Happiness defined

According to Charlie Brown it's a warm puppy, but according to a recent report from MTV and the Associate Press, 50% of Americans 18 to 34 see happiness in the form of the Internet and their cell phones.

But have no fear! Most young people also see spending time with family and friends as a major source of happiness -- the number one source, in fact.
One wonders, though, whether they count time spent with friends online or on their cell phone as "friend time" or "Internet time." Or what about all those semi-friends one has on MySpace? Which category does that fall in to?

Perhaps the good news here is that when one is "plugged in" one can earn double fun points when one connects with friends and family through technology.

At the same time, these folks are stressed out about a few things. You'd think it would be "too much SPAM on the internet" or "not enough texting capacity on my cell phone." In fact, the number one source of stress, now as it always has been, is money (not having enough, that is. Few people reported stress about too much cash).

Overall, though, it seems that the younger set is a jolly lot -- a much different picture than we sometimes get of the "self-centered, morose" millenial generation.

If you're interested in a closer look you can read more about this study here and here

Broadband is here to stay...

The Pew Internet and the American Life Project just released an interest research memo on broadband adoption in the home, and for anyone arguing that people aren't into having Internet access in their homes, well, you're wrong.

First of all, consider the fact that 71% of all adults use the Internet frequently, and 62% have an Internet connection at home. And those connections aren't all dial-up. In fact, almost 1/2 of Americans (47%) now have a broadband connection at home, reflecting a 5% increase from the previous year. While broadband use continues to be less prevelant in rural areas, growth in rural areas is faster than in other parts of the country.

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that one of the fastest growing demographics for broadband adoption is the African America community, with over 40% of homes boasting a broadband connection. That's nearly triple the number in early 2005. Oh, and according to Pew "...the number of home broadband users in early 2007 is now roughly as large (on a percentage basis) as the entire universe of internet users in the first year of the [Pew] surveys of online use."

Seems that this Internet thing is pretty popular, not just for work and communication but for home entertainment as well. Clearly, people are flocking to faster connection speeds for a reason. Could that reason be the desire to upload their own content (as well as to access new forms of content from other users (like video)?)

Sounds pretty e-scapist to me!

Plugging In to Blogging: Five Key Steps

Everyone has probably already heard of this site, but just in case: If you want to make sure you get off on the right foot with your blogging efforts, go to www.problogger.net. The guy who runs this site knows a LOT about blogs and provides the information in a really clear, concise, meaningful way (no wading through tons of posts to get to the one you want!)

I discovered the site while putting together a session for First Class on how to make money using your blog.

For purposes of the class, I broke the process down into five basic steps and encouraged participants to ask themselves questions at each point in the process. In the class session, we discussed all the various free tools available on the Internet for blog optimization. I'll post the full class materials on the site in the near future. In the meantime, following is my outline of the class -- enjoy!

Step One: Start the Blog!

• What will you write about (hint: to make money on your blog, people have to want to go to it!)
• What are you an expert at?
• How often can you commit to writing (more often is better; one short post every day to start at a minimum)
• What technology will you use?
• Are you comfortable with blogging as a medium (it’s different from “regular writing”)
  

Step Two: Drive people to the blog

• Who will want to read your blog (what is your target market?)
• Why will your content be so compelling that people will want to read?
• What techniques will you use to drive people to your blog? (hint: ads are not enough!)

Step Three: Put revenue makers on the blog

How could you utilize each of these techniques to gain revenue from your blog?

• Advertising and the Google Haiku
• Potential affiliate partners
• Products you could create and sell
• Potential for donations?

Step Four: Consider additional revenue making options to advertise through your blog

Although it is possible, over time, to develop a more “passive income” oriented site, one of the best, most lucrative ways to gain money from your blog is to use it as a marketing tool for your expertise. The types of services that are uniquely suited to marketing through a blog include:

• What kinds of services could you offer for sale through your blog?
• How would you describe those services? How would you price them?
• Could you turn your blog entries into additional articles for e-lance providers?
• Could you offer webinars or trainings?

Step Five: Monitor your progress

If you really want to have a successful blog (and make money!), you have to be committed to all the critical steps: content development; driving traffic; having revenue generators on your site and following your progress.

How will you:

• Utilize tracking tools (like Google Analytics) to monitor your web pages
• Identify the strategies that are working and focus on those
• Maintain a consistent commitment to writing in the blog
• Optimize the blog on an ongoing basis by providing new tools and opportunities to interact?

A whole new meaning to the term "Peer Review"

Anyone in the academic or scientific community understands the idea of "peer review." See, when you right something really complicated that no one is likely to understand, your publicher will probably ask other really smart people to review the piece just to be sure that you're not crazy (well, you may be, but they really want to be sure you're not just wrong).

Yelp.com takes the idea of peer review to the masses -- but don't worry, you won't have to write something incredibly erudite. I suppose it's not technically "peer review", it's just plain old regular reviews from plain old regular people. On the site you can read useful, detailed reviews of local restaurants. stores, products and experiences by joe and jane public. You can also write your own! Be sure to check it out before heading out for a meal out, or make sure your favorite places have positive comments online.

Frankly, Yelp.com is going to be around for a while. Local businesses that want drive business should double check their reviews -- if there are trends indicating problems, it's time for the restaurant to take action. It's kind of like a free secret shopper service.

