User:KentFrederick/sandbox

Shindig (aka Shindig Events) is an American new media company based in Manhattan. Shindig was created by enterpreneur, music industry pioneer, and technology executive Steve Gottlieb in 2005.

Shindig is an Abode Flash-based platform for large scale online video chat events. Fueled.com described it as “a new online video chat platform, (which) aims to make talking online more natural by imitating real-life events: users can freely mingle, moving between conversations with the same ease as you might move through a dinner party.”

History

In 2010, Gottlieb closed a deal that provided Shindig with financing from the Pritzker family.

Gottlieb launched the company with Vice President of Engineering Manik Bambha, a former technology executive at MySpace and Fox Interactive Media.

Background

Gottlieb felt that conventional video chat technology, which had its origins in the 1960s with the AT&T Picturephone, was restrictive and limited: users were locked into a single conversation, and the communication process was unnatural and uncomfortable. Gottlieb sought to create a new architecture for video chat and video conferencing that replicated the ease of conversing in an actual physical space.

Use

In a Shindig chat event, all of the participants can see each other in a shared space. They’re able to move freely in and out of private video conversations with whomever they choose, and can address questions to an event’s featured speaker or the entire group. Participants can join a speaker on "stage", where written questions or PDFs can be shared, and MP3 music files can be played.

All Shindig events are moderated by a Shindig facilitator.

Applications

Shindig has been used by the following presenter categories to host live online video chat events:

• Authors - including A.J. Jacobs - have promoted their books and interacted with readers/attendees as well as sold their books. As of August 2012, over 100 authors have hosted Shindig events for their books.
• Music events - including The Warped Tour and the New Music Seminar - have presented listening parties and interacted with fans/attendees, as well as sold their music, merchandise, and concert tickets.
• Entrepreneurs and media figures - including Tom Silverman and Ron Fair - have led topic-specific presentations and interacted with press/fans/followers/attendees, as well as sold their offerings.
• Gaming tournaments - including a masters chess competition in 2011, which featured 15 players competing in locations from around the world on a 3D interactive chessboard.

Shindig will also target magazines, distance learning companies, DJ’s, sales executives, industry events and conventions, charitable organizations (for fundraisers), and dating services to deliver their messages and/or leverage their brands using Shindig’s online video chat platform.