ASR Blog

Cool podcast on Project OR from SM08.... we go again for WM09

It's never ceased to amaze me what a little music can do to change the impact of radio (or in this case, Podcast from SNEWS).  James Mills does an excellent job adding spice to the storyline too...

http://web.mac.com/nwsr8th1/Discussion/TOP_Blog/Entries/2008/10/21_Project_OR.html

Also a good article/blogpost here from Primaloft on the contest and the winner...

 

Never before seen images of Ryanniel Ocampo's winning design here!

Web 2.0 is heeeeere....

Web 2.0 / Social Media is (Already) Here
September 30, 2008 (Stephen Nold's Event Tech Blog)

An industry magazine recently featured an article focusing on the top twelve technology trends  of which show organizers and meeting planners should be aware. The top technology listed is Web 2.0, a topic about which there seems to be a lot of misconception about.

The term ‘Web 2.0’ was first coined by Tim O’Reilly a few years ago to denote the relatively new state of interconnectivity of the internet then. The term applies to MySpace, Facebook, chat rooms, forums, message boards, dynamic websites, blogs, online retail stores, and any web application that allows a user to interact with the web. Before Web 2.0, the internet was static and largely written in HTML, which is less of a computer language and more of a style guide. With the introduction of languages like PHP, Java, and ASPX, websites are now dynamic and interactive, which is what Web 2.0 refers to.

Although ‘Web 2.0’ is a popular term, it is actually a misnomer – the term denotes that this is just a stage in the ever evolving history of the internet.  It’s not. ‘Web 2.0’ leads people to believe that there will be a ‘Web 3.0’, which is not necessarily true. In reality, ‘Web 2.0’ actually refers to a shift in the way we approach and use the internet and should actually be replaced by the more accurate term ‘social media’.

The article in question describes Web 2.0 by what it will do, but fails to mention what it is doing. The author writes, “Web 2.0 will change the events industry in several seemingly subtle ways,” when he should be writing “Web 2.0 is changing…” The technology is already here and in use in many meetings and tradeshows, so the question should not be “When will show organizers start using Web 2.0?” but rather, “How do organizers better utilize Web 2.0 for their shows?” The technology is already here and in use, organizers just have to make sure they are using it to its fullest extent.
(This article excerpted from Stephen Nold's 'Event Tech Blog' )

Recently I attended the OIA Rendezvous, the industry's leadership conference held this year in Boston.
Always a great affair with inspiring, educational content and though-provoking keynote presentations, this time had a different dynamic.  Twitter.  Going on during presentations, broadcasting notes across the room and across the continent as 'followers' of the twits got glimpses into the content at Rendezvous, through the eyes of the thumb-twitching twitterer.  I checked my facebook account tonite and learned that five minutes earlier, Alpinist magazine had announced it's intention to cease publication.  Sad news, but instantly broadcast across the industry in seconds.  I've been getting regular, daily updates via 'caringbridge' about a wonderful, injured friend of the industry who is recovering from a deadly car wreck in NYC.  I can read them on my phone. 

So what's your feeling on this?  Is it annoying, like kids passing notes in class or people talking to themselves staring into space with a steel antenna in one ear?  Is it helping your business at the show, or in general?  Who has found a unique way to build business using some Web 2.0 tools?

Blogging about Blog Stats

The Blogosphere Ecosystem
Bloggers collectively create nearly one million blog posts each day, and half of bloggers believe blogs will be a primary source of news and entertainment in the next five years. A new report by Technorati analyzed an average work week on their site which covered five broad topic areas relating to the state of blogging: Who bloggers are, how they blog, blogging for profit and brands in the blogosphere. Though there is no widespread agreement on the size of the blogosphere, 133 million blog records have been indexed by Technorati since 2002. This growing number- and the blurring of lines between blogs and mainstream media - indicate that blogs have hit the mainstream, and now have representation in top-10 website lists across all key categories. Bloggers are important to watch, Technorati said, because as they are often the first ones to use new web applications and are highly influential in speeding adoption.

Characteristics of Bloggers
Fully half of bloggers believe that blogs will be a primary source for news and entertainment in the next five years, and one in five believe newspapers will not survive the next 10 years. US bloggers’ media consumption habits differ significantly from average Americans’:

* The average blogger has been blogging about three years.

* Bloggers spend twice as much time online as US adults age 18-49, and spend only one-third as much time watching TV.

* Non-blog web content is more influential among bloggers than traditional media.

