INTRODUCTION: This is the unabridged version of a small piece of the December 2000 installment of Ki`ihele, my column for ISLAND SERVER, Hawai`i's premiere entertainment magazine. If you'd like to read the finished column, please click here.

For a long time, Henry Kapono's goal was to have a world tour without ever leaving the Islands. "It's a vision tied to his strong love for Hawai`i," explains Lezlee Kapono, who handles management for her husband. "In the early days, when he signed with Columbia, he was asked to move to the Mainland. He really didn't want to do that." Instead, Henry Kapono dreamed of a virtual world tour.

As technology advanced, the Kaponos began to see that Henry's dream was accessible. "It really clicked for us when we got Road Runner," Lezlee recalls. "We recognized how wide broadband access would change the world."

Henry Kapono's and PixelWorld's Aloha I-Jam '99, held at the Pier Bar at Aloha Tower Marketplace, was broadcast live on the Internet in November 1999. It was the first successful Internet Webcast of a giant musical event from Hawai`i, featuring over nine hours of live entertainment, including performances by over 20 of Hawai`i's finest artists, including Kapono, his old pal and partner Cecilio Rodriguez, Kapena, and the Makaha Sons.

"Henry wanted the world to see Hawai`i," says Lezlee. "During the I-Jam, so many people got to tune in and hear Hawai`ian music. It opened up the eyes of a lot of local artists to the possibilities of the Internet."

Though not a financial success, and in spite of difficulties with viewer measurement, the Webcast itself was a technical triumph, a feather in PixelWorld's cap – and, for Kapono, a step closer to the realization of a dream.

Designer's Star Steve Szabo is a computer analyst for the video and film industry. He works at Pacific Focus, Inc., the largest post-production facility in Hawai`i, and served as director of Kapono's I-Jam back in November '99. "We got pretty close," says Szabo, who soon began working on the artist's Web presence. The Kaponos and their new designer got together for several initial planning sessions to hash out a vision for the artist's site. "It was a collaboration to establish functionality," recalls Szabo, "and then I went off and came up with the design. Henry's a really creative guy; he always gives me good input."

Henry Kapono's Web presence has come a long way, and continues to evolve. "We went through a major revision of the site at the beginning of this year," says Szabo. "It was five pages of biographical information. Now we're incorporating a chat room, e-commerce, and clips of the music from the new album." Clips are offered in both Quicktime and Real Audio format, and Szabo offers the option of pre-loading all ten clips, a true sign of consideration for visitors!

The site, at www.henrykapono.com, loads very quickly but never skimps on content or graphics. "I think it has a distinctive look, not cluttered and easily navigable," comments Szabo with justifiable pride. "I'm always trying to integrate Henry's personality in the design – to make it reflect him." Szabo uses Photoshop and Illustrator for graphics, Adobe Go Live to create the pages, and Aftereffects to clean up audio clips.

Henry Kapono is pleased with the results. "I like the way it looks, and I think it has a user-friendly feeling. It's like music – you can sing a song, or you can sing a song with feeling. I've been to other sites, and some have a good feeling, others don't. I want my site to draw people in," the artist says.

Reaching Out

Lezlee Kapono has always said of her husband that one has only to see him perform to fall in love with his music. "When people see him at Duke's, they become instant fans. They go home and try to figure out how to get his music. In the old days, people didn't have a simple, easy way to get to Henry. Now they have the site!" Visitors are invited to add their mailing information to the "Friends of Kapono" mailing list, and e-mail broadcasts are used to communicate news from time to time.

"Now they can find me, now they can talk to me, see what I'm doing and who I am," remarks Henry Kapono. "It's a better way to communicate with people." He is acutely aware of the paradox of the new electronic medium. "It makes the world a smaller place," he says, "and it makes your world a bigger place."

"Just one year ago, 90% of Henry's fans were fax-only, and the people who had e-mail addresses weren't really using them," Lezlee marvels. "Now, a year later, three-quarters of our database have e-mail."

