A thread on the techpodcasts google group and Todd Cochrane

[Donovan]

Hi Donovan,

This is my take on the situation as it currently exists in the Internet Broadcasting community. Andrew and Spencer put together the IAIB as a free to join community where all of us Internet Broadcasters (IB's) can discuss issues that we are having along with get a single voice to talk to vendors of hardware and software to educate them about our needs as IB's that need to be addressed. Things like changes to product roadmaps along with potentially reduced prices on hardware and software or demo/evaluation units.

I do have a feeling that there are going to be others that have concerns about the IAIB primarily because they may have wanted to create the IAIB themselves as a for profit organization and collect dues. I do understand that some people may have concerns but from everything I have seen so far of Andrew and Spencer they are both doing exactly what the industry needs now. Also, they are honest and trustworthy. As always, no one is forcing anyone to join up with the IAIB but I am sure that you will find that being involved with the community is much better than not.

I personally think that by creating this they have given us something very valuable. That was my concern with what Todd said. I was just curious what Andrew or Spencer had to say about it.

[mcphillips]

Well, membership in the IAIB comes with a money-back guarantee. If you don't like what the group does and what it stands for, request a refund. Oh, wait.

My guess is that Todd had a bad experience with a prior organization. He's just being cautious, which makes sense. It sounds like the IAIB is not a good match for him or his associates.

[erictimmer]

Let's face it Andrew is trying to take over the world. There is no denying he has an agenda. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. Those New York dudes can't be trusted. There are two many secrets and now enough answers. And don't get me started with that Spencer guy. He takes the cake! Put those two guys together and nothing but trouble came come from it. They are only in it for the money, I tell you! Get out while you still have your wallets....

I did it for the lulz ;-)

[andrewzarian]

Thanks Donovan for posting this! We’d like to address not only what you have posted here, but some of the inaccurate points that Todd and Angelo are making to their group.

First of all, we certainly apologize if Todd was somehow offended by the fact that we did not consult him prior to forming the IAIB, however, it is unclear to us why he would find it necessary for us to consult with anyone other than who we chose to consult with. Just to be clear, since our soft launch in March, we have consulted with several of the most well known and extremely powerful industry insiders and companies in the field who, by the way, have openly embraced the IAIB.

The IAIB was founded, in part, to act as the collective voice of this industry and as the only voluntary trade association in the field that does not and will not charge membership dues, it’s sometimes difficult for the status quo to fully comprehend our organizational model.

As far as Todd’s claim that we “spoke at BlogWorld on behalf of our members” it’s difficult to know exactly what he is referring to, however, the way in which he is presenting this to his Google group is quite curious and frankly very disappointing as it insinuates that whatever he is referencing can somehow negatively affect our membership, which with all due respect is ludicrous.

The below statement is also curious since it not only nonsensical but could never apply to our organizational model.
“I do not let other businesses speak on my business behalf, unless there are very strict guidelines and policies in place that prevent that group from causing my business harm. With no charter, and or policies in place by being a member anything they say or do, is fully attributable back to your show.”

It’s important to note that there is more than one way to run an organization, and perhaps Todd is right when he states that we should look more closely as to why ADM was unsuccessful. The IAIB is not interested in titles or charters. We like to consider our “board” as a collective consisting of the entirety of our membership.

The good news is that our organization is growing exponentially and as the comments made before this post indicate, there are many internet broadcast professionals who truly understand the importance and value of the IAIB.