Greetings! There are several articles and other items highlighted in this issue. If you have questions, comments or suggestions for future topics, I would love to hear from you.
Corbin
========================================================== IN THIS ISSUE
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· Article: The Videoconferencing Options
· WebWatch: Web explodes to more than 2.1 billion addressable pages
· Article: Finding the Needle in the Cyberhaystack
· Favorites File Updates: New additions
· Updated Article: Virtual Site Inspections
· Corbin’s Speaking Calendar
· Webcast: See Corbin’s Virtual Site Inspection program on a Webcast
· --- and more!
========================================================== NEW SPONSOR
Thanks to Trade Show Central
for helping to sponsor this issue.
========================================================== NEW ARTICLE
Meeting from Remote Locations - the Videoconferencing Options
The ability to see facial expressions, the roll of the eyes, the look of interest, the quizzical glance is a key part of communication. In fact, the non-verbal components of communication often convey much more that mere words. However, to fly across the country for a 4-hour business meeting is very costly in terms of time and travel expense. Videoconferencing in some cases offers the best of both worlds: the ability to meet with people around the world without the travel time and expense while still retaining these very important non-verbal cues.
This article covers the range of videoconferencing options available today, and point the way to what is around the bend as well.
The benefits to videoconferencing are numerous:
1. Reduction in travel costs, strain and time
2. Increased efficiency (often video meetings are more tightly scripted)
3. Increased reliability (no flight delays)
4. Easy recording capabilities
5. Improved communication over standard audio conference calls.
========================================================== WEBWATCH -- NET USAGE CONTINUES TO EXPLODE
The Web is exploding and the rate is increasing!
A study just released by Cyveillance this July indicates that there are 2.1 billion unique, publicly available pages exist on the Internet. The study also found that the Internet is growing at an explosive rate of more than 7 million pages each day, indicating that it will double in size by early 2001.
Also, over 84% of all of these pages are U.S. based (although only about half of all internet users worldwide are from the US).
========================================================== UPDATED ARTICLE
Finding the Needle in the Cyberhaystack
The Web grew 80% in from 1999 to 2000! With more than 2.1 billion addressable web pages and 2.7 million added daily, the Web can be a very confusing place. It’s like trying to find a library book with all of the books on the floor.
Fortunately, there is help out there. Search sites help make order out of this chaos. They are web sites that act as electronic card catalogs to help you find the information you want. Understanding how to use the different types of search sites will help you find your information "needle" in the "haystack" of cyberspace information.
========================================================== ADDITIONS TO CORBIN’S “FAMOUS FAVORITES FILE”
MeetHead.com ( http://www.meethead.com ) is a startup directory matching meeting planners to a wide range of non-hotel suppliers. Several tools (calendars, rating guides, etc.) are included. Headed by Jennifer
Filipowski, Head MeetHead (yes, the daughter of the famous Flip Filipowski, the widely known high-tech entrepreneur and visionary), this site has a fresh, clean style.
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Incentive and Loyalty Marketing Depot ( http://incentivedepot.com/
) is also a startup focusing on the incentive market. This site follows a tried and true web principle: add tons of content and eyeballs will come. Although content is being built, the infrastructure to easily add it has been made.
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Although the PlanSoft site ( http://www.plansoft.com
) is not new, look for a total redesign (scheduled to appear in September). To
be renamed as MPoint (www.mpoint.com), the meeting facilities search will be much simplified and has a much more user-friendly interface.
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Voice-based web browsing! The future is here with a couple of very interesting sites. Like a movie phone on steroids, Tellme
( http://www.tellme.com ) and Quack ( http://www.quack.com
) allow you to “surf” the internet via your cell (or regular) phone. You can find restaurants
(Tellme is said to have a database of more than 100,000), movies, taxis, airlines, stock quotes, sports, news, traffic, weather, and even horoscopes, soap operas, and lottery numbers! Once the simple menu commands are learned, it is quite easy to navigate around. I found that the voice recognition is quite reliable, especially if you are calling from a relatively quite
========================================================== SOFTWARE BOOK RELEASE DATE IS SCHEDULED
The Ultimate Meeting Professionals Software Guide, Second Edition will be available in
early October! Read the Introduction and see the 19 category headings online at: http://www.corbinball.com/services.guide.htm
========================================================== UPDATED ARTICLE
Virtual Site Inspections - Is It the Next Best Thing to Being There?
Meeting planners -- are you tired of sorting through stacks of hotel brochures every week? Or hefting heavy hotel and facility guides? Or managing your burgeoning file cabinet with all of the promotional materials you receive?
There is relief - and it is spelled “world wide web!” It is now possible to search the net for information for most of the meeting facilities around. Hotel chains are building significant meeting planning sections to their web sites including: floor plans, photos of meeting space, 360º photos, sounds, and even movie clips of meeting venues. This information is available for free, around the clock, around the world, in a format that gives far more information than a static, dated brochure.
My speaking schedule is filling rapidly for 2000. Bookings in September and October are bringing me to Madison, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, LA, Long Branch (NJ) and Asia. Would love to come to your city as well!
========================================================== CORBIN NAMED IN THE COVER STORY OF MEETINGNEWS MAGAZINE AS ONE OF "THE 25 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN THE MEETINGS INDUSTRY" (JULY 17,
2000)
I feel greatly honored to be included with such an illustrious group of people - many of whom I have admired and respected for years including Joan Eisenstodt, John Foster, Peggy Lee,
David Dubois, Ed
Trom, and others.
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