Every Thursday, socialTNT channels the spirit of citizen journalism by putting bloggers, reporters, PR pro’s or anyone with something to say about social media in front of the camera for a short, three minute interview. The videos are meant to encourage dialog between PR/communications practitioners and marketers on the future of media.

While on vacation in Austin, socialTNT was able to catch up with Twitter friend and Social Media Marketing Consultant, Jon Ray. Today, Jon tells us what it is a Social Media Consultant does and also what to look for when choosing a live videocasting host.

At the ripe age of 23, Jon is founder of Suited Productions, a media production and marketing firm. The company, founded in 2005, originally started off as an HD video production company for television and music video. Jon’s move into social networking campaigns began in the early days of MySpace, when a real estate company asked him to figure out ways to attract a younger crowd to the near-campus district. Jon set up a renter community to help calm parents’ and young renters’ fears, while also generating leads for the real estate firm.

Since then, Jon’s main focus is helping brands integrate their ad campaigns and marketing goals into social media campaigns that create a conversation. His biggest success so far has been the Toyota Line of Scrimmage to introduce high school students to Toyota. The series involved reporting on and broadcasting high school football games from the back of a Toyota Tundra. Not surprising, Jon has been hired as a consultant for ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi.

Jon’s approach to social media is very hands-on and experiential. He’s not just satisfied with reading about the various tools and strategies, he has to test the technology and see what works. You can find him on Twitter, Flickr, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Right now, Jon is testing transparency while trying out various lifecasting and video casting platforms.

[For an archived video of Jon's lifecast from our interview and warm-up, click here. Watch as we talk about Apple's lack of social media strategy and other geek stuff.]

See the results of Jon’s trials to find out which videocasting platform Jon prefers and listen to him say sooth on upcoming social media marketing and advertising trends for 2008!

Are you as much a video fan as Jon and I are? Or do you think live video is just another fad?

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[The above photo, "Jon Ray is the Future," used by permission from Jon Ray]