Agtel Produces Web Videos for TCD Pharmacy Unit
Whether because of migraines, coughs or in search of dental floss, we’re all regular visitors to the local pharmacy. Trinity College Dublin prides itself on the level of expertise its Pharmacy students graduate with and its new state of the art ‘Practice of Pharmacy Unit’, the first of its kind in the country, is a testimony to TCD’s commitment to hands on training.
Agtel produced a series of three mins web video clips available on YouTube and as podcasts on iTunes U, to enable prospective students to learn about the unit and hear staff and students talk about what its really like to study at Trinity.
Would you miss watching TV?
Turns out UK consumers would miss watching tv the most when given the choice between tv, mobile phone use and surfing the web.
Ofcom have just published some fascinating statistics on this, showing that tv is holding its own even with so many people spending time on the web these days. How’s that? Well, one reason is that half of people are multi-tasking - they’re watching tv while they’re on the phone or have the laptop out in front of them. And maybe unsurprisingly its mostly young people (16 - 24 year olds) who are leading the way in this…
CONSUMERS STILL ATTACHED TO THEIR TVS
Although media multi-tasking is widespread, half of people consume only one type of media in the evening.
This peak-time evening media use is driven by people watching scheduled live television through their TV set, an activity mainly undertaken on its own rather than with other media.
The time people spend watching TV remains stable alongside internet growth with the average person watching 3 hours and 45 minutes of TV per day.
Despite the growing choice in technology and services available, watching TV remains the activity that most adults would miss the most. Compared to 2007, a growing number of 16-24s (8 percentage points) and over 55s (7 percentage points) say that watching TV is the activity they would miss the most.
Catch-up TV usage grows
It’s not just scheduled live television which continues to be popular. Ofcom’s consumer research from the first quarter of 2010 shows that almost a third (31 per cent) of households with internet access used it to watch online catch-up TV – up 8 percentage points over the year.
Nearly a quarter of people (22 per cent) say they have bought a HD-ready TV set in the last 12 months and sales of HD ready TV sets have now passed 24 million in the UK. Five million households have now also signed up to HD services through pay TV, freesat and Freeview services. Although the continuing demand for TVs could be partly explained by falling prices and digital switchover, it also suggests that consumers are as attached to their TVs as they ever were and are hungry for more channels and better picture quality.
And buried deep in the report is this interesting nugget on people making their own videos…
Young people were most likely to have engaged in user-generated content activities online. For example, while a quarter (26%) of 16-24 year olds claimed to have made a short video and uploaded it to a website, only 2% of people aged 55+ with internet access make the same claim.
[via ENN via FT]
Google rolls out Video Sitemaps
Google is keen to index video content and have been publicising Video Sitemaps as a way to create better searches.
Nelson Lee, Video Search Product Manager, explains how:
Agtel Streams Live Event for Enterprise Ireland
The LiveU backpack in action.
Last month Agtel had the opportunity to stream a live broadcast from the Enterprise Ireland headquarters in Dublin using an innovative streaming technology. In conjunction with Tyrell CCT we demonstrated Live U, the ‘Satellite truck in a backpack’, from the SME event, part of a series of eight business finance seminars hosted for Irish SMEs. LiveU has developed a revolutionary hand-held video uplink device that enables anyone to broadcast live video instantly, anytime, anywhere. Tyrell CCT was recently awarded the exclusive Irish distribution of this innovative mobile video delivery solution. This technology preview demonstrated the outstanding quality and `reliability of broadcasting via 3G networks with the entire seminar delivered live to viewers in Enterprise Ireland offices around the world.
Organised by Enterprise Ireland, the Small Firms Association, IBEC, the Irish Taxation Institute and the County Enterprise Boards, the SME seminar series was developed to assist SMEs to gain a greater understanding of financial, employment, tax and business supports information to manage and grow their business. The Dublin seminar, which coincided with European SME week, was host to a number of high profile speakers including the Minister for Trade and Commerce, Billy Kelleher. Tyrell CCT provided Agtel with the LiveU LU30 backpack system and offsite technical backup to broadcast the Dublin based event in real-time to a global Enterprise Ireland audience. Viewers in locations ranging from Milan, Stockholm and Tokyo provided live feedback via web chat facility and testified to the picture and sound quality. Following the keynote speeches the Agtel cameraman equipped solely with the LU30 backpack conducted a Vox Pop style session with the seminar delegates moving easily around the venue, including the underground car park, to push the limits of the technology.
“The use of the LiveU technology at our Dublin event was very valuable as we were able to connect with our colleagues in global Enterprise Ireland offices in real-time and provide them with key information and on-the-ground insights from the SME community in Ireland”, commented Alan Hobbs, Head of Communications, Enterprise Ireland. “We were particularly impressed with the immediacy of service and high quality picture and sound. It is very easy to see how this technology could make a big difference to Irish companies connecting with their audiences worldwide.”
“In today’s dynamic business environment, every organisation is a media company with a need to communicate with their customers, business partners, shareholders and staff,” according to John Cummins, Managing Director, Agtel. “LiveU offers organisations of all sizes an affordable option to transform their communication strategy and reach large audiences by delivering live feeds and videos on their websites. We found the system very easy to set up and use -from arrival on location, the live broadcast can be accomplished literally in a minute or two.”
The broadcast was streamed with Livestream and is available here.
