What is the GigaVox Media network?

Every day scores of educational, inspirational and entertaining conference sessions, lectures and other spoken-word presentations are lost. They simply evaporate because no one records them. Some of these presentations are by the greatest and most inspiring minds of our time, and many would be important to people in the far reaches of the planet, if only they could hear them.

The GigaVox Media network captures presentations, processes the recordings, and publishes them online for free under Creative Commons licenses. Our magazine-style network of channels is based on the already successful IT Conversations model.

How does the GigaVox Media network cover events?

Within the scope and topics of our channels, the GigaVox Media network accepts high-quality recordings of spoken-word events, handles all post-production chores, and publishes the presentations as MP3 files (podcasts) for free downloading and streaming by the public.

Will the GigaVox Media network record our event?

No, that is your responsibility. Most events are recorded by the same audio-visual contractor that provides the live public-address services. Make sure you read our Audio Submission Guidelines and please ask your contractor to read them as well.

How much will it cost us?

Your costs are minimal; you are responsible for the cost of professionally recording your event. The GigaVox Media network takes care of the costs of editing, post-production, hosting and content delivery as well as our QuickCast^TM service if it is appropriate for your event.

How much do GigaVox Media network listeners pay?

Nothing. GigaVox Media network content is free to all visitors. (For some events we make all the sessions available immediately via our QuickCast^TM service for which there is a convenience fee.)

How many listeners will hear our programs?

It varies greatly, but our rule of thumb is to expect 100x as many listeners as you have attendees at your in-person event. For example, if 400 people attend your event, you might have 40,000 unique individuals listen to the audio from that event. The most popular programs on IT Conversations, our flagship channel, have been downloaded more than 200,000 times. The average is approximately 25,000 downloads per program on that channel. Yes, the in-person attendance represents only 1% of the total number of people you will ultimately influence.

But we could sell our recordings. Why should we work with GigaVox Media?

If generating revenue from the sale of your event audio is a goal, we offer our QuickCast^TM service as a compliment to our traditional release schedule. However, let's look at the big picture: what will your net income be from the sale of recordings after you cover your expenses? Maybe a few thousand dollars? Maybe far less? Compare that to the benefits of extending your audience by perhaps 100x at no additional cost once you've recorded your event. And consider the value of having the best sessions from your event available online when it comes time to ramp-up registrations for next-year's event. That is why event producers keep coming back to us year after year.

Won't free audio discourage attendance and cannibalize registrations?

This is the question we're asked more often than any other. The answer is No, and here are the reasons why:

• Timed release. We typically publish the audio from events at the rate of one program per week. If an event includes 25 sessions, for example, it will be released over a six-month period.
• Non-overlapping audiences. Cast yourself in the role of a prospective attendee. Can you imagine having enough interest to pay the registration fee and perhaps the travel and hotel expenses, but instead say, "You know, I could just wait to get the audio over the next six months." It's been our experience that the sets of people in each audience (attendees and listeners) have very little overlap.
• We don't publish everything. We typically only publish the single-track sessions of an event, not the overlapping breakouts. This increases the differentiation between the live-attendance and stay-at-home experiences.
• Audio encourages future attendance. Every time we publish an event, we get comments from listeners who tell us it convinced them to attend the conference next year.

Is our relationship with the GigaVox Media network exclusive?

Yes. Our mission is to publish the best events available and to offer the audio from those events to the largest possible audience. Focus is important and if you're going to post your recordings elsewhere that will simply dilute our ability to attract the largest possible audience for your current and future events. You must agree not to publish competitive on-demand audio of the sessions covered by GigaVox Media, and not to allow any third party to do so.

Do we have to sign a contract?

Yes, we have a standard agreement that is available upon request. We continuously update the contract to meet the needs of a wide range of events.

How much will we have to do?

Very little. Once we have an agreement in place, we'll need you to put us in touch with your event-planning staff, your webmaster (to cross-promote our web sites), and your audio/visual contractor. Our producers will take care of everything else.

What rights does the GigaVox Media network have to the recordings?

Since you make the recordings, you own them. Because we invest a great deal in post-production, GigaVox Media owns the rights to the derivative versions we create.

Will the GigaVox Media network publish our entire event?

We only publish programs that are educational, inspirational and entertaining. We also have exacting broadcast-quality standards for audio. One way our engineers and producers maintain our high standards of quality is by rejecting any session that doesn't make the grade. Don't be surprised, therefore, if not all of your event's presentations appear on our network. Any sessions we choose not to publish are exempt from our requirement for exclusivity, so you're free to publish them elsewhere.

What about permissions from our speakers?

Chances are your existing releases already cover publishing audio on the Internet, but if not we can provide the one-page agreement you will need.

What do listeners think of GigaVox Media?

Just take a look at some of the unsolicited awards, reviews and testimonials we've received.

Who should I contact?

Here is our contact info.