TechTalk Newsletter

	Corbin's July/August 2008 TechTalk Newsletter
		Volume X,Issue 4
	Welcome to Corbin's TechTalk Newsletter, in its ninth year of providing the latest in technology for events, tradeshows and hospitality professionals in more than 67 countries. I have just returned from an archeological tour of Aztec and Mayan ruin sites near Mexico City and Oaxaca returning with a renewed appreciation of the history, cultural diversity and sensual feast from our neighbors to the south. Late June, although the rainy season, is an excellent time to go -- moderate temperatures, green hillsides and a little rain each afternoon to clear the air. Photos can be found at: www.picasaweb.com/corbinwayneball/mexico. This issue focuses on a range of meetings technology topics telepresence, RFID tagging, event networking and venue technology developments. Change your email preferences at www.corbinball.com/contact. In this issue: NEW ARTICLE: Air Travel Woes – A Tipping Point for Meetings? Will Telepresence be an Alternative? NEW ARTICLE: The True "State of the Art" is In the Infrastructure NEW ARTICLE: Best Practices in RFID Tagging NEW ARTICLE: Creating Powerful Communities at Events NEWS 13 WEB BOOKMARKS FOR MEETINGS, BUSINESS AND FUN QUOTES OF THE MONTH RECENT ARTICLES WITH "QUOTES FROM CORBIN" CORBIN'S CALENDAR and the fine print NEW ARTICLE: Air Travel Woes – A Tipping Point for Meetings? Will Telepresence Be an Alternative? These are tough times for the airline industry and, therefore, attendees to events. What will be the impact on meetings? Are there viable alternatives? NEW ARTICLE: The True "State of the Art" is In the Infrastructure Article by Dave Hurst for Unique Venues on meeting venue technology trends.. NEW ARTICLE: Best Practices in RFID Tagging This article by Cathy Chatfield-Taylor in Expo Magazine details the use of RFID tagging at a recent RSNA meeting. NEW ARTICLE: Creating Powerful Communities at Events This white paper by Mark Sylvester from IntroNetworks details successful networking strategies in using networking software for events. NEWS Call for Submissions: EIBTM WorldWide Watch for Meetings Tech Innovation (WWTW) http://www.eibtm.com/wwtw I am pleased to announce that I will be chairing the judging panel for WWTW -- the world's most significant award for technology innovation -- for the fifth consecutive year. If you are a technology provider for the meetings industry and have an innovative product, click on the link to find more details. More of Corbin's Articles in Spanish Another article (The Speaker-Audience Balance is Shifting) has been translated into Spanish with more to come. Thanks to Thomas MacFarlane from Event Planner Spain (www.eventplannerspain.com), for providing the translation services. 13 Web Bookmarks for Meetings, Business and Fun 3 Meeting Industry-Related Sites: A2Z Exhibitor Advantage http://www.a2zinc.net/Show6/Public/Content287.aspx Very powerful exhibit sales and marketing tool. Virtualis Second Life Video http://www.machinima.us.com/virtualis.htm Nice overview video of a very cool convention center on Second Life. Personal Itinerary Planner from CISTEMS http://www.cistems.com/pip.asp Flexible PIP for events with many options. 6 Utility/Reference Sites: Scary video about RFID credit card insecurity. http://www.flixxy.com/rfid-credit-cards.htm Manage Your Time http://www.manageyourtime.co.uk/ Excellent site with hundreds of articles on time management. Worldwide Telescope -- A Browser for the Heavens http://www.worldwidetelescope.org If you have the least bit of interest in astronomy, you must download this very cool program. Microsoft Touch Wall - A multi-touch display on any surface http://tinyurl.com/6cx9sh Great potential for exhibition displays. Egyptian Archeology Site -- Eternal Egypt http://www.eternalegypt.org Nicely designed site with lots of multimedia and 360 views of Egyptian antiquity. Repair Pal http://repairpal.com/ What are the common repairs on your car and how much should they cost in your area? This site can help.. 4 Sites for Fun: Stephen Wiltshire: A Demonstration of a Savant's Photographic Memory http://www.flixxy.com/Stephen-Wiltshire-photographic-memory.htm No Frills Airline http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w99CpLc2MHM Lorenzo -- The Flying Frenchman Equestrian http://www.flixxy.com/horse-riding-equestrian-lorenzo.htm Lively http://www.lively.com Google's entry into the MUVR (multi-user virtual reality) space to challenge Second Life. QUOTES OF THE MONTH: "You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother." --Albert Einstein "I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones." --John Cage US Composer of avant-garde music (1012-1992) "Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools." -- Albert Einstein SHORT-SIGHTED TECHNOLOGY QUOTE OF THE MONTH "Television won't last. It's a flash in the pan." -- Mary Somerville, pioneer of radio educational broadcasts (1948) RECENT ARTICLES WITH QUOTES FROM OR REFERENCES TO CORBIN Digital Darwinism: Video Interview from EventsReview.com http://eventsreview.com/news/view/1344 Take A