According to Litmus, reputation and engagement are increasingly important factors when it comes to reaching your audience through email marketing.

After visiting your website, making a purchase, or stumbling across your company’s blog, a customer has signed up to receive email from you. For a marketer, this is the most fragile, difficult relationship to maintain, and one wrong step can end in tragedy with your electronic correspondence in the spam folder. Look below to find out how to avoid this tragic fate when sending your emails to the masses.

by Column Five Media. Browse more infographics.

What surprises you most about email according to this infographic? How finicky are you when it comes to subscribing and unsubscribing to email?

According to PC Housing stats, smartphones and tablets are slowly placing themselves in between water and food as top necessities for business travelers.

It makes sense.

Being on the road is simply made easier and more manageable by these tools that allow us to stay connected. Yet are these mobile devices taking up too much of our time?

Check out PC Housing’s infographic below to see how dependent you are in comparison to other road warriors!

Business Traveler’s Mobile Dependence Infographic created by PC Housing

What’s the most unusual place you use your mobile device? How frequently do you use your mobile device?

Laptop, netbook or tablet? How do you choose which device to buy and use? Take a look at this infographic which shows the rise of tablet adoption at work.

Want more information? Visit Tablet At Work Blog.

If you had to buy a new device today, would you buy a PC, laptop, netbook or device and why?

Imagine for a moment that in 1998, Google was operating in a garage, Apple introduced the iMac and the founder of Facebook was still in junior high school.

Fast forward to today. A lot has changed.

We’ve seen the rise of collaborative software and social networks. Web 2.0 has made seismic shifts in our communications, play and work.

Most of us connect to the Internet via our mobile devices. And we expect free WiFi in a variety of places.

The emergence of social technologies has democratized information and changed the way we view authenticity, communications, influence, leadership, media and relationships.

Glossary Of Web 2.0 Terms

Here is a cheat sheet glossary to help you navigate the new Web 2.0 socially connected world.

Affiliate

Organization and individuals that partner, link and promote with each other in exchange for a fee or service.

Aggregation

The process of collecting content and information often via RSS or an electronic reader.

Archive

Collecting data online and preserving it for users to see and read such as blogs, sidebars and tag clouds.

Asynchronous Communication

Communication that occurs does not occur at the same time. Examples include email, forums, listservs and message boards.

Avatar

The graphical representation of the user or the user’s alter ego.

Blog

A term that blends web and log and is a type of interactive website. Contains entries displayed in reverse-chronological order that include commentary, descriptions, graphics and video.

Collaborative Software

Software designed to help people, typically not in the same physical location, involved in a common task achieve their goals.

Crowdsourcing

The act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.

eCommunity

A group of individuals that who gather in dedicated spaces online to collaborate, discuss and share.

Forum

A message board or online discussion site where people communicate via posted messages. Messages are asynchronous and not real time like in chat.

Instant Messaging

Chat occurring synchronously (at the same time) with another person or others via text messages.

Listserv

An automated email list of individuals that broadcasts information to participants as it is posted or received.

Lurkers

People who read online discussions or information usually in blogs, chats, forums, listservs, message boards, newsgroup, or other interactive system, but rarely or never comment, reply or respond actively.

Mashup

An application that combines two or more other applications to create a new interface.

Message Boards

Also known as forums. Website where people can start topic discussions, leave messages and communicate asynchronously.

Metadata

A set of data that describes and gives information about other data.

Microblogging

A web service that allows users to broadcast short messages to subscribers.

Mobile Marketing

A set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network

Open-source Software

Software with source code that is available for modification and redistribution. Usually developed collaboratively.

Participatory Culture

Today’s society that is used to participating with others and software online.

Podcast

A series of audio files distributed online often via syndicated download.

Post

An entry on a blog, forum or other Web 2.0 tool.

Profile

Also known as user profile, is a collection of personal information provided by and associated with a specific user.

RSS Feed

Really Simple Syndication is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.

Semantic Web

Also known as Web 3.0. Web data that facilitates machines to understand the semantics, or meaning, of information on the Web.

Social Bookmarking

A method to manage, organize, search, share and store bookmarks of online resources.

Social Indexing

Tagging or adding keywords to media found on the web.

Social Learning

Participating with others to make sense of ideas whether in person or via social media tools.

Social Media

A term often used to define all things social. Specifically means online media transfer like Slideshare and YouTube.

Social Networking

Online networking via an application like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Social Relevancy

A person’s online credentials, reputation and value. Examples include Klout and PeerIndex.

Social Technology

Umbrella term to include all things social online.

Synchronous Communication

Communication that occurs simultaneously in real time. Examples include chat and instant messaging.

