Archive for October, 2007

Castfire Hat Trick

Monday, October 8th, 2007

Castfire kicked off October with a bang, completing a hat trick of property launches! First up, Boing Boing launcBoing Boing TV Launcheshed a new property, Boing Boing TV. Working with DECA, Federated Media and Boing Boing, Castfire provides the infrastructure, management, ad insertion and analytics to power the entire experience. I think I am not alone in saying that Boing Boing was an eye opener for me as to the power of blogs, defining the experience, and understanding the voice of a blog. It has consistently kept my attention and provided countless hours of entertainment. We are beyond thrilled to be working with the talented folks working on this project: Xeni (BB), Mark (BB), Jacob (DECA), Chris (DECA), Nihar (DECA), Jonathan (FM), Ivan (FM), Sam (FM), Bernie (FM), et al.

San Diego Chargers on CastfireNext up, the San Diego Chargers launched video content on Castfire, with players on the front page and on individual news sites. Our relationship with the Chargers began many, many months ago when Joel Price contacted us after seeing an interview I was in. We woked with Joel to get the property launched with new content and are beginning the process of adding in their entire catalog. In addition to the videos, we will be working with Joel to bring all of their audio podcasts onto the platform as well. This has a ton of sentimental value for me as I lived in Chula Vista, CA during elementary school. I have such a soft spot for anything San Diego and still love them Bolts! (Though, of course, I have no favorite teams in the NFL… ;)

And to finish out the hat trick, the Indianapolis Colts launched hours later, with a very comprehensive solution to handle audio, video, Colts Player Experienceplayers, playlists, thumbnails and ad rotation. In a weeks time, we added 500+ episodes of audio and video, designed multiple players, updated meta data, and set up all of the feeds. Working with AJ Macht of the Colts was fantastic — knowledgeable, quick and hard working. It was a great case study for us in launching a site with extensive archives, extensive customization, and high visibility.

Needless to say, we have extremely high expectations for the month of October! Best of all, we are no where close to done launching new, large properties this month. Our dev team (and more than a hat tip; a full on, to the ground bow) is firing on all cylinders and are amazing. As I’ve said before, it takes a team, and I am proud to be part of this one!