Break! http://www.mpiweb.org/CMS/mpiweb/mpicontent.aspx?id=15926 Article by by friend Tony Carey, for MPI's Meeting Professional magazine summarizing results of our most recent technology debate. Talking Tech http://www.itp.net/news/521407-talking-tech MIME (Meetings Industry Middle East) magazine about the impact of technology on the meetings industry. Wikis, Podcasts and Blogs, Oh My! http://www.zallas.com/blog/2008/06/11/wikis-podcasts-and-blogs-oh-my/ Zillas Technology article about Web 2.0 technologies. Staging the Main Event http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5426/is_200804/ai_n25419641/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1 BNet article by Jamie Welch on mentoring and meeting industry certifications. StarCite Adds Attendee Management Tools http://tinyurl.com/62hacj BTN article about new StarCite functionality. 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 travel schedule for July/August will bring me to Roanoke, Seattle, Anaheim, New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco 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 more than 7,200 subscribers in 67 countries interested in meetings, events, trade show and hotel technology? Find out the details at the TechTalk Sponsorship Pageor email me at: contactcorbin@corbinball.com. PRIVACY STATEMENT: Your, e-mail address and any other information will never be sold, traded, rented, bartered, or given away. Nor will it be used for any other purpose than to communicate with you. Period! TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.corbinball.com/contact/ To subscribe, unsubscribe, to get this newsletter in a different format (Text or HTML) or to change your email address, please to to the profile page link above. LIST DIFFICULTIES? Check out the TechTalk FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) File or send a message to: contactcorbin@corbinball.com. PASS IT ON: Know someone who needs to stay current on the latest in meetings technology? Please forward them this newsletter or send them to the TechTalk subscriptions page: http://www.corbinball.com/contact/. 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 2008 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: CISTEMS Applying Tomorrows Technology for Today’s Convention Solutions AllianceTech Alliance Tech, winner of the 2006 and 2007 CEMA Summit Technology Shoot Out, is the industry leader in business intelligence solutions that measure and increase the value of tradeshows, conferences and events. We put the power in your hands to increase revenue, deliver actionable reports and see visual trends. Welcome to the Future of Event Planning. WTTC.com is the fast, free and easy way to find and book suppliers for your next event. Designed by meeting planners for meeting planners, WTTC.com features key information and tools that link you directly to hundreds of suppliers. We make event planning simple -- one click at a time. Toronto now on-line - Boston , Miami, San Diego and Vancouver coming in June. PRA Discover the PRA Advantage! · One-stop destination management services: activities, event production, site inspection/selection, budgeting, logistics, supplier management, tours, transportation and more… · Innovative program design and development · Local knowledge provides an authentic destination experience · Operational excellence, dependability and consistency in all locations · Highly experienced single-point-of-contact Total. Experience. Guaranteed. Find out what’s on the minds of the leading convention housing experts. As housing specialists for more than 26 years, we’ve created innovative solutions that address housing issues before they even happen. To see how we’ll make your program succeed beyond every expectation, visit TPhousing.com. Certain Software®, Inc.and its subsidiary Amlink Technologies provide innovative technologies used by meeting planning professionals and event organizers to plan and produce a wide spectrum of meetings and events. Certain Registration™ is the leading online Software as a Service (SaaS) registration product used by the world’s largest corporations, universities, associations and government agencies. events™ is the top ranking events management product used by associations, continuing education and world events such as the Olympic Games, United Nations World Summit and Rugby World Cup. WingateWebis the leader in event data management technology and professional services. With emphasis on leveraging all event data using a single database, WingateWeb technology offers comprehensive solutions to complex event challenges. Powerful reporting capabilities quickly turn data into targeted leads. The WingateWeb platform enables event planners to manage their full spectrum of events from one console. 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. EIBTM Barcelona 2-4 December 2008 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®. 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 Call for Submissions: EIBTM WorldWide Technology Watch for Tech Innovation Award CardinalWare CardinalWare is a 4^th 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.