Brooklyn International Film Festival : Roger Smith Shorts AFTER PARTY

Posted on 07. Jun, 2010 by AdamWallace in Events, Hotel

This Thursday at 8pm BIFF is hosting The Roger Smith Shorts 2010 screening.

THIS IS THE AFTER PARTY!

PLEASE JOIN US from Panman Productions:

John Knowles
Melissa Gonzalez
John Birdsong
Aleks Degtyarev
Abianne Prince

along w/

The Roger Smith Film Crew

Public Assembly Loft
http://www.publicassemblynyc.com/about.html

70 N. 6th St.
between Berry and White
Williamsburg BK

MUSIC by DJ AK!

http://ak-dj.com/?page_id=1585
http://www.facebook.com/#!/djakfanpage?ref=ts

The SCREENING will be held on Thursday June 10th, 8PM @ indieScreen in Brooklyn.

ABOUT THE BIFF AND ROGER SMITH SHORTS:

Brooklyn International Film Festival is hosting “Roger Smith Shorts 2010″, an annual film festival workshop featuring 6 directors / 6 world premieres… all shot in one hotel.

The Roger Smith Shorts Series started in 2009 as a short film festival / workshop and was designed to facilitate film making opportunities for up and coming directors. The Roger Smith Hotel has become the backdrop for filmmakers as they put their creative talents to the test. The 2010 Roger Smith Short Directors are John Knowles, John Birdsong, Aleks Degtyarev, Melissa Gonzalez and Abianne Prince. Find out more about Roger Smith Shorts at: WordPress or at Vimeo Group.

http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/events/roger_smith.asp

Check out the trailers of all the Roger Smith Shorts on the BIFF website, Panman Productions, and Look Listen Play :

http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/events/roger_smith.asp
http://panmanproductions.com/roger-smith-shorts-festival-workshop/
http://www.looklistenplay.com/rogersmith

About Panman Productions:
http://panmanproductions.com/about/

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Roger Smith Shorts – the story…

Posted on 21. May, 2010 by Editor in Arts, Events, Hotel

The Roger Smith Shorts Series started in 2009 as a short film festival / workshop and was designed to facilitate filmmaking opportunities for up and coming directors. The Roger Smith Hotel has become the backdrop for filmmakers as they put their creative talents to the test. The 2010 Roger Smith Short Directors are John Knowles, John Birdsong, Aleks Degtyarev, Melissa Gonzalez and Abianne Prince.

Title: CHECK MATE
Directed by: Abianne Prince
Written by: Robyn Day
Running Time: 3min 30 seconds
Premiere Status: World Premiere

Cast: Robyn Day, Lars Gerhard
Crew: Screenplay by: Robyn Day & Abianne Prince – Executive Producer: John Knowles – Producers: Abianne Prince – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Director of Photography: John Birdsong – Lighting Design: Pete Eilenberg – Sound Director: Pete Eilenberg – Editor: Abianne Prince
Email – abiprince@gmail.com
Website: www.rogersmithsshorts-myshorts.tumblr.com/
Synopsis:
This short experimental film explores one woman’s active imagination and how it keeps her mate in check.

About the Director When Abi was 6 years old her Uncle Bob told her that life wasn’t worth living if she didn’t find a passion and follow it no matter what. Once Abi discovered photography and filmmaking she realized that she had found her vocation. As a Producer, Director, Editor & Director of Photography, Abi has seen all sides of filmmaking. Her experience spans from live television production to commercials, documentaries and webisodes. Her passion is storytelling.

Abianne started her professional career at Plum TV as a “preditor” (producer/director/editor) and continued to practice all the tricks of the trade with Panman Productions in New York City. Her recent endeavors also include working with the art news website RogerSmithLife.com, as well as projects with Voluntary Instinct Productions. V.I. is a non-profit media company, whose purpose is to enhance public awareness of under-represented social and environmental issues. When not making films, she enjoys swimming in the ocean, lost causes and painting.

