Adobe Air® 2.0 + Native Applications!

We’ve been working on an Adobe Air® application for quite some time called LiteFile® and production came to a slow halt when the need for launching Native Applications started to sour our love for Air. But with the new version of Air, we hope the affair will rekindle. I’ve downloaded the beta and worked through the tutorial by Adobe’s Jeff Swartz; now all that remains is applied usage! I’m really excited about this for two reasons.

IM’s Place at Work

IM has the immediacy of telephone without the interruption, and the convenience of email without the delay. For years I’ve been an advocate for instant messaging in the work place so I figured I’d take a few minutes and explain why I feel IM should be implemented and how!

Destination: Web

I like to consider myself pretty tech-savvy, as are most of my colleagues and friends. I’ve also found that the Internet is an awesome way to connect with people – family, friends, clients, potential clients – whether it be through social networking, email, or our website. As we built our small business, having a website and web presence seemed to be a “no brainer”. I was shocked to learn that we are in the minority of small business owners with a website or using social media for networking and promotion.

Social Media & Web 2.0 Defined

Many people think they know what the terms mean but do they really? Do YOU really know? Well if you don’t, you’re not alone. It seems as though people are living in a strange new ecosystem (but I like to call it a virtualsystem) full of innovative and highly disruptive applications where people tend to fear what they don’t understand. Seriously, even using the word “ecosystem” on something that is purely virtual; further proves this fear.

10 Harsh Truths About Corporate Blogging

Here’s a great read about Corporate Blogging written by Paul Boag of Smashing Magazine:

I have reached the conclusion that most organizations have a blog simply because they feel they should. Many marketing departments fail to “get” blogging and have poorly visited blogs with few comments. Because their blog fails to perform, they conclude that blogging is an ineffective marketing tool and either remove it entirely or leave it to languish.

However, it does not need to be this way. Corporate blogs can be a powerful communication tool that builds brand awareness and nurtures a sense of engagement. You only need to look at the vibrant community surrounding the 37Signals blog to know that corporate blogging can work.

Why are most corporate blogs failing and why do the few succeed? To answer these questions, we need to face a few harsh truths about corporate blogging.

read more »