Globalspeak: Visibility creates results

For decades, Globalspeak executives delivered Addy award winning marketing services including traditional print and television ad campaigns.  Other specialties included business newspaper and magazine publishing focused on economic development, including the Economos Journal and GeoVoca – both targeted to stimulating international business for Georgia companies.  The advent of the Internet was inspiring and pioneering territory, especially when video was introduced on the Net in the mid to late 90s.  Globalspeak President Frank Baia became a founding officer of one of the first national streaming media alliances and began a new direction of applying marketing expertise and the ability of producing audience-pleasing content to video communication on the Internet.  In 1998, Globalspeak participated in its first video-on-the-Internet project, a U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) Commercial Service (CS) event entitled “Mexico and Canada: Friendly Neighbors” that was actually a satellite broadcast feed from an Atlanta public television studio to a dozen or so downlink points across the U.S.

Small and mid sized local business representatives had been invited to view the satellite downlink by local CS offices. Globalspeak President Frank Baia suggested that the government agency let Globalspeak simultaneously live “webcast” the training event to show the efficiencies and cost savings of video on the Internet rather than using satellite transmissions in the future.  It was a first for both organizations but the experiment could have a big impact for each – a new effective communication product for marketing agency Globalspeak and a broader communication platform for the CS mission of stimulating exporting through training and matchmaking.

Remember the 1998 Internet?  Hardly any small or mid-sized businesses had access to “high speed” Internet access, and low bandwidth connections meant postage sized videos on a Web site page.  But, the “reach” was phenomenal, considering the CS might hold a training event in one location, attended by only 50 people, that could be taped and webcast out to thousands and thousands of business people.

The test Webcast was a huge success, leading to a long series of specially-produced Commercial Service online video productions for several years.  Globalspeak received a letter of gratitude from then-Secretary of Commerce William Daley and was featured on the DOC 100th year anniversary celebration Wall of Fame in the Commerce building, cited as producers of the agency’s first Webcast.

As a pioneer, globalspeak continued to stimulate new uses of Internet visual technologies.  For example, a Virtual Trade Mission between Nigeria and Georgia-based companies, connected via satellite technology, was captured for on-demand streaming on the Internet to help new-to-exporting businesses understand the processes of trade missions.  Globalspeak also developed interactive video viewing platforms, believing that the combination of video and text enrichment such as documents, tests, brochures, and more create a richer experience for the viewer.  

A sampling of Globalspeak video-based projects include
•    Designed and programmed the Commercial Service interactive viewing window and produced feature length Internet distribution videos, from foreign market coverage on locations such as China to industry export opportunities, for a number of years in the professional Atlanta studio using CS experts from around the world
•    Produced shorter on-demand CS Market Briefs for many years and created a video affiliate network for syndicated distribution where globalspeak maintained updated video-filled Web pages that looked like the affiliate’s site -- syndication long before RSS was “invented.”  
•    Created the Export Basics video training interactive viewing window containing downloadable training session handouts, auto scoring tests, enrichment documents such as success stories, links to topic related Web sites, a discussion forum and more in 2001 and produced, in studio, the sixteen 15 minute export training videos for on-demand viewing.  
•    Streamed World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial video live on the Internet and produced live online radio updates from the meeting floor
•    Produced Virtual Venture Forums for states such as Arkansas and cities such as Chattanooga that featured password protected company video presentations with business plans and contact information, promoted to venture capitalists around the U.S.
•    Developed custom online interactive video platforms for organizations such as the Tennessee Valley (technology) Corridor for their three day Washington, D.C. Summit, then produced the online on-demand event with video of 39 speakers for 8 full hours total, along with complete interactive text enrichment for viewing 24/7 for six months.
•    Transformed the online Web presence of non-profits such as Advanced Transportation Technology Institute and companies such as Suplaris into interactive video marketing portals
•    Developed the video TAGtvOnline channel for the Technology Association of Georgia in 2005, continuing production of video (and radio) content, today, for the channel  
•    Produced marketing, promotional or training videos and online events for organizations such as Ex-Im Bank of the United States, the World Services Congress, Cordell Hull Institute and companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Jabian Consulting, Buyers Engineering Company
•    Recently developed and produced online Virtual Road Shows for the tourism industry, with the French government currently promoting a series of country regions to U.S. travel agents, first in a live online conference room with video presentations and a live Q&A with experts on Web cams in France, all recorded for travel agent on-demand viewing for six months in the registration only viewing platform

Along with pioneering video streaming and viewing platforms on the Internet, Atlanta, GA-based Globalspeak has been an early implementer of collaborative, social, and cloud computing type applications.  Globalspeak developed a business and personal data base application in 2000, a cross between today’s LinkedIn and Facebook, for the Trans Atlantic Small Business Association where business people around the world could find, communicate and do business with each other based upon similar interests.  And, comparable to today’s cloud computing, in 2004, Globalspeak developed a collaborative online repository for all types of project documents, white papers, videos, forums and more needing to be shared and updated by Federal Transportation Agency experts across the U.S. working on a single project.  

What is Globalspeak visioning today?  Contact President Frank Baia at 770.992.7929 and find out!