Online conferencing for Obama’s inauguration – January 20th

Online history being made by Obama

Here’s a quick list of the best spots to watch Obama’s inauguration online on January 20th:

• Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies – closed captioned and flash required. The site has a wealth of information about what happens on Inauguration Day, including a handful of inaugural videos dating back to President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1957 swearing-in ceremony, as well as videos of presidential luncheons dating back to the inauguration of John Kennedy. (It also reveals, for those interested, the recipe for Obama’s luncheon meal, which features a main course of pheasant and duck served with sour cherry chutney.)

•  CBS News will have day-long live coverage January 20 on TV and the Web, starting at 7 a.m. EDT. Katie Couric will also host a special Webcast that night with reporters and punditry, for which viewers can submit questions during the webcast.

•  CBS streaming coverage will also be Webcast on Joost’s Everything Obama page, which also features interviews, campaign highlights, and satire clips.

•  MSNBC will be streaming the historical event on its home page and politics section, and users can embed the video into their own sites and social pages. Its inauguration page also features videos of inaugurations from decades past.

•  If a computer screen seems too small for such a momentous moment, there’s always the option of heading to a movie theater–or a Starbucks. At MSNBCEvents.com, the cable network is distributing free tickets to screenings of the inauguration in movie theaters in 21 cities (what a bargain instead of $10 a ticket for a normal movie). MSNBC is also partnering with Starbucks to

simulcast the its coverage in 650 coffee shops in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.

•  Fox News will provide live streaming coverage via Hulu beginning at noon for about two hours. After the live stream, Hulu will provide on-demand access to the ceremony. The live stream is embeddable, as is an inauguration countdown from Hulu (wonder what companies will pay for commercials on Hulu, could be a wonderful way to get some cheap branding). The video site’s Obama Presidency page also features related content like speeches, commentary, satire, and past inaugural speeches.

•  C-SPAN will debut its Inauguration Hub on January 20, featuring an online “control room”–a multichannel grid designed by Mogulus with Webcasts of inauguration activities. Visitors will be able to choose from one of four live feeds featuring events like the swearing in at the Capitol, the parade, and a number of inaugural balls.

•  CNN is partnering with Facebook to provide live streaming of the swearing in and Obama’s speech. Viewers can “RSVP” for the event on Facebook, and as they watch, they will be able to provide status updates with their thoughts on the events. A Facebook window on the CNN.com Live channel will show viewers their friends’ relevant status updates.

•  Current TV and Twitter are teaming up, as they did during the election, to add real-time tweets to Current’s broadcast and Webcast of the swearing in, which starts at 11:30 a.m. EDT and will be replayed throughout the day.

•  The New York Times, the AP’s online video network, the Online NewsHour, and ABCNews.com will also live stream inauguration coverage.

•  Livestation, the peer-to-peer Internet video site, is featuring coverage from news outlets such as Al Jazeera English, BBC World News, Euronews, and France 24. Viewers will not only be able to skip through the different channels on the Livestation desktop player, but also chat with other viewers and program producers, I think these guys are really entering new territorty and this could be pretty interesting.  This is what I plan on checking out.

•  The Washington Post has a comprehensive online Inauguration guide that is particularly useful for Washington residents trying to keep track of everything happening in the city now through January 20. Visitors to the site will find some interactive features such as a video discussion on the question of “How historic is Obama’s inauguration?”

If you want to record one of these live webcasts check out these guys for a listing of software that can capture online video.  If we could only learn to paint or do artwork through online video it sure would help the artistic community.  Seems like plenty of colleges are out there hoping you get an online degree but how useful is it really?  Anyway, I digress…

If you know of any other websites where coverage will be held let me know.  Also would love to hear feedback on which websites did the best coverage.