I'm heading off to Minneapolis today -- I hope they have information on that city!

Those High Tech Park and Rec Guys...

I don't usually think of the people affiliated with local, state and national parks as the most high tech people. I don't mean that in a bad way -- I just don't! I mean, they spend all their time doing fun things outdoors. It's hard to imagine them locked in an office in front of a computer all day.

But these folks continue to surprise me with their adoption of technology to imporove the park experience. Take the example of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association and its LocateAPark site which "mashes up" information about their member parks with Google Maps.

And the coolest thing about it is that they just used their database information and two free online geocoding and mapping services, Geocoder and GoogleMaps. Sure, it took some time, but the basic tools are available to everyone with a computer and an Internet connection.

Of course, the mapping service is only as good as the data that goes into it -- Google Maps will map whatever address you give it, even if it's wrong. Nevertheless, these tools have tremendous potential for any association or organization that wants to build a geographic representation of their members, products or services.

For more information about this cool site, check out the Associations Now article highlighting the IPRA's work

People are the Platform

Video gamers say the most interesting things! I was recently reminded of this by a great opinion piece in Associations Now from Jason Della Rocca, Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association. His piece, titled "People are the Platform" reminds us that the way most Associations (and businesses for that matter) are going to continue to attract people is by allowing members to talk to one another -- and back to the sponsoring organization.

Unfortunately, many of the available "Association management" tools out their are very closed, very proprietary systems that do not allow for a more flexible, modular approach. Jason gives the example of when his members wanted a wiki available on the site -- the best solution they could find for the short term was to download the latest Mediawiki release and patch it in with their membership pages.

As Jason suggests, it's somewhat concerning (some might even say "appalling") that associations are not adopting these new approaches more open-mindedly. In my opinion, it boils down to a concern about control -- control over who gets to say what in the forums they sponsor. While one can empathize with that view, it's an old way of thinking. The people that form the platform are going to find other platforms to say what they want -- but they'll still say it. Wouldn't it be better if they were saying it TO you, not ABOUT you?

Living 24 Hours Without, Gasp, Technology

I think I'd probably die. But a classroom full of college kids did it as part of a class at American University. A recent Washington Post article titled "The Longest Day" highlighted this, ummm, interesting adventure.

The assignment was to spend a day without "media" -- all media. Cell phones, television, car radios, CDs, video games, the computer I'm typing this blog on -- everything. This, of course, generated a discussion of what constitutes media (i.e., if your cell phone is considered media, why isn't your landline? What if you walk by a store blaring music? Have you violated the terms of the agreement?)

The poor souls who participated in the experiment had varying reactions, as noted in their subsequent papers (typed, one assumes, on a computer AFTER the day of no media). Some felt very isolated, disconnected and "in shock." Others discovered the joy of sleep, newspapers and converations with other people.

Some of the items I found most interesting? One student enjoyed the experiment because it helped them get away from their cell phone, which "always rang at the most inopportune times." Seems they didn't know about the "off" button before the media fast :) I was also interested in ways in which some students defended their media habits. As noted by the author of the article, in many ways it seemed as if they were saying: "We're not frivolous just because we like to IM and go on Facebook."

Perhaps most interesting, spending a day without media seemed, for many of the participants, to really highlight how they use media to focus their time and attention on what matters most to them. Some felt "homeless" with no where to go and no one to talk to.

Maybe taking a media fast is a good way to help one determine what's really important. Hey, it seems barbaric to me, but what do I know?

Breaking the Rules of Engagement

With 147,000 associations in the world, it's not surprising that "engaging" Association members is a hot topic (especially here in Washington, DC). Most Association leaders want to know how they can get their members interested and active in their activities. This often comes up in the context of "motivating" members (i.e., how can we motivate members to do the things we want them to do?)

Well, my answer is to utilize the powerful online and other tools at our disposal to actually "engage" members -- i.e., to facilitate experiences and exchanges that matter to BOTH parties. Too often we attempt a "top-down" approach, and then wonder why members aren't interested in the action alerts, conferences and activities that we find completely fascinating.

In short, the job of Association leaders and staff is to get their members to actually choose to spend time with them. Easier said than done, that's for sure, but my atricle in Association's Now magazine outlines a few options for getting started. Check it out!

Facebook, Coming to a Workplace Near You

"Web Networking Boom Blasts Into the Workplace" notes that sites like FaceBook and MySpace are starting to cater to the business community -- and businesses that recognize the significance of social networking are flocking to this new advertising and outreach mechanism.

Unfortunately, some businesses see only threats in social networking sites. I'd hate to live in London, where 2/3rds of businesses have banned access to MySpace or Facebook, arguing that these sites distract from work place activities.

Hmmm. I think what some people need to come to understand is that social and/or work networking ARE work place activities. People often use these sites to get more insights into customers, clients and potential employers. And, certainly, they do socialize -- but what are we banning next, water coolers?

Perhaps most interesting, he fastest growing demographic on Facebook is the over 25 crowd, which can only mean one thing. The under-25 crowd is on to something else. I'll let you know when I figure out what that is.

In the meantime, check out my rather inadequate MySpace page at www.myspace.com/advocacyguru

Will you be my friend?