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TechTalk Newsletter
 
 
Corbin's May/June 2006 TechTalk Newsletter
 

Volume VIII, Issue 3

 

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

In this issue:

Click here for a free subscription to this newsletter or, if you are already a subscriber, to manage your subscription.


NEW PODCASTS: Several New Podcast Clips from Corbin
Expo Magazine has launched a new podcast series at www.expopodcast.com with professionally produced 20-minute programs on tradeshow news and a bi-weekly 4-6 minute technology interviews with Corbin in MP3. The title links below go directly to my recent interviews, while the web link above takes you to a
directory of the programs.
MP3 File: Emerging Lead Retrieval Technologies
MP3 File: Mobile
Technologies for the Meetings Industry
MP3 File: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for Meetings
MP3
File: Industry Standards - The Importance of APEX

Simply click on the link and it will launch the media player on your PC or right-click on the link to "Save Target As..." to download file for your MP3 Player.


NEW ARTICLE: Certification Diploma Mill for the Meetings Industry
Buy a meeting industry certification for as little as $45? Check out this scam. 


NEW ARTICLE: Tradeshows in 2010
http://www.iaem.org/content/e2/04-2006E2.pdf
What will tradeshows be like in the year 2010? This IAEM article gives some ideas -- my comments are
included on Page 4. 
RECOMMENDED ARTICLE: Boost Your Search Engine Marketing
http://www.refreshweb.com/Marketing2IT.htm
My friend and business partner, Jeff Rasco, has a brother John, who is also a technology expert... in the area of internet marketing. The link above contains some very useful ideas and suggestions about search engine optimization and marketing.  

NEW ARTICLE: Some Technology Questions Answered
http://tinyurl.com/prw95
Several technology questions have been submitted to me through my affiliation with the EIBTM Worldwide Technology Watch. These questions have been posted at the link above. Got technology questions? Send them to me and they will be posted as well.


NEWS

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 fourth year. This global award seeks to recognize technology innovation for the meetings and events industry. The judging will be in September 2006 and the award will be given late November at EIBTM 2006 in Barcelona. Application deadline: Friday 4 August 2006.  Description, criteria and application form can be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/mumm6

Corbin's Meetings Technology Software Tools Page Expanded
Several new links have been added to my software tools page. Finds the web's most comprehensive meeting planning tool links including: 15 free Excel spreadsheet tool, 2 Word planning templates, and 30 checklist and handbook links.

Hilton Kiosks Generating Airline Boarding Passes
http://www.btnmag.com/businesstravelnews/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002344135
As I have predicted, kiosk are becoming increasingly multipurpose with benefits to business travelers and
events.  Hilton has announced that 37 of it properties equipped with lobby kiosk will allow guest to check in for flights, change or upgrade seats, and print boarding passes for 18 airlines. Other chains will follow.

URL Spoofing Danger
http://secunia.com/Internet_Explorer_Address_Bar_Spoofing_Vulnerability_Test/
Can a phisher (internet ID thief) fake a web address to make it look like a legitimate site rather than a phony one? Now they can if you are using IE 6.0. Test your brow
ser for this vulnerability which is un-patched at press time. Bottom line -- you must be exceedingly careful when giving out personal information on the web - especially if you receive the web link via email. 

14 Web Site Favorites for Business and Fun

5 Favorite Meeting Industry Related Sites - Lead Retrieval:

Fish Software
http://www.fishsoftware.com/
Interesting use of flash drives and RFID to provide advanced lead retrieval applications.

NewLeads
http://www.newleads.com
Use this hardware to scan 80% of the barcodes and mag strip badges used in today's tradeshows allowing exhibitors to manage their leads in a consistent manner on their own PC.

CardScan Lead Qualifier
http://www.cardscan.com/products/lead_qualifier.asp
This interesting use of business card scanners allows exhibitors to
qualify leads at the same time.

Capture Technologies
http://www.captureleads.com/leadware.html
Many emerging products including links to audience response systems.

InfoLust
http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/infolust.htm
Interesting article on the direction of new barcode scanning devices with great potential for tradeshows. 
 


6 Favorite Utility/Reference Sites:         

Kayak
http://www.kayak.com
Nice Orbitz-like travel portal with advanced
search features.

LogMeIn
www.logmein.com
Log in to your computer from any PC with a broadband connection and a browser for free.


FreeConference
http://www.freeconference.com/

Free telephone conference call bridge.

