FORA.tv YouTube Channel Hits 13k Subscribers!

Yesterday our channel on YouTube surpassed 13,000 subscribers, growing steadily around 1,000 subscribers over the past few months. In fact, this time last year we were just shy of 4,000 subscribers! Congrats to our manager of syndication Nick Ryan for leading the charge, and helping to build a growing, engaged community of FORAns on YouTube.

If you’re not a fan, sub today and join the conversation:

http://youtube.com/foratv

Live Stream Event from the Open Society Institute

Yesterday FORA.tv streamed a live event from the Open Society Institute: Food Security and Climate Change, joining together the power of social media and online video.

The provocative discussion was moderated by Ross Gelbspan, author of two acclaimed books on climate change: Boiling Point and The Heat is On, with participation from Sara Scherr, president and CEO of Ecoagriculture Partners and journalist Mark Hertsgaard. Hundreds of online viewers joined a full-house in New York, commenting in realtime and submitting questions for discussion. Thanks to everyone who joined the conversation.

We'll have the program posted within a few days. In the meanwhile, stay tuned for upcoming FORA.tv Live Stream Events!

Our Fantastic Newsletter

Today we emailed our subscribers a newsletter entitled:
FORA.tv this week - Health, Wine, and Life in Outer Space.

As always, the community response has been terrific. Our Big Question: Beer or Wine? tickled many people's fancy. Undoubtedly the thought of drinking an ice-cold beer or sipping a glass of life-giving elixir is top of mind as the Fourth of July approaches.

If you haven't yet become a registered user then you're missing the fun. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and join our community. It will fuel your enlightenment and may even quench your thirst!

Searching for Video?

The fast-growing demand for online video long ago revealed a problem: Unlike text, searching video is very, very difficult. Simply finding the program you want can be a challenge, let alone finding a certain moment of a program.

At FORA.tv, we're constantly improving our search capabilities to keep you watching. We also get help from partners who are dedicated to make video search as easy as using Google. In an excellent New York Times Magazine article, Virginia Heffernan calls this quest finding an Image in a Haystack. She cites VideoSurf, as a young company whose image recognition technology may crack the code of not just finding a desired program, but that sought after moment within a program.

We're delighted to have added our programs to VideoSurf. Please visit the search site and let us know what you think.

We Love the Daily Beast

Love makes the world go 'round. We're tickled to write that The Daily Beast has listed us as one of their "Sites We Like," a shoutout carousel on bottom left of their homepage. And over the weekend, the Daily Beast featured the stand-out video of Michael Lewis, where he questions the logic of Obama's readiness to continue the pro-Wall Street policies of the Bush Administration. We're delighted to help feed the beast.

Wikipedia: Fora is the Latin Plural of Forum

Here's further proof that the world is thinking. We're thrilled to learn that our loyal fans have created an entry about FORA.tv on Wikipedia. Best of all, they tackled the one question that we often get: Why the name "fora?"

The name "fora" is the Latin plural of "forum", meaning

1. The public square or marketplace of an ancient Roman city
that was the assembly place for judicial activity and public
business.
2. A public meeting place for open discussion.
3. A medium for open discussion or voicing of ideas, such as
a newspaper, a radio or television program, or a website.

Apparently there was some buzz on Twitter during its creation, so a huge shout-out from all of us at FORA.tv to all of you who were involved in its production. Thank you!

Today in San Francisco: CMO Leadership Forum

Today FORA.tv is partnering with the Argyle Executive Forum as a media sponsor at the 2009 CMO Leadership Forum, here in our hometown of San Francisco.

The conference will focus on several critical areas of marketing including the power of social media, maximizing opportunities in a cluttered market space and marketing accountability. Presenting will be a diverse group of top executives like Bill Pearce of Del Monte Foods Company, Umberto Luchini of SKYY Spirits, and Suzie Reider of YouTube.

Our role: To videotape the conference and distribute the content to the FORA.tv site and throughout our network. By doing so, we present the programs to a larger audience than is physically present at the event. Smart people across the Web can enjoy, discuss, and share.

Be sure to check back in a few days when we've posted the programs.