CAE Weblog

Tweet Summary from #AssnChat

Here is a summary of the tweet stream from our weekly #AssnChat Twitter chat from today (6/23/09).  These chats are open to anyone interested in association issues.  Today's topics included:

• Integrating Social Media with other marketing efforts
• Balancing your own communities (on your site) with 3rd party communities (Facebook, etc.)
• Feedback on #AssnChat events to date

Tagged: #assnchat association Twitter chat
 

Buzz 2009

If you are like me and can't afford to get to Cannes Lions later this month, I recommend that you consider Buzz 2009 on July 9th in DC.  Maddie and Lindy of Social Fish have pulled together a great agenda and some quality speakers, including Andy Sernovitz (who created the Word of Mouth Marketing Association) and Guy Kawasaki (author of nine books and co-founder of AllTop.com).  This may be the social media event of year for associations and nonprofits in the Mid-Atlantic area.

They have also allowed me to offer a $100 registration discount if you use this link to register.  Hope to see you there. And, in the meantime, follow the Buzz on Twitter (#buzz2009).

Tagged: Buzz 2009 Social Fish Guy Sernovitz Guy Kawasaki

Search Wars - The Clone Wars Revisited

It's been a big week for Search.  Earlier this week, Microsoft launched Bing and then Google ups the ante with Google Squared.  All this on top of recent launches for Searchme, Kosmix, Meehive (collaborative search that utilizes Facebook), and Wolfram Alpha ("computational knowledge engine").

Microsoft is already being slammed for its $100M marketing campaign including a live premiere on Hulu scheduled for Monday (June 8th) at 9:00 PM ET.  So its easy to dismiss it as just one search clone but it does have some nice features that should not be ignored.  And it has already surpassed Yahoo search (at least in the short run) according to one report.

I have not been overly impressed with the relevancy of results on Bing so far but I do like the expanded search result roll-overs and suggestions for related searches.  Google shines on its simple interface and relevant (mostly) results but lacks tools to help the user refine their search or discover related information.

Google Squared competes more with Wolfram Alpha than Bing as it presents its results in a suggested square or table where the user can adjust the rows and columns to add or delete criteria.  These search engines are especially helpful when comparing results for products or similar items (check out the roller coasters example).

What does this all mean and who will win the Search Wars?  We may need to wait for Web 3.0 to find out but one thing is for sure... search will become increasing important as content continues to explode and users have more difficulty finding what they want with conventional, hierarchical navigation.

Tagged: search search wars Bing Google Squared Kosmix Searchme Wolfram Alpha Meehive Hulu 

Web Analytics Under-utilized by Nonprofits

The Web Analytics Association (WAA) has a new report on use of web analytics for public sector and nonprofit sites. A webcast that ran today will be available for all. The actual report can be downloaded by members only but it may be worth joining to get it.

Here are a few snapshot tweets that I offered during the webcast:

• 70% of public sector sites using combination of web analytics, surveys and usability testing to measure results.
• Search engine traffic reports most popular source of analytics among public sector and nonprofits.
• Government sites seem to be less interested in page view data than nonprofits when analyzing site traffic.
• Unique-Visitors Metrics are not standard and currently difficult to use for benchmarking.
• OMB policies prohibit use of persistent cookies by US government sites; limits ability to track analytics. 37% of nonprofits use them.
• Nonprofits consider newsletter sign-up to be key success factor for websites.
• Visitor segmentation for analytics currently under-utilized by public sector and nonprofits.
• High $ spent on web sites for nonprofits and .gov sites but very little effort spent to measure results and guide future development.
• Need to build a business case for web analytics to present to senior management.
• Look for more opportunities to combine usability testing, focus groups & "voice of customer" options with web analytics.

Tagged:  web analytics association survey WAA Web Analytics Association

Technology Roadmap

While most association CIOs and IT Directors have some vision for their future technology, most do not have a detailed technology roadmap that describes the key desired technologies to support future initiatives, the interdependencies, timelines, budget implications, etc.  Many technology requests pop up suddenly from siloed business needs.  This results in delays, system conflicts, budget issues, and wasted resources.

Given the rapid developments for information technologies, it is impossible to develop a long-term roadmap that is cast in stone.  There will be necessary adjustments as new technologies emerge and business needs change.  However, a well-defined plan that can be updated provides a thoughtful strategy for staying ahead of the technology curve.

Some elements of a good technology roadmap include:

• An estimate of the relative benefit of implementing a specific technology
• An estimate of the level of effort (cost & staff resources) to implement each technology
• An estimate of the phase in which a given technology should be implemented
• Notes regarding and dependencies, constraints, or associated risks
• A draft timeline showing phases and overlapping initiatives

If you need assistance documenting requirements or selecting technologies, be sure to work with a consulting firm that is not tied to a specific solution.  Rather they should have experience with a wide variety of competing technologies and be able to help you assess the strengths and weaknesses relative to your unique needs.

More on technology roadmaps can be found on Wikipedia.

Tagged: technology roadmap web strategy technology planning