Film Title: THE COUNTERPANE FAIRY
Director: John Knowles
Running Time: 15 minutes
Premiere Status: World Premiere

Cast: Justin Hall, Lauren Frances, Aleks Degtyarev, Betsy Holt, Craig Russell , John Knowles, Phoebe Knowles
Crew: Assistant Director: Melissa Gonzalez – Directors of Photography: Adam Wallace and Abianne Prince – Editor: John Knowles – Line Producer: Cedric Youngleman – Special Effects Supervisor: Aleks Degtyrev – Sound: Aleks Degtyarev – Set Design: Peter Eilenberg – Light Design: Peter Eilenberg – Assistant Set Design: Lucinda Lin -Production Assistant: Rex Leung – Costume design /Hair and Makeup: Joel Yapching – Hair: Katie Arbore – Makeup: Denise Mojica – Wardrobe: Veronica Zhou
Email: jknowles@panmanproductions.com
Website: www.thecounterpanefairy.tumblr.com
Synopsis:
Teddy (played by Justin Hall), an 11 year old boy left alone in a hotel, decides to wander after his parents go out for the evening. In an empty penthouse he encounters The Counterpane Fairy (Lauren Frances) who takes him on a storybook adventure. He is put to the heroic task of saving an enchanted princess while freeing her from a spell that has been cast on her by a little gray spider (Aleks Degtyarev).
In the real world, the adults around him are constantly trying to box him into a conformed norm. His adventure reminds us that a child’s imagination is pure. The Counterpane Fairy is a modern day fairy tale that takes place at the Roger Smith Hotel.
The story of the Counterpane Fairy is an adaptation from the “The Counterpane Fairy” by Katherine Pyle.
About the Director
John Knowles is the CEO of Panman Productions, an interactive production company based out of New York City that focuses on live broadcasting, film, fashion, art and social media. Panman Productions consists of a five member team that operates collectively with the understanding that ours is a company where “All of your dreams come true.”
After being introduced to Live production at Plum TV, John worked to adapt the Live production model to his endeavors online. In the last several years, John has worked in collaboration with the Roger Smith Hotel on a number of projects. He helped to create and build the Roger Smith Social Media program and was the executive producer of the 2009 Roger Smith Shorts Film Festival which generated six original short films.

Title: THE END
Director by: John Knowles & Melissa Gonzalez
Running Time: 10 minutes
Premiere Status: World Premiere

The End Trailer from Panman Productions on Vimeo.

Cast: Starring: Melissa Gonzalez, Jerome Richards & David Henry Gerson
Crew: Screenplay by: Melissa Gonzalez & Michael G. Richards – Executive Producer: John Knowles -Producers: Melissa Gonzalez & Abianne Prince – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Assistant Director: Lucinda Lin – Director of Photography: Aleks Degtyarev – Lighting Design: John Birdsong – Sound Director: Pete Eilenberg - Editor: John Knowles – Costume Design: Veronica Zhou – Production Assistant: Rex Leung – Makeup: Denise Mojica – Hair: Katie Arbore
Email: Melissa Gonzalez, Lion ‘esque Productions mg@lionesqueproductions.com
Website: www.theendfilmblog.tumblr.com
Synopsis:
In the mid 1940s Sam Clarke fell madly in love with a young woman named Clare Hayes. It was WWII in Europe, a time of heightened emotion and adventure. Their time together lived in his heart forever and inspired the project of his lifetime. With hope and doubt, he hires actress Alex Keyes to assist in his endeavor.
Will Alex be able to embody the woman who stole Sam’s heart half a century ago? “The End” is a screenplay adaptation of the novel “A Century of Dust” by Michael G. Richards.
About the Director Melissa Gonzalez
Melissa Gonzalez: Creator, Producer, Performer.
Melissa is no stranger to the camera or producing. Melissa, former co-host of Latin Beat on BET, has made numerous television appearances on NY shows including Chappelle’s Show, SNL and the FOX Pilot NY-70. In addition she produced and starred in the indie feature Spanglish Girls and Broken Hearts which premiered at LAIFF. Currently you can catch Melissa online hosting Homemade BFF’s and uncovering new fashion icons onwww.rspopshop.com.

