These days, the children in Afghanistan have something to sing about. With the recent distribution of a collection of Afghan children songs titled “Children's Songbook from Afghanistan: Qu Qu Qu Barg-e-Chinaar” to different provinces of Afghanistan including Kabul, Bamiyan, and Mazar-e-Sharif, over 10,000 copies of the songbook and recording are now in schools and orphanages across the country.

The songbook, designed and published by TriVision Studios and National Geographic, was a huge success both in the United States and in Afghanistan. Since its first publication in 2006, the book has received wide acclaim, including praise from Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. The Afghan children's songbook project originally began when editor Louise Pascale, a former Peace Corps volunteer and teacher in Afghanistan, recently found an old copy of a songbook she had created in the 1960's. Fearing the songs would be lost for future generations, she vowed to return the songs to the Afghan children.

In May of 2008, the National Gallery of Art presented a special program for the children's songbook at the U.S. premiere of the Afghanistan Hidden Treasures exhibit, where Afghan-American children from around the Washington, D.C. area came together and sang songs from the songbook. To view a clip of their performance and read more about the project, please click here.

The songbook was also published as a full color 32-page hardcover edition, containing English translation and transliteration of each song, and colorful illustrations. The hardcover version along with the audio CD is now available to the public for the price of $17.95 plus shipping and handling. To obtain your copy today, visit www.facone.org or call 781.662.7475.

Utilizing its spacious studio and production facility, TriVision held a "Night of Musical Enchantment" during the month of April 2009, featuring legendary classical singer and tabla player, Ustad Ghulam Abbas. With a private audience consisting of TriVision patrons, invited guests, family, and friends, the night revealed a relaxed cultural ambiance. Special lighting and effects complimented the stage where the artist and his partner performed to their enchanted listeners.

Ustad Ghulam Abbas is an exceptionally versatile tabla player, equally at home accompanying classical vocal and instrumental performances, as well as light classical including thumri and ghazal. He has participated in prestigious festivals and venues, along with broadcasts from PTV, Pakistan Radio, the BBC, ITV, and TV Rome. Having held workshops, seminars, and teaching assignments in cultural institutions and universities throughout the world, Ghulam Abbas is also permanently affiliated with the Allah Rakha School of Music in Mumbai. In addition, he was awarded the highly regarded Ameer Khusro Award in 1987, and earned an honorary citizenship of the city of Baltimore in 1985.

TriVision is planning more “Night of Musical Enchantment” events in future months featuring a variety of renowned artists. To become a TriVision patron or special member where you can take part in these exclusive events, please contact a TriVision representative at info@trivision.tv or call 1.888.600.5528.

Bill Cates, CSP, is the president of Referral Coach International and the creator of Bill Cates' Referral Advantage™ Program. He has revolutionized the way financial professionals generate an abundance of high-quality referrals. His books, "Unlimited Referrals", "Get More Referrals Now", and "Don't Keep Me a Secret" have established him as the financial services industry's foremost expert on building a thriving referral-based business. Bill frequently gives dynamic and high energy speeches and seminars, and has trained over 50,000 financial professionals in his proven referral system.

Bill was looking for a company that would be able to produce his most ambitious project to date, The Referral Advantage™ Training Program. This project would consist of several video training modules and exercises which financial professionals would use to teach their employees using Bill's proven referral methods and philosophy.

Unlike many other local marketing and design companies in the Washington, D.C. area, TriVision Studios was recognized as a company that could provide all of Bill Cates' required services in one place. Considering the list of services included studio rental, HD video production, branding, package design, banner design, and printing, this was no small task.

Taking advantage of TriVision's ample studio space, the two-day training seminar was recorded using multi-camera High Definition XDCAM video. A crowd of financial professionals was used as an audience to interact with Bill on the first day and were treated to TriVision's professional catering during shooting breaks. The second day consisted of role playing sessions videotaped in TriVision's conference room area to provide the appropriate ambiance. The recorded material was then edited into several hours of finished modules, integrating the role play sessions and hundreds of graphic slides with the seminar material, later mastered to DVD.

In the meantime, TriVision was challenged with the task of creating a branding concept for the program, as well as the development of a unique box package design to house the video and training material. Once finished, banners and other material were needed for use in upcoming booth displays.

To view a sample of one of the finished video training modules, please click here. To learn more about Referral Coach, visit them on the web at www.referralcoach.com.

Video Marketing is on the Rise

Video Marketing is fast becoming an essential tool in advertising. Online video ad revenue for the U.S. in 2009 is expected to reach over $700 million, a 35% increase from 2008. By 2011, that number could reach well over $1 billion.

Every business and organization, no matter its size, needs to tune in to this increasingly popular method of new media advertising. For an online video to be an effective marketing tool, it's not enough to post a clip on your website, Youtube, or buy a video banner placement on a popular content network. As it's becoming more and more commonplace, your video must stand out and be managed across different domains. To get noticed, you must create original video content that is unique and delivers the essence of your brand. Once the video is created, you can try out many innovative video marketing options: Video Blogs, Interactive Videos, or Educational and Training Videos.

Video Blogs

A video blog is one way to attach a real face and personality to your brand. If you decide to create a video blog, it's generally best to keep the video short and include written context. Think of it as a regular blog in which the point is to make a connection to someone who is interested in the topic. You might choose daily, weekly or monthly entries, but be sure to have enough content to keep it interesting, simple, and natural.

Interactive Videos

Online video technology is starting to allow prospects to pick and choose only the content that they are interested in watching. Let's say TriVision produces a 30-minute video about your business and services. Your prospect may only be interested in, say, 20% of it. Giving the user the ability to search and find the areas they are interested in will help prevent consumer interest loss. At TriVision, we can provide ways to catalog and tag each scene of the video so it will be searchable. Viewers don't have to fast forward through the irrelevant parts, and can instead simply tell the video player what they want to see.

Educational and Training Videos

Educational and Training videos are effective ways to inform your prospect of your product or service's features and uses. An informative visualization can give you an advantage over your competitors.  A training video has the dual purpose of being used for internal management and operations as an efficient tool in instructing employees.

TriVision is now offering a FREE one-on-one consultation regarding the use of new media technology to effectively expand your marketing and advertising reach. With its custom-built 12,000 square feet of studio space, chroma-key backgrounds, professional equipment and post-production suites, TriVision Studios is a premiere full-service agency to help you accomplish your video marketing needs under one roof. For more information on how the video marketing revolution can best benefit your company, contact one of our online video specialists by emailing us at info@trivision.tv or call 1.888.600.5528.