TechTalk Newsletter

	Corbin's November/December 2008 TechTalk Newsletter
		Volume X, Issue 6
	Welcome to Corbin's TechTalk Newsletter, in its tenth year of providing the latest in technology for events, tradeshows and hospitality professionals in more than 67 countries. Change your email preferences at www.corbinball.com/contact. In this issue: NEW ARTICLE: Tech Trends Identified with the Worldwide Technology Watch NEW ARTICLE: Survival of the Deserving - A Darwinian View of Life and Death in the Meetings Industry NEW ARTICLE: Traditional Audience Polling Keypads vs. Phone-based Text Polling NEWS 19 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: Meetings Tech Trends Highlighted with EIBTM’s 2008 Worldwide Watch for Technology Innovation Award EIBTM’s Worldwide Technology Watch (WWTW) is the meetings industry’s most significant technology award. The winner and four finalists for WWTW 2008 were recently selected from 39 applications. These companies highlight several paths of technology progress for the meetings and exhibition industries. These technology trends are discussed in this article. NEW ARTICLE: Survival of the Deserving - A Darwinian View of Life and Death in the Meetings Industry This article by Ira Kerns covers the importance of using ROI measurement techniques in creating meetings that will justify their value in these tough economic times. NEW ARTICLE: Text polling vs. Audience keypads Audience-polling systems are a great way of finding out what the audience is thinking and engage them as well. A new development in the past year has been the emergence of phone-based text message polling designed for events. Similar to American Idol text voting, these systems allow audience members to text their votes, which are tallied in real-time to a website. This website can be projected in the meeting room for all to see the responses. There are benefits and challenges of each. This article will compare and contrast these differences. NEWS EIBTM Technology Hour http://www.eibtm.com/page.cfm/T=m/Action=Press/PressID=661 The annual technology debate and other technology events will be among the offerings at this year's EIBTM meeting. Cisco Launches Public Access Pay-per-Meeting Telepresence Systems http://tinyurl.com/5a6r5o More than 100 rentable rooms with fluid-motion video, high-quality acoustics, and life-size images of participants (some of the best quality video conference facilities available) will be available by 2009. More of Corbin's Articles in Spanish Another article (45 Ways to Use Technology to Green Meetings) 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. 19+ Web Bookmarks for Meetings, Business and Fun *9 Meeting Industry-Related Sites:* Meeting planner reviews of meeting space will transform how planner select venues in the same way that Trip Advisor is having a huge impact on leisure travel selection. Here are six sites that use this social review technology: Meeting Universe http://www.meetinguniverse.com Meetings Collaborative http://meetingscollaborative.com. Meetings Intelligence Exchange http://www.meetingsintel.com Elite Meetings http://www.elitemeetings.com/ ReviewEvents http://www.reviewevents.com/ I-Meet http://www.i-meet.com/ Other meeting industry related bookmarks: Jiffle -- Appointment and Scheduling Calendar for Meetings http://www.jifflenow.com Integrates with Outlook and Google calendars. Snipp http://www.snipp.com Short text message application to retrieved exhibit product info. Worktopia Demo Video http://www.worktopia.com/flashdemo/demo.asp Online direct booking of meeting space. 5+ Utility/Reference Sites: Holographic Disk Storage http://tinyurl.com/6eeyb7 The next generation of DVD will be able to store 1 terabyte of information on one disk (about 40 HD movies or about 200 standard definition movies.) Latest Version of "Did You Know" by Carl Fisch. Shift Happens! http://www.flixxy.com/technology-and-education-2008.htm Updated, amazing stats on education and the future of technology. Video display of all the flights in the world for 24 hours http://www.flixxy.com/scheduled-airline-flights-worldwide.htm Augmented reality http://www.t-immersion.com/ Interesting combination of virtual life with the real world. Lots of display possibilities here. Thanks to Antonio Gomez Miranda for this link suggestion. Backup Software Deal Regular backups are crucial! Titan Backup has offered their award-winning backup software product at a 50% discount for TechTalk subscribers ($19.95 instead of $40). I make no commission from this (I have never accepted a cent of commission for the sale of a technology product), but, as a user of Titan Backup, I think it is a good deal. To get the discount, use the below links: Titan Backup Home Edition: http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=7810-8&ss_coupon=NEOB-OVTP Titan Backup Business Edition (Client/Server): http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=7810-6&ss_coupon=NEOB-OVTP 5Sites for Fun: Amazing Bird Sounds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y Incredible 3-D Street Art http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4806282165812861319 Cool Rotating Floor Skyscrapers http://www.flixxy.com/dubai-dynamic-architecture.htm Turn the Tables on Telemarketer http://www.xs4all.nl/~egbg/counterscript.html Air Race Pilot Looses Wing and Still Lands Plane http://www.flixxy.com/best-air-race-pilot.htm QUOTES OF THE MONTH: "You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." -- Zig Ziglar “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness…Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” -- Mark Twain SHORT-SIGHTED TECHNOLOGY QUOTE OF THE MONTH: "Space travel is bunk." -- Sir Harold Spencer Jones, Astronomer Royal of the UK (1957, two weeks before Sputnik orbited the Earth) RECENT ARTICLES WITH "QUOTES FROM CORBIN" New & Improved Bean Counting http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/articles/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003844570 MeetingNews article by Christopher Hosford about using technology to measure ROI at meetings. The Do's and Don'ts of Social Networking http://tinyurl.com/659z7x Suggestions for launching your own social network of community forum by Avi Nimmer, Incentive & Training Magazine Meetings Podcast Interview with Corbin Ball http://meetingspodcast.com/?p=107 Technology opens new doors, but face to-face interaction remains an important communication tool http://www.iupui.edu/~indyhper/news/face-to-face.html Article by Cynthia Sequin for Indiana University. FlexTime -- Online meetings registration takes a big leap forwardhttp://www.meetingsfocus.com/displayarticle.asp?id=11014 MeetingFocus article by Marshall Krantz on ScheduleFlex, a new appointment and scheduling product. An Event Planner Guide: 7 Ways Online Registration Cuts Workload http://www.isnare.com/?aid=300115&ca=Career Jeremiah Demery article for iSnare.com on the benefits of online registration. Software Solutions http://www.event-solutions.com/magazine/september_2008/software_solutions Article by Lindsey Getz for Events Solutions on a variety of meeting planning software products. 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 November and December will bring me to Victoria, Cancun, Boston, Barcelona, DC, Miami 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 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: 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. WTTC.com With 4,000 registered members and over 15,000 pages of content, WTTC.com is the largest independent online service for the meetings and conventions industry. Search for, find and contact suppliers of all kinds. Save and manage you supplier details. "Expert Review" your program with a real live DMC. Sign-up today. 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. Travel Planners Convention Housing 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. WingateWeb 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. N200 N200 is Europe ’s biggest visitor registration and lead retrieval company. More than 230 trade shows and events in 11 countries use the online and onsite products and services of N200. Do you have a show in Europe ? Please contact us for a free demo or quotation via exposales@n200.com or look at www.n200.com. IAEE promotes the unique value of exhibitions and other events that bring buyers and sellers together such as road shows, conferences with an exhibition component, and proprietary corporate exhibitions. IAEE is the principal resource for those who plan, produce and service the industry ePly Online Event Registration Get your Free copy of the Event Planners’ Guide to Online Event Registration. This 12-page report defines Event Planners’ most common concerns including how to choose a registration service that’s right for your event, effective ways to prevent mistakes, and how to reduce “emergencies” related to your event registration. 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 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.