Tech Trek is an experiment in the production and broadcast of a weekly online TV show, using small personal still cameras, no lights or special mics, spare time, and free online hosting and syndication.

We also wanted to share the work being done at ITP in a format that was accessible and understandable to those interested in the program.

The content of the show is interviews with ITP students and faculty, geared for a non-technical audience. The name Tech Trek describes the show's philosophy of humanizing our species journey with technology. The format chosen was the new 3-5 minute "video blog" style, using "old media" conventions such as a consistent introduction, release schedule, a host, and theme music.

Anh and Caleb (with Rucyl hosting and making intro/exit music) shot and edited several episodes. They learned about RSS syndication, episodic show production workflow, broadcasting in multiple locations, writing, tagging, logo/still branding, and video editing and compression.

The completed episodes document ITP projects, while achieving a surprisingly solid level of production considering the time and equipment used. The show will continue next semester.

Humanizing technology.

Anh had proposed launching an ITP tv show about ITP projects for those outside the program to understand us better.

Caleb was interning at blip.tv and editing their weekly show. He had come up with the name and philosophy of Tech Trek in 2001 and made one test episode, but broadcasting was not as accessible as it is today.

Caleb's interning at blip.tv afforded him ample opportunity to see what kind of new shows were flooding onto the Web and how to make the. Making and broadcasting blip.tv's weekly show also taught him how to use syndication and marketing from the inside.

Anh had taken Internet TV and was aware of the video out there being made by ITP students about their projects.

Rucyl has a background in performance and music production, and was happy to host and create the soundtrack.

Anyone with an internet connection who is interested in humane technology projects, Do It Yourself projects, ITP, and graduate school in general.

A user subscribes to the show and watches it weekly, occasionally sending in feedback, comments, and requests.

Mostly done, a few more episodes coming.

Marketing and branding a show is a lot of work. Editing weekly is even more.

Content is king. Video blogging changed some rules, but we all want to shoot in HD with expensive crews and equipment to get the best resolution of aduio and video. However, since we carry our still cameras with us, we were able to get content we could not get if we had to setup for each shoot.

RSS syndication is a mess, but getting easier for newbies. It is the future.

Uploading writing, tagging, logo/still branding, testing takes a lot of time.