Engage, youngsters first!
In fact, depending on whether they are amongst the audience you want reach, you would be urged to actively engage the younger readers first. Talk to them through the blog, address their issues and encourage them to participate.
It has been my experience that youngsters, who traditionally haven’t had direct access to the top leadership, may sometimes find it a bit daunting to open up to a CEO (or a senior business leader). On the other hand, it is they who are exposed to blogs, social networks and the digital medium most. If you can get them to open up, chances are so will the rest.
Tell me some stories…
Keep your audience engaged - weave a story; embed your message therein. Your blog should reflect you, keep the personal touch. Today’s internet technology allows easy embeds of pictures, audio and video. Embedding a Podcast isn’t very difficult and makes the content even more interesting- Bill Marriott’s blog at features many of them because he, admittedly, doesn’t know how to use a computer and prefers to talk into a dictaphone.
Collaborate
Even though it may be a business need; or as many would claim, a tool to stay relevant in the new business environment; writing a blog can be demanding on time. Also, you may not want to voice all aspects of the organization directly. Consider a collaborative blog with participation from, not just, your leadership team. You will find evangelists at many levels - make them your ambassadors.
Where’s the delete button?
Most corporate blogs are, and should be, moderated but do refrain from using the reject button on comments, unless there was good reason to. Blogs are a trust tool where transparency & feedback are encouraged and indiscreet use of the ‘delete’ button can take these away.
Do pause to think if the intent is indeed malicious. Do not, however, allow profanity or personal slander – not even of a competitor.
What’s really the need?
Having said all this, does your organization really need a blog? Take time out to think through your strategy. What’s the identified need (that a blog can fulfill); for which audience; what are the costs attached (not just money); is your company’s culture supportive of transparent conversations; any legal implications you need to consider; how would you measure success?
Only when you have the answers for these, is it time to log on!
Rajesh Lalwani
Thursday, November 22, 2007
When Anthropology meets Consumer Research
Doing Anthropology in Consumer Research is an essential new guide to the theory and practice of conducting ethnographic research in corporate consumer environments. Patricia Sunderland and Rita Denny argue that, while the recent explosion in the use of “ethnography” in the corporate world has provided unprecedented opportunities for anthropologists and other qualitative researchers, this popularization has also too often divorced ethnography from its foundations, resulting in distortions in its use as a method of research as well as the concept of culture.
In response, they reframe the field by re-attaching ethnography to theoretically robust and methodologically rigorous cultural analysis.
The engrossing text draws on decades of the authors’ own eclectic research—from coffee in Bangkok and advertising in New Zealand to technology and boredom in the United States—using methodologies from focus groups and in-situ interviews to semiotics and visual ethnography.
Four provocative discussion pieces by leaders in anthropology and consumer research further push the boundaries of the field and challenge the boundaries of academic and applied work. In addition to reorienting the field for academics and practitioners, this book is an ideal text for students, who are increasingly likely to both study and work in corporate environments.
Patricia L. Sunderland; Rita M. Denny
In response, they reframe the field by re-attaching ethnography to theoretically robust and methodologically rigorous cultural analysis.
The engrossing text draws on decades of the authors’ own eclectic research—from coffee in Bangkok and advertising in New Zealand to technology and boredom in the United States—using methodologies from focus groups and in-situ interviews to semiotics and visual ethnography.
Four provocative discussion pieces by leaders in anthropology and consumer research further push the boundaries of the field and challenge the boundaries of academic and applied work. In addition to reorienting the field for academics and practitioners, this book is an ideal text for students, who are increasingly likely to both study and work in corporate environments.
Patricia L. Sunderland; Rita M. Denny
New X-ray:sharper images, less time and money
South Korea's Samsung Electronics said on Thursday it has developed a new digital X-ray system which can deliver sharper images and save time and money.
The advanced digital X-ray detector using thin-film transistor technology is the first of its kind in the world, the firm said.
The flat panel detector for radiology machines provides ultra-high definition images, said the company, which is the world's largest flat panel screen maker.