Film Title: HAIR BALL
Directed by : John Birdsong
Made in the United States at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City. 2010
Premiere Status: World Premiere at the Brooklyn International Film Festival.
Category: Short Comedy
Format: Canon DSLR
Running Time: approximately 10 minutes

hair-ball: a roger smith short (teaser #1) from Panman Productions on Vimeo.

Cast: Brett Siddell, Bari Hyman, Matt Semler, Mala Wright, Wayne Soares, Fanny (Cat), Tomas Terstad
Crew: Written by Morgan-Jo Teller and John Birdsong Director, Producer, DP, and Editor: John Birdsong – Executive Producer: John Knowles – Producer: Melissa Gonzalez – Assistant Camera: Abianne Prince – Sound Designer: Aleks Degtyarev – Wardrobe: Morgan-Jo Teller – Boom Operator: Victor Reznik
Email: john.birdsong@yahoo.com
Blog(trailer): http://hair-ball.tumblr.com
Synopsis:
The only thing Louis loves more than being a bellboy is dancing. He makes the most of guests’ unattended rooms and personal possessions, practicing dance moves for nights at the club. Using a stranger’s toothbrush or sleeping in their bed was a victimless crime till now. Could a lude act with a suitcase send him back to prison? Can you taste another man’s mouth by sharing his toothbrush? Hair-ball is loosely based on a phone call from “Car Talk” on NPR.

About the Director
John Christopher Alexander Michael Birdsong was born March 19th, 1981 in Brooklyn and raised in Texas and the Hamptons. His first job was as a counter boy at a Chinese take-out restaurant. John is not Chinese. He studied photography before interning and working as a Producer/Director/Editor for Plum TV. John’s passions include looking for the end of the internet, smelling things, and staying up late. John works with Panman Productions in midtown and lives with his girlfriend Morgan-Jo Teller in Brooklyn with their cat Fanny and an unnamed school of goldfish.

Title: MOTHER TERESA’S HIATUS
Directed by: Abianne Prince
Written by: Robyn Day
Running Time: 2min 30 seconds
Premiere Status: World Premiere

Cast: Staring Kana Sato Supporting cast: Jay Cutler, Anwar Uddin, Dennis Lowell, Chad Miller,Sunjay Mishra,Chris Cotten, Rocco George, John Knowles, Roni Mazumdar, Dan Chen, Klive Robinson
Crew: Screenplay by: Robyn Day – Producer: Abianne Prince – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Assistant Director: Melissa Gonzalez – Director of Photography: Aleks Degtyarev – Lighting Design: John Birdsong – Editor: Abianne Prince – Sound Director: Victor Reznik – Costume Design: Lucinda Lu – Art Direction: Lucinda Lu – Production Assistant: Susanna Lewitt – Makeup: Denise Mojica – Hair: Katie Arbore
Email: abiprince@gmail.com
Website: www.rogersmithsshorts-myshorts.tumblr.com/
Synopsis:
A woman’s epiphany about the role she plays in the lives of the men that surround her.

About the Director
When Abi was 6 years old her Uncle Bob told her that life wasn’t worth living if she didn’t find a passion and follow it no matter what. Once Abi discovered photography and filmmaking she realized that she had found her vocation. As a Producer, Director, Editor & Director of Photography, Abi has seen all sides of filmmaking. Her experience spans from live television production to commercials, documentaries and webesodes. Her passion is storytelling.

Title: SHOE FITS
Directed by: Aleks Degtyarev, aka Marlo L. Brown
Running Time: 21 minutes
Premiere Status: World Premiere

The Original Hooligans are back. Shoe Fits Trailer! from Panman Productions on Vimeo.

