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As one of the last sessions on Tuesday, our group was a little worried about attendance, considering the buzz regarding other programs in the same time slot. To our relief, every seat was filled and we even had a few attendees lining up on the walls. Wow, we hit "standing room only" status.
Tom Cooper did a great job talking about why they didn't need people like me full time as he spoke about how he outsourced his entire IT operation. His key tools are truly his laptop and a PC cell air card he uses to access his stuff online. I spoke about the virtues of Virtualization and how even small to mid-size operations can leverage the technology to save money, ease management and save the planet. Just kidding, at least save on electricity bills. Dina Lewis I felt had the most useful segment talking about all the great Web tools she uses to be uber geeky. I think I use perhaps only a quarter of the tools she mentioned but can't wait try out the rest she showcased. Rick Johnson talked about all the great ways to engage your audience via the Web and hammered home the idea of how to craft content to focus on smaller segments of your audience. Excellent information.
Want more? Check out our handout with a ton of great links to resources we shared during our presentation after the jump!
Technology Trends: What Association Leaders Need to Know Now
August 19, 2008
2:15 – 3:30 p.m.
Tom Cooper, CAE
Rick Johnson, CAE
Dina Lewis, CAE
Renato Sogueco
2008 Annual Meeting & Exposition
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, CA
Virtualization
Dig deeper!
We’ve introduced to you the exciting concept of virtualization and many of the great benefits, but as always, there is more to learn. Follow these links to get up to speed on all the benefits, introduce yourself to many of the primary vendors and begin earnest investigation on whether your organization is virtualization ready.
Check out: “10 Questions,” “Test Your Virtualization Readiness” and “10 Freebies.”
Check out: “ABC: an Introduction to Virtualization” and “Vendor Matrix application.”
Virtualization Software Overview
Here’s a collection of links to vendors and organizations that provide the software that powers a majority of the enterprise-class virtualization deployments.
Try Virtualization at your Desk
Before even thinking about consolidating your datacenter, get a quick and easy taste for virtualization at the comfort of your own desk by installing the following:
Once installed, visit: http://vmware.com/appliances/ These downloadable “appliances” are actually pre-configured operating system (OS) installations with lots of software built-in to run specific applications such as a Web server, e-mail server, networking monitoring and more. Or if you’re super savvy, begin installing fresh OS installs from install disks. Have fun!
Web Tools
For screensharing, remote access; Can be used as help desk tools
www.logmein.com and www.gotomypc.com
Track stories about your industry or topics of interest
http://alltop.com/
Training videos
www.camtasia.com
When you absolutely positively need to it there...and don’t have FTP access
www.yousendit.com
Meeting scheduling
www.meetingwizard.com
Reminders—to yourself and others—without sticky notes
www.jott.com
Backup service
www.mozy.com
Document collaboration
http://docs.google.com
Avoid dreaded link breaks and ‘ugly’ links in emails
http://tinyurl.com
Other Resource Sites
Web design resource list
www.agencytool.com/dashboard/
Simple videos that explain complex things
www.commoncraft.com
Master list of associations using social media tools
http://associationsocialmedia.com
Audience Engagement
Single Web Platform for All Content
Many associations have moved to or plan to implement a single portal and content management system (CMS) to support all of their web content, from internal Intranet sites for staff… to Extranet sites for members, volunteers and committees… to their public Internet sites. The portal can determine who should have what kinds of access (create, editorial, review, read only) to what content. And there is only one CMS to support, train on and manage.
Here are sample organizations that have implemented this solution or are in the process of doing so:
eKnowledge sites are those intended to serve as a central portal for the acquisition, contribution and discussion of knowledge resources on a particular topic. This assumes an open and sharing community that extends beyond the knowledge assets of one association to include other trusted sources. Check out Rick’s recent article on eKnowledge:
Here are sample organizations that have implemented eKnowledge solutions and a good article for reference:
Audience Segmentation
With the explosion of online content, the task of finding relevant content on web sites is becoming increasingly difficult. One strategy is to segment your audience by providing focused content areas for groups with common unique needs. The following are some examples of association sites that use segmentation strategies:
Social Bookmarking Sites
Social bookmarking sites allow users to organize bookmarks within keyword categories rather than use Favorite Links in their browser. Encourage your constituents who use these sites to bookmark your site to increase your traffic. The following are a few popular sites for social bookmarking:
Content Syndication
Association have valuable content that other sites are willing to share with their audiences and give you both credit and additional visibility. Video and photo sharing sites engage your members and provide free or inexpensive hosting for this content. The following resources may be helpful as you consider how best to push your content out to audiences rather than relying solely on their coming to your site.
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Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_syndication) -- BTW, make sure your association is listed on Wikipedia and that you participate in content updates for your area of expertise.
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Video sharing sites:
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Photo sharing sites (share photos from conventions):
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