Tag Cloud

A graphic representation of popular tags, with most popular tags often in larger text.

Tag

A keyword or term assigned to a post by an author or reader.

Virtual Events

Also known as digital events, events that occur online such as an online conference or tradeshow. Can also include a hybrid event, an event that occurs face to face and online at the same time.

Vlog

A blog that consists of video posts.

Web 2.0

Online applications that facilitate collaboration, interoperability, participatory information sharing and user-centered design.

Wiki

A Website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser.

What words and definitions would you add to this list? What is your favorite thing about Web 2.0?

Other Cheat Sheet Posts that might interest you.

Cheat Sheet For Hiring And Paying Professional Speakers

Cheat Sheet: What Is Mobile Marketing?

Digital And Virtual Event Technologies Defined

Go Hybrid: A Live Streaming Cheat Sheet

Meeting Site Selection Cheat Sheet: Attendee Perspective

Meeting Planners Cheat Sheet: Food

Meeting Planners Cheat Sheet: Beverages

According to the technology research company Gartner, by 2020 more than 40% of an organization’s work will be non-routine.

During the next ten years six radical changes will disrupt traditional work. The need to adapt to these mega trends will be imperative for success. Will you be nimble enough to adapt to these impending work changes and adjust accordingly?

Here is the slide deck for my recent presentation at PCMA’s Education Conference 2011 in Baltimore, MD on these six radical work place disruptors.

Which work trend disruptor concerns you most? Which one provides you unique opportunities to do work differently?

The Pew Internet & American Life Project provides great data on Americans and the Internet.

The Project produces reports exploring the impact of the Internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life. They are a great resource of data for any conference organizer or assocation leader who says that their customers are not using the Internet, social media or today’s social tools.

Here is a recent PPT by Kristen Purcell, Associate Director Of Research on Information 2.0 and Beyond.

Why do so many association leaders think that their members are not using social media or the Internet today? Is it because they don’t use it that they feel others are like them?

In the next 20 years, six dramatic technology trends will influence our connected world.

We are already watching how these forces are shaping modern web culture.

Kevin Kelly, co-founder and senior maverick of Wired Magazine, identified these six trends in his opening keynote at the 2011 Web 2.0 Conference. His reflections give us a window into what is important now and what we should be planning for in the future.

Is your association prepared to use these web verbs to their advantage? Are your meeting and event organizers considering how these trends will impact your conferences and events?

1. Screening

Screens are everywhere! In our pockets. On our desks. In our living rooms. In our kitchens. In our backpacks. In our classrooms. At our conferences. On our tablets. In our transportation hubs.

Association/Conference Impact:

Instead of thinking of platforms for delivery of your content, think of screens. Which screens are your customers using to connect with you and consume your messages? Are you providing ways that they can consume your content in small chunks on their mobile devices? Are you live streaming your conference content? Are you using Skype to your advantage? Are you considering telepresence?

2. Interacting

The movie Minority Report is an omen of what’s to come. Today, most of our interaction with the Web is through our fingertips. Kinect gamers interact with gestures and body movement free of controller devices. Many people interact with Web content via their mobile devices using hand gestures.

As we interact with content, the Web adapts. Developers use detailed analytics to measure our Web movements. Then they make better apps that adapt to our movements.

Association/Conference Impact:

Customers want to interact with your conference and association content. They want to make it their own. They want to digest it, repurpose it, expand it, shrink it, customize it and discuss it. Stop information indigestion by pushing too much content too fast. Let them digest it properly with face-to-face and online participation. Let them interact with it and others!

3. Sharing

Anything and everything that can be shared will be shared. Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter only scratch the surface of where we are going. People can measure and track everything in the new “quantified-self” movement. And they are sharing that data with others. Why? We can learn and benefit from each other’s data.

Association/Conference Impact:

Are you keeping your association and conference experiences and content exclusive and behind fire walls? Customers want to share your content with others. They want to showcase the experiences they have with you. Let them. Help them do it easily.

And consider creating apps that allow them to quantify their involvement with your association, your content and your conference. Blend gamification with the “quantified-self” movement to create another layer of the experience that is shareable and spreadable.

4. Flowing AKA Streaming

Originally the metaphor for the personal computer was the desktop. Then it became the web page. Now the metaphor is flowing or streaming.

Some lifestream their daily events. Some click a link to a YouTube video and expect it to begin streaming immediately. We can tap into streams of content, information, and data anytime. And they stream on the screens that are everywhere.

Association/Conference Impact

Your customers will expect live streaming from your conference. When you don’t, they will think that the event had nothing of value worth sharing with others.

