CNET has coverage of Vloggercon, which took place last weekend, and their coverage of participants really showcases the wide variety and depth of content (and reasons for creating content) that are out in the vlogger world. Most interesting are the contrasting numbers from the first Vloggercon (18 months ago) and the second:

Back then, there were only a couple hundred video bloggers, according to Van Dijck, who heads up vlogger directory Mefeedia. Today, Van Dijck estimates that there are between 5,000 and 10,000 active video bloggers.

That’s a pretty nice growth rate, particularly when many of the hoops video bloggers have to jump through to create content are slightly more difficult (and have a larger learning curve) than those their audio/podcasting counterparts have to go through.

The new Wired hit the New Media Sense mailbox yesterday, and the feature/guide to online video is a must read - covering video blogs, “The New Networks” and how to make your own video blog/viral video using the tools at hand. (And if you don’t get Wired, the online versionof the video feature is slated to go live on May 1)

Skpye hits a deal with the music biz (CNET)

The Rise of the Video Blog (Rolling Stone via I Want Media)

More Music in the News: Sony signs a British singer with a Webcast audience of 100,000 (NME)

So….Bill Gates really isn’t joining the cast of Dr.Who? (CNET)

Online video show (still am not sure if this is a video podcast?) connecting girls to DIY tech (BoingBoing)

The comment/debate that Jeff and I had this afternoon regarding podcasts and subscriptions was both interesting AND fun - he thinks that donations will work, while I don’t. Don’t get me wrong - and I hope no one did - I really would rather see sponsorships for those looking to get paid for content than subscription models. Its just that I see donations as…not the most reliable source of income if you’re actually looking to get paid for something - and many people are.

However, Jeff did spur me to look into what the current “donation,” merchandise and sponsorship landscape is like for user generated content - if you’re a podcaster, blogger or videoblogger and you want to talk to me about it, by all means get in touch! I’ll be writing something later next week about what I find.

Google + Flickr - Gtalkr? (Diggnation)

Is it really Vaporware if its only been pushed back a little bit? The Vaporware Awards (Wired)

Know a good Video Podcast? Tell Inside the Net (Amber Mac)

Mobile ESPN Watch (Gizmodo)

My profound apologies for not being around much last week - I was traveling - but on the upside I was able to spend a good amount of quality time with a bunch of podcasts and video blogs that I’ve been meaning to check out for quite some time. I got to give my undivided attention to Lockjaw Radio, an insightful branding/marketing podcast that is everything you think a business podcast wouldn’t be - funny! I highly recommend giving it a listen - its been in my regular rotation for a while.

Second, I checked out the Wubbcast, a cartoon video podcast for preschoolers. I thought it was very cute (and educational) - however, based on the preschooler sitting behind me on the airplane, I have to wonder how focused they’ll be in front of an iPod. However, its nice to see cartoon content suitable for kids available. (Did I mention it was cute?)

Finally, the Superbowl commercials are available as video podcasts - here if you missed them or have a particular favorite. The one commercial I’m waiting for - the MacGyver one - is not yet available (you think I’m joking, but I’m not). NMS took a look at which commercials people liked, and sadly, no one mentioned MacGyver, in favor of Sprint.

Must.Keep.Breathing. - Supreme Court Won’t Hear the Blackberry Case (Engadget)

Super Bowl/Online convergence (NY Post)

Sundance focuses on mobile video (CNET)

Micropersuasion had a post about a recent study di3scussing that online video had its “Big Bang” following the Apple/iTunes annoucement and suggests that the industry will grow by 89% through 2010. That’s a LOT of growth. A lot of annoucements have been made over the last 3-4 months regarding different video programs, and I’m wondering which ones will stick, merge and/or change between now and 2010 - during that time of growth. What factors will make the leader (or leaders) emerge between now and then?