Cast: Aleks Degtyarev, Kelly Jo Johnson, John Larmor, Lucinda Lin, Frank Martinelli, Brett Siddell, Rich Staab

Crew: Written by: Aleks Degtyarev – Executive Producer: John Knowles – Line Producer: Cedric Youngelman – Assistant Director: Lucinda Lin – Director of Photography: Abianne Prince – Script Supervisor: Melissa Gonzalez – Casting Director: Melissa Gonzalez – Lighting Design: John Birdsong – Sound Director: Pete Eilenberg – Costume Design: Veronica Zhou – Boom-Pole Operator: Vic Reznik – Choreographers: Alex Smith and Eric Jacobson – Graphic Art: John Larmor – Special Effects and post production: John Chiarelli
Email: floatingopera@gmail.com
Website: www.shoefits.tumblr.com/
Synopsis:
The Original Hooligans are back. Another shoe fit another dolla! This time Marlo Lovely Brown has missplaced his dancing shoes. Confidant and partner in deviance, Pipe Adams is back on the scene to help Marlo locate his magical footwear. Marlo’s lover LuLu beckons from another dimension, while friend, and maddened inventor Bradrian W. Tangaurey laments at Camp Villain. Will Marlo be able to navigate his way through this fever dream to find the shoes or will humanity be doomed forever? If the Shoe Fits…

About the Director - Written by Pipe Adams
Born into a family of fur traders working their way through the Aleutians and the Bering Strait in the late 16th century, Marlo Leelan Brown was not always destined to make films. His name, literally translated, means the universal, or invincible prince. Young Marlo’s conception was nary cause for celebration, and his gestation and eventual birth a mere insurance policy to guard against the stark, endless Siberian winter. Just another maw to feed and, with hope, hands that would eventually grow strong enough to tear and render the priceless flesh from countless seals to add to the meager family coffers.
Time however, was on Marlo’s side and so Marlo danced the earth, a being reflected in the eyes of G-D, but yet a dead man inside, until the mid 90s. It was at this time that Marlo fell in with a bunch of like minded gents. Not immortals per say, but timeless characters nonetheless. For posterity’s sake, we shall call them the Original Hooligans. It was with the hooligans that Marlo discovered his true passion. Slowly, the hidden embers inside his mind, cold with age, began to warm, to glow. A fire was ignited inside of him. No longer the dancing dead, little Marlo Leelan was born anew. And the vehicle that brought young old Marlo back from the dead: Making Films.
But as he discovered his new found passion, changes began to occur. Each time Brown would look through his viewfinder a wrinkle would appear, a gray hair would sprout. Marlo Leelan Brown the foreverman, was now becoming just man.
Over the past decade Marlo has aged. Less like a fine cheese and more like a rusting washing machine in a dewy Bedford-Stuyvesant project courtyard, Marlo has forsaken eternal life for mortality to join the ranks of the Original Hooligan brotherhood and make films.

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#RogersRooms Giveaway HARO Monday Jan 11, 2010

Posted on 11. Jan, 2010 by Birdsong in Community, Hotel

This is a Klickable video. That means you can click on stuff in the video. Peter Shankman of HARO has a question for you.

SEE THE KLICKABLE DOC:
A DAY IN THE LIFE. PETER SHANKMAN HELP A REPORT OUT .COM

To find the answer!

PART 2 OF TODAY’S GIVEAWAY IS:

If you could take Peter skydiving anywhere in the world,

where would it be and why?

Please answer in the comments section below – Good Luck!

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Tech Tuesday: TV is DEAD.

Posted on 05. Jan, 2010 by Birdsong in Community

Seriously, it is…well, cable TV to be precise.