Better Conversation
http://www.conversation-matters.com
Dr. Loren Ekroth's excellent web site (and newsletter)
focusing on conversation skills.

Best of the History Web Sites
http://www.besthistorysites.net/
Nice categorized listing of history web sites.

Windows Live Local Beta
http://local.live.com/
This free Google-Earth-like mapping and satellite imaging web site has some cool features. Check out the "bird's eye" available in 11 cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Bellingham. I can see high-resolution aerial photos of my home in Bellingham taken from north, south, east and west directions! There are still some rough edges, but it is definitely worth a look. More detail on the bird's eye views can be found at: http://www.pictometry.com.

Sites for Fun:      

Overloaded vehicles
http://www.ezprezzo.com/crazypics/overloaded.html

Chris Bliss (video)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4776181634656145640
Some amazing juggling.

Robot wars (video)

http://glosoli.blogspot.com/2006/03/awesome-robot-fighting.html
Robot technology taken to a new level (warning: very high on the geek index).

QUOTE OF THE MONTH:

"Words have incredible power.
They can make people's hearts soar, or they can make people's hearts sore."

--Dr. Mardy Grothe (thanks to Dr. Loren Ekroth for this quote.)
"T
SHORT-SIGHTED TECHNOLOGY QUOTE OF THE MONTH:

"I think there is a world market for about five computers"
      --
Thomas J. Watson Jr., chairman of IBM (1943) 
  
SUGGESTION BOX
Please send along any questions, ideas, or suggestions on how to make this newsletter more useful for you:
contactcorbin@corbinball.com

 CORBIN'S SPEAKING CALENDAR
My speaking and consulting schedule for May and June take me to Chicago, Toronto, Frankfurt, Minneapolis 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
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 
TESTIMONIALS
CORBIN'S CONSULTING AND WRITING SERVICES

SPONSORSHIP:  Want to help sponsor Corbin's Tech Talk Newsletter sent to thousands of subscribers in 60 countries interested in meetings, events, trade show and hotel technology?

Find out the details at the TechTalk Sponsorship Page or email me at: contactcorbin@corbinball.com.

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CONTACT INFO: 

Corbin Ball, CSP, CMP, MS
Corbin Ball Associates
506 14th Street, Bellingham, WA 98225-6107
Phone: 360-734-8756
AIM/Skype: corbinball
Email Corbin
Web: www.corbinball.com

© Copyright 2006 Corbin Ball Associates.
This letter and its content are proprietary products. All rights reserved.

Please forward the entire letter to anyone you feel may be interested. 
 

Thanks to our sponsors who make TechTalk possible:

 The image “http://www.corbinball.com/assets/logos/travelplanners-new.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

Lift room pick-up by 20%! We’ll create an exceptional housing program with a customized eMarketing strategy – including targeted email campaigns, banner ads, one-click linkage of reservation and registration and more. And our eMarketing Team manages it all at no extra cost. See how our Master Plan for Convention Housing works at www.tphousing.com.

Ungerboeck Systems Intl.

Ungerboeck Systems International offers aspirea subset of the world-leading EBMS® software, to provide world-class, integrated conference management and registration software to organizations specializing in conference management.  USI is the premier provider of Internet-enabled and fully integrated management software used by associations, conferences, exhibitions, and venues on six continents.  Visit us at www.ungerboeck.com.


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.


ExpoExchange is a division of Conferon Global Services and is America’s premier provider of fully customized registration and lead management services delivered with a partnership approach. Ask us about how you can benefit from our exclusive technology products including Reg.Net, Interactive.Net, RFID, SmartEvent, Expo RealTimer and more! Visit www.expoexchange.com or call Susan Bennett at 800-448-1833, ext. 2427.


PCNameTag
The online/offline registration solution more planners are choosing! Introducing PRO X™ Software…easy, fast, full-featured software for registration management from PC/NAMETAG, the meeting people you know and trust.  Visit www.pcnametag.com/prox  today to download a free trial, register for a preview webinar, or view an on-line demo.   Call toll-free at 1-800-369-8622.

The Writing Works is a concept bank that goes beyond pools, palm trees and plane fares to help event planners and producers answer the question, What happens when room lights go off and projectors go on? The site features a unique selection of field-tested meeting themes, outlines, and product intro ideas.

EIBTM -- 28-30 November 2006  -- 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 512.842.1612

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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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