Tremor Media is a video advertising company targeting mid- to large- size publishers. We recently reported on their Series B funding round, where they raised $11 million to help accelerate the growth of the business.  Jason Glickman, CEO at Tremor, came on by Mashable Conversations to talk about the challenges of video advertising. We also delved pretty heavily into the topic of what it takes to build a successful programming lineup both on the technical side as well as the organizational and program direction side to create something that'll be both attractive to listeners and a commercial success.

Publishers and those in advertising will want to catch this episode, as there is a lot of good information there.

I had a chance to sit down with the co-founders of crowdSPRING, Ross Kimbarovsky and Mike Sampson the other day, just shortly after they were featured as our sponsored startup of the day.

What crowdSPRING is, is a virtual marketplace to find the creative talents to fulfill just about any sort of digital endeavor one can conceive. With it's ancestral roots in sites like GetAFreelancer and eLance, it tries to take the concept much further by presenting an even playing field where work product is judged on it's merits, rather than a resume or CV.

It sounds like a simple concept to execute, but in terms of what's involved with creating an online economy like this, anyone who's tried to use these types of sites before knows that it can get mighty complex very quick.  Ross, Mike and I all talked about these challenges and the extreme amount of thought, testing and care they've put into trying to make this the most fair place to find, perform and hire creative work.

This has been an interesting several days in the lifestreaming space. Just about every day, there's been an interesting take, opinion, or newly debuted feature for one of the major lifestreaming services. Yesterday, it was the long awaited first answer to comment fragmentation. Today it is the major announcement of the FriendFeed API, a debut that's being widely hailed by just about every blogger as the best thing since Oprah Winfrey.

I have to say, for all the attention and hyperbole that is likely to be heaped onto to this release, I'll say here that most of it is likely to be justified. FriendFeed is positioned to have it's Facebook Dev Platform/Twitter moment here. And like we discussed the other day (and briefly mentioned earlier today), with the Twitter update, the conversation fragmentation issue had begun to be solved. With the API release, that problem is completely fixed.

Under the API, very handy feed widgets like what RSSMeme released the other day that counted all the Google Reader shares of a blog post, FriendFeed comment counts and even feeds of the conversation can theoretically be embedded within blog posts, and created as additions to the normal cavalcade of feeds available from your typical blog.

Last week two of the four FriendFeed founders, Paul Buchheit and Bret Taylor stopped by Mashable Conversations and talked about the launch of search for the service, as well as a bit about the API and conversation fragmentation memes that have been running around as well.

JamBase, the original social network for live music aficionados and producers, recently celebrated 10 years on the web and 1 million listings in their database.  The function of JamBase hasn't legitimately changed in those ten years, but what we tech folks call it and the new sites we pressure them to be interoperable with have.  Back when JamBase was first starting, we called them community portals.  These days, they're social networks.  

And of course, back then, I was a highschooler promoting punk rock shows in the East Texas area.  These days I'm a tech blogger reminiscing about the good old days.  I did a bit of that when JamBase CEO David Rosenheim stopped by Mashable Conversations to talk about his company.

It was a great conversation and we touched on all the interesting interactions we'd both had with indy music in the past (he had a touring rock band as well), as well as the future (how a Rock of Gibralter website like his maintains it's relevance in the rapidly changing landscape of social media).

You can safely ignore this listing.

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-875b8d7df658aab5b3b84ae25ed4ee1d}

A few days ago, John McCrea, the Veep at Plaxo in charge of marketing stopped by to do a live interview yesterday. The occasion that brought him by Mashable Conversations was the announcement of the results of the concepts of open and DataPortability when applied to a social network.  The graphs he supplied us with prior to the interview and announcement were simply amazing. 

 

Stan did a bit of commentary himself on the topic, but John McCrea and I go into great detail on the motivations and specific details of these philosophies as they've been applied to his company.

The Kidzui Browser is a software download recently released, targeted for kids age 6 to 11.  Rather than to a stodgy review based on my rather adult perspective, I sat down with my six year old son, AJ, and had him play with the browser for an hour and give his thoughts and experiences on it.

I recently had an opportunity to talk about quite an interesting Web 2.0 Cinderella story in published author Scott Sigler. Scott helped pioneer the New Media version of audiobooks (a concept I learned is now called "podiobooks"). Frustrated with traditional methods of attempting to take a novel from concept to mainstream publishing, he went the rout of turning his manuscript into a fusion of the audiobook and the podcast.

The story netted him so much support of his fiction work that he was able to land a publishing deal with Crown Publishing, and have his book reach the masses.

We chatted a bit about his journey, the techniques he used to get his books from concept to publishing, and the strategies that worked in terms of promoting his unique brand in the social media landscape. After all of that, we also got a chance to even talk a bit about his book, the plot, the concept, and some of the inspirations.

This is one of the more fun-themed (that is, less business-centric) podcasts we've done in a while, and definitely worth the listen, and thanks to the generosity of our sponsor, Audible, you can get a audio copy of Scott Sigler's book for free (just follow the link for details).

One of the last remaining 'dead-spots' in our Western, technology-enhanced lives is the airplane. Scheduling our travel schedules for distances that exceed that which is comfortable to drive have to account for a day capping the beginning and end of the trip for a blackout time, when you're basically off the grid - few phone calls, spotty Internet connections, and little connection to the outside world.

