Many hotels are in the process of establishing green initiatives, so naturally a host of websites have sprung up that are dedicated to finding a green hotel in destinations you are considering for your next meeting or event. One good one is www.EnvironmentallyFriendlyHotels.com

Obviously you can make your event or meeting as green as possible but you will still have to deal with that large non-green Elephant in the room. The reality that you just flew in all your attendees to the property and filled the air with a tons of carbon. So if you are really committed to getting your event green then you can visit www.countdownyourcarbon.org and purchase some offsets to balance it out the impact on the environment.

Well, it is not the usual MeetingsPodcast interview. But Mike was interviewed by Josh Hinds at the Business Networking Advice Blogabout business networking. Also make sure to check out the other interviews Josh has done with all sorts of experts who give great advice on business networking and tips on developing networking skills.

I saw this pass by my Twitter stream today and had to share it. Another brilliant video on how to grow your creative team. Just another example how you can keep people engaged through creative video.
Thanks to our sponsor Blue Sky Factorys Greg Cangialosi and dwplanit from Twitter.

One of the biggest germ factories on planes are those little things they call pillows. Most airlines don’t change pillowcases between flights. Lets not get into what could be on them. But we know germs are lurking. A simple solution is to add some Jethead pillowcases to your flu fighting travel arsenal.

Just slip one over the pillow and you will be safe for a snooze.
Pack of Jetheads (2 Pillowcases) $5.95
Four Packs of Jetheads (8 Pillowcases) $19.99

What do lead paint and PowerPoint Presentations have in Common?

Well they have Jim Haudans book: The Art of Engagement all in common. I have really been enjoying reading this book and learning more about helping our clients be better more efficient presenters [Read more →]

I opened up the paper this morning and saw that Amazon.com has had the best holiday season they have ever had. More and more people obviously are turning to the internet to get their content and to shop. So it will be imperative that you get your companies message, or your clients message up onlie in a compelling way in 2009. Why is this important for your teams to consider? Basically you can pinpoint target your niche using online video. When someone wants to find out something about your industry they look to the internet. Will you be there? If you aren’t will your competitors?

The below video is from J.C. Penny which has received 1.4 millon views on YouTube in the four weeks it has been online. It promotes JCPenny in a non markety way. It is also just the tip of the iceberg when these popular types of videos get popular. They are easily shareable embedded in Facebook, Myspace, on blogs (like this one) emailed links are also an easy way to share it. I am sure the real amount of views are much higher numbers. Plus using services like TubeMogul.com can get viewers from many other distribution channels.

Another company that has seen some great things from getting content online is Blendtec.com. They started this simple video series and have seen their sales increase eightfold. (Also, I have contacted George Wright the creator of these videos and we will be interviewed him 2009 for MeetingsPodcast.com.)

Dove Evolution video below has been seen 10 million times.

Think of ways you could incorporate this into a team building event and make some short videos. If they are clever enough and if they don’t smell of marketing they may just be the next big viral video.

TwitterA cool development at Twitter over the last 24 hours has been the addition of their new ‘name search‘.

You can search for people either by their username, first name or last name. Results are displayed in order of follower numbers. This is just another way to contact people using social media. I know we just had a post on twitter this week but this development makes it a tad easier to see if people in your network are twittering away!

Results seem to work pretty well and it is better than nothing - Darren Rowse of Problogger uses Twellow if he needs to find someone.

Not sure if this relates to Events & Meetings but keeping on top of the latest technology is always helpful. Merry Christmas!

Link up with me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mmcallen love to get your ideas on the new year!

On behalf of the three of us,
We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a terrific 2009 ahead!

We’ll be back with new podcasts in the new year.

But in the meantime, keep those questions and comments headed our way.

See you all soon!
Jon

I was forwarded this video about Microsofts tabletop technology by Rob Balmer of the Doubletree Hotel San Jose and I wondered how you might use it at an event. Of course the video shows the different ways business could use it but what about something interactive for an event. They say it will eventually have smart surfaces everywhere which really bends the imagination. Think about walls, tables and counters. I wonder what the rental prices will be for these tables?

One thing is for sure the future looks like fun.

How would you use it?

Also if you want more information of this technology do a quick search on Youtube.com