Interview with LinkedIn Co-founder Allen Blue

Allen Blue is one of the co-founders of LinkedIn, where he manages the Content and Communities division, covering LinkedIn's Groups, Events, Answers, Communication and Network Updates products.

In a recent interview, Blue talked about how LinkedIn has experienced a surge in use and attention in recent months because of the increase in job-seeking activity. Allen also talks about what excites him most about LinkedIn and what other social networking tools he admires.

Read the interview at www.OnlineCommunityReport.com

Ellen Levy, LinkedIn Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy is delivering a keynote address at DigitalNow 2009, where she will discuss the dynamics and implications of social networks, the emergence of Enterprise 2.0, innovation ecosystems and how these can work together in support of organizational models.

DigitalNow 2009: The premier conference for association leaders Preferred rates still in effect.

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Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

"7 Things you Should Know About" from Educause

If you're trying to catch up with the latest technologies, the 7 Things you Should Know About series from Educause offers information in easy-to-digest bites.

Each technology brief explains:

• What it is


• How it works


• Where it is going


• Why it matters to teaching and learning

Here are some of the things you can learn about:

• Flip Camcorders
  
• Ustream
• Zotero
• Geolocation
• Wii
• Second Life
• Multi-Touch Interfaces
• Ning
• Google Apps
• Flickr
• Lulu
• Flip Camcorders
• Ustream
• Zotero
• Geolocation
• Wii

At DigitalNow 2009, you can get hands-on experience with some new and not-so-new technology tools, to help you understand them and make decisions about using them.

DigitalNow 2009: The premier conference for association leaders Preferred rates are still in affect.

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Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Twine prepares powerful new onotology tool

According to Marshall Kirkpatrick over at ReadWriteWeb, "What blogging was to publishing... Twine's new ontology writing and hosting service could be to the act of teaching machines about new topics."

Kirkpatrick speculates that Twine's new service will surpass Delicious "in a matter of months."

Read the article here.

Last year at DigitalNow, Twine Founder Nova Spivack presented an overview of Twine, which was still in its beta phase at the time. You can view Nova's presentation through a series presented at The Fusion Productions Network. (With introduction by Fusion Co-founder Don Dea)

Watch the first clip below:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WADjI1axgY)



Need to know more about ontologies, how they they work, and what value they bring to your association? At DigitalNow 2009, Duane Nickull, Adobe Systems’ lead Evangelist on search will explain Ontology, the power behind semantic search engines such as Google, and how it is the secret to delivering a more powerful search experience to your members.

DigitalNow 2009: The premier conference for association leaders Preferred registration rates still available!

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Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Should your association receive, or kick off?

Declining revenues, productivity problems, cash shortages - these are just a few among many stresses on your balance sheet these days.

What is the best strategy against this thing called "the economy"? How can you plan to respond to the unpredictable? What tack should you take - should you take the offensive and focus on innovation, recruitment, and marketing? Or should you take a defensive position, protecting revenues and managing costs?

According to authors Graeme K. Deans, Chaitan Kansal, and Steve Mehltretter, there is no easy answer. In fact, there may not be just a single answer - the best approach may change with each particular organizational problem.

Even different companies within an industry may need to apply divergent strategies in order to survive in the same marketplace. Read more at Ivey Business Journal.

Here's a question to think about and leave a comment on: Do associations have the same choices? How are our choices the same/different?

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DigitalNow 2009: The premier conference for association leaders Preferred rates still in effect.

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Your Brain 2.0

Once upon a time you could carry all necessary information around with you in your head. When things got really hectic, perhaps you grabbed some 3x5 index cards and loaded your favorite pen into your pocket protector. In those days, information came to you in a few simple ways: face-to-face meetings, the telephone, and the mailman.

Times have changed, as you may have noticed. Information flies at you at warp speed and from countless directions at once. It has become both increasingly important and increasingly difficult to capture information at the point of exposure - and then be able to quickly find it again when you actually need it.