I was watching “Six Feet Under” the other night, which I’ve just gotten into and is so far pretty good, and I thought: A couple years ago this wouldn’t even be possible. I had just downloaded the show on itunes, for a couple of bucks, and it doesn’t even have to fully download before you can start viewing. It already seems native, but think back…a few years ago I would have had to clean the snow off the car (it was snowing like crazy) drive fifteen minutes to Blockbuster, only to find that someone had already rented it, and I was out of luck. BUMMER. Not anymore. There are so many ways to ingest on demand media now. There are the legal platforms: itunes, hulu, vimeo, youtube, netflix watch instantly, amazon on demand, abc.com, southpark studios (there are a bunch more, but you get the point). Then there are the illegal ones: bittorent (alas pirate bay is dead), and gnutella (aka frost/limewire), and all the bizarre flash based overseas American TV video hubs (awful quality). You’d think the name of the game here is you get what you pay for, but hulu defies that. (at least as of this writing). Hulu has hinted that there will be a pay model, but I’ve read you won’t lose shows like “the cobert report” and “the office”. They (hulu) has hinted at upselling premium content such as HBO and showtime shows. I say go for it. The keyword here is on demand. If I want to watch a movie and I have the choice of renting it on Amazon on demand and being able to watch it immediately, or downloading it from bittorent and having to wait for it. I’ll take amazon everytime. Here is a brief description of some of the free and pay on demand media services available on the internet right now.

iTunes

Who hasn’t heard of itunes? Aside from offering digital music downloads, itunes now also offers movies and movie rentals. I suggest the rentals if you have a bluray and decent TV, becasue if you are going to own a movie itunes downloads don’t match the quality of bluray.

Amazon on Demand

Amazon is making hand over fist tax free $$ with their retail business (I did all of my Xmas shoping with them online.) So why shouldn’t they compete with apple? They should. Competition is good. Competition means lower prices and a wider range of products/service. Thank god itunes has competition. I think the quality of video is little better here on amazon, but it’s a close tie. The video codec they use seems to be a little easier on you computer as well if you have an older system.

Hulu

Free doesn’t get better than this. Seriously, everything here is free. Hulu is my go to place to watch shows like 30 rock. People my age (28) don’t really have landlines. Services like Hulu allow us to get rid of our cable subscriptions too. Screw you comcastcablevisiontimewarner.

Netflix Watch Instantly

Some great movies and TV here and new ones everyday. You have to pay for this, but if you’re into movies you already have netflix and this comes as part of your built in service. Plug you’re laptop into you’re TV, and you’re good to go. Great stuff here.

YouTube

Funny cat videos and people getting hit in the balls is hilarious! I never get bored of it. Check out their screening room for more highbrow content, plus they have a new tv and movies section with a bunch of content (most not that great).

Vimeo

Art house YouTube. Cool stuff here.

Daily motion

Youtube uncensored. Kind of a cool platform, but aside from showing boobs (which is great) I don’t really see how it separates from the pack.

12Seconds.tv

My grandmas spoiled chihuahua on 12seconds.tv (sorry the embed wasn’t working here : )

Cool platform. Short videos.

So…check out these platforms. Invest in a cable to hook up you’re laptop to you’re TV. Cancel you’re cable subscrition. Take a trip with the money you’ll save. Besides, you watch WAY too much fucking TV.

John Birdsong is a Producer Director Editor with Panman Productions and lives in Williamsburg BKLYN with his girlfriend Morgan-Jo and their cat Fanny Fae McNamara.

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Tech Tuesday 12/29: Top Technologies of 2009: and Why

Posted on 29. Dec, 2009 by Birdsong in Community, Hotel

This year there were no HUGE advancements in technology (on the consumer level), but it was the year WE really embraced technology. For example my entire family is on Facebook now. If I want to share something with them it’s ridiculously easy. Hi Mom! The point is, the longer this stuff is around, particularly the advancements in communication the more we begin to rely on them not as a novelty, but as a necessity. For example, when cell phones first came out they were very much a novelty. Now, when your plane lands the first thing you do is fire up the iPhone (if you have one) check your messages (voice and email), send a few texts, and probably update your FB status. Another example is GPS, and I’m completely lost without mine. What will we rely on in 2010, and furthermore what will be the next big thing in 2010? (Comments plz).

Without further adieu, here is my list of top tech in the year that was 2009

iPhone 3gs

This smart-phone will now shoot video (unhacked) and send it to YouTube, and if you get lost in the woods you have a nifty compass to guide you out! Price: Your f%*ing soul.

