‘Budgets are tight in light of the economic conditions as you surmise, but [the budget for social applications] has not been impacted. Interactive in general has been more protected than other comm areas and saw an increase.”

These same arguments apply to some other forms of online marketing, including search ads and email marketing. Those are going to be good investments in a recession. If you’re smart, you’ll position yourself now with proof your apps are working. Then when the ad dollars get tight, you’ll be in good shape.

In certainly appears that social media marketing fits well into the grand scheme of things. In discussing why social application will thrive in a recession, Josh Bernoff wisely writes

“If your social application doesn’t have a measurable output, you’d better get one. But if it does — if it generates leads, or conversions, or buzz, or something useful — then you can prove it’s working. beinggirl.com is four times as effective as TV ads, Procter & Gamble told us. That won’t get cut in a recession. But social applications are about consideration, not awareness.

Blogs, word of mouth, social networks . . . they’re about people connecting with other people. Basically, in a recession, the consideration phase is more important than awareness — and that’s where advertising flops and social applications succeed.’ No doubt social media is here to stay. We encourage you to make the best of this tremendous platform.

And then we have Bryan Eisenberg who sites three steps you can take to make your online marketing recession proof:

1. Turn your analytics into customer insight. It’s not enough to get reports. Each click is an action taken by a real person. Learn why your customers do what they do on your site.

2. Turn your insight into action. If customers leave your site or landing pages, theorize as to why, then test variations to confirm or refute your insight based on step one.

3. Rinse and repeat. Don’t become a victim of a recession; instead use it as an opportunity to take control of the things you can and jack up your conversion rate.

Also on this topic, see David Armano’s post on 10 ways digital can help you thrive in a recession.

For those who have been devoted to Windows OS and related networking the decision to transfer to Mac gives rise to some concern, confusion and frustration. The most recent popularity of Mac however, has many wondering if it is worthwhile to make the switch. It doesn’t take a whole lot of research on the web to find that there are pros and cons each way.

Many people remain married to their PC’s because…
• They’ve been using PC’s at home and work for years and feel it’s easier to stick with what they’re used to.
• They are not aware of the better alternative Apple can provide for them.
• They feel that Apple is too expensive for them (Not true, in fact the new MacBook’s offer more features and performance than the competition for a lower price.
• They feel that switching over is difficult and that they’ll be lost with a new way of doing things.

We have seen enthusiastic reviews about Apple’s Mac. The Technology review writes,

‘The Mac definitely has its advantages. It offers a stable operating system, an attractive interface that enhances the computer operating experience, simplicity of hardware installation, a wide variety of portable and desktop machines, built-in software and hardware for video work and a growing list of law practice applications. Another plus is that the Mac OS is integrated with the computer’s hardware and is not bound by the legacy needs of hardware manufacturers. Because both the machine and the OS are manufactured and designed under one roof, trouble spots can be identified and eliminated. For the user, this means less time troubleshooting and more time working. This is not to say that the Mac is trouble-free. It can be prone to Internet connectivity problems, particularly with wireless networks through the Airport connection.

In his article entitled Why Switch from PC to Mac, Mike delineates five reasons to consider purchasing a new Mac:

1. Ease of use - Apple computers are so intuitive, and easy to use, that it’s not a chore to spend time utilizing their potential. Connecting cameras, iPod’s, and any other cool gadget has NEVER been easier!

2. More features built into the ‘Box’ - Your Mac comes loaded with life enhancing products that you don’t have to wait for, or purchase extra!

3. Excellent design, intuitive layout - Apple has long been known as THE trendsetter in Computer design, and the new Macintosh take that to a whole new level.

4. The ability to run Windows - And all of the applications that go along with it - OS X or Windows XP? It’s your choice, with the new Macintosh with the Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

So which is right for you? Let’s take a look at some comments on the flip side from new Mac users.

When using her new Mac, one user finds annoyances became costly. For instance her laser printer (Canon 550) didn’t speak Mac. Another consumer writes, “the OS is still not completely natural for me. It is a problem for me to tell where I am. On a PC, the active window is where you are. No confusion. The signal strength for which program is active is much weaker on a Mac. I have, more than once, been printing out DVD disks, and find that I’ve been printing out email messages instead on my disks.” Many other new Mac users found that networking seemed to be much easier on PCs than Macs.

So which platform would you choose? A Mac appears to have all the essentials built right in, including latest wireless technology, a solid OS system that is loaded with innovations. Are you ready and willing to get out of your PC comfort zone? If so, why not try a MAC?

New Mac user? Leave a comment!

RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts. An RSS document (which is called a “feed” or “web feed” or “channel”) contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays. The initials “RSS” are used to refer to the following formats:

• Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
• RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)
• Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)

“RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats. Although RSS formats have evolved since March 1999,the RSS icon (”") first gained widespread use in 2005/2006,” so writes Sharon Housley .

She continues,

“Blogs vaulted RSS into the limelight but are unlikely to be the force that sustains RSS as a communication medium. The biggest opportunities for RSS are not in the blogosphere but as a corporate communication channel.”

