Yesterday we released some big updates to the VOKLE platform that you’ve probably already noticed. This will help you reach more people in your event along with taking interaction to a higher level.

Let’s start with the refreshed Twitter module! You can now tweet directly from a VOKLE event rather than having to be redirected to another window. You can also Retweet and Reply, all inside the chat. Now you can enlist the help of your audience to spread the word about your show!

We’ve also introduced a new way to ‘Invite Your Hero’ to join the your chat, this way you’ll be able to invite some of your favorite personalities to the chat. You can browse through our list of suggested Twitter users by clicking the left or right arrows on the header, or look for a specific user by using the search bar. Then, simply click “Invite!” and tweet away.

We’ve also introduced a new “Ask a Q” button to our chat box that will make it easier for your audience to ask video/text questions — it’s conveniently located next to the “Send” button in the Chat box.

To continue keeping VOKLE conversations fluid, engaging, and abundant — keep up with the question-asking and be sure to tweet out VOKLE to your favorite athletes, musicians, role models, friends, tech-savvy grandparents, and/or whoever else, and get them to easily create and share content.

-The VOKLE Team

Hello Vokelites! My name is Margaret, and like Steph, I am a fellow newbie to the VOKLE team as well. I was born and raised in the Bay Area in Northern California. I just moved to Southern California a few months ago and have fallen in love with its perpetual sunshine (I’m ignoring the last few days) and quirky variety of food trucks.

I was admitted to the University of the Pacific in Stockton as a Pre-Pharmacy major, but graduated in International Affairs & Commerce with an emphasis in Marketing and a minor in Japanese. A big jump, I know (my parents were ecstatic). Last year, I came back from a 10-month stint studying abroad in Osaka, Japan, during which I ate my way through Asia. And if you can’t tell already, I love food. I am a pop culture junkie who loves traveling, fashion, and Googling images of Ryan Gosling. I also draw comics poorly.

I am very excited to be a part of this team and will do my utmost to not bring VOKLE crumbling down to ruins. To be honest, there is nothing I can say about VOKLE that Steph hasn’t already said so eloquently (nor will I attempt to at risk of shameful embarrassment). So I will just end it on this note: I am elated to be on board. Please excuse my poor attempts at humor.

Greetings and salutations, good folks and friends of the VOKLE community! My name is Steph, but many people call me Slo — short for Stephanie Lo – and I just recently joined the team at VOKLE. I’m a born and bred Southern Californian with an impenetrable love for summer, sunshine, barbecues, and obnoxious fluorescent colors (see image above).

I was fortunate enough to spend four years in New York City as a student at NYU, where I studied Marketing and Management, dabbled within the realms of Entertainment, Media, & Technology, and ate way too much (or not enough?) chicken and rice from a Halal cart on 53rd and 6th. Some of my hobbies include: going to shows, eating, getting swept up in spontaneous adventures, rhythmic hand-clapping, and fist pumping. I’d like to say that I don’t do all of those at the same time, but that would be a lie.

I’m psyched to embark on my journey here at VOKLE, and look forward to doing whatever I can to help the company continue to push the boundaries of interaction and innovation. It’s hard to put into my own words exactly what it is about VOKLE that is so inspirational to me, but I know it has something to do with the following line from this most recent VOKLE spot, which was inspired by Larry Lessig’s 2007 TED Talk on the “laws that choke creativity.”

“Digital technology is the opportunity for the revival of [lost] vocal cords — culture where people produce for the love of what they’re doing, and not for the money.”

If digital technology is the opportunity for uninhibited communication, then I’m positive VOKLE is the right vehicle to navigate that opportunity, and I’m happy to be along for the ride.

While perusing the web, Shant stumbled across one of our Staff Picks on Kickstarter.com. Tour Chats has been one of our most regular broadcasters, and remains the premier haven for fans of cycling. And they need your help!