Phil Libin is CEO of Evernote, a revolutionary tool that serves as an upgrade for your brain. Referred to a "universal human memory extension," Evernote not only enables you to collect and organize information, but it can recognize, tag, and index handwriting, notes, and images, neatly depositing it all into a single searchable database that is integrated with your desktop and mobile devices. For example, Evernote allows you to snap a picture of a business card with your cell phone at lunch, send it to your account, and then search for any text on the card later on from your desktop computer.

Anything you see, hear, and trust can be collected and indexed with Evernote, essentially providing you with an external brain to help you and your members sort through the overwhelming amount of information that is surrounding you all the time and everywhere.

The Evernote approach to collecting, indexing, filtering, and distributing valuable information is a model for the role association executives must begin to fill for members in order to stay relevant and deliver value.

Join Phil Libin at DigitalNow 2009 as he discusses the fantastic voyage that is taking us from being tossed about by the volume of available information to getting in control of what we see and hear, and putting it to use in a way we can trust for greater effectiveness and productivity.

DigitalNow 2009: The premier conference for association leaders Preferred rates are still in effect!

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Ellen Levy of LinkedIn explores Enterprise 2.0 at DigitalNow

The flatter the world gets, the broader individual and organizational networks become, and the more critical it is for you to strategically connect and communicate with members, potential members, partners, and thought leaders. LinkedIn has become the definitive online business networking tool - and Ellen Levy has been instrumental in its design and growth.

Ellen Levy was on the Advisory Board of LinkedIn for the first five years of the company before joining full time as head of Corporate Development and Strategy in April 2008. Prior to LinkedIn she was the founding Managing Director of Silicon Valley Connect, working with large corporations and entrepreneurs on opportunities for innovation.

At DigitalNow 2009, Ellen will discuss the dynamics and implications of social networks, the emergence of Enterprise 2.0, innovation ecosystems and how these can work together in support of organizational models.

The DigitalNow Community now has its own group on LinkedIn - Join us!

DigitalNow 2009: The premier conference for association leaders Early Bird Registration is still in effect!

View the preliminary agenda at the official DigitalNow web site.

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Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

A messsage from J. Clarke Price

For the past nine years, I’ve attended the DigitalNow conference, which is co-produced by Fusion Productions and Disney Institute. It’s always been a phenomenal program. The information, education and support from the community of my peers at DigitalNow have been instrumental in helping me meet the diverse challenges of effective association leadership.


This year more than ever, I am going to be relying on DigitalNow to put me in touch with the people I need to know and the tools I need to put into practice now if I’m to survive this tumultuous economy. We all know that it’s a tough business today, and only getting tougher. Figuring out what’s needed for my association to compete and succeed in the future is more difficult than it’s ever been.


At DigitalNow 2009, I’m looking forward to seeing how others are successfully incorporating new media tools such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. into their strategies to effectively reach out to the next generation of members. I will also be connecting with the community in order to see how solutions and strategies are already creating results for survival today, while still positioning associations for growth tomorrow.


I know you're grappling with these same issues, and I urge you to be part of the community and the conversation at DigitalNow as a means to learn about the solutions you need.


I also know that things are tough and you're in the position of making difficult decisions about expenditures – especially when it comes to travel. But DigitalNow is not a professional development activity – this year, it's about getting access to the critical information you need so that you'll still be left standing when the smoke clears.


Don't let knee-jerk, short-term decisions hinder both your short-term and long-term success. Join me at DigitalNow. When these tough times pass (and they will pass) the steps we take now will result in new skills and capabilities so we can face the future with renewed hope and confidence.


DigitalNow is being held April 15 – 18, 2009 at Disney's Yacht & Beach Clubs. To learn more and register, visit http://www.digitalnowconference.com.


Let's connect on site at DigitalNow and share ideas – our community is our greatest asset now.


Sincerely,
J. Clarke Price, CAE
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ohio Society of CPAs
DigitalNow Advisory Group Member

View the preliminary list of workshops at the official DigitalNow web site.

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DigitalNow 2009: The premier conference for association leaders Early Bird Registration Still Available!

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com