Ustream Broadcaster iPhone ap streams live video to the Internet, just not well

Ustream: "You're On." Maybe. But not in good quality.

On my trip to San Diego and Kamiah, Id. last week, I tried out Ustream, a “live interactive broadcast platform that enables anyone with an Internet connection and a camera to engage their audience in a meaningful, immediate way.” Immediate, yes. Assuming it works And if by meaningful, Ustream means via video that gets hung up, truncated, or chopped up into installments–if makes it to the Internet at all–then it lives up to its billing.

I was hoping to use Ustream to share my travel experience immediately (the technical term is in real time) by broadcasting video live from my iPhone 3GS via the Ustream Live Broadcaster ap (free) to my Ustream channel at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/zach-everson. I configured my Ustream account to send out a Tweet with a link to my show as soon as I started broadcasting. And when I finished broadcasting, the video would save to my Ustream account, a link to it would go out on Twitter, and a copy of the video would be posted to my YouTube channel and Facebook profile. Nifty, huh?

The results? Mostly poor. The executive summary: don’t use Ustream unless it’s essential for you to post live video. And it’s probably never essential for you. The suggestion: keeping using your iPhone camera to record video and posting it to YouTube, where viewers can watch it (gasp) a minute or so after you took it. Check below the jump for the details.

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Talking about traveling with a child on UpTake’s podcast

In a conversation on travel quite different from our last one about solo backpacking through Europe, Addison Schonland interviewed me again for UpTake’s podcast–this time we discussed traveling with a baby. (I blog about travel lodging for UpTake.)

Last month my wife and I took our infant daughter on her first overnight trip when we drove to Milwaukee and Chicago. While the trip went well, traveling with a 2 month old was a different travel experience. Nevertheless, being a parent doesn’t mean the end to being able to travel–you just have to do a few things differently. Listen to the podcast for some pointers.

Talking backpacking through Europe (and posing in my delicates) for UpTake’s travel podcast

Last week Addison Schonland interviewed me for UpTake’s travel podcast (I blog about travel lodging for UpTake). The conversation covered a three-month backpacking trip I took a few years ago, which began in Dublin and ended up in a treehouse hostel on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

The discussion–accompanied by a photo of me in my boxers, because sex sells–appears at UpTake: Backpacking through Europe.

And Mom, Dad, if you’re nervous about what posting that picture on the Internet means for my career? All it proves is that I’m overqualified to be a U.S. Senator from your state of Massachusetts (I am wearing pants after all).

From Idaho to China, 2009 was a fun year for traveling and writing

How can a year in which you got an action figure of yourself be anything but great?

Recently the Internet has featured an abundance of laments about the disappointment that was 2009. I disagree; 2009, you were a good one.

From Kamiah, Idaho (population 1,160) to Guangzhou, China (population 10,045,800), I experienced and wrote about some amazing places this year–and had a blast doing it.

Some highlights:

• In January I drove from my new home in Louisville to Las Vegas with my brother and then flew to Washington, DC for Barack Obama’s inauguration.
• For Valentine’s Day, I reviewed 10 engaging spots to pop the question for Budget Travel.
• Traveling to celebrate my grandmother’s 90th birthday with her, I drove through Idaho, one of the most beautiful areas in the United States.
• I discovered one of my new favorite American cities–Nashville, which I visited twice.
• I covered the running–and parties–of Kentucky Derby 135 (and got this hilarious voice message from a Paris Hilton flack in the process).
• I experienced my first music festival–Bonnaroo.
• Trips to Boston; Morgantown, WV; Charlotte, NC; and Washington, DC allowed me to spend time with family and friends, as well as do some exploring.
• My more than 100 articles for Louisville.com provided me with ample opportunities to investigate my new hometown.
• While in New York to officiate a friend’s wedding (yes, you read that right), I finally met in person many travel writers and editors whom I’d known only virtually before.
• I consumed delicious tacos, lattes, and cocktails in Austin, TX.
• I reviewed concerts by two of my favorite performers–Bruce Springsteen and Roger Daltrey.
• After a fantastic trip to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, China, sponsored by the Ritz-Carlton, Cathay Pacific and Dragon Air, I wrote about the ethics of press trips for BlackBook.
• And I began contributing to Air Canada’s in-flight magazine, enRoute, and blogging about lodging for UpTake.

On a personal note, I’ll be closing out 2009 or beginning 2010 with a new daughter–my wife and I are expecting our first child any day now. Look for articles in early 2010 about traveling with an infant: we’ve already made plans to bring her to Milwaukee, Chicago, and San Diego.

Best wishes for a great 2010!

Writer, editor, pajama model

Today BlackBook featured my article on my recent press trip to Guangzhou and Shenzhen:

The Proud Junketeer: From Jamaica to China and Back

Even better–for me, if not BlackBook‘s readers–is getting to be its website’s lead model. In my silk pajamas, I’m feeling a bit like Hugh Hefner.

Originally the article was supposed to focus more on established brands, like the Ritz-Carlton, shifting their focus from traditional to new media.

But in between when I pitched it and when it was published, the Thrillist mini-scandal hit, causing two revisions, but giving me the opportunity to weigh in on a developing story and the practice of press trips.