Download - Tech News Update for AWC Communicators
Ice Painting
Betamax photo courtesy jurvetson at Flickr CC
Ear to the (Geek) Ground:Tech News You Can Use
Thanks for joining us today on the Webinar!
Explain the photo
Your Nerd Guide...
Sheila Scarborough
@SheilaS on Twitter
I love talking about this stuff!
If I don't know the answer I'll try to find it for you.
It IS hard to keep up with all of this (I consider it part of my full-time job and it's near-impossible for me) so find yourself a tech guide or tech mentor.
Someone a bit further out than you just on the horizon if they fall out of sight, you may not want to go there. :)
If you follow me on Twitter, please at me and say Hi!
What This Is....
A broad-brush look at:Tech/social media trends
What those trends might mean for you as a communicator
Always asking the So What? question
We're covering a lot of territory, not enough time to go into much depth.
I want you to walk away ready to do more research in the areas that make sense for your business
I want you to be able to say, I've heard of that....
What This Is Not....
A note-taking test!
Reference material will be availableGeek Dashboard Pack handout
Slides on SlideShare.net
So, put down the pen/keyboard if you'd like, and let's get nerdy....
The Geek Dashboard Pack has links and references, and is a good place for starter kit information about today's topics.
SlideShare, if you haven't heard of it, is a wonderful research resource (and it's Google-indexed, so your SlideShare channel is another way to get your content found. Title, tag and describe with that in mind!)
Big Themes for Today
Search engines and SEO
Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality
(Pause for mid-session Q&A)
Mobile and smartphones
Google Voice, Buzz and Wave
Location-based games and apps
(Wrap-up Q&A)
I'm going to blast along here, but making every effort to leave time for questions at the halfway point and at the end.
Search Engine Changes: Lots!
Google search engine changesReal-time, personalized and social
Google's niche search enginesBlog search, books, images, video
Other search enginesTwitter, YouTube, Facebook, Bing, Yahoo
Lots of shifts and changes that you may have missed in life's general hullabaloo, so we'll skim through the big ones here.
Your Search Isn't My Search
Control key closeup courtesy renatotarga at Flickr CC
It used to be that if you and I sat down and searched for great microbreweries in Nebraska in Google, we'd get the same results.
Today, if you do that, our results might not be exactly the same.
Here is why....
What's New in Your Search
Recent Google changesAdding real-time data: incorporating tweets and Facebook information
Making it personalized: keeping track of your search activity and tailoring your SERPsSERP = Search Engine Results Page
Making it social: letting you find out what your social circle is saying
** Real-time: Bing added Twitter, MySpace and FB Fan Page results first, and now Google has them as well plus Google Buzz posts (not all show for all searches.)
** Personalized: Google tracks your search data and keeps it for up to 180 days (used to be opt-in, but is now opt-out.) Your results are targeted to your previous preferences (SOX for baseball vs Sarb-Ox for accountant) so you may have different SERPs than someone next to you searching the same term. Is this a problem/echo chamber?
** Social: What results do your friends like? (my social circle is ppl connected thru Google my G. Profile is pretty complete, so lots.) Do you even want to know? Make content something ppl want to share!
Drilling WAY down
Google's niche search enginesBooks
Scholar: academic papers, theses, abstracts, court opinions
Images
Video
Blogs: http://blogsearch.google.com
As you can see, Google lives to organize information.
If you search Web, you will get a mix of results (news, text, images, video)
If you want to get very specific with pages of results, go to the specific search engines.
How to Keep Up with Google
Most people never look past the Web link at the upper right, but all of the other Google search engines, tools and services are findable through the drop-downs here.
For the truly curious and geeky, go to Google Labs for all the newest experiments and products.
Other Search Engines
Latest comScore data shows Google holding about 65% of the U.S. search engine pie
There ARE other search engines:Twitter....http://search.twitter.com
YouTube....2nd largest search engine!
Facebook....insane growth
Bing....innovating, market share increasing
Yahoo!....still out there
** Twitter search: Although we just heard this week that every tweet since the beginning of time is going to the Library of Congress, Twitter Search only goes back a few weeks. Best for pulse checks.
** YouTube: Although owned by Google, when broken out it ranks as 2nd largest worldwide.
** Facebook: (with a FB account) enter search terms in the Search box, get back related people, pages and results from your FB friends.
** Bing: 12% - Market share increasing, I'd never bet against Microsoft when stakes are so high and they have money. Richer more visual, intuitive search (4sq data going to Bing Maps: what's hot, literally!)
** Yahoo: 14% - still a player
So What?
Best SEO practices aren't One Size Fits AllOne Size Fits Most will....mostly....work
Know how your customers searchVideo: do you have any? Is it SEO'd?
Is your content mobile-friendly?
More plain language/full sentence search
Increase in the use of nearNeed a dry cleaner near Interstate 10
Craft your content to contain the words that your customers use to search
Always create content with search in mind. Keywords matter everywhere. Don't obsess, but....
