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Microsharing Tools Comparison Paper & Matrix

All this travel is keeping me from a lot of original content. Here is my latest post from bub.blicio.us, which I think you'll enjoy.

I follow Laura Fitton on Twitter and am usually either enlightened or entertained by her tweets. Her company, Pistachio Consulting, has released a paper and a comparison matrix on microblogging (or microsharing) tools used in corporations: Enterprise Microsharing Tools Comparison: Nineteen Applications to Revolutionize Employee Effectiveness. According the paper, there has been an uptick in this sort of corporate communication as the economy has a downturn and corporations cut back on travel costs.

Concurrently, employees see the collaboration, networking, problem-solving and other productivity benefits of web 2.0 tools and want to apply them at work. These tools directly contribute to knowledge capture and management as workforces are scaled back and baby boomers retire, and they boost motivation and retention, especially among millennial generation employees.

CIO magazine’s October survey of 243 IT executives found three-quarters plan to freeze or cut their IT budgets. There is a critical need for cheaper, more versatile ways for information to flow within the enterprise. Enterprise-grade versions of Twitter may be the low-cost solution that fills this need.

By researching 19 microsharing tools and their uses, the team came up with several key findings, including that your employees are probably already using some sort of microsharing tool and that these tools should also communicate with the “gold standard” of Twitter. The report goes on to define, and classify, these 19 different tools, listing advantages and disadvantages of each. Finally, they list the questions they asked users of these tools.

I’ll be referencing this paper in a presentation I’m giving on microblogging in education. As a big proponent of informal learning, I think microblogging helps inspire others to share and learn. “Watercooler learning” is evident in Twitter, and Laura touches, unintentionally perhaps, on these learning and training concepts.

Microsharing for organizational communication and collaboration fundamentally changes how employees interact with others and grow their professional capacity. Microsharing connects people in ways that promote mutual support, rapid networking, inspiration, mentoring and idea exchange.

This is incredibly useful for anyone looking to add a Twitter-like tool to their arsenal of internal corporate communications. As is pointed out in the paper, there aren’t any case studies yet, as usage is still too new.

You can download the paper and/or matrix free from Pistachio Consulting.

Enterprise Micro Sharing Tools Comparison 11032008 - Upload a Document to Scribd

Delta (and others) to Offer in-flight wi-fi

Hooray!  Delta announced today that it will offer wireless internet access on it's flights by the middle of next year. Of course, I'm making multiple trips to California, and Las Vegas, all before February 2009, so that's not going to help me.

Delta is partnering with Aircell to make this happen. Keep in mind, folks, this is Wi-Fi, not cell phone access. It means that you can use smartphones with wi-fi internet access (like the iPhone), laptops with wireless cards, and other similar devices to surf the Internet while in-flight. Pricing will be flat fees: $9.95 for flights 3 hrs or less, $12.95 for flights more than 3 hours.

The service will be offered initially on Delta's fleet of 133 MD88/90 aircraft and will expand to the remaining domestic fleet of more than 200 Boeing 737, 757 and 767-300 aircraft during the first half of 2009. It expects to have the technology installed on its entire domestic fleet by next summer.

American also uses Aircell to offer wi-fi on its flights. JetBlue and US Airways are working on it.

I like this idea. While I rail passionately against paying to check my luggage (since I can't bring my liquids on the plane I HAVE to check luggage), in this case I am paying for a service. In fact, I'm only paying if I use it. Of course, the rates are a little high - comparable to the rates in big-name hotels. But unlike a hotel, I doubt it's overly easy to create Internet on a moving object in the clouds.

I do not, by the way, want people to use cell phones on a plane. I can only imagine that life on a plane, in coach OR in first-class, would be a lot more miserable if everyone was chatting on their phones. Internet, however, sounds like a great idea - and productive!

Cheers!
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Find Michelle Lentz here on Write Technology, on Twitter, Pownce, and FriendFeed.

Tech Travel

Hotel Chatter just posted their annual feature on the best wi-fi hotels. Because I travel frequently, I always try to look for a hotel that offers free wi-fi, or at least free wired access.

As long as the Internet is free, I don't care whether it is wired or not. I'm a savvy tech traveler. I carry an Apple Airport Express and an Ethernet cable. I simply plug the Airport into the wall, plug in the network cable, and just like that I have wireless in my room.

