order the above mentioned wines is the following:

  • A “Cab” = Cabernet Sauvignon.
  • A “Zin” = Zinfandel (red, mais bien sur)
  • A “Pinot” = Pinot Noir (if you want a Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio, then say the full name)
  • A “White Zinfandel” = This beast does not exist within the boundaries of the city, but you can ask for a nice “blush” wine and get something close

Voila, you are now charming, cultured, and good-looking. Plus, you now have the keys to any bartender, waiter or sommelier’s ear and respect in San Francisco.

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How many times can you say Newspapers are Dead?

Methinks they claim this too much. Newspapers are in a blood bath, and many will not survive. In fact, many have closed up already, and good luck finding any reporter you used to know. Many are currently looking at new professions. But all is not lost (we hope).

However, here’s what’s currently being proposed by Gawker Media (Gawker.com)

With the full onset of consistently declining revenues and mass layoffs, newspapers have now finally accepted the depth of their plight. Now the war wages on as to how — and whether — print can become more commercially viable through innovation. In an article discussing how industries rework themselves to stay relevant, the NYT blissfully throws doubt on her ability to survive in this economic climate. Is there at least some solution that could save the local paper?

The bitter feud between Slate’s Ron Rosenbaum and new media simpleton Jeff Jarvis aside, both do agree that newspapers are in deep s–t.

You’ll see more on this topic tomorrow, and the next day, and the next…