"This is the world's first flat panel X-ray detector using thin-film transistor technology," spokesperson Henry Kim told AFP.
The new product will reshape the global market, he said, adding it would be available in the first quarter of 2008.
Executive vice president Yun Jin-Hyuk predicted that the device would help the X-ray detector market become completely digitised within a few years.
The existing X-ray detector converts invisible X-ray images into digital signals, which are then transformed into pictures.
Samsung said the profession still relies mainly on costly, plastic-based analog film for X-ray photography applications, which can take a long time to develop.
"In addition to delivering a much more precise image, (the new system) can save medical labs considerable time and money because no film or development process is needed," it added.
The machine can also be adapted for building inspections and for airport security scanners, the company said.
ioltechnology.co.za
The advanced digital X-ray detector using thin-film transistor technology is the first of its kind in the world, the firm said.
The flat panel detector for radiology machines provides ultra-high definition images, said the company, which is the world's largest flat panel screen maker.
"This is the world's first flat panel X-ray detector using thin-film transistor technology," spokesperson Henry Kim told AFP.
The new product will reshape the global market, he said, adding it would be available in the first quarter of 2008.
Executive vice president Yun Jin-Hyuk predicted that the device would help the X-ray detector market become completely digitised within a few years.
The existing X-ray detector converts invisible X-ray images into digital signals, which are then transformed into pictures.
Samsung said the profession still relies mainly on costly, plastic-based analog film for X-ray photography applications, which can take a long time to develop.
"In addition to delivering a much more precise image, (the new system) can save medical labs considerable time and money because no film or development process is needed," it added.
The machine can also be adapted for building inspections and for airport security scanners, the company said.
ioltechnology.co.za
How to breed a habit
Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels.
Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.
I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.
Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment.
When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3x5 card reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes."
This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this "grant money." I have set aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we will discover the True Champion.
There can be only one.
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 409930561
Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.
I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.
Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment.
When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3x5 card reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes."
This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this "grant money." I have set aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we will discover the True Champion.
There can be only one.
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 409930561
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Not happy with your face? Today you can change it...
How Face Transplants Work
by Stephanie Watson
It's the only part of your body that allows you to use all five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. It's also the window that lets everyone around you know how you are feeling -- if you're contented, sad, angry or confused. Your face is the image you present to the world.
What would happen if your face were no longer there? It seems impossible to contemplate how that could happen, but it does, in rare cases. People who have been severely burned, who have cancer or who have been attacked by animals have lost part -- or all -- of the skin and underlying tissue on their faces. They have become so disfigured that they often don't want to leave their homes for fear that they will be harassed or shunned.
In the past the only way to fix severe facial disfigurement was with skin grafts -- taking pieces of healthy skin from elsewhere on the body or from a cadaver and placing them over the missing parts of the face. But grafts from the body don't look or work like the skin on the face, and they can't fully restore appearance or movement.
There is another way to fix severe damage to the face, though. Advanced medical technologies are enabling doctors to transplant part, or all, of a face from a donor. The result looks and acts far more realistic than skin grafts, but the face transplant isn't without issues -- both medical and ethical.
more...
by Stephanie Watson
It's the only part of your body that allows you to use all five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. It's also the window that lets everyone around you know how you are feeling -- if you're contented, sad, angry or confused. Your face is the image you present to the world.
What would happen if your face were no longer there? It seems impossible to contemplate how that could happen, but it does, in rare cases. People who have been severely burned, who have cancer or who have been attacked by animals have lost part -- or all -- of the skin and underlying tissue on their faces. They have become so disfigured that they often don't want to leave their homes for fear that they will be harassed or shunned.
In the past the only way to fix severe facial disfigurement was with skin grafts -- taking pieces of healthy skin from elsewhere on the body or from a cadaver and placing them over the missing parts of the face. But grafts from the body don't look or work like the skin on the face, and they can't fully restore appearance or movement.
There is another way to fix severe damage to the face, though. Advanced medical technologies are enabling doctors to transplant part, or all, of a face from a donor. The result looks and acts far more realistic than skin grafts, but the face transplant isn't without issues -- both medical and ethical.
more...
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