The big consumer benefit to RSS is that consumers opt-in to content of interest, totally controlling the flow of information they receive. If the quality of the content in the feed declines, users simply remove the feed from their RSS reader and they will not receive any additional updates from that source. The RSS reader acts as an aggregator, allowing users to view and scan multiple content streams in a timely fashion.

Consumer expectation will drive businesses that are slow to adopt. Ultimately, RSS will be a standard, like email addresses and websites are now a “must” for businesses. RSS feeds will join their ranks”

“Dustin MacDonald who – not content with the status quo – cooks up a little application called, simply enough, “Times” that takes a whole new approach to syndication perusal.

Times has set three specific goals

1. It wants to make RSS scanning feel more like reading a newspaper or magazine through distinctive and visually appealing layout and typography

2. Second, it highly encourages you to choose your feeds carefully, thus eliminating what has become the inevitable backlog.

3. Third. change the way in which you highlight and save individual posts thus making Times a solid research tool or blogging aid.

Sounds like the future of RSS is promising and RSS feeds are here to stay.

All Orlando residents are invited to join the City of Orlando for the Oath of Office ceremony. The ceremony, open to the public, will swear in Mayor Dyer, District 2 Commissioner-elect Tony Ortiz and District 4 Commissioner Patty Sheehan for a four-year term.

Mayor Dyer was born in Orlando and raised in nearby Kissimmee. A successful attorney in private practice, Mayor Dyer was first elected to public office in 1992. Upon being re-elected for his first four year full term in 2004, Mayor Dyer outlined a list of initiatives to accomplish during his tenure in office.

The following outlines a few of Mayor Dyer’s accomplishments during his first four years in office:

• Mayor Dyer added 75 police officers to the street force and 45 new fire personnel and is building two new police stations and 3 new fire stations.

• Invested resources to ensure neighborhood improvement

• Served as only municipality to fund Commuter Rail effort increasing multi-modal transit option for the entire Central Florida region.

• Approved the vision and plan to develop world-class regional Community Venues

• Continued “Pathways for Parramore” initiative including expanding the “Parramore Kidz Zone” to provide after school activities, access to health care and social services to children and families.

• Developed unprecedented public/private partnership to lay the foundation for a Medical City at Lake Nona..

• Recruited House of Moves, the world’s largest motion capture service bureau, to co-locate an east coast operation in the Downtown Orlando Creative Village at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy..

• Launched a pre-kindergarten initiative and doubled the number of high quality pre-kindergarten classrooms in the city.

• Opened the downtown campuses of the Florida A&M College of Law, UCF’s School of Film and Digital Media and championed getting a medical school for UCF in east Orlando.

• Balanced the budget and placed public safety as a top priority, making up a $23 million budget shortfall in Mayor Dyer’s first thirty days in office and has continued to do so each year thereafter.

NFi Studios, Orlando, Florida takes this opportunity to congratulate Mayor Buddy Dyer for all his achievements and wish him and his staff continued success in the four years to come!

“DigitalNow is an annual conference, which brings together CEOs and volunteer leaders from some of the most influential professional and trade associations in America. Fusion Productions and Disney Institute, two of the foremost authorities in adult educational design, produce the conference, with input from registered attendees and conference advisory board. DigitalNow addresses the critical issues facing association leaders in the digital age (Building Brand, Personalization, Online Community, AMS Integration, Lifetime Loyalty, Member Relationship Management, Taxonomy/Advanced Search, Content Management, One-to-One Marketing and On-line Education”

The keynote lineup includes several relevant, knowledgeable speakers in the industry:

“Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired magazine Chris’ book,The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More explores the tremendous business potential of the long tail—the rise of the niche as a powerful new force in our economy.

Jeremy Gutsche, founder of TrendHunter.com. Jeremy Gutsche is the founder of TrendHunter.com, the most influential trend-spotting Web site in the world. Jeremy relentlessly tracks—and finds—The Next Big Thing, that valuable but elusive commodity, for over a million viewers a month.

Jeneanne Rae is a nationally recognized thought leader on innovation management and design strategy. Business Week hailed Jeneanne as one of its “Magnificent Seven” gurus of innovation in its cover story on the creative corporation.

Dan Heath is the co-author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling business book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Made to Stick has received coverage in a wide range of media outlets including The Today Show, MSNBC, Time Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, People, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal.”

Many attendees from last years conference sent in posts of their experience. Here’s what they had to say.

“Always at DigitalNow I get practical take-aways as well as ones that have to work their way into my psyche. On the practical side, the idea of charting of what members do vs. features and functions of Association web content will be valuable. On the psyche side, wow. There was so much that had to do with honesty and trust. I will be challenging myself to be completely there when interacting with others.”

“I was very impressed with the panel of young people, and the most valuable takeaway was seeing what they are already doing… and working to generate ideas on how to get them interested in my association.”

Great expectations from this conference! If you are planning to attend, get back to us and let us hear about your conference experience.