Welcome to Corbin's TechTalk Newsletter, in its fifth year of providing the latest in technology for meetings, hospitality and travel professionals in more than 60 countries.

In this Issue:

• NEW ARTICLE: Will Technology Threaten Meeting Industry Associations?

• RECOMMENDED ARTICLE: You Are Not Alone -- Coping with Information Overload

• NEW ARTICLE: Site Inspection Handbook and Checklist

• NEWS

• 13 WEB FAVORITES FOR BUSINESS AND FUN

• NEW ARTICLE: Not Your Father's Convention -- Innovative Technology at Meetings

• NEW ARTICLE: Strategic Thinking About Meetings - the NBTA Joins In

• QUOTE OF THE MONTH

• TECHNOLOGY BOOK OF THE MONTH

• CORBIN'S CALENDAR and the fine print.

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	ITS Handling over $12 million of corporate, incentive and convention air travel each year, ITS offers hassle-free, real-time online reservations and support services 24/7. Call Bill Martin at ITS at 800-462-9430 for your full-service housing and travel solution.
	Hawaii Convention Center "Where Business and Aloha Meet." Designed to create a uniquely Hawaiian sense of place, the Hawai'i Convention Center is the perfect place for meeting of virtually any size or occasion.
	Great Online Registration Software RegOnline is a leader in the registration business with innovative technology, great pricing, and a support team that you will want to tell your friends about. Our system will make your event management life easier.  Click to get your complimentary copy of this special article written by Corbin Ball: “Improving Event Management with Online Registration”.
	Beyond Registration eMeetingExperts takes meeting planning beyond registration with ePlanner™. Manage budgets, room block, air/ground travel, breakouts, and a/v while creating a complete meeting plan, Personal Agendas™, name badges and more! Tightly integrated with Microsoft® Office, you can exchange data with your current registration or meeting planning software. Imports e-itineraries!  For more information or a FREE TRIAL, visit www.emeetingexperts.com.
	ConferenceDirect ConferenceDirect is Meeting Planning Made Simple.  We offer comprehensive services for all your meeting needs, no matter the size.  Our team of professionals can provide: site selection and contract negotiation; conference management, housing and registration services; and meeting management technology.  Visit our website at www.conferencedirect.com or call us at 877.262.2076.
	Ungerboeck Systems International (USI) USI’s Event Business Management Software (EBMS) is the premier internet-enabled, internationalized, and fully integrated system used by associations, conferences, exhibitions and venues on six continents.  EBMS covers the entire business spectrum from Membership, Complete Event Management, Registration, Housing, Exhibit Sales, Service Orders, Exhibitor Directory & Floorplans, Sales, Speakers, Abstracts, Project Management, Purchasing, Budgeting and Complete Financials.
	EIBTM -- 30 November-2 December 2004  -- Barcelona Spain EIBTM Is The Premier International Event Dedicated To The Global Meetings And Incentive Industry.  EIBTM attracts 5,000 industry buyers and 2,000 exhibitors from over 100 countries. Over 2,500 buyers at EIBTM are top-level decision-makers bought to the event as part its Hosted Buyer Programme®.
	ConferZone ConferZone is the first objective e-conferencing resource that tracks the latest technology and trends in the marketplace. ConferZone provides information on Web conferencing, video conferencing, voice/audio conferencing, collaborative conferencing as well as expertise on hardware, equipment and consulting services.
	Attendee Management Inc. (AMi) AMi breaks down the barriers to online registration, housing, travel and e-marketing. No license fees, no software to manage, just dedicated, experienced service. Pay only for what you need, and provide the solutions your attendees and clients expect. Contact info@attendeenet.com, or call 512.842.1613
	CardinalWare CardinalWare is a 4th Generation Content Management System that fully integrates management of information, personal profiles and distribution. Whether you need a new or better Website, online marketing and communications tools, integration with other data, or anything in between, CardinalWare may be right for you. Visit our Website or call us at 888-755-7075.

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NEW ARTICLE: Will Meetings Technology Threaten Meetings Industry Associations? 
I have been a passionate proponent for using technology to streamline the business process for the meetings industry. However, as these tools are taking effect, I am having second thoughts on how it might impact meeting industry associations, a key source for our industry education and networking.

Technology can save time and labor. It drives out inefficiencies. “Faster, better, and cheaper” has been the mantra that has been driving sweeping technology changes in society and has made the U.S. the most productive country on earth. However, as this revolution more fully takes hold in the meetings industry in the next few years, several of our basic business models will be challenged on a national and international basis.

