| |
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 65 countries.
This issue focuses on a range of meetings technology topics including mobile technology, RSS, echnology efficiency ideas, lots of links, and much more.
Subscribe or change your email preferences at www.corbinball.com/contact.
In this issue:
NEW ARTICLE: Hot Technology form the IAEE Technology Showcase
The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE – www.iaee.com) Annual Meeting is one of the best meetings each year in terms of events and tradeshow technology. The meeting and exhibit last month in Las Vegas , was true to form offering more new and developing technology for the events industry per square foot on the exhibit floor than any meeting around. This article covers the technology from the showcase and from the show floor.
NEW ARTICLE: RSS - Your Magical Online Marketing Tool
RSS is a publishing tool that allows the user to subscribe directly to information on the Internet. This article by Cris Canning, CMP, covers the basics of what RSS is and how to use it to market your meeting or business.
NEW ARTICLE: On the Road and Online - Staying Connected on the Road
Meeting professionals tend to be road warriors. We are often running or attending meetings away from our office. Consequently, we are challenged to hone our business travel skills – especially in terms of staying connected with our clients, staff, family and significant others while on the road. This article will touch on several ways to improve this connectivity.
TECHTALK READER TECHNOLOGY USE SURVEY
http://corbinballassociates.ennectsurvey.com/corbin'stechtalktechnologyusagesurvey
Please take 2 minutes to answer these quick eight questions about your technology habits. I have asked two group recently these questions, and the results so far, are startling. Full result will be posted in the next TechTalk newsletter. Thanks to Tony Carey, CMM for creating the questions and thanks to Ennect (www.ennect.com) for providing the survey tool.
NEWS
More of Corbin's Articles in Spanish
Two more articles (Successful Web Conferencing and Webinars Tips and Conference Podcasts: Talk (and More) is Cheap have been translated into Spanish with more to come. Thanks to Thomas MacFarlane from Event Planner Spain (www.eventplannerspain.com), for providing the translation services.
Virtualis Second Life Convention Center opens
http://www.prweb.com/releases/second+life/Virtualis/prweb576794.htm
Lot's of potential with this ambitious project.
RegOnline and WingateWeb acquired by the Active Network
http://tinyurl.com/ys8qcz
A significant acquisition by the owners of Thriva and EventRegister covering ends of the online registration spectrum.
27 Web Site Favorites for Business and Fun
6 Meeting Industry Sites:
MeetingMetrics
http://www.meetingmetrics.com/
A significant meetings ROI (return on investment) measurement tool from GuideStar Research.
MeetingMonitor
http://meetingmonitor.net/?lid=2
Another new meetings ROI measurement tool.
Badge2Match
http://www.badge2match.com
Interesting new lower-priced take on badge-based networking systems.
Meetings Intelligence Exchange
http://www.meetingsintel.com/
Start-up site where meeting planners rate, review and exchange information about meeting facilities. Although subscription based, a 12-month complimentary membership is available to planners by using the following promotion code: xa80fl43.
Conventions.Net
http://www.conventions.net/
Tradeshow resource portal.
InventMe
http://www.inventme.net/
Incentive planning portal.
9 Favorite Utility/Reference Sites:
PicasaWeb
http://picasaweb.google.com/
The best online photo storage and sharing system of the many that I have tried. Works great with Google's free photo management tool: http://www.picasa.com/. I used PicasaWeb to share my recent China bicycle tour.
Zip Code Demographics
http://zipskinny.com/
Interesting demographics for U.S. residents.
Remember the Milk
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
Cool to-do reminder list application. One of the first to use Google Gears, Google's offline web application.
Multi-gigapixel pan images
http://www.gigapan.org/
Amazing detail on these images.
Touch-sensitive, interactive paper makes and plays sounds.
http://mkv.itm.miun.se/projekt/paperfour/
Great application for display technology. Check out the video link part way down the page.
CopyBlogger
http://www.copyblogger.com/
Excellent resource for online writing and blogging.
Cleanliness of Hotel Room Glasses?
http://www.break.com/index/never-use-the-glasses-in-your-hotel-room.html
Thought-provoking video for your next hotel stay.
Who is Sick?
http://www.whoissick.org/sickness/
Interesting mashup site showing who's got what and where.
World's Healthiest Foods
http://www.whfoods.com/
Excellent food site dedicated to good and healthy eating.
11 Sites for Fun:
Beer Bottle Symphony
http://www.flixxy.com/vb-symphony.htm
95 musicians from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria took to the stage at the Melbourne Concert Hall. Performed solely on 451 Victoria Bitter bottles and 6 timpani drums, the VB Symphony recreated the 40-year-old VB theme music, note for note.
