Archive for January, 2006
January 31, 2006
Thornton May
Thornton May gave the keynote presentation this morning. His presentation was all over the place but generally talked about how we should think about future technology in a way that doesn’t introduce bias from our current frame of mind.
It basically boiled down to being careful the questions you ask, referencing the old chestnut of IBM comissioning a market study that said the worldwide demand for computers at the time was 50. However, the question that report asked was what was the demand for computers that can break codes and calculate artillery trajectories. Given that question, it was an accurate answer but was not about the demand for computers that could solve lots of productivity challenges for any corporation.
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January 31, 2006
ASAE Technology Strategies and Solutions Conference
We have wireless access at ASAE’s tech meeting that kicks off today, so hopefully I’ll be able to post a few blog entries from on site this week. In fact, I’m posting this from the opening session via the toll wireless at the Reagan Building in DC.
If you are at the meeting, I’ll be speaking in the Web Site Usability workshop and the Web Management session. Should be good stuff. The management session will deal with how to manage the politics of web design and management within an association, a tough issue that most people have challenges with.
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January 29, 2006
Web 2.0 Bucks
Ben Martin is offering an easy way to make $20 at ASAE’s Technology Conference next week.
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January 20, 2006
ISO: Chicago-based Associations Using RSS
I am working on an article about RSS for the Association Forum, which is based in Chicago. I’d like to talk with a few associations located there that are currently or are planning to use RSS. Drop me a note if you have a lead for me. Thanks!
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January 19, 2006
Under the Surface of Beta Publishing
The Pragmatic Programmer’s blog, PragDave, has a post up about what they do under the surface to be successful at publishing their books. They have gotten a lot of attention about their success in selling beta versions of their books and involving the community of buyers in improving the final product.
Behind the stuff that you see us doing, there’s an underlying philosophy and set of practices. They all reinforce each other. For example, the fact we have continuous builds and author-typesetting means we can create beta books that are living documents. The fact we have an errata system hyperlinked from these beta book pages means we can put feedback in the hands of our authors, and hence we can get updated revisions out faster. Each of these aspects of what we do is a small thing in isolation, but we have hundreds of them, and they all add up to a cohesive, and we feel revolutionary, whole. Copying just the visible aspects misses this depth.
I think the post is a bit unfair, or unrealistic, to expect no one else to be successful in using the model they have developed. However, the point that you have to have a compatible business philosophy and practices in order to do it, is a critical one. Louis Rosenfeld may be someone who can successfully replicate their success, with his new publishing venture, Rosenfeld Media.
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January 19, 2006
Guy Kawasaki on How to Kick Butt On a Panel
Guy Kawasaki, who started blogging recently, posts his 10 tips on how to be a great panelist. Great post and I highly recommend subscribing to Guy’s blog.
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January 17, 2006
Drupal Driven Web Sites
Gunnar Langemark has been highlighting numerous web sites that are published using Drupal, an open source content management system and community platform. If you are researching Drupal, you should review the sites that Gunnar has highlighted. Really impressive stuff.
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January 13, 2006
PrAjax
Pragmatic Studios is holding a 3-day Ajax training in Reston, VA next month. Check it out if you want your web dev team to be up to speed on the latest in interactive web applications.
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January 13, 2006
Behind the Scenes at an Apple Keynote
Here is a great article by Mike Evangelist in the Guardian that talks about what goes into one of Steve Jobs’ apparently effortless presentations:
With the demo set, my role was to stand by in case of technical problems with the software, or if Steve wanted to change anything. This gave me the opportunity to observe what was going on around me. The big keynotes require a very large crew with separate teams for each major task. One prepares the room to seat several thousand people. Another group builds the stage with its motorised pedestals, risers, trap doors, and so forth. A third manages the stage lighting, audio and effects.
Yet another sets up and calibrates the state-of-the-art projection systems (complete with redundant backup systems), and a huge remote video truck parked outside has its own crew handling video feeds for the webcasts and playback of any video needed during the show. Then there are the people who set up all the computers used in the keynote, each with at least one backup that can be instantly brought online with the flick of a switch.
It takes a few hundred people a couple of months to prep and deliver one of those presentations. The fact that Steve’s demos always just work is a big part of Apple’s brand. This is not by accident. (Via Presentation Zen.)
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January 11, 2006
Nielsen on the importance of converting search engine ad traffic
Jakob Nielsen has posted a short article you should read about the importance of converting search engine advertising traffic: Search Engines as Leeches on the Web.
Search engines extract too much of the Web’s value, leaving too little for the websites that actually create the content. Liberation from search dependency is a strategic imperative for both websites and software vendors.
Worth a read if you are using advertising on search engines to drive traffic to your web site.
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