JODY GNANT TO PARTICIPATE IN “PROMOTING MUSIC WITH PODCASTING” PANEL AT PODCAMP NYC

Independent musician and lifecaster Jody Gnant, who has been broadcasting her life 24/7 on the Internet at www.jodygnant.com since July of last year, has been confirmed as a panelist at Podcamp NYC, to be held Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26, at Brooklyn Polytechnic University.

Podcamp NYC, billed as “an ‘unconference’ focused on educating participants on how to use, implement and share any/all new media tools including, podcasts, videocasts, blogs, Second Life, Facebook, and YouTube,” is free to attend, and a perfect match for Jody, who’s built a broad fan base on the Internet and is at the forefront of a group of indie musicians who are using social networking to further their music careers.

“The cool thing about Podcamp is that it encourages the sharing of information among individuals,” Jody says. “There is no ‘competition.’ We’re all braving Cyberspace together, and we know it.”

Jody had already planned to attend Podcamp on behalf of one her sponsors, Web site www.moguling.com, when she was asked to join the “Promoting Music with Podcasting” panel. She sees this opportunity as a way to conitnue building a bridge between music and technology. “The tech industry is a lot like the music industry,” she says. “We’re all rock stars at heart – and the Internet is the open road. It’s really quite the same thing, perhaps without all the drugs.”

Jody will join a panel that includes cyber-publicist Ariel Hyatt of Podsafe Digital Music Campaigns, Dan Herman of freeform Internet radio station Radio Crystal Blue, and Well-Rounded Radio host/producer Charles McEnerney. Jody plans to discuss, among other things, how musicians can utilize the Internet and various social media outlets to bring their music to an audience, as well as how to market and sustain themselves without the aid of a traditional record label. “Anything is possible now for an independent artist,” Jody says. “The Internet and new technologies have removed all of the boundaries that previously existed, and an artist’s success in today’s climate is directly tied to their willingness to embrace New Media.”

The “Promoting Music with Podcasting” panel is scheduled to take place on Friday, April 25, at 2 p.m.  For additional details on Podcamp NYC, visit www.podcampnyc.org.

Jody Gnant Jumps on Ice Cube’s Internet Channel and Sweeps a Casting Call Contest in 24 Hours

In a swift cyberspace coup, independent singer-songwriter, lifecaster, and “Bohemian Geek Soul” artist Jody Gnant corralled hundreds of voters and earned more than 1,500 star ratings for her photo in the last 24 hours of a casting call contest on rapper Ice Cube’s new social networking and video site, UVNTV (www.uvntv.com).

The Web site, which Ice Cube recently launched with his longtime collaborator, DJ Pooh, utilizes Microsoft’s new Silverlight technology to deliver media in real-time, and is being touted as “the world’s first real-time, online television network.” Channels include Snoop Dogg’s Snoopadelic TV and Ice Cube’s Hip-Hop 24/7 TV. UVNTV’s channels incorporate Dolby surround sound and DVD-quality resolution for live streaming video. The site also serves as a broadband social network for fans and burgeoning artists – members join for free and can post profiles, share ideas, and audition for shows.

It was the “Hollywood audition” casting call contest that first brought Jody Gnant’s attention to the site. Contestants were to submit head shots, and winners would be selected by the number of Internet votes they received. Jody clicked on a news link, saw the Web site and contest, and signed up on March 31 — the day before the Casting Call contest ended. Jody has been broadcasting her life 24/7, live on the Internet at www.jodygnant.com, since July 31, 2007. She’d built a broad fan base and social network during that time, and felt she could win the contest in a day. “I said to myself, ‘The person in the lead only has 150 votes. I can get that in one day from the visitors on the stream.’ It was the first real time we put the group we affectionately call, ‘The Legion’ to work on a specific all-or-nothing-project,” Jody says. ” But it was awesome.”

She quickly launched “Operation Cluster Vote” with her fans, campaigning for votes on her live stream at Ustream.com, on MySpace, Twitter, and any other means necessary by a quickly-assembled “virtual street team.” And it worked, garnering her enough votes to win the Casting Call contest – which had been going on for months – in one day.

It also grabbed the attention of UVNTV, who were baffled at the staggering number of votes she got so quickly, and asked her to explain her methods. “I’ve gained a ton of insight into virtual media, social networking and monetization over the last eight months of lifecasting — and I’ve been living and breathing the music business since I was a kid,” Jody says.

Once they realized how Jody had brought so many votes to UVNTV, the founders were excited. “[We're] glad that there are people who get sticky viral Internet marketing and use it to make accomplishments,” DJ Pooh says.

Jody’s excited at the prospects of working with UVNTV as well, and continuing to demonstrate her belief that “none of us are as powerful as all of us.”

“The Legion definitely won this contest. I could not have won it alone. When people ask me, ‘How is your life different because of the lifecast?’, I have a tangible example now,” Jody says. “This is an example of how all of us, together, made a difference in something.”

Visit Jody Gnant’s profile at UVNTV after registering for free, full access to the site at http://www.uvntv.com/join/jodygnant.

My Super Fantastic D.C. Trip

So I’m here in Washington D.C. because my friend Rana convinced me it would be a good idea to take a spontaneous vacation, and guess what?

SHE WAS RIGHT!!!

We hung out tonight, and I learned that her parents have a pet monkey.  That’s it.  That’s all I needed to see/do/hear and it would have been a complete trip.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!!!

And if I act NOW, I might even be able to meet up with Matthew Lesko, and other folks from UStream.tv while I’m here…

I’ll keep you posted.

{{{hugs}}}

Ice Cube and DJ Pooh Are Starting an Entertainment Network:

Ice Cube and DJ Pooh have launched UVNTV, a broadband TV and social networking site where artists and brands can create their own channel and subscribers can create profiles and chat with one another.

Artists get detailed information on their users and can sell advertisements, merchandise, downloads or even subscriptions to their channel.

The website is still in beta, with a full launch expected in January of 2009.

ZOMG – Elephant paints self portrait.

I have now officially seen everything.

It would be really easy to slip into a monologue and pontificate here about the conciousness, thoughts and feelings of other living beings on this planet, but the video really speaks for itself.

Have a great day (to all species)!

YAY – We made television news!!!

Kathryn Garcia over at ABC 15 did a really cool story about the lifecast.
Thanks sister!  It was great meeting you! 

Click here to see the broadcast:

There also a shorter text-based version on ABC 15’s website here.

Thanks a lot to everyone over at ABC 15!