Say Hello

Say Hello and introduce yourself!

I am a huge fan of Video and an even bigger fan of Hyper Local Video.

Many times when I watch a local video I know about where it is but would love to "see" where it is on a map.
That’s how I came to create the Google Map Mashup you see at the bottom of the page below.

Click on any point or any name in the sidebar and you’ll see the video embedded directly on the map!

The best part is that you can enter your own video and become a point on this map too!  Just follow the simple instructions.

1. Shoot your "Hello" video .  Use a webcam, a smartphone, even a Flip Video Camera (I bought my Flip Video Camcorder on Amazon for less than $70! ).  Keep is short (under 2 minutes) and tell us who you are, what you do, and where you do it.  You can even mention what it is about the area you live in that makes so special.
2. Upload your video to a webhosting site.  YouTube, Viddler, Zipvo, or TubeMogul.  Edit your video if you like.  No video?  You can use a slideshow just as well.
3. Grab the Embed Code from the host site.  Some will allow you to adjust the look and feel.  Some (like Viddler) will allow you to customize the size, set it to autoplay, etc.  You’ll need to make sure your code is set to a width of 200.  Many Embed Codes will have two seperate width references.  Make sure both are 200 .  If you are doing this manually, don’t forget to change the height proportionally as well or you’ll look really skinny!
4. Find your Latitude and Longitude . If you have a GPS you may be able to find your coordinates there.  If you want to use a computer, here’s an easy to use site http://www.satsig.net/maps/lat-long-finder.htm HINT: the closer in you zoom the more specific your point will be.

Now that you have the data you’ll need let’s go to this simple form :

• Your Name – This will appear on the sidebar
• Your Email Address – Won’t appear anywhere on the map.  This is just in case something goes wrong with your entry, I can contact you to fix it.
• Video Embed Code – Once again, make sure it has a width of 200 Here’s an easy Calculator to do that: http://sheet.zoho.com/public/mike912mueller/embedcodewidthcalc
• Your Info – This is where you can enter anything you like.  HTML is ok.  Your name, Contact Info, Blog URL, Twitter ID – anything!  Just remember to keep the line lengths short (around 40 characters)  a simple <br> or <p> will create a line break or paragraph break.
• Latitude – Enter the number (out to 5 decimal places) Your number should start between 25 (Southern Tip of Florida) to 48 (Northern Border) for the continental U.S.
• Longitude -  Enter the number (out to 5 decimal places) Your number should start between -124 (West Coast) to -67 (East Coast) for the continental U.S.
• Verify that you entered correctly and click on the Submit Button.  That’s it.  In moments, your point will be added to the map!

http://areweconnected.com/sayhello.html

Now if you want to put this map on your site, all you have to do is embed this code for an iframe:

<iframe id="datamain" src="http://AreConnected.com /sayhello.html " width="680" height="650" marginwidth=0 marginheight=0 hspace=0 vspace=0 frameborder=0 scrolling=yes></iframe>

Thanks for Saying Hello!