Your customers want to see a lifestream of your organization’s experiences. Consider creating a graphic time-line of past, current and future events so people can get a quick grasp of your organization and where it is going. Show them how they can merge their life stream with your organization’s stream to create a better future.

5. Accessing

We used to want to own CDs, computer games, movies, etc. With streams flowing everywhere, we now just want to access it. We are fine renting it. Within seconds we can connect with a movie in Nextflix, download an eBook from Amazon, or listen to a recording.

Association/Conference Impact

Have you moved your association content to the clouds yet? Who is overseeing the institutional knowledge and the brain wealth of your members? Can your customers access your knowledge, content and experiences in a matter of seconds or does it take an experienced trekker to navigate your web archives? How easily can your remote attendees access the conference experience?

6. Generating

“The Internet is the world’s largest copy machine,” says Kelly. Immediacy, personalization and customization are critical keys to value. While digital piracy wiped out the old, traditional music model, the music industry is thriving by allowing for personalization and customization. Live concerts are experiences that can’t be recreated.

Association/Conference Impact

Your same old, same old way of doing conferences is stale. They can be recreated and copied. You must create unique, unpredictable conference and association experiences. They must be different and if you want to succeed.

Sources: TechCrunch & VentureBeat

Which of these Web verbs excite or scare you? How can associations or event professionals take advantage of these technology trends?

The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed. ~ William Gibson. 

From The Information Age To The Participatory Culture

The explosion of digital media and the emergence of the participatory culture have amplified and transformed communication in ways we are only beginning to discover. Today, creating and sharing information is the norm.

Generation F, the Facebook Generation as Gary Hamel calls it, is driving new eras of experience and experimentation. Generation F, not defined by age, is expecting similar experiences in today’s meetings and events. 

Five Revolutionary Seeds

Here are five developments that may revolutionize how meetings are run in the future.

1. Multitouch Walls and Tablets

The movie Minority Report illustrated multitouch technology best. Pinching, gesturing and touching items on a screen moves and resizes them. iPhones, Androids and tablets have brought this technology to everyday life.

TED2008: The BigViz Animation from Tom Wujec on Vimeo.

CNN’s Magic Wall, the 2008 TED Conference’s Big Viz created by Autodesk and Perceptive Pixel, and MarketArt’s You Are Here Floorplan for wayfinding and interactive touch screens are just a few examples. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard connects to a computer (laptop, desktop, tablet) and a projector. Facilitators can display information, interact with it, write or draw with digital ink, save information and share it, all with a touch of the whiteboard.

2. Video: The Language Of The Internet

Using and creating video is as common to digital natives as using land lines are to boomers. Skype, Oovoo, iPhone FaceTime, Flip cameras, smartphones with point and shoot video, Livestream, Qik and Ustream have made video commonplace.

• By the end of 2010, 40% of global internet traffic was video consumption.
• The sum of all forms of video (TV, video on demand, Internet and peer-to-peer file sharing) will be 91% of internet traffic by 2014.
• Nearly 66% of mobile traffic will be video consumption by 2014. (Cisco Visual Networking Index 2009-2014)

From 2005-2007, PPAI held RAC National Education Days with more than 20 satellite groups across the nation via web streaming. In 2010, EventCamp live streamed its unconference via a stationary camera and smart card. Later in 2010, EventCamp Twin Cities live streamed its event and held pods in three remote locations. EventCamp 2011 Chicago Skyped a speaker and remote attendees to small groups, all while live streaming the experience. More conference organizers are using Skype to connect remote presenters and panelists as well.

More event professionals need to start embracing video in all its aspects from marketing to live streaming to remote attendee engagement.

3. GUI (Graphic User Interface) & Object Oriented Design Tools

In early 1970, Stanford researcher Fred Lakin visually described how graphics would be important to computing. Bits and bytes (chips) can be represented by regular numbers (code). Numbers are a kind of letter and word (ASCII) which are a subset of graphics (GUI). While coding is still mostly used today, we have seen a rise of software with drag and drop interface.

Architectural design is now using building informational modeling (BIM). BIM looks like 3D design except that all features (windows, doors, etc.) modeled contain metadata about costs, insulation, energy use, materials, strength, etc. When constructed properly, building models produce estimates of costs, energy efficiency, sustainability and more. The visual model is the calculator and the interface is for design.

In the future, expect to see 3D meeting venue software that will include metadata for objects like rooms, room layouts, stages, equipment, etc. Design a room layout and immediately get the data for costs, sustainability and audience engagement levels. Drag and drop designs will help conference organizers see the effectiveness of their logistics in addition to its efficiency.