New Intel CPUs

Code named “Nehalem” i5 and i7 core chips with “turbo”. Put them in mac books already!!! I’m waiting ’till they do to upgrade. Price: Get one with a new computer (27″ iMac).

Twitter

This micro blogging service exploded in 2009. Words like “Tweet-up” “Tweets-giving” and “Tw-izzlers” entered our vocab. I’m @johnbirdsong, holla. Price: Free (or ALL of your free time).

Tinychat.com/Skype

Skype, one of the most effective low/no cost communication tools has been around for a while. The new version allows screen sharing which is AWESOME. Tinychat.com takes it a step further and allows groups (up to 12 cameras) to communicate with a/v in a virtual room. Perfect for online meetings, and bizarre 3.0 interaction. Price: Free

Facebook

This year my mom and dad both joined Facebook, and they use it (a lot). Price: All of you free time.

Flip ultra HD

Best flash memory video recorder. Reliable, tough, fantastic daylight video, not to bad indoor/low light video. A lesson in minimalism. Price: $170

Any of the LED back lit flat panel HD TVs

Energy sipping, high quality displays for Bluray, DVD, Hulu, Netflix, web browsing, Amazon on Demand, gaming, and oh yeah…cable. Price: $1,000+ (for Samsung, Panasonic, etc) less $$ for Vizio (which gets very high ratings).

Canon D7 Digital SLR

I havn’t gotten to use this pro-sumer still camera yet, but the picture quality and videos I’ve seen are beautiful. With the D7, Canon has embraced creative filmmaking. The cam features full 1080p HD video @24 fps, adjustable exposure control, and a large CMOS sensor to mimic the shallow depth of field look of motion picture film cameras. Price: $1,899 with a 28-135 lens.

17″ Mac book Pro

This behemoth of a laptop has an 8hr battery, two video cards, up to 8GB RAM, and a 3.06GHZ duo core Intel CPU. Price: starting around $3,000

Amazon Kindle 2

Paper books are so passe. JK, but the Kindle is a pretty amazing device. First of all: electronic ink is really cool. Kind of like a 21st century etch a sketch, but with Hemingway and J.K. Rowling instead of that dumb staircase you’d draw over and over. One of the coolest things about the Kindle 2 is that it comes with FREE wireless. The browser is not perfect, but it gets the job done (for the most part). Price: $259

Looking forward to 2010: What’s Next?

1. Wireless electricity…coming soon

2. A proper upgrade for the iPhone…better battery, HD video recording, front facing camera for video chat

3. Faster computers (plz)

4. 3D HDTV

5. Larger capacity more reliable SD cards

6. Flip camera with wireless, optical stabilization, mic jack, AND headphone jack

7. WiMax

8. A redesigned Facebook

9. A new more efficient, less processor intensive video codec. H.264 is great, but is really CPU intensive…takes 20min to transcode a 3 min video. S-L-O-W.

10. A video camera for every cop that records 24/7 and cannot be tampered with, and a less lethal taser. Police need WAY more oversight.

What did I miss? What tech trends do you see for 2010?

Do you disagree? Please let me know.

John Birdsong is a Producer Director Editor with Panman Productions and lives in Brooklyn, NY

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Panman Productions to LIVE stream ‘Matisyahu on USTREAM’ Dec 20 @7:45pm est

Posted on 19. Dec, 2009 by Birdsong in Arts, Community

We will be LIVE streaming Matiyahu’s show @Music Hall of Williamsburg. Stop by and check it out here or on USTREAM.

-John Birdsong

http://www.panmanproductions.com

LIVE Dec 20 @7pm

MATISYAHU BRINGS ANNUAL “FESTIVAL OF LIGHT” TO NEW YORK CITY

Matisyahu brings his brand new album Light to hometown crowds in New York City for the “Festival of Light,” an impressive annual eight night stand, beginning December 10th at Webster Hall. Matisyahu will perform four nights at Webster Hall and four nights at Music Hall of Williamsburg during the eight nights of Hanukkah. Each night will have a different opening act including Glitch Mob, John Brown’s Body, Kid Koala and Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes. This is the fourth year Matisyahu has brought this special tradition to New York City.