For example, your Facebook Fan Page updates now matter for SEO.
Title, tag and describe your videos and photos; the bots can't see photos or video (yet, HTML5 in video may change that) but they can crawl text related to those visual items.
Remember that people are driving around looking for info on a mobile device. If your sites are a pain to navigate on a smartphone, people will vote with their Blackberries and iPhones and go to sites that CAN use.
Augmented Reality
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Example: Spotted by Locals
A presentation on SlideShare called:
Augmented reality for city travelers
So What?
How can you augment your customer's reality?
It's just additional info: what database does the service use for listings?
Are you IN those listings?
If you're in travel/tourism, this is a big deal
Want Some Virtual Reality?
Second Life is Still Alive
Training in Second Life courtesy Working Inworld Blog
** Dell
** National Geographic
** A SLURL is just a SL URL.
Example: National Geographic
Blog post about their presentation/participation in a Second Life conference:
Virtual Reality for the Real WorldNational Geographic's Blog Wild
Virtual Reality Can Mean Business
Mainstream organizations use it for training and conferences
Saves money, engages participants
So What?If you're in the events/conferences/training industries, consider a virtual reality component
BlogHer in Second Life gave me my startGreat idea for sold-out events!
The Pause That Refreshes:
It's Q & A Time!
555 LED flasher candy creation (courtesy oskay at Flickr CC)
Mobile/Smartphones
Mobile
Mobile
Mobile
Mobile
Mobile
OK, no, really....MOBILE
Just went to a corporate event as part of a speaking engagement, very not-trendy group, and iPhones and Blackberries were everywhere.
iPhone = total game changer
Android = power is in the spread of many devices across all carriers
RIM/Blackberry = not dead yet
Nokia = still dominates the planet market share, but are they too late? Never count out those Finns! Many thought Motorola was dead....
Smartphone courtesy rianvanu on Flickr CC
Combination of smartphones and social networking is incredibly powerful.
Those of you who remember the Dick Tracy watch? Well, it's here.
Mary Meeker on Mobile (at Web 2.0 Summit)
Meeker thinks were in a new computing cycle with the mobile web. Meeker believes Apples iPhone and iPod touch are leading the way here, big time.
She thinks the mobile web will be 10 times as big as the more traditional desktop Internet, and that it will grow much faster.
She also notes that the technologies around it are exploding: Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G, Bluetooth, etc. And all of this is exploding in a recession, she notes.
(as quoted by TechCrunch)
Meeker is a Wall Street securities analyst who has been covering the tech scene for years.
Mobile/Smartphones
This is how people are looking for infoEx: Walt Disney World mobile version
Grandma is on Facebook, AND....She has the Web in her purse
New twist: livestreaming to the WebQik.com, USTREAM Mobile
Makes everyone a $50,000 TV news van
So What?
If you do nothing else today, go figure out how to make your site(s) mobile-friendly
Try Google's mobile optimizer: http://www.google.com/gwt/n
Have a WordPress blog? Try MobilePress:http://mobilepress.co.za/
More Google Toys
Google VoiceA portable phone number (implications for mobile) and voice-to-text
So What? One number to rule them all.
Google BuzzMaking gmail social but not private
So What? Not everything is better when social
Google Wave (here is mine)Possible collaboration tool
So What? Docs/presos via email STINKS
** Google Voice is still in beta, so invite-only, but anyone can request an invite. Might be worth checking out
** Buzz - Sharing in your email IN box not always a great idea. Anyone could see who you email and connect with the most.
** Wave no one really knows yet, but interesting to watch.
Great example of collaborating in the cloud, as with Google Docs. Can attach large files to a Wave, people can replay it if they come in late, very flexible.
Location-based Games/Apps
Foursquare and Gowalla
How they work
So What?Physical presence of customers
The fight to be mayor is good for you!
Customer tips on venue page are feedback
Venue checkFoursquare: Whole Foods flagship, Austin TX
Gowalla: Whole Foods flagship, Austin TX
What's the big difference? Not a whole lot. Maybe that Gowalla is more geared to the travel experience (with Nearby Trips) & photos
Foursquare is badge-collecting, Gowalla's game is more of virtual items in a passport more like virtual geocaching/scavenger hunting in some ways. More share-y and fun in that way.
Which phones they work on, which cities have venues. Name recognition key for each brand. Others incorporating location (Yelp, Twitter)
Key in blog post comment: Winner = who can make check-in/local info more fun, useful and relevant
Takeaways
Get some tech mentors to help youGeek Dashboard Pack handout has some
You really need to pay attention to :Mobile
Video
Location-based services
SEO: your content all counts, so make it count
Whew! Thanks for Coming Today
She's geeky! (courtesy Cambodia4KidsOrg at Flickr CC)
Go Get Nerdy
Sheila Scarborough
@SheilaS
Co-founder, Tourism Currents
This presentation was made with Impress open source software