4. Collaboration Technology Tools

We’ve seen the rise of audience chat, polling, questions and digital events. More meetings will begin to integrate tech tools like tablets that allow for screen sharing, whiteboarding and remote scribing, design and presentation annotation.

Expect to see the rise of collaborative visual wiki environments where face-to-face and remote audiences can enter information simultaneously in real time. Crowdsourcing and idea harvesting will continue to increase.

5. 3D & Virtual Environments

While many 3D and virtual environments have a steep learning curve, some corporations have discovered that their clients are comfortable with these technical aspects.

In the future, more presenters will realize the opportunities of using 3D or virtual environments like SecondLife projected on a screen during a face-to-face meeting. Virtual environments allow presenters flexibility to show what is possible with simulations and experiments without the risks or mess.

High Touch Still Reigns

No matter how flashy technology gets, we still learn and connect with our senses and brains.

Traditionally, meetings and events have overemphasized logistics, details and the rational at the expense of attendees’ experience.

Today we need to balance the logistics with tech integration of visuals, imagery, metaphors and design to enhance the senses and attract the brain.

What are some of the biggest hurdles keeping meeting organizers from creating revolutionized meetings and events? What are some of the unique technology tools you’ve experienced that increase the value of a face-to-face experience?

Image by Stéfan.

Search makes it possible to survive and thrive in today’s information age.

Search has changed the way we store, retrieve and use information. Mastering the art of search is critical.

Today, Search Has Become As Essential As Oxygen.

Today’s successful organizations know that search is a cornerstone to their achievement. We don’t need to spend excessive amounts of time filing and hunting for critical information. We just search for it. The savvier we become at search, the better we can filter information that is not important and focus on what is.

Here are 15 tips for using Google search effectively.

1. Be as descriptive as possible.

If you are looking for Red Delicious Apples, don’t just type in apples or apple. If you do, it might pull up Apple computers as well as apple the fruit.

2. Use quotation marks around a phrase.

When you add quotes around two or more words, Google returns results with that exact phrase.

3. Don’t worry about being case sensitive with Google.

4. Search for a specific word and its synonyms.

Use the tilde symbol (~) immediately before a word to tell Google to search for pages containing the word and its synonyms. Don’t put a space between the tilde symbol and the word or Goggle won’t give you results with similar words.

5. Search for a specific word and its synonyms with fewer results.

Use the word “or” between specific synonyms instead of the tilde symbol if you want fewer search results. That’s because you’re specifically telling Google to look for pages containing only one of those words.

6. Exclude specific words in search.

Use the minus symbol (-) immediately before a word that you want excluded from a search. Don’t put a space between the minus symbol and the word. For example, if you were searching for Operas you might search Opera -browser.

7. Search for a specific numeric range.

Use an ellipsis (three consecutive periods) to express a range of numbers. Example, if you want to find lodging in Las Vegas in a specific price range, type, “Las Vegas Hotels” $79…$150 per night.

8. Search a specific site with Google.

Use site: without a space after the colon, followed by the URL of the site you want to search, to search a specific website. Example, want to know how many articles the New York times has published using the phrase meetings industry use “meetings industry” site:nytimes.com. (Note: you don’t need to type www as part of the URL address.)

9. Search for a specific file type.

Use filetype: followed by doc (Word files), pdf, ppt (PowerPoint) or xls (Excel) to look for a specific type of file. Example, “meeting budget” filetype:xls might help find Excel spreadsheets that contain meetings budgets.

10. Weather

Want to know the weather in a specific city? Type weather and the city name.

11. Time

Want to know the time in a specific city? Type time and city name.

12. Phone numbers.

When an unknown phone number pops up on your caller ID, use this search: phonebook:(insert the phone number). To find someone’s phone number: phonebook: (first name) space (last name) space city space state. Example phonebook: John Doe Chicago IL

13. Shipping status

Expecting a package from FedEx, UPS or another shipper? Type the tracking number into Google and receive an immediate update without having to navigate to the carrier’s website.

14. Search via texting.

Send a text message to Google at 466453 and you’ll receive information in a few seconds. Example, get the phone number of the W Hotel in Dallas by texting W Hotel Dallas to Google.

15. Call Google’s free directory assistance.

800.466.4411 Google will look up a business name, city and state and automatically connect you.

There are many more Google search tips. What’s your favorite or most used tip? Add it in the comments.

If you’re reading this, you may have wondered if you’re at a new blog site. You’re not.

We have a new look and format. We still have same voice and will continue to give you provocative content.

Please be patient with us as we tweak our new look and format. More changes coming your way.