| Register/Subscribe Home |
|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
Auto Beat
Bangalore Tigers
Blogspotting
Brand New Day
Byte of the Apple
Economics Unbound
Eye on Asia
Fine On Media
Green Biz
Hot Property
Investing Insights
Management IQ
NEXT: Innovation
NussbaumOnDesign
Tech Beat
Working Parents
TECHNOLOGY
J.D. Power Ratings
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Wildstrom: Tech Maven
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Classic Cars
Car Care & Safety
Hybrids
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | DECEMBER 29, 2000 CLICKS & MISSES By Diane Brady Baby, You're a Star! Business Week's Diane Brady shared her joy -- and live video of her newborn -- by inviting friends and relatives to a postnatal Webcast via BabyPressConference.com
The problem, of course, is how to arrange any type of Internet experience when you're lying in a hospital bed. Enter BabyPressConference.com, a New York-based site that launched in March, 2000. The service offers parents a chance to show their select audience live video of their newborns over the Net from studios it has set up in the maternity wards of participating hospitals. So far, 120 hospitals across the country have signed up, with 72 now offering their patients full-scale conferences. What's more, the service itself is free -- although parents and viewers must come up with $29.99 if they want a CD-ROM record of the conference and pay extra for the video to stay accessible to viewers for longer than the standard 14-day period. CYBER STORK. Expectant parents must sign up at the site, as I did before my son, Elliott, arrived three weeks ago. The service is the star attraction at a site that hopes to become an e-commerce and content portal for new parents, through such added features as its recently acquired Urbanbaby.com store and a content deal with Primedia's American Baby Group. Truth is, I could skip the other aspects of the site. The most exciting thing about BabyPressConference.com is the virtual "press" conference. Even if the attendees are mere friends and relatives rather than representatives of major news outlets, the conferences do put out some pretty big news in a unique and exciting way. Once soon-to-be-parents have registered, they determine the guest list for their upcoming conference by entering the appropriate e-mail addresses. The size of the group can range from a single individual to a cast of thousands for those who are truly ambitious. So far, most of the service's 2,500 users have been more modest, inviting an average of 13 people. After baby is born, parents call a toll-free number to schedule a time for their free 30-minute Netcast from the maternity ward. Guests then get an e-mail alert that announces the baby's birth, the time of the press conference, and the password needed to participate in the big event. IN THE DARK. That's the easy part. Although the service may sound like a no-brainer, there are some significant glitches to overcome. The biggest is the software -- Microsoft Windows Media Player -- which users need in order to get the streaming video and audio from the conference. Although it's free to download, most users don't think to log in beforehand and spend the 30-or-so minutes it takes to set themselves up. As a result, several of the people who logged into my press conference -- including my mother and sister -- weren't able to see any images of my newborn son. Instead, they saw only the typed questions and chat from other guests. What's more, my sister had clicked on a sample press conference beforehand, which gave her the impression that she would have no problem witnessing the live event. By the time she discovered that it didn't work, there wasn't enough time to download the software before the live event ended. BabyPressConference.com would do well to stress the importance of downloading the software long before the press conference begins. Then again, there isn't a lot of time for people to prepare for the press conference. Most participants get about 24 hours notice -- but that assumes they will log on and check their e-mail after the announcement has gone out. Unless you call everyone on your guest list personally, there's a good chance they'll miss the live event. Even then, it can be hard to pick a half-hour slot that will be convenient for everyone. Those who do check their e-mail regularly also complain of overkill on the part of the folks at BabyPressConference.com. Ian MacDonald, a friend in Germany, says he was blitzed with four e-mail notifications in the space of just a single hour. Others complained about being inundated with offers to buy gifts for the happy family. BABY'S LIVE FEED. The real test, though, is the press conference itself. Even with the glitches, there's nothing quite like showing off your new baby to people who might otherwise have to wait for photos in the mail. Unfortunately, new babies are unpredictable. The vast majority are likely to snooze through the press conference, which is better than the dreaded half-hour crying fit. Participants type in questions while the parents talk and ham it up on screen. For us, the hard part was figuring out who was who as strange acronyms flashed onscreen. We never knew that my in-laws were logged in, for example, because their user I.D. was obscure and their typed input couldn't get through for some unknown reason. Each press conference is conducted with the aid of a BabyPressConference.com staffer. He or she can be incredibly helpful -- telling people what to do, suggesting good shots -- or annoying. Ian, my friend in Germany, was irked when, "from time to time, this guy named Mike...would pipe in with an 'oooooh, nice shot.' What purpose does that serve?" I didn't mind the BabyPressConference.com staffer being there, but I found him a bit too intrusive at times -- especially when he kept jumping to the site's defense whenever video-deprived participants typed in complaints. Still, he kept things flowing and encouraged more chat than we might otherwise have had. A bigger challenge may be drawing a great performance from shell-shocked new parents. Even with the aid of makeup and doughnut cushions, most new moms are unlikely to relish a broadcast mere hours after giving birth. The last thing I wanted to do so soon after Elliott arrived was parade my puffy face before dozens of friends and family members in cyberspace. LEAVE IT TO DAD. Maybe that's why BabyPressConference.com President and CEO Lee Perlman is eager to cast the service as a "nice way for fathers to bond with their babies." If the exhausted mom won't get out of bed, he argues, Dad can easily handle the Netcast himself. And shuffling down the hall to an in-hospital broadcast center is certainly easier than driving across Manhattan -- although we had to do that anyway: BabyPressConference.com let me broadcast from their office after my hospital's DSL provider went belly-up. In the end, though, there's no question that BabyPressConference.com is one of the most promising -- or at least one of the most charming -- ventures for new parents on the Web. Being able to capture and share the early moments of your child's life with friends and family is a rare treat, a service for which many might be prepared to pay big bucks. The fact that the basic offering is free, supported by hospitals, and available to watch for two weeks after it has gone to air makes this site very attractive to users. After putting in the energy to introduce their baby on the Web, it's a good bet that many will want to buy the CD-ROM as a memento of the event. If enough hospitals sign on for the venture, setting up a live Webcast for baby could become the next big thing for hip parents.  Associate Editor Brady covers advertising and publishing for Business Week in New York. Her son, Elliott James Maggs, arrived on Dec. 8 at 10:55 p.m. Elliott's father, Barry Maggs, is a copy editor at Business Week.  | | |
 Copyright 2001 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Policy |
Printer-Friendly Version
