A thread on the techpodcasts google group and Todd Cochrane

[Donovan]

There's a thread started over at the Techpodcasts Google Groups. I wanted to bring this to Andrew and Spencer's attention and maybe you guys can weigh in and let us know what Todd Cochrane with RawVoice means by what he said below:

"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.

They spoke at BlogWorld on behalf of their members, do you know what was said? I do...

Todd.."

[brianmonroe]

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.

[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.

[ctrlaltdeliver]

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.

And I appreciate your having consulted with me

Even though you obviously didn't, nor did you need to, I feel that my
input, suggestions, and/or questions have been met with a reciprocal
amount of respect from everyone that is a member and associated with
IAIB. As part of NetcastStudios, I have chosen to work with internet
broadcasters that have a sense of family and community. I have chosen
to become a member of IAIB for the exact same reason. I feel that this
organization does have the potential to become "the voice" of our
community and if, down the road, membership dues became something that
was discussed, I would not be opposed to paying them.

Thank you for all of your efforts on behalf of us small guys

Jim Meeker (@CTRLALTDELIVER)
http://www.netcaststudio.com/ctrl-alt-deliver/

--
Listen to the CTRLALTDELIVER Podcast at*http://netcaststudio.com/
www.ctrlaltdeliver.com
@ctrlaltdeliver on Twitter

[MyTakeRadio]

It is terribly unfortunate that some of internet radios "pioneers" have resorted to speaking ill of the IAIB behind closed forums instead of actively approaching and learning from their fellow peers. If their organization failed maybe it was because of timing or poor leadership. The IAIB is a welcome asset to internet broadcasting due to he wealth of information being exchanged and all for the cost of $0. Learning how to fine tune my on air product as well as sharing my info has been one of the tremendous benefits of being a member and it is something I am grateful for. Hearing that the IAIB spoke for its members is a silly thing to say considering I am a member and I spoke for my brand. On the contrary I touted being a member of the IAIB because it is something I believe in and I honestly would not stand behind a brand if I didn't believe in it. These guys should work on evolving the medium instead of tearing down those that are bringing a fresh approach to the table. I have met and broke bread with various members of the IAIB and feel honored to have my brand embraced and supported by this group. No one has or ever will speak for me and if they would have spoken up they would have seen that. Antiquated ideas from antiquated dudes!

[brianmonroe]

It is terribly unfortunate that some of internet radios "pioneers" have resorted to speaking ill of the IAIB behind closed forums instead of actively approaching and learning from their fellow peers. If their organization failed maybe it was because of timing or poor leadership. The IAIB is a welcome asset to internet broadcasting due to he wealth of information being exchanged and all for the cost of $0. Learning how to fine tune my on air product as well as sharing my info has been one of the tremendous benefits of being a member and it is something I am grateful for. Hearing that the IAIB spoke for its members is a silly thing to say considering I am a member and I spoke for my brand. On the contrary I touted being a member of the IAIB because it is something I believe in and I honestly would not stand behind a brand if I didn't believe in it. These guys should work on evolving the medium instead of tearing down those that are bringing a fresh approach to the table. I have met and broke bread with various members of the IAIB and feel honored to have my brand embraced and supported by this group. No one has or ever will speak for me and if they would have spoken up they would have seen that. Antiquated ideas from antiquated dudes!

Well said. I am really confused as to where this whole idea that the IAIB is currently speaking for it's members is coming from. I have not seen or heard Andrew or Spencer ever say "The IAIB says..." sort of thing.

The good thing about the IAIB is that members can assist one another and share ideas about Internet Broadcasting along with get help from fellow members that have a lot more experience than they do. Some members have decades of experience in the radio and broadcast industries and are not asking for any money at all to assist the new IB's with setting up hardware, software and websites. There is a LOT to know about if you want to do a good job and attract many listeners or viewers. There is so much to know and it is great to not have to feel like you are on your own when you run in to problems or are looking to expand or just want to optimize what you are doing. I know for a fact that many IB's can learn a lot from what works and what does not from those that have experience from the "old media" as many of the same issues still come up.

Now with Apple just releasing it's "podcasting" app for iOS it is going to get even more important that as more new listeners and viewers come online we show that the content and quality provided by IB's is just as good and in some cases better than what they are getting when they watch TV or listen to the radio. I do feel that more and more listeners and viewers are ready to start checking out the whole Interent Broadcasting. There are just way to many ads on TV and Radio along with being to many stations that when you subscribe to cable or satellite get bundled in that you never watch and you are forced to pay for.

[angelo]

I have to apologize, but this topic got way blown out of proportion both on my own twitter account and in the Tech Podcasts mailing list.

In the past there was a true trade association for our industry called the ADM (Association for Downloadable Media). The IAIB resembles nothing at all of an association like the ADM. The ADM was filed as a 501c non profit organization, it's actions were recorded and made public to comply with US and State laws. It had nearly all of the companies in the space as members, as well as thousands of independent podcasters. We had elections, all members were able to run for board and committee positions and all members were able to vote for those members running. There were annual/monthly meetings, both for the main board as well as for appointed committees. All meetings were held publicly, even non-ADM members were able to call into meetings. It was a true association in the sense. The organization followed the Robers Rules of Order, like all organizations are supposed to.

If you look on archive.org and read some of the last postings that were made to the ADM web site you can see why it fell apart. One person used the ADM to promote their own business agenda. Understanding the history of this Association for Downloadable Media you can see why we're both reserved about anything else being labeled as an "Association".

Since this association is not a 501c and does not have the structure of an organization ran by the Roberts Rules of Order, it's hard for a business burned in the past by the ADM to accept a privately owned Association as a better alternative. Even with the ADM being filed as a 501c, it was abused, so you have to look at this from our perspective in that how can someone trust an association that is not a public, transparent non-profit organization.

If this was an Association filed as a 501c (which we first thought it was because of the title), you better believe we would be extremely upset that no one reached out to us (RawVoice) to join. From our perspective, if someone was setting up a replacement for the ADM, everyone who was ADM members should have been invited to the new association. My impression now is this association was created without any past research or knowledge of the ADM.

As I see it now this is a community with a forum to help fellow broadcasters/podcasters. I don't see the IAIB trying to put out standards for HTML5 players, or download measurement standards, or pre-roll/post-roll advertising standards. The infrastructure (aka board and committees) for doing anything ambitious like that is just not here. I think as a forum for podcasters to get together this is great, and I and Todd don't have a problem with it.

I was wrong that having "Association" in the title meant that the entity has to be filed as a 501c and be an organization ran by Roberts Rules of Order. Anyone can create a company or business with the word "Association" in the title and it has no legal binding to whether or not it's an actual non-profit organization.