“Cycling fans usually can’t go down to the corner pub and find bike races on the TV and the camaraderie of fellow fans like other sports fans can,” explained Pamela Wood Browne, Creative Director of Tour Chats, so “we enjoy creating venues online for cycling fans to hangout and enjoy cheering on and getting to know their favorite champions.”

The Tour Chats live series has featured a number of cycling greats, and has been steadily building an audience. All shows are carefully recorded and edited into video podcasts which they share with fans for free.

“We’re committed to providing opportunities for fans to get to know and interact with their favorite bike racers and other cycling personalities, as well as, to connect with the worldwide cycling fan base - both of which the Vokle platform is perfectly suited for!” Pamela explained “While cycling fans may not have many chances to hang out with other fans in their local town—every week we can get together online!”

Tour chats has been producing their weekly video podcasts without funding for the last four months. Production costs are rising, and and it will take time for Tour Chats to attract corporate funding. Until then, they still want to be able to produce the t-shirts and other paraphernalia. “ If we raise more than our minimum goal of $3,000, we’ll put more funds towards production and marketing of the show,” explained Pamela. To donate or read more about the cause, see their Kickstarter page.

Another thing to get excited about: this Sunday they will be hosting an interview with Jonathan Vaughters, an amazing cyclist. They’ll also be announcing giveaways for financial backers, so don’t miss it:

Update: Our winner, Zac O’Hara was voted the God of Flows on Friday. Congrats Zac!

To those of you who hosted shows this weekend and are anxiously awaiting your recording, know that they are safely processing now, and should be available by the afternoon—as usual, you will be notified by email as soon as your recording is available.

We would like to apologize for the delay; we pushed a new bit of code Friday that unintentionally blocked recordings from processing fully. We thank all of you who informed us of the issue, the sooner we can pinpoint a problem the sooner we can rectify it. And as always, thank you for your patience as we work our way through beta.

-The VOKLE Team

Update: We had a series of recording issues throughout the week, but they should be fixed. These issues were due to improvements we made on the platform, which inadvertently affected recording processing in a variety of ways. Thank you very much for your patience, please email us if issues with processing persist.

One of the contestants in Australia who had made it into the top 10 sent the VOKLE team an email, and I wanted to share it. Leanne’s experience is a great validation to the VOKLE team. This is posted with permission, and I’ve included her audition performance below as well as her website.

Dear Rochelle,

I am speechless! Thank you so much, I can’t even tell you how amazing this opportunity is for me, a 39 year old mostly housebound disability pensioner and mother of two!

It is only because of technology, I am able to reach out to the world from my living room to still have a chance of living my dream.

My heart is filled with so much gratitude.

And my tummy is filled with a million butterflies!

I hope my nerves from the sheer significance of this opportunity doesn’t inhibit my performance!

Goshhh. Jordan Rudess is my keyboardist idol, and dream Theater one of my, and my teen sons most favourite bands ever.

I nearly died of heart failure when i found out I made it through!

Thank you Vokle people, with all my heart and soul.

I am just so grateful to be participating!

Kindest regards,
Leanne

Watch here audition here

She also just started a site.

Virtual auditions on Saturday were flooded with vocalists from around the globe, singing their hearts out for a chance to be a part of the top ten in Last Voice Standing. After tallying votes for audition clips and deliberating, our ten finalists have been selected. Officially announcing the the voices still standing….

Who will be the last voice standing? YOU will decide! Our first singing competition begins Monday night at 6pm Pacific, be sure not to miss it and vote on your favorite singer:

Edit: The Last Voice Standing was announced, congratulations David Ramos!

Last week we rolled out a small but mighty change that allows you to automatically share your recording… before you event begins. What is this wizardry? We call it Auto-Promote!

We noticed that most broadcasters were busy or distracted after their event ended, and forgot to share the recording with fans who missed it. Now when you schedule a new event, you will have the option of automatically tweeting or facebooking the recording as soon as it’s available. You can even modify the exact message you’d like to promote with the link:

Nifty, eh? More updates are in the works, keep your eyes peeled this week for some huge changes with the Twitter module…