That is soon to change, as AirCell's SVP Tom Weigman explained to me this week. They're announcing that later this year, their inflight broadband services will be in place in American Airlines and Virgin America flights nation-wide, ending the communications blackout that is air travel.

We sat down on the Mashable Conversations podcast to talk a bit about the impact this will have, the specifics of what it'll cost, and for the truly interested, even a bit of the mechanics of how it works.

Casual gaming is a big growth area, especially in the social media and mobile media realms. AirPlay is on the absolute leading edge of that growth area, capitalizing on trends in pop culture and sports fandom by tying together your mobile phone or computing device with your television viewing experience - an unconventional but truly genius method of convergence.

Morgan Guenther is the CEO of AirPlay and the former President of TiVo. He took the time last week to stop by Mashable Conversations and talk about what his company is doing to create a truly interactive television viewing experience without rolling out expensive set-top boxes, or creating a new platform to go on the mountain of devices you already have hooked into your home entertainment system.

While I had him on the horn, I also took a minute to get his thoughts on the other side of convergence, that of Internet video programming and the set-top DVR/PVR boxes most of us currently have in our living rooms. As the former President of TiVo, he was able to provide some really unique insight to the conversation.

David Glazer over at Google's OpenSocial initiative sat down with Senior Editor Adam Ostrow and I to discuss the upcoming launch of OpenSocial's version .7.

Google just revived their wiki acquisition JotSpot as Google Sites.  PBWiki is the current leader in the Wiki space, now , and Chris Yeh, an executive at PBWiki graciously decided to join us today on Mashable Conversations to discuss the offering.

The lovely and talented Ann Bernard has an interesting story to tell about her startup.  Sometimes when you simply read descriptions of Yet Another Social Network, you think "Do I need this?"  If you fit the always moving or traveling niche, chances are, you do! Definitely a good conversation.

VideoEgg CMO Troy Young returns to Mashable Conversations to talk a bit about their new foray into engagement based advertising, AdFrames.

Rob Walch, the VP of Podcaster Relations at Wizzard Media and the longtime host of Podcast 411, stopped by Mashable Conversations to talk podcasting - it's past, it's future, and the reality.

Metacafe recently made headlines from some changes to their producer rewards program.  Michelle Cox, the director of corporate communications over at Metacafe stopped by Mashable Conversations to talk a little about that and the future of online video as a business.

Mark Pincus of Zynga, the Facebook gaming network, had a hole in his schedule as he and his wife made their way back home from their Aunt Mildred's home late last week.  The first thing that came to mind was 'I gotta get on Mashable Conversations.' We talked a bit about his funding, their buyout strategy, and new offers they have for FB app developers.

ReFrameIt was inspired by the scrawlings of thought leaders in the margins of the greats.  Bobby saw their scrawlings and the value it added to the original text, and wondered how a 5000 year old medium could have a still superiority over the most interactive medium invented ever, the Internet.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Alex Quilici, CEO of free voicemail provider YouMail.  It never occurred to me how lucrative a business providing that type of a service could be, nor what an effective form of advertising text messaging could be.  Sit in on this conversation for some valuable nuggets.

Rosenbaum's Magnifry is an interesting service, one that as we talked, we found we could easily analogize to the rise of link blogging. With the glut of user generated content on the net (as well as a good deal of professional grade content), the need arises for more program directors and less content producers.

I had an opportunity to speak to Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas, particularly well noted recently for writing, recording and producing the viral video chart hit "Yes We Can."  The video features Barrack Obama's speech after winning the South Carolina Primary, a speech so moving that it literally inspired Will to song.

Michael Bayer returns to Mashable Conversations to chat a bit about their recent upgrade, Super Tuesday, improvements in podcasting, and Microhoo.

MG Siegler, Louis Gray, Frederic and Steven Hodson launched a new Reddit spinoff, and MG stopped by Mashable Conversations a bit to talk about the test case for Dave Winer's proposal.

Greg met up with us at one of the NYC MashMeets, and after we got to know him, we knew we had to snag him for a session with Mashable Conversations to talk about the nature of satire, and why it is more trusted than 'real news.'

Mark Effron is in one of the businesses I'm a fan of - converting Old Media institutions into New Media powerhouses.  We sat down to have a short conversation that went real long as we couldn't stop exploring the nuances of turning Old TV into New.

It isn't often that you run into a Web 2.0 startup that has all its vowels.  It isn't often that you run into a startup that is so simple, yet so versatile.  Check it out, very interesting conversation on this useful utility.

There's been a lot going on with DataPortability, and a fair amount of questions regarding where it's headed, and if it is more than hype.  I sat down with one of the brains behind the big idea of DataPortability, Chris Saad, and address the question: "Where's the beef?"

VideoEgg announced some major partnerships with imeem, Buzznet and Metacafe.  Mark took that opportunity to talk with Troy Young, CMO for VideoEgg, and get his perspective on the video advertising market, American recession, and the effect of one on the other.

Greg Brady sat down with Mark of Mashable to discuss the launch of his blog, problems with SoundExchange, the beauty of the blogosphere conversation and social media in general.

Andrew Mason of thePoint.com and I talk politics and social action using this unique and invaluable Web 2.0 tool.

UStream recently received their angel financing round. Brad Hunstable, founder of UStream, took a minute to sit down and discuss the state of the business and what the future holds.

Technorati's launch of the percolator has made a splash today in the blogging world.  Aaron Krane took a minute to discuss the new space of memetrackers that Technorati is now competing in.