Most up-to-date piece of writing provided by our personal blog site
<,http://www.prettygoddess.com/

Piracy is a problem, but shirking the problem onto the government and websites allowing freedom of speech is a lazy tactic that industry continually practices like suing 12 year olds for illegal MP3s. Change your business model, lock up your security, participate in the new world, don’t just go out and buy uneducated politicians with plans that will stop the informational wave just so you can continue living in the industrial wave of production.

After doing this now for years, I really have figured out how to make that door of the home office be not only physical but mental. It took a couple of years, but I did master it. I think it is a skill you need to master to be successful at this long term.

Now if only we could implement some “human” policies to keep hotel rooms sanitized!

Definitely food for thought. Great blog.

Great article.

You can learn even more about your business and marketing efforts by carefully doing things like tracking e-mails and banner ads with special code in the links. You can even track offline marketing like television, print and billboards by giving a special URL with a special offer only valid on the URL.

For instance, running a Super Bowl commercial, then have the customer visit xyz.com/superbowlad to get a free coozie with purchase or something. The value of knowing how your customer finds your product is way more valuable to your organization than any special discount or freebie you offer.

Next time you watch tv, look at magazine ads or see a billboard, you will start to notice URLs that have something to do with the ad, at least with your smarter marketing companies, that understand the value of understanding the presence.

@arikhanson

Me. Not the me in that it does help me think critically, but I know at least twice now I have “googled” for an answer only to find my own blog, my own writing and my own critical thinking be the exact answer I was looking for that I had apparently forgotten.

A really good tip when thinking about what to write about is anytime that you have found something really obscure (might work better in technology) and blog to help others out. You never know when you might forget about that obscure process and end up helping yourself all over again. Its like giving Google your scrap of heaps and letting it instantly find the chicken scratch from years ago that solves that same problem.

Here are some other tips on Getting Blog Done

I’m also reminded of Tuckman’s model, which states that all teams go through 4 stages of development. Forming, Storming, Norming and ultimately Performing.

Every time a team member changes, the team as a whole begins the process all over again. Sometimes they move quickly through the process and other times they will struggle. It’s through recognition of the process that teams are able to move quickly and achieve more. The process builds the trust and relationships that are necessary.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming,_storming,_norming_and_performing)

Thanks for sharing your insights!

I’ll surely make this one of the stops real soon.

B

Virtual Edge Summit 2010 is the only event that focuses exclusively on providing education, training and solutions for planning and producing virtual events, meetings and communities. Over 2 days, 80 experts will share their experience with you, and be available for one-on-ones. The event also offers a rich program for featuring experts from Cisco, Stanford, IBM, Disney SAP, Oracle, Intel as well as top virtual technology and service providers like InXpo, ON24, 6Connex, Stream57, CGS VirtualEvents365, George P. Johnson, Unisfair and Digitell.

When: February 22-23, 2010 8am until 6pm

Where: At the Santa Clara Convention Center in California and virtually in browser based virtual environments offering 2D and 3D experiences.

Register at http://www.VirtualEdgeSummit.com

Swan, love this sentence: “If your event provides opportunities for discussion, collaboration, and structured networking; then you may find it is irreplaceable.” You’re exactly right that F2F still has to provide meaning deeper than what people can download to their brains on their own.

F2F is obviously at the top of the “richness of communication” chart (unless you want to include charts from the Kinsey Institute).

Throughout the ages we have tried subverting distance by communicating in a variety of ways from smoke signals, to cave symbols, to stone tablets, letters, the phone, the fax and now the internet.

While virtual meetings offer the highest level on these “richness charts” it can only fall short of actual in-person communication. As Sherlock Holmes might say “it really is elementary Watson”. Elementary indeed.

From elementary school we learn we have 5 senses (lets not argue about PhD level theory or ESP). Technology allows us to near instantly transport audio and visual information to each other. That still leaves out touch, taste and smell (the sense best linked to memory).

Virtual meetings and communities have their place and can even offer things that real F2F meetings cannot. Still when you can only compete on less than half of the playing field, 2 out of 5 isn’t going to offer you enough.

Watching the world close in on itself and seeing the barriers of communication continually lifted is quite exciting. However, beating F2F just isn’t in the cards.

As a subnote, if you are a sci-fi fan, check out Bruce Willis’ movie “Surrogates”. As far as this conversation is concerned, it essentially talks about a world in 2054 where we are able to use surrogate machines to interact with the world in the safety of our own homes, free from the dangers of communicable disease, bodily injury and even death. 5 for 5 on the F2F replacement scale.

Of course, everyone else is also using these machines, and creating for an odd existence, where everyone is beautiful, perfect and fearless. However, in the absence of the real, in the absence of danger, fear and anxiety, the humanness we know today is lost.

How close to someone are you when you share a near-death experience or even just gasping together at the crack of thunder? With complete surrogation a near death experience is more like sharing the pain of breaking a cell phone. Therein lies a very different human experience.

Whether its sharing in the joy of accomplishment or the anguish of defeat, I can’t imagine technology will ever replace what it is to be human in the presence of each other.

If your event is powerpoint presentation after powerpoint presentation, many people will find alternate ways to download the content to their brains. If your event provides opportunities for discussion, collaboration, and structured networking; then you may find it is irreplaceable.

I too have participated in both F2F and virtual meetings. As a marketing person, I get much more out of the “bricks and mortar” meeting than what I’v experienced from my partcipation in virtual meetings.

Speaking as a long-time sales person, there’s no better way to close a deal than getting the nod following a good hand shake or hug!

Virtual meetings will long be a fact of our lives but have no fear, until we become robots, I do not believe that F2F will ever be secondary to virtual. I equate it to seeing a baby, yes a picture is fantastic but that fresh, wonderful smell of a new born baby can’t be beat by a photo.

http://www.lacabanabuenosaires.com.ar

Part of the Orient-Express Collection and located in the Recoleta District of Buenos Aires. An authentic Argentine Steakhouse where beef (in large portions) is definitely the star of the menu. The historic building includes four private dining rooms beautifully decorated with original artwork and traditional gaucho décor. Don’t miss the empanadas and grilled provolone cheese La Cabaña as a starter. Your group will receive impeccable service and attention!

Yes, we work with a number of groups who have initiated some aspect of ‘sustainable business’ contract language. It has yet to go seamlessly. As you might well surmise, vendors are much more receptive to committing to specific requests before they’ve been selected.
So, it’s important that the client goals and expectations be spelled out in the Request for Proposal.
I might also mention that suppliers, generally, want to be supportive but it can require a rather time consuming ‘stakeholder engagement’ process to educate the key players (about sustainability, about the benefits, about the client need, specific direction on how to meet the expectation, etc).
By entering into the client/supplier relationship with a mindset of ‘partnership’ (“How can we best work together to achieve these ends?”), the potential for optimum results is enhanced.

Hope to see you in Denver for the GMIC Sustainable Events Conference! A bit more on why I think it’s a smart business investment here http://bit.ly/5RErzY

Best,
Kristen