Flippin' Out

As the fall seasons begin, the best $200 spent in the off-season was the high-capacity HD Flip camera we have deployed with our traveling teams.

Good quality for up-close interviews, easy interface for staff management and a native ability to create windows media makes this a perfect road tool. Our media relations contacts with soccer and volleyball can use the Flip instead of a pocket audio recorder to get the post-game from a coach, and in a little more time than it takes to post the story and stats, we can add video.

The ability to capture action isn't as strong, but that's not the Flip's main purpose. It's a social media tool -- quick things with your friends, a point-and-shoot camera for moving pictures.

In the past, we only had post-game video at home; now all our events can carry video -- a big step ahead for a small price. If a shop can't quite afford the large unit, the SD Flip is as low as $100.

If your state's telecom or campus contracts weren't as restrictive as ours and you can option for the 3GS over the 3G (just a missing "S" we're told), the media relations office could deploy with the full solution of multi-account Twitter management, Facebook updating and point and shoot video uploads. Something else to consider as your upgrade office phones.