I wanted to tell you about two important initiatives we have been working on around here, TechStrong TV and TechStrong Con. They are a big part of our COVID-19 response. The past four weeks (has it been just four weeks?) have been a blur. The MediaOps team has shifted into overdrive to keep all of our sites up and running and our webinars, virtual conferences and other activities on track, all while working from home. But that wasn’t enough—we wanted to do more.
TechStrong TV and TechStrong Con are the things we have chosen to do. Communication and collaboration are so core to the tech industry, and we wanted to help show it is #TechStrong. So let me explain what TechStrong TV and TechStrong Con are.
This first of two articles focuses on TechStrong TV. TechStrong Con will be the focus of the second article.
TechStrong TV
TechStrong TV is a streamed broadcast for two to three hours daily Monday to Friday. Each episode features a fresh set of news, interviews and other content.
The broadcast streams here on DevOps.com, as well as on Container Journal and Security Boulevard. It also streams on our Facebook pages via Facebook Live and our DevOps.com pages on LinkedIn via LinkedIn Live, as well as on Digital Anarchist and TechStrong TV. Select interviews from the daily shows are available standalone on the Digital Anarchist site.
Perhaps the best way to view TechStrong TV, however, is actually on your TV. Through our DevOps.com app on AppleTV, Roku and Amazon Fire you can view episodes on-demand on your TV. You can also view on your phone or on tablets on the DevOps.com mobile app.
TechStrong TV Content
You know for the last year and a half and even before that we have been traveling around the world streaming video interviews from conferences near and far. We have a full media studio in our offices. We wanted to keep that stream of interviews going.
With so much bad news on the mainstream news shows, our thought was, Let’s concentrate on the tech industry. What are people doing? What are vendors doing? What are you experiencing while you’re working from home? We explore all of this and more on TechStrong TV. We also mix in from the Digital Anarchist archives and our YouTube DevOpsTV channel some of the best interviews we have done on-site over the years.
We shoot the show with one video person and me in our office. Mitchell Ashley, principal analyst at Accelerated Strategies Group, and MediaOps Managing Editor Charlene O’Hanlon are my co-hosts, recording segments from Colorado and Virginia, respectively. Additionally, we feature weekly segments by John Willis and Jayne Groll and twice-weekly segments on the channel by Mike Vizard.
We hope to add more regular segments by some of the Accelerated Strategy Group team and other tech leaders.
More Than Just Tech Segments
We recently added WFH Fitness with Jeremy Jones to the TechStrong TV lineup. Jeremy is on our sales team but is also a certified personal trainer, having worked as a personal and group fitness trainer for years before joining MediaOps. He brings his knowledge of fitness to the TechStrong TV airwaves two or three times a week, recording a 20-minute workout circuit for those at home without access to gym equipment. The exercises are good for any level of fitness, from beginner to advanced, and using equipment you have around the house (think water jugs and canned goods). These workouts are available as standalone, on-demand segments on TechStrong TV and the OTT channels (Roku, AppleTV and Amazon).
In addition, we created a community Slack channel, which you can grab an invite to when you visit the TechStrong TV website. This way you can interact with the guests and our team in real-time.
The New Normal
Personally, this is the longest I have been home with no business trips in probably 15 or 20 years. Being a road warrior was a big part of my life in technology. For those like me, this new normal has taken some getting used to. But TechStrong TV gives me the communication and connection to the industry I crave. I hope it does for you as well.
If you or someone you know would like to be featured on a TechStrong TV segment, reach out to us at techstrong@devops.com. We are also looking for sponsors if any tech vendors are reading this (I would bet there are). In just a few weeks, we are already entertaining 5,000 to 6,000 people each day.
We are going to keep TechStrong TV going even when we return to normal (or whatever the new normal is). It is improving every day and I hope it will continue to do so. I invite you to check it out and give your feedback so we can continue to make it better.
Again, I will detail TechStrong Con in my next article. But until then, during these surreal times, the whole MediaOps team and I hope you stay safe, stay well and stay strong. #TechStrong