* Bloggers participate in an average of five Web 2.0 activities, such as RSS and Twitter, while they are online.

* More than 8 in 10 bloggers post product or brand reviews, and almost nine in 10 blog about brands they feel strongly about.

* Men and women are equally likely to blog about products or services.

* One in three bloggers has been approached to be a brand advocate. Of those, more than six in 10 were offered payments of some kind.

* 37% of bloggers have been quoted in traditional media based on a blog post.

* Among bloggers, other blogs are the most influential form of brand messaging. Twice as many bloggers look to other blogs compared with TV, print, or outdoor advertising.

Top Tools and Tactics
The top traffic-building strategies cited by bloggers include listing their blogs on Google and Technorati, commenting on or linking to other blogs, participating in a blogroll or blog directory, and tagging blog posts to make them easily searchable.

Other findings:

* Active bloggers conduct an average of five different activities to attract visitors, and 28% do at least seven activities.

* Bloggers link to and from other sites and have a median number of 29 links from their blog to other websites and a median of 30 links from other websites to their blog.

* Using tags in their posts. The three most popular tags in June were “News” (appearing close to 200,000 times during the month, “Music” (appearing 71,531 times), and “Internet” (appearing 56,849 times)).

* More than eight in ten have a commenting system, archived posts, and have built-in syndication. Others use video and photos on their blog, or update their blog via a mobile device. On average, bloggers use seven of the 13 tools listed.

Topics for Bloggers
Though the subjects that bloggers cover run the gamut, the most popular are personal/lifestyle topics and technology. Posting product brand reviews is one of the most prevalent activities that cuts across topics.

* Four in five bloggers post brand or product reviews, with 37% posting them frequently. Some 90% of bloggers say they post about the brands, music, movies and books they feel strongly about.

* Company information or gossip and everyday retail experiences are discussed by the majority of bloggers.

* One-third of bloggers have been approached by companies to be brand advocates.

* Bloggers are very sophisticated in leveraging the available tools to make their blogs more robust.

Blogging for Profit
The majority of bloggers who responded to the survey have advertising on their blogs. Among those with advertising, the mean annual investment in the blog is $1,800. The mean annual revenue is $6,000 with $75K+ in revenue for those with 100,000 or more unique visitors per month.

Bloggers are sophisticated in using self-serve tools for search, display and affiliate advertising, and are increasingly turning to ad and blog networks. Many bloggers without advertising may consider it when their blogs grow. Bloggers with advertising invest significantly more time and money in their blogs than bloggers who don’t, Technorati said. This group also is more sophisticated in the technology tools it uses, its ad platforms and events it employs to build reader loyalty:

* On average, professional and corporate bloggers are more likely to include search ads, display ads, and affiliate marketing.

* One in four bloggers uses three or more means of advertising.

* The average annual blogger revenue is more than $6,000, though this is skewed by the top 1% of bloggers who earn $200K+.

* The mean investment in blogs over the past year is $1,000 and the median investment is $50.

* Bloggers with advertising invest an average of $1,800 annually in their blogs.

* US bloggers earn an average of $5,000, though bloggers in Asia earn 50% more on average and European bloggers, who are likely to invest more in their blogs, earn an average of 75% more than US bloggers.

* Bloggers are enjoying CPMs on parity with large publishers.

Blogger Analytics
Nearly all (95%) of bloggers know how many readers they have, with only 5% saying they don’t know how many monthly pageviews their blog receives. To track unique visitors, the majority of bloggers use Google. However, bloggers use a range of tools for other site analytics, with survey respondents mentioning more than 100 different tracking tools.

Key findings:
* Google Analytics is the most common tracking tool (used by two-thirds of bloggers).
* Sitemeter and Statcounter used by one in five bloggers.
* 42% use more than one service/provider for their analytics.
* More than 100 different tracking tools are used.

OIA Rendezvous update

The one time a year where we can reform the vision of the industry's future together.... the OIA Rendezvous (in Boston this year) has a noble purpose, and record attendance despite the hardships of travel and the wacky market swinging going on.  That is how important it is to get our heads out of the day to day and develop a strong future vision!
The twitter posts are starting to go off from the event, and Jon Bowermaster's presentation last night was a reminder that whether we recreate in it or not, Antarctica is the canary in the coal mine that we ignore at our own peril.  His approach was to take a peek behind the curtain of ice in Antarctica, and reveal the story of a changing continent in a rapidly changing world. 

More to come from Boston.  Gotta get some coffee.