I agree with several of Hotel Chatter's selections. In particular, the lower-end hotels offer the best wi-fi service. Whether I'm at a Holiday Inn Express, a La Quinta, a Hampton Inn, or something comparable, I can always find free wi-fi in my room.

If I'm in a more expensive hotel, I generally have to pay for any Internet access. Whether it's a Hyatt, a Sheraton, a hotel at Disney or in Las Vegas, I'm always trying to maximize the 24 hour period for which I'm paying at least $9.99 or more, up to $24.99. I really hate that. Honestly, it wouldn't cost them too much to make each floor wireless. I'm not a fan of hotels, such as the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, which offer free wi-fi, but only in the lobby. In a busy, urban hotel, you are rarely going to lug your laptop from your room to the lobby just to get online. Of course, the hotels know this, and that's when you pay the surcharge. I see lobby wi-fi as simply a backup plan when in-room access is down.

Hotel Chatter also mentions the Kimpton boutique hotels. I've always been a fan of Kimptons, but admittedly, I haven't stayed in a Kimpton since 2005. As a club member (it's free to join), I've always had access to free wi-fi in the room. Use of the access code never bothered me. It's how they secure their network, and I get that. Because I don't use VPN, a charge for that service also doesn't affect me.

My favorite hotel chain, and one Hotel Chatter neglected to mention, is the Wyndham. In fact, I bet the Wyndham shows up on the "worst" list because their service is often wired. Whether at a low-end Wyndham Garden or high-end Wyndham Resort, I've always received great service. With their free club membership, you get free wi-fi and/or wired access, wine, and cheese, all ready and waiting for you when you walk into your room.

Technorati Tags: tech travel, travel, free wifi hotels, Airport Express

The Surreal World: Las Vegas

The conference was quite good. I thought our Learning Labs went over really well. Informal learning was the topic of the hour, with blogs, wikis, and Web 2.0 being the instigators. Now that I'm home, and rather snowbound at that, I'll be blogging a little more about the conference over the next few days. In the meantime, here are a few photos and videos of the city that never ever sleeps until I get around to the actual "learning" part of the trip.

Las Vegas is nothing if not surreal. Since our last trip about 4 years ago, a lot has changed. My favorite new thing on the Strip? The Wynn Las Vegas, which has moved my previous favorite, the Bellagio, into second place on my list. The Wynn is insanely classy. I love it there. I love the wine list; I love the bar; I love the use of water everywhere.

We saw Le Reve at the Wynn, which was created by the Cirque du Soleil guy (Franco Dragone) and might as well be Cirque. This show was a marvelous use of dance, acrobatics, swimming, and diving. It was mesmerizing and I loved it.

But by far, the best thing at the Wynn is the Waterfall. Every evening a series of light shows plays across the waterfall, including a giant frog who sings "It's a Wonderful World."

I also enjoyed downtown Las Vegas/Fremont Street. We hadn't made it down there on previous trips, and this time we took my friend David. We all had a blast. Fremont Street is the older, cheesier side of Vegas where they still liberally provide free drinks and the coffee shops still have $5.99 steak dinners. The Golden Nugget has been remodeled extensively, turning it into a very classy, old-school Vegas hotel. The pool alone is worth a visit - a twisty, turny water slide tunnels right through a salt water aquarium.

Photos from Las Vegas are here: Flickr Photoset

Video is here:

    * Wynn Waterfall Frog
    * Bellagio Fountain Dance
    * Fremont Street Light Show

Off to Disney & Learning 2006

Off on vacation, but first, I'll be attending Elliott Masie's Learning 2006. (Must he put his name on everything?) Last year I was over-prepared and incredibly disappointed. This year I'm approaching it completely different. I'm looking forward to it, and it looks like the speakers are bigger, broader, and more diverse.
Because travel tends to put me in the blogging mood (of which I haven't been of late), I'll try to blog my impressions each day.
See you in Florida!

Write Tech Still Out due to Hurricane

Our leisurely vacation has been interrupted by Hurricane Ivan. As soon as we get back to the states, we'll return to business as usual.
Thanks for your patience!

Vacation ...

Write Technology will be out of touch from 9/2 until 9/10. We are escaping to somewhere tropical, where the water is sparkling, the palm trees are swaying, and there are little umbrellas in the drinks. If you try to contact us, rest assured that we will get back to you - just not until after 9/10. When I say out of touch, I mean no cell phone, no email, nothing. Dont forget that vacations are good for your health and improve productivity. I knew there was a business reason for this jaunt.