Great commercials
http://www.firebrand.com/
Cool Hand Painting Art
http://freshpics.blogspot.com/2007/01/amazing-hand-painting-art.html
Mona Lisa
http://www.flixxy.com/art-mona-lisa.htm
All you ever wanted to know about one of the world's most famous paintings.
A Second Tech Bubble?
http://www.flixxy.com/technology-bubble.htm
Silicon Valley parody set to a Billy Joel song.
Wing Suit Flying through the Hills of France
http://www.flixxy.com/wing-suit-flying.htm
Airline Horror Stories
http://flightsfromhell.com/
Hubble Deep Field - The Most Important Image Ever Taken?
http://www.flixxy.com/hubble-deep-field.htm
Wheelchair controlled only by thought
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQLsjbQy7NI
Thanks to Maarten Vanneste for this link.
Most Traveled Person
http://www.mosttraveledpeople.com/
The world is made up of 673 countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups, and major states and provinces.Tthis site has the details.
Toyota's Violin Playing Robot
http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=72177
QUOTES OF THE MONTH
"First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you. Then you win."
--Mohandas Gandhi - Describing the stages of a winning strategy of nonviolent activism.
"There is wisdom in turning as often as possible from the familiar to the unfamiliar: it keeps the mind nimble, it kills prejudice, and it fosters humor." -George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952) Thanks to Dr. Loren Ekroth for this quote.
"Computers are useless. They only give you answers." -- Pablo Picasso, (1968)
SHORTSIGHTED TECHNOLOGY QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"640 K [of computer memory] ought to be enough for anybody." --Bill Gates, founder and CEO of Microsoft (1981)
RECOMMENDED BOOK OF THE MONTH
China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power - by Rob Gifford. Very interesting read on the past, present and future of China.
RECENT ARTICLES WITH QUOTES FROM OR REFERENCES TO CORBIN
Winning Meeting Tools
http://meetingsnet.com/technology/winning_meeting_tech/
A review of the latest EIBTM WorldWide Technology Watch winners by MeetingsNet
Interview with Corbin
http://meetingsnet.com/technology/meetings_corbin_ball_cmp/
12 questions asked by MeetingsNet.
Virtualis Convention and Learning Center Opens in SL
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article30537.html
Hotel News article about the new Second Life convention center.
Getting the Most from Speakers at Your Events
http://email.tailorednews.com/TMsubscribe/ViewOnline.asp?u=Ag6VqBuhC48x&l=64987
Article by John Hiatt and Dave Lutz in the Acteva eJournal.
Making the Most of Your Exhibit Opportunity
http://econnections.mc-2.com/TMSubscribe/viewbcast.asp?B=s5gZ&N=oNw
Reposting of my observations on the 10 dos and 10 don'ts of staffing your exhibit booth.
SUGGESTION BOX
Please send along any questions, ideas, or suggestions on how to make this newsletter more useful for you:
contactcorbin@corbinball.com
SPONSORSHIP: Want to help sponsor Corbin's Tech Talk Newsletter sent to about 7,000 subscribers in 66 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.
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:
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.
www.pra.com
eTouches
Powered by The Global Executive, a single source, comprehensive, conference and event logistics, management and marketing company with a specialized team, offering custom event solutions to over 450 global events annually. The team prides itself on its innovative creation and execution of unique events supported by their suite of proprietary technology, etouches ®, www.etouches.com, which address the critical issues facing the event planning lifecycle.
Convention Strategy (CSI), a leading provider of RFID, enables meetings and events to measure the attendee experience. RFID provides the ability to track session attendance, and delivers quality exhibit lead retrieval services. We understand how to apply new technology and manage attendee communication, thus delivering a high return on investment to both exhibitors and attendees.
Certain Software®, Inc. provides innovative technology enabling customers to register people and assets online. Its flagship product, Certain Registration™, is the online registration solution used by the commercial and public sector. Certain Registration brings control, flexibility, security and value to managing meetings, events, training and more. Visit www.certain.com.
AllianceTech
Alliance Tech, winner of the 2006 and 2007 CEMA Summit Technology Shootout, is a leading provider of innovative software solutions and services for the meetings, conference and events industry. We put the power in your hands to measure attendee preferences, enhance their experience, and deliver more qualified leads from all your events.
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.
WingateWeb is 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.
MeetPete
Blogspot for meeting professionals from Peter Shure
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®.
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
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.
|
