#1 2009-11-06 17:03:36

**_ggonzalez_**

Connect Pro Exchange/Pod Catalog

Ken Molay over on The Webinar Blog has been kind enough to take the time to field some questions I had concerning Connect Pro. What came out of the (I believe ongoing) discussion was a sketch of something that's been in the back of my head for about a year.

So, I thought I would get the thoughts of the user community. The above link points to my conversation with Ken, but I'm going to copy/paste my very rough outline:

- Adobe truly invests in the idea and rollout of a pod catalog/user exchange

- Adobe courts/grows the Connect developer community

- Adobe reaches some kind of deal on the split of the revenue generated by pod/app sales (Developers 70% & Adobe 30%...?)

- Developers are given the option of pricing their product and either selling their products on the open market or selling their products on the open market and within the pod catalog. If developers want to rely on their own chutzpah, more power to them, but having the option to be part of a catalog that lists/rates/reviews all pods would seem to be the better fit as that would be the first location most customers would visit.

- If developers chose to use the pod catalog, Adobe works with you regarding the rollout of updates to the platform so pod functionality is maintained.

If this were to happen, it's my belief that more customers would adopt the platform, prices would go down, webinars would get better (not magically of course, but having tools and knowing which tool to use means presenters can be more creative) and the bar would be raised for the medium.

Thoughts?

**_mark2741_**

Re: Connect Pro Exchange/Pod Catalog

So, you're saying that an iphone-like 'App Store' would be the incentive needed to get more developers to create new pods? I don't see it, since right now the pod developers who put their stuff on the already existing Exchange get 100% of the profits.

**_ggonzalez_**

Re: Connect Pro Exchange/Pod Catalog

I would think a large and varied exchange would benefit everyone.

Adobe:

- Adobe is able to use the exchange as a selling point. This alone should be more than enough motivation for Adobe (long term), especially when other webinar platforms are cheaper/getting better. This would be a huge value add for the Connect Pro sales department.

- Adobe would have a developer community that would be able to build the functionality that they have not considered/don't have time to build, showing the responsiveness of their developer community and robustness of flash, thus growing the brand and market share.

- If there is a profit split, Adobe would be even more invested in the venture because they're making money on something that has the potential to provide a huge new revenue stream. Since Adobe would have to initially invest some capital to get things moving, a split would provide some immediate compensation. So let's say after Adobe has recouped their investment and turned a profit, any cut that Adobe gets from developers would drop to a single digit. Any new revenue generated would go towards maintaining the exchange, developer conferences and R&D, with the rest being pocketed (just spitballing).

Developers:

- With Adobe aggressively marketing the exchange, that means more people would become aware of the space, thus more revenue for developers.

- I would imagine (and hope) Adobe would work with developers for any product updates (especially if there were a profit split).

Customers:

- Increased functionality and customization without having to divert IT resources to develop pods in-house (and if you can create it for cheaper than what's in the exchange, do it, then upload to the exchange and undersell the competition).

- Higher impact webinars which, depending on how you're using the platform, can generate sales leads or increase learner retention or provide field support.

- With more customers using the platform and the exchange, prices should go down (good for customers and Adobe as Adobe can offer more competitive pricing).

So, am I taking crazy pills?

alistairlee

Re: Connect Pro Exchange/Pod Catalog

Hey ggonzalez - I don't think you're taking crazy pills, but I don't think it's necessary for Adobe to take a cut of the sale to see the benefits you talk about.  It's in Adobe' best interest to grow and promote a larger developer community.

I've always believed that being able to create your own custom pods is one of the biggest and best differentiators for Connect Pro and I would personally love to see the exchange grow and flourish.

A few of the custom pods I've seen - like the Closed Caption Pod by WGBH, or Footprints and Talking Stick by Refined Data - add tremendous value to Connect Pro customers at a fraction of the price it would take to code these yourself.

**_ggonzalez_**

Re: Connect Pro Exchange/Pod Catalog

Thanks Alistair.

I agree that it seems to be in Adobe's best interest to grow the exchange. For the past couple of years, some good things have been made available, but for the most part, the exchange has languished.

Before Adobe could use the exchange as an impactful marketing tool to distinguish itself from other platforms in an easy to understand way, it first has to reach a certain size and have more than the handful of "killer apps" that currently reside there. Again, some good stuff, but for what it could be, the exchange is rather spare.

Since the exchange hasn't grown too much, it leads me to think it never really will without Adobe actively pursuing developers and seriously investing in the exchange (or perhaps developers using this forum to crowdsource ideas/added functionality)

That's where the idea of splitting the profits with Adobe comes from. If it's not stupid apparent to the decision makers that having a large and varied exchange is in their best interest, or if it has been considered, but any sort of effort was balked at because of developer outreach cost, then a profit split would act as the carrot to prompt movement (developer concerns about a revenue split should be offset by their potential customer base skyrocketing due to Adobe aggressively marketing the exchange).

Think about it...

You're in the middle of a webinar or are about to start. You or another presenter has an idea to interact with the participants in a certain way. You click the Connect Exchange Menu at the top of your webinar room. A search window opens and you enter in a few keywords and/or sort by function and rating. You see an application which describes the function that you were thinking "oh that would be cool to do" not 5 minutes ago. You purchase/download and within seconds you have it loaded to the webinar room.

The potential is huge and has been for awhile.