Volume VII, Issue 3

Call for meetings technology innovation providers: Apply for EIBTM's World Wide Technology Watch Award. 
I am happy to report that I have been asked to chair the judging committee for the third year. This global award seeks to recognize technology innovation for the meetings and events industry. The judging will be in September 2005 and the award will be given late November at EIBTM 2005 in Barcelona. Description, criteria and application form can be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/95tar

CEIR's Response to the Brookings Institute paper critical of convention centers and the exhibition industry.
http://www.ceir.org/content/docs/Brookings%20ResponseFINAL.pdf
The "rest of the story" in response to the charge that there is a "glut" of convention center space. Thoughtful and document response from CEIR - The Center for Exhibition Industry Research.  
  

27 Web Site Favorites for Business and Fun

6 Favorite Meeting/Travel Industry Sites:

Incentive Central
http://www.incentivecentral.org/
Lots of info for those running incentive meetings and programs.

Green Meetings Industry Council
http://www.greenmeetings.info  
Super resource on environmentally friendly meetings.

Advances in Conference Archiving:
http://www.conferencearchives.com/esri_demo
Excellent demos of web-based archiving on meeting content.

Best Wi-Fi Hotels 2004:
http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2004/11/2/201522/957/Title/Best_WiFi_Hotels_2004

Worst of Wi-Fi Hotels 2004:
http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2004/11/4/4105/43713/Title/Worst_WiFi_Hotels_2004

Free Wi-Fi Hotel Directory:
http://www.wififreespot.com/hotels.html . 

12 Favorite Utility/Reference Sites:      

Alexa
http://www.alexa.com
What are the most popular sites on the web? How does your site compare? This site answers these questions and more.

Fagan Finder
http://www.faganfinder.com/engines/google.shtml
Advanced search using Google -- including specific day searches.

Bug Me Not
http://www.bugmenot.com/
This site provides passwords for thousands of sites for those of you not wishing to give your personal contact details.

Google Maps
http://map.google.com
The best free mapping program I have seen. A big improvement over MapQuest, MapBlast or Expedia Maps.

Keyhole
http://www.keyhole.com/
Awesome satellite maps of the world in a searchable database from Google. Free 7-day trial. The interface is very cool. Year subscription is US$29.95.

ProcessLibrary.com
http://www.processlibrary.com/
Ever wonder what all of those mysteriously-named Windows 'processes' are doing, and how they got loaded on your computer in the first place? Use the helpful ProcessLibrary.com to find out.

A9
http://www.a9.com
Excellent new search engine showing results from google, alexa, and more.

Amazon.com Yellow Pages
http://www.amazon.com/yp 
20 million storefront images from 10 cities, including Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.
Checkout the link to the Waldorf Astoria as an example:
http://tinyurl.com/83gf6

What is the best search engine for your specific search needs?
http://www.philb.com/whichengine.htm

Yahoo/Google search combined and side by side
http://www.yagoohoogle.com/

Internet Advertising - 10 Year History
http://www.doubleclick.com/us/knowledge_central/documents/RESEARCH/dc_decaderinonline_0504.pdf
Interesting coverage of the internet advertising history. We've come a long way in ten years!

ZabaSearch
http://zabasearch.com
Trying to find someone? Want to do a background check? This partially free site can help. 

9 Sites for Fun:      

Graphic News Feed
http://www.tenbyten.org/10x10.html
Interesting visual depiction of the hot news stories.

Artistic Animation with a John Coltrane Soundtrack 
http://michalevy.com/gs_download.html
For you jazz lovers out there this is pretty cool -- Thanks to Rod Marymor for sending me this link. 

AmazeType
http://amaztype.tha.jp/
Interesting graphic interface for the Amazon book collection using web services.

The Drugs I Need
http://cu.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=Rx_song_download
A very funny animated jab at all the drug commercials from the Consumers Union.

Hillary in 2008?
http://www.flowgo.com/funpages/view.cfm/6660
This animation pokes fun at both sides. Thanks to Joan Eisenstodt for this link suggestion.

Why not to use paper?
http://www.stationeryisbad.com/movie2.html
3 funny movies about the inefficiencies of paper (from Microsoft)

Magnetic letter board game
http://web.okaygo.co.uk/apps/letters/flashcom/index80.htm
Multi-letter drag and drop letter game.

Wild and Sometimes Tasteless Video Clips
http://www.therogers5.com/Downloads/VideoClips/

Life Is Short
http://www.quorporation.com/lifeisshort.mpg
This bizarre X-box commercial is not for the faint of heart - it was banned in the UK.  