These changes will have a huge impact on society and the meetings industry in general.

One of the greatest impacts, however, is likely to be with meeting industry associations. This article will give several examples on how they could be impacted.

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NEW ARTICLE: You Are Not Alone - Coping with Information Overload and Life Balance 

 (The Meeting Professional, March 2004)

This recent article is one that I wrote for the MPI Chancellors Column of The Meeting Professional. It deals with how to deal with information overload and establishing a work life balance. As important as learning technology is, it is equally important to know when to turn "off" the computer switch as well. Adobe Acrobat Reader required

NEW ARTICLE: Site Inspection Handbook
The excellent site inspection checklist and handbook is provided by Mike Lyon, from Write Style Communications Ltd. from the UK. It is well written with lots of ideas. Thanks, Mike, for contributing to the article database!  Adobe Acrobat Reader required.

EIBTM Technology Village

I will be attending and assisting with the EIBTM Technology Village in Barcelona in the late fall this year. It is one of the few meeting industry events that group the technology companies together in one convenient location -- this year, in Barcelona, right by the entrance. If you are a technology company, let me know or click on the link above for more info. 

Corbin Ball's Ultimate Meetings Technology Guide Now Available At  No Charge
The industry’s most comprehensive technology resource, designed to help planners and suppliers compare and choose the best products available from among 1,200 meeting industry-related software packages is now available for free download with no charges ever. This is provided as a resource to the industry through the MPI Foundation.

13 WEB SITE FAVORITES FOR MEETINGS, BUSINESS & FUN

3 Favorite Meeting Industry Sites:

MPI BC Chapter Dynamic Newsreader

A dynamic newsreader is great idea for meeting industry sites. This one is the first meeting industry site that I know of that draws a variety on information from other Internet news feeds.

GetItPlanet
This interesting meeting portal is "an online marketplace aimed at the events industry". To quote the site: "GIP works very much like ebay in that we are a referral network that connects Planners (Buyers) and Vendors (Sellers) in a virtual marketplace to contract business." Thanks to Jeff Rasco for this link suggestion.

3M Meeting Network
The site from 3M has lots of articles, tool, products and more on how to run more effective meetings

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6 Favorite Utility and Search Sites:  

ZipDecode

Great visual display of US Zipcode. As you type each digit, the map progressively narrow the field until the final location is displayed. 

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

Excellent portal for privacy rights information including links, facts, ID theft info, financial privacy, internet privacy, protection of medical records, and much more.

One Bag - The Art and Science of Traveling Light

As a very frequent flier and traveler, my "Number 1" travel tip is to pack as light as possible -- I try to carry on whenever possible. This site has many great ideas on how to do this. 

GoogleAlert 

Do you regularly check the Web for specific phrases? For example, I regularly check the phrase "meetings technology" among others to make sure my site is on top and to see if there are new listings. This free listing service allow you to set up a search schedule on up to five words or phrases, and have the report emailed to you automatically on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

Search Engine Showdown

Understanding how search engines work is the key to effectively finding what you want on the Web. This site has reviews, analysis, and the latest news about the major search engines.  

Lyris Email List Content Checker
If you are an email list owner (such as I am with this newsletter), you may have experienced the frustration of seeing your opt-in mailing blocked by anti-Spam filters. In order to protect their clients from real junk, some email providers and ISPs unfortunately block legitimate email in the process.  This site will allow you to run a sample message through ContentChecker. You will receive a detailed evaluation noting red flags that might block it. Because this free tool is sponsored by Lyris, you'll also get a gentle sales pitch for its ListManager software in the follow-up report, but no other communications related to your use will be generated.

The Power of 10

View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons. This site visually displays the concept of the "Power of 10"  in a trip from the furthest extremes of the universe (10⁺²³ meters) to the sub-atomic level of the quark (10^-16 meters).

The Subservient Chicken

What to see a guy in a chicken costume break dance, moon walk, lay an egg, sleep, fly, and nearly any other command you can imagine? Just type the command and the chicken will respond. Check this very funny site out. 

A Photo Journal Through the Chernobyl Ghost Town

Although not particularly fun, this is a fascinating and very sobering documentation of a woman's spring 2004 solo motorcycle ride through the nuclear wasteland created from the former USSR Chernobyl power plant disaster.

KissThisGuy -- A Compendium of Misheard Song Lyrics

This poorly designed, but highly humorous site lists thousands of song lyrics that have been misheard, including the famous Henddrix hit from the Purple Haze album "'scuse me while I kiss this guy." It clearly demonstrates that we all do not hear the same things.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." --  Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

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