Fans will have two chances to purchase tickets before they officially go on sale this Friday, October 23rd. American Express card members will have an exclusive pre-sale this Wednesday, October 21st beginning at 10am. The next day, members of the Matisyahu fan club, and followers of his on Twitter, will be able to buy tickets starting at 10am using a special code obtained by monitoring Matisyahu’s Twitter feed.

The dates are:
12/10/09   New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Glitch Mob)
12/12/09   New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ John Brown’s Body)
12/13/09   New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Dub Trio)
12/14/09   New York, NY @ Webster Hall (w/ Brothers Past)
12/16/09   Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Rana)
12/17/09   Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Kid Koala)
12/19/09   Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Travis McCoy)
12/20/09   Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Kevin Devine)

‘One Day (Acoustic)’

Matisyahu is currently on the road behind Light which Billboard said “pushes musical boundaries…dipping into everything from guitar driven rockers to stripped down acoustic tunes.” The 40 date tour is sponsored by surf-wear brand Mavericks. Coined as “the wave beyond,” Mavericks inspires hardcore athletes to face the unpredictably raw power of Mother Nature. Matisyahu and Mavericks is a match largely in part to a shared passion for preserving the environment. The tour pulls into Anaheim at the House of Blues on Wednesday at 7pm.

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Tech Toys The Team @RSHotel Thinks You Need For The Holidays:

Posted on 16. Dec, 2009 by BrianSimpson in Community, Hotel

The holidays are upon us and the talk of ‘toys’ at the hotel is crazy. A year ago it was about golf clubs, vacations and Flip cams. Now, after a year of being ‘social’ and doing everything we could to create, capture and share content our, our lists have changed. Grown if you will…
Here is a glimpse at what some of us think you need for this holiday season.

Mr. Knowles, CEO and Owner of Ther Roger Smith Hotel

Tech gifts that I think are worth what we pay for them and are useful to us:

1. Check out the Sony mdr-g75
2. The scribe device with paper and ocr recognition
3. How about the Leica LUX-4
4. Zoom H 4

Ek Wongleecharoen, Assistant General Manager

This is what I would like to have in my pocket when I travel:

1. Kindle: Reading Device
2. Panasonic DMC-ZS3K or DMC-ZS3A
3. Dell Latitude XT or Mac Book Air

Adam Wallace, Director of New Media

This is what I would suggest:

1. A Netbook (don’t know a specific kind)
2. Mophie iPhone extra battery pack
3. Kodak Zi8

Brian Simpson, Director of Social Hospitality

What you can’t live without for twenty-10:

1. Wireless Sony headphones
2. Cannon 7D
3. Macbook Pro

John Birdsong, Professional Videographer Panman Productions & All-Around Amazing Guy

Saving the best for last ~ Our resident gadget expert chimes in with:

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
4GB memory (add another 4gb yourself and save $800)
250GB Hard Drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
SD card slot
Built-in 7-hour battery
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Illuminated keyboard

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
$1,299 – save $200 off of list. fully guaranteed with one year of apple care.

Netflix subscription (if you don’t have one get one!!!)
as little as 7.99 a month includes one unlimited disc and unlimited streaming content

connector for laptop to flatscreen TV
around $20

BEST inexpensive speaker systrem – I have these and they are INCREDIBLE. 200 watts THX certified

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/231&cl=us,en

$169.00

Air mouse iphone app
$2.99
Control your computer from your iphone. Best wireless touch screen mouse around. Control volume, select netflix and hulu content, surf youtube, and email. It just works.

Happy Holidays From ALL of Us

@RSHotel ~ the roger smith hotel

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Tech Tuesday: LIVE Streaming Platforms ///Quick REVIEW///

Posted on 15. Dec, 2009 by Birdsong in Community, Hotel

This week I set out to review the different options available for LIVE internet broadcasting. There are a number of options and platforms available. The best advice is to determine YOUR needs and pick the one that suits you best.