6 Recent Articles with "Quotes from Corbin"

Technology Tornado (Successful Meetings)
http://www.successfulmeetings.com/successmtgs/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000819449
Ben Chapman's article about the Murphy's Law as applied to meetings technology.

Matchmaking for Meetings (MPI's The Meeting Professional Magazine)
http://www.mpiweb.org/news/tmp/2005/4/tech.pdf
Using technology to bring people together at meetings.

E-marketing: Completely paper-free not possible (Conference & Incentive Magazine - Germany)
http://www.cim-publications.de/en/zeitschriften/article.php?id=7266&ausgabe_id=2468&mode=currentIssue
5 experts expound on pitfalls and advice on e-marketing campaigns. 

Profile Rises Fast For Radio Identification Devices At Meetings (MeetingNews)
http://www.meetingnews.com/meetingnews/search/search_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000844728
Loree Stark's article about radio frequency identification (RFID) for meetings.  Although I am correctly quoted saying that some people will object out of privacy concerns, I am a strong proponent of the possibilities of this new technology. People will be willing to sacrifice a bit of privacy in trade for a range of benefits. See my recent article on the subject.

University Venues - High-tech solutions are part of the meetings curriculum (Meeting Focus Press)
http://www.meetings411.com/displayarticle.asp?id=4715
This article by Tyler Davidson explores the technology benefits of using colleges and university space for meetings.

What's the Frequency? RFID badges have attendees positively beaming (Meeting Focus Press)
http://www.meetingfocus.com/displayarticle.asp?id=4807
This article by Josh Krist, covers the fast changing developments and features of radio frequency identification.. 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Alva Edison referring to his light bulb "failures" before finding tungsten. (1847-1931)

CORBIN'S SPEAKING CALENDAR
My speaking and consulting schedule for May and June will bring me to Indianapolis, Chicago, Seattle, Sacramento, New Orleans, Honolulu, Los Angeles and Dublin, Ireland and likely a few other places as well. Click the link above for specific details. I would love to make your city one of my destinations as well, so please contact me and let's set a date.

CORBIN'S PROGRAMS
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CONTACT INFO: 
Corbin Ball, CMP
Corbin Ball Associates
506 14th Street, Bellingham, WA 98225-6107
Phone: 360-734-8756, Fax: 508-632-7730
Email Corbin
Web: www.corbinball.com 

© Copyright 2005 Corbin Ball Associates.
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Barton & Barton, Ltd. specializes in marketing, public relations and sales for meetings and trade shows.  Our unique selling approach and senior sales partners can take your mind off display advertising, sponsorships and exhibits for your annual meeting or trade show so you can concentrate on your attendee or member needs.  Expert onsite floor managers are available to help with exhibitor relations at no additional charge with any representation agreement.  Please visit our website or call 847-698-5069 to set up a consultation today!

nTAG
nTAG Interactive provides a complete system for on-site event management built around our break-through interactive name badge – the nTAG.  The nTAG system improves attendee networking and automates polls/surveys, agenda management, card exchange, taking attendance, and messaging.  Customers include GE, MasterCard, IBM, WellPoint, Lucent, Accenture and many others
 

 a2z Inc: a2zFloorPlan - a2aShowEZ - a2zShow

NEW – Take a look at why so many show organizers are switching to a2z's dependable web-based, real-time floor plan management, booth sales and expo software to increase booth sales and cut their work and headaches in half. Visit our website (www.a2zinc.net) for details about our new purchase and lease options, FREE demos and estimates - 410-740-9200.

Travel Planners, Inc.

The million things that could go wrong won't when Travel Planners is your housing provider. Put an end to attrition. Forget about "bookarounds" and customer complaints. With 25 years of experience, Travel Planners can create an error-free Master Plan for you. Get a free copy of our Anti-Attrition Plan at www.tphousing.com.

Conferon
Trying to wade through the swamp of attrition and "rooms outside the block"? Let Conferon's experts help. To benefit from the industry's best buying power, contracts and practices, contact Conferon at info@conferon.com or call 330-425-8333.

      

RFID Name Badges from Dietze Enterprises, Inc.
Improving on the capabilities of lead generation and session tracking systems that use 2-D barcodes or magnetic stripes, RFBadge (patent pending) delivers Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to show managers and their exhibitors.   RFBadge provides enhanced security, identification, data exchange, attendance verification and exhibitor lead retrieval in a low cost, easy to use system.