The hip hop sensation of the early '90s is now a web entrepreneur and poised for success combining user generated video and social networking with DanceJam. Guest host Liz Gannes interviews MC Hammer and learns what it will take to make dance online a success.
Liz Gannes, editor of NewTeeVee.com on the GigaOM network, fills in for Om and joins Joyce this week. That's right, the women have taken over, and they've got a lot to talk about!
You probably remember this week's guest for his slick dance moves back in 1990, but thankfully for us, MC Hammer's back, and he's gone entrepreneur! We grill him on DanceJam, his newest online dance project.
MC Hammer proves his geek cred as he explains what makes DanceJam special: a site dedicated to dance culture, allowing uses to submit videos of their dance styles, learn how to do the best dance moves for a particular style and find information about offline dance events. MC Hammer's input to the user interface is a particular area he's proud of with this project.
Online video and user generated content is an area that MC Hammer believes in. With methods to monetize video, for example with ads served by ScanScout.com, he sees the potential for online video coming to fruition. By harnessing the power of users who are interested in dance and creating videos about dance, DanceJam is positioned to be a home for that community. DanceJam is optimized for the dance community across all genres, such as ballroom dancing, salsa dancing, and cheerleader dance, providing a one stop for anyone interested in dance culture.
MC Hammer recognizes the value of his name and the brand association between his involvement and DanceJam, but believes the project is bigger than just his name and involvement. Success will be defined by adoption by the dance community, in the shape of both dancers and the professional dance industry in terms of casting dancers found on DanceJam.
DanceJam is not live yet, and while there has been a lot of buzz around the site, they do not have an announced live date yet.
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Don't miss the bonus holiday treat at the end of this week's show!
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Posted by kahley on 01/05/2008 at 02:26:38 am in GigaOm Show
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well I think that's more of an epitaph, but hey, I guess we're both still giving the guy his due credit
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Posted by tammyd on 01/04/2008 at 10:48:44 pm in GigaOm Show
You know, I am not sure that everyone realizes all the good he does with things like kids and the homeless. Yeah, it's easy to see a niche market with Dance Jam.com (I thought it was cool enough I made a Squidoo site on it - see my signature if you want to see it) But the cool thing is that I learned a lot about what he has been doing since he lost his 'baggy dance pants'...way better than most 80 hip hop or other Hollywood types, so good for him! Did you know he has 6 kids??? :cool:
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Posted by AlaskaLoneWolf on 12/27/2007 at 10:41:55 pm in GigaOm Show
Well I really applaud Mr. Hammer's attempt at rewriting his epithet, despite the fact that he still calls himself MC Hammer...
(p.s. nice bling ring bud!) WTF is an epithet? Oh, I get it. Hahahahaa... As in "Here Lies MC Hammer..." etc... Yeah, I still love his fashion sense. Some children just never grow up. Hopefully, he learned from that last 'round and won't blow all the muny this time. Well, er, maybe he'll start another trend and actually make something off of the 'new' pants?
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Posted by serpico007 on 12/21/2007 at 08:31:31 pm in GigaOm Show
The C|net interview was much better. Watch that one, he seemed more comfortable and gave more details.
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Posted by kahley on 12/20/2007 at 06:27:57 am in GigaOm Show
Well I really applaud Mr. Hammer's attempt at rewriting his epithet, despite the fact that he still calls himself MC Hammer...
(p.s. nice bling ring bud!)
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Posted by serpico007 on 12/16/2007 at 04:18:17 pm in GigaOm Show
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It was awkward for sure, but I don't think it ruined the entire interview. I think she was too excited perhaps. It's MC Hammer dude. Haha.
It's still a cool idea but maybe not a big thing for those who don't care much about dance. Not sure how big of a need there is for this but it's always good to have a focused community. Youtube has many videos but it gets hard to search specific styles of video you want. Maybe this will be good for those users. There's dancing tv shows now, so perhaps this is a growing culture in young generations. We have seen many movies for dancing recently too.
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Posted by spiri on 12/15/2007 at 07:12:13 am in GigaOm Show
Hammer was on CNET Live too. I actually think that's a better and more informative interview.
*link*
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Posted by chakktor on 12/14/2007 at 05:28:37 pm in GigaOm Show
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Please hammer, don't hurt her.
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Posted by Mr. OneEye on 12/13/2007 at 06:23:16 pm in GigaOm Show
Not impressed with MC, where's Om!
How many video sharing sites do there really need to be. I think his site will be like his music, here today gone tomorrow.
I'm going to start a video site focusing on pruning. A place where to pros can gather and share video about trimming bush.
Keep up on the good work, better luck next time.
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Posted by crumbles on 12/13/2007 at 05:35:15 pm in GigaOm Show
Wow, that first question to Hammer sure made that interview start off really awkward. That's crazy that such an innocent question can tank an interview so quickly.
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