Soon, Kapono's fans will find new features on his site that will help them feel even more connected, and provide a means for them to discuss his music. "The chat room and bulletin board present opportunities for fans to communicate with each other," says Lezlee. "This will create a higher awareness of Henry and his music. The dialogue will go back and forth. It's a great way to stimulate enthusiasm and word-of-mouth."

Lezlee remarks that it is not uncommon for her husband's fans to receive e-mail responses from the artist himself. "We get a lot of questions like, 'What CD is this or that song on?'" she explains. "Henry likes to respond and say, 'Hey, thanks for liking my music!' He recognizes that his success comes from the people."

Marketing Trends

When I spoke with the Kaponos and Steve Szabo in mid-November, the e-commerce function of Kapono's site had only been operational for several days. Szabo is quite proud of the new feature. "E-commerce took a lot longer than I had anticipated! Now I understand why people shy away from it, and why it's so expensive when provided by third-party companies." The first order was placed on the day after the shopping cart was installed, and they continue to roll in.

Hawai`i residents are NOT the targeted audience for those online purchases, however. "Henry is really well-represented in Hawai`i by the record stores. We are very much aiming at the Mainland, and at the big fan base in Japan," says Szabo.

Lezlee Kapono concurs. "I was concerned about opening the e-commerce area on Henry's site, but I couldn't not take advantage of the opportunity to get Henry's music to the world. But we have good strong relationships with local retailers here."

Kapono's site plays an increasingly major role in supplementing marketing efforts for the artist. "His new CD has the Web address displayed prominently on the back cover," says Szabo. "Plus, all the lyrics are on the Web site, and not on the CD." Additionally, Szabo has just begun using WebTrends to monitor the site's performance, and the team is looking forward to analyzing that powerful information and using it to refine their marketing strategies.

Wish List

What about the future of Henry Kapono's Web presence? "I'd like to include more activity and 'moving parts,'" comments the artist. "Live interviews or even live studio concerts like Unplugged or Storytellers."

Kapono also wants to include more of the history of his music on his site. "We're ready to put up a bunch of material about the thinking behind each song, the thought process," says Szabo.

Considering his background, it's a bit surprising that Szabo didn't include streaming video on Kapono's site when he overhauled it. But the absence of Flash technology is a good example of the designer's awareness of the site's visitors. "I want and plan to Flash-enable the site," he says, "but I didn't do it right away because not everybody can view Flash. For now, I included features that almost everybody can use."

He adds, "Streaming video is expensive – if you want to do it right. The big companies that use streaming video also use high bandwidth servers. Instead of standard hosting companies, they've got mega-networks set up for many simultaneous views."

Is another Webcast in the works? The Kaponos now own the Pier Bar, which is under renovation and will be transformed into a hybrid between a nightclub, a restaurant, and an amphitheater. Appropriately enough, the new club will be called Kapono's. "PixelWorld will have a permanent home there," says Lezlee, who is hoping for Webcasts of a series of concerts.

A major concert, to thank the Hawai`i State Legislature for passing the new intellectual property bill that favors performing artists, is also in the planning stages. According to Lezlee, the March 2001 show will feature appearances by many local artists, and possibly even major stars with local presences like Carlos Santana and Willie Nelson. A Webcast of this event would be a major coup for PixelWorld, and a real treat for fans all over the world.

"I think we're at the first step," Henry Kapono muses in his rich, melodic baritone. "Now it's a matter of dreaming, y'know?"

Henry Kapono is a versatile performer and award-winning songwriter whose latest release is Evolution of Poi. Visit his site at www.henrykapono.com.

Lezlee Kapono, a former stockbroker with a background in finance, handles management for her husband.

Steve Szabo works as a computer analyst for Pacific Focus, Inc., the largest post-production facility in Hawai`i, whose site may be found at www.pacfocus.com.