Launch of ‘Ireland and the EU’ DVD
At the DVD launch were (left-right) Martin Territ (Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland), Ruth O'Looney (Producer, Agtel) , Mary Coughlan TD (Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills) and Alan Dargan (Multimedia Producer, Agtel)
Agtel were delighted to attend the official launch of the Agtel produce ‘Ireland and the European Union’ DVD at the Dublin headquarters of the European Commission Representation in Ireland by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan TD. The DVD provides a concise introduction to the European Union, its origins and development and the tangible benefits of membership for Ireland. The resource, aimed at seconary school students, can be viewed in Irish or English and gives an overview of how the institutions work and how decisions are made at European level.
Also in attendance was Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, Martin Territ.
The Future is Green: Agtel Environmental Work
What happens to that plastic bottle after you pop it in your ‘Green Bin’ ? As part of their new website project, the leading waste, environmental and re-cycling company, Oxigen, commissioned Agtel to produce a short web video to tell the story of a heroic Green Bottle that lives a very full, eventful and green life.
Ireland and the European Union
Opening graphic from Ireland and the European Union
Whether you travel by LUAS around Dublin or spend Euro coins on holidays abroad, you’re benefiting directly from Ireland’s membership of the European Union. These and other advantages of EU membership are outlined in Agtel’s recent production for the European Commission Representation in Ireland.
The European Union plays a role in all our lives and has had a huge impact on the development of Irish society for almost forty years. This new and exciting DVD outlines the expansion of the EU from the 1950s to the present day and uses contemporary footage to highlight the many positive aspects to Ireland’s involvement in European affairs. Aimed primarily at senior/secondary school students, Ireland and the European Union is intended to create a sense of the EU and Ireland among young Irish people. Working closely with the European Commission office in Dublin, Agtel devised a visually engaging production to illustrate the functions of the EU. From the day-to-day workings of the European Parliament to EU involvement in overseas aid, this DVD gives an insight into the many ways in which the EU operates on a local and international level.
Ireland and the European Union will be viewed at the European Commission’s office in Dublin, at information centres around Ireland and will also be distributed on DVD.
It can be viewed on the site here.
Training for Safe Practice in Radioactive Environment
We were in the Sunday Business Post on Sunday, announcing our new contract to produce a radiation safety production for EU DG Energy and Transport. Check-out the article at http://www.sbpost.ie/themarket/firm-to-make-safety-film-for-nuclear-plants-46591.html
2010 is a year during which we are going to focus on technology enabled learning as a means of increasing productivity, competitiveness and making stretched budgets go further. Our EU win is a great start to the year.
Inspiration for Young Entrepreneurs
A shot from the 'Soft Skills' tutorials
Going on Dragon’s Den was an intimidating experience reveals Tim Rooney, founder of the health food snack Surf Seeds, in a fascinating case study Agtel filmed with him recently. But he managed to rise to the challenge of the dragons and they invested €100,000 in the business. Likewise, Nicola Byrne who founded directory enquiries services 11890 had tough meetings with potential clients when she first started promoting her business – but finding clever ways to overcome the obstacles in her way is one of the things that’s made her business successful.
Both Nicola and Tim feature in the latest Agtel on-line and DVD production for the County & City Enterprise Boards. You can check out Tim’s case study here. Their candid and inspiring case studies are designed to motivate young students to set up their own businesses – and to enter the annual Student Enterprise Awards. The case studies are accompanied by a series of five “soft skills” tutorials that help teachers convey hard to teach topics such as sales and branding. The video tutorials use drama scenes focussing on a group of school students (played by actors) going through the whole process of setting up their own company to bring the subject to life.
The video tutorials and case studies are integrated into the on-line Student Enterprise Awards website and are now also being distributed on DVD to schools around the country.
Launch of eQuality Measures
The 'eQuality Measures' pack recently launched for the Department of Education and Science consists of 2 DVDs and 5 PDF booklets.
We found in our recent organic gardening production for Bord Bia, that girls and boys were equally energetic and courageous when it came to tackling the big jobs of composting, bug catching and snail hunting. But such gender equality may not always arise naturally. Some school structures, curricula and subject choice options may inhibit the extent to which both girls and boys can participate equally in the educational system.
Agtel has just released an ambitious pack consisting of two DVDs and set of five PDF booklets that provide post-primary school management with comprehensive information and practical guidance on the implementation of a gender main-streaming programme. Produced for the Department of Education and Science, this pack tackles a complex subject in an engaging and accessible manner, with the focus very much on practical implementation.
Maureen Bohan, Senior Inspector with the Department said:
"It’s been a long journey from the time we started the project and I want to acknowledge the excellent partnership we established with Agtel since you were awarded the tender to undertake the making of the DVDs.
From the beginning the Agtel team became an important part of the whole project. Although employed to undertake the technical part of the project, it soon became evident that you understood the objectives of the project and this was proved by the excellent direction and editing of the interviews and relevant background material and by the beautiful design work for the booklets.
I am aware that we were pretty demanding clients in terms of asking for several edits, designs and finally proofing but the patient and courteous response of all of your team was commendable and very much appreciated. I think everyone will agree that the final product ticks all boxes in terms of quality."
The pack was an enormous undertaking both in terms of video production and print design and Agtel worked very closely with the Department to ensure that the focus of the message remained paramount at all stages of the production.