Here is my best of list

USTREAM.tv
livestream.com
justin.tv
Qik.com
Kyte.tv

Some of these platforms don’t offer services that others do…for example Qik is meant only for mobile phones. while USTREAM allows streaming from a PC or mobile (iphone).

USTREAM

Right now USTREAM is my favorite. It’s really popular and offers some high profile content as well as a ton of user generated LIVE and archived content.

Pros

You can use flash media live encoder (if you have a fast PC) for HQ broadcasts.
Easy. Like really f%#ing easy.
New broadcaster app for iphone allows for spontaneous LIVE streaming (don’t forget to jailbrake and install ‘mobile substrate’ so you can stream over 3g).

Cons

Limited quality with mac (no plugin).
Messy UI sort of reminds me of myspace (not a good thing).
Player app for iphone doesn’t work (that sucks).
The ‘youtube’ of LIVE internet broadcast (at least for now).

Livestream.com

Pros

Gorgeous design. Site is beautiful, and easy to navigate.
Standalone app for mac (can broadcast using h.264).

Cons

Annoying (video) ads.
Unreliable recording (archiving) with mac app (to be fair: the mac app is still in beta)

Justin.TV

Pros

Says it’s compatible with Quicktime Broadcaster (HQ broadcasting for mac)
Very experimental (lots of lifecasting going on here).
Nice design.

Cons

I only got QT Broadcaster working for a minute…(crap).
Have you ever heard of justin.tv? (now you have).

Qik

Pros

Qik is pretty awesome.
Live video from your iphone (jailbroken), and certain Nokia handsets.
Syndicates really well. Press the red button and it posts to facebook (live and archived video) posts to youtube, twitter, tumblr, etc.

Cons

Only works on mobile phones.

Kyte

Pros

OK site design.
Offers mobile and PC broadcasting.
Quality seems good.

Cons

Have you ever heard of kyte?
Site seems heavily geared to their pay model and a little hard to navigate because of it.
Hard to navigate to FAQ and other HELP info.

Come back here every tuesday for more technology related reviews and best of lists.

Cheers,

-John Birdsong

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@140conf Media Stream from @rshotel (click through the video playlist)

Posted on 27. Oct, 2009 by Birdsong in Community, Events, Hotel

Dear friends,

Welcome to our special coverage of Jeff Pulver’s 140 Character Conference. What you can expect to see here on this page is a growing body of short profile videos we will be gathering and posting throughout the two day conference. Think of it as a video yearbook of sorts. Each time a new video is posted we will tweet to let you know. We encourage you to RT and share the videos we will be creating together to tell the story of @140conf and the “state of Twitter right now”.

The Roger Smith Community is extremely excited to be a part of your experiece with social media. We look forward to meeting you IRL @140conf. Some of you have called us “The social media hotel”, because we embrace the vibrant social media community in NYC and beyond and use Twitter to facilitate our charter of hospitality and communication with our friends and guests. Thanks for letting us be a part of your community. We have met so many great new people.

Twitter and social media as a whole have very quickly become an invaluable tool for real human communication and are changing our lives in new ways everyday, as well as ways we have yet to imagine. If you remove the technology and consider the utility, what social media does is this: it simply connects people. Yup, that’s right. You and I, we’re connected.

Our team @140conf is Adam Wallace (@adwal), Brian Simpson (@bsimi), John Knowles (@pancity), Abianne Prince (@panmanprod), Aleks Degtyarev (@floatingopera), and myself John Birdsong. If you see us, come up and introduce yourself, and please don’t be shy, find us at our video booth and share your story, we would love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks and enjoy.

-John Birdsong (@johnbirdsong)

Producer for Panman Productions

and a HUGE fan of @rshotel and NYC.

ps. We’re human, and we’d love to hear what you think, so please share and comment!