Just a quick note to say thank you to all our amazing, innovative users and customers for making 2008 a great year for everyone here at Overlay.TV.  We have had many successes this year including:

• Beta launch in February
• Building an amazing team
• GA launch in September
• Our weekly show with Amber Mac, The OverView
• First customers including Nettwerk Records, Transcontinental Media, Hollywood Records, KidzBop and more.
• Launch of several custom players
• First API users
• Second round financing in December

We have been working hard on the next generation products for Overlay.TV and we plan on making 2009 a banner year for interactive video.  We will be speaking and showing our stuff at several tradeshows including:

• ITVT - TV of Tomorrow
• Shop Online 2009
• SXSW - big presence here for both the music and interactive 
• AdTech

So be sure to catch up with us here or there and find out what's in store for interactive video in '09.  Happy New Year and best wishes in 2009! 

2008 · 2009 · customers · Interactive Video · new year · Overlay.TV

The OverView, and Amber, comes to you this week from sunny Florida. In this episode: Rick Rolling the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Criterion Collection online, a lesson on how to "Elf Yourself," Overlay.TV and Kidzbop, and what's going on at Blip.TV. This will the last episode of the year, so look forward to more Amber and The OverView in 2009. Happy Holidays!

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If my memory serves me correctly, this time of year used to mean slowing down, long lunches to celebrate the year, and taking games into school. Well this has been one crazy great year at Overlay.TV, and as we approach the holidays we have no intention of slowing down!

All we seem to read about is how bad things are getting. Well let me re-iterate "things are what you make 'em." Over here we are seeing acceleration across all areas of our business, but there is one main area of change. Rather than chasing new dollars for campaigns and promotions, we are increasingly working to maximize the returns on the limited dollars that already exist.

Overlay.TV's business sits at the intersection of video, advertising and eCommerce, and I believe most people would agree that these are pretty large areas. Our second round a financing gives us the fire power to scale into our partnerships and form new one's along the way. Engagement metrics from initiatives like the Jonas Brothers Sing Along have been, quite frankly, off the charts, but more of that in the New Year.

So with that at the end of a great Q4, I want to say thank you to an amazing team, to investors that believe in us, and to you, the community that help us build a company. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

And thanks for all the great coverage we received today:

Overlay.tv raises $4.6m in backing

Overlay.TV gets boost to push overlay technology in video

Video Ad Provider Overlay.TV Raises $3.8 Million Second Round

Overlay.tv Gets Another $4.6 Million

Tech Capital doubles bets on Overlay.TV and PostRank

Overlay.TV closes 2nd round financing with $4.6 Million

Overlay.TV Closes Second Round Financing

Ottawa-based Overlay.tv closes 4.6 million in second round financing

Overlay.tv secures some more cash, second financing round nets $4.7M

Video Ad Provider Overlay.TV Raises $3.8 Million Second Round

Overlay.TV Secures $4.6 Million Funding

Overlay.TV scores second round of financing

Overlay.TV Lands $3.7 Million for Interactive Video Platform

· advertising · financing · Jonas Brothers · Overlay.TV · PR Release

We are pleased to announce today that Overlay.TV has secured a second round of financing for $4.6 million. This means that the gang here at Overlay.TV will be able to continue creating and developing cool new interactive tools for video, while still providing our users with a quality platform, as well as giving us the resources to expand into the premium content market. Thanks to our investors from Celtic House Venture Partners, Tech Capital Partners and EdgeStone Capital Partners. Read the full press release here.

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Contribution. Sharing. Interests. Passion. Talent

The new faces of social media are sharing their passion and talent in forums that make the seemingly impossible possible. How do you go beyond words to express your love of something? How do you connect your contributions to those from people in over 100 countries simultaneously? How do we obfuscate technology and deliver community experiences that create engagement levels never before seen and at the same time give people a reason to stay up late, practice their potential and ultimately share this with the world?

We do it by delivering an experience that resists the urge to describe itself, and instead offer a single point of entry and action (similar to the iPod 'wheel' or the Google Search button) that allows for a common and shared experience that is immediately accessible - in this case "Create Your Own".

I give you first exhibit A - the new faces of social media - and if you click on any one of them (below) you will see what they shared just minutes or hours ago at the Jonas Brothers Vocal Booth. Forget the technology for a minute and focus on what was going through the minds of these very passionate community members from all around the world as they sang along with their favorite boy band, crush in, and hearts out.

Consider a few things as you ponder this - this wall of faces represents a very small 1-2% of the actual tens of thousands of participants who engaged in the experience. Beyond the bravery to share their version of a song sung by their heroes with their heroes and thousands of fans who are tuning in to watch the versions (many visitors now watch as many as 20 or more of the videos) they also overcame network, technology, bandwidth and hardware issues that would daunt most of the leaders in this space that are more than twice the age of our contributors here. It is one thing to soapbox, but it is indeed quite another level of sharing to sing when you are up on it.

These days we too often focus on the why or the how and not the what of social media. And when we think about the who, it would be great to focus on who really benefits from all the work, theory, technology and effort that goes into building great experiences.

These are a few of the new faces of social media. As a parent we can be proud of our children safely sharing their talent and passion with the world at large, and in my very humbled opinion they are worthy of nothing less than a standing ovation of heartfelt applause for their considerable effort and passion.

(reposted from http://bitpakkit.com )

experiences · faces · Jonas Brothers · Overlay.TV · sing · social media · technology · Video · youth

This week on the The OverView: You Tube makes the leap into widescreen, Xbox teams up with Netflix, Bruce Lee enjoys a bit of ping-pong with his new Nokia phone, and Amber teaches us about aspect ratio. Remember that you can click on anything that Amber talks about if you would like to learn more.

The OverView

Yesterday I told you about our press release for The Jonas Brothers Overlay.TV Vocal Booth, and today we are front page news. The Ottawa Citizen ran a story today about our Vocal Booth, with a teaser right on the front page of the newspaper. You can find the article in the Business and Technology section of the print edition, or online in Ottawa Citizen's Entertainment section.

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Last week I gave you the inside scoop on our latest partnership with the Disney owned Hollywood Records, before it went live to the media and general public. Well, today the official press release has gone out to all media outlets announcing the wide release of The Jonas Brothers Overlay.TV Vocal Booth. In our limited run, The Jonas Brothers Overlay.TV Vocal Booth could only be accessed through the Jonas Brothers official website, but now fans can also access it through their official MySpace and Facebook pages. That means loads more fans singing their hearts to "Lovebug," and trying to get the those JB boys to notice them. And trust me when I say these fans are getting creative. Here's just a few examples of the lengths fans will go to, including camping out at an Apple Store to get access to a webcam and potentially the Jonas Brothers!

APPLE STORE FUNNNN

SIDNEY SUPERSTAR

ESTER MARIA I XENIA - SPAIN

 SPONTANEOUS POETRY WITH MAGGIE AND ELLEN

I AM A ROCKSTAR!!!

Disney · Hollywood Records · Jonas Brothers · Overlay.TV · Press Release · Sing-Along · Vocal Booth