Laura's Winning Ideas

http://goo.gl/tjr4A

Here’s a great idea to make presentations more mobile.

In most meetings, folks are carrying smart phones,  iPads or laptops. Why not use that feature to expand your ability to present anywhere you meet?

Here’s how it works:

1) Post your presentation slides to SlideShare.net

2) Create a short URL for your presentation slides.

Search “short URL” for sites that convert long URLs to a tiny URL all free. If you use Google’s service, you can save yourself a step below.

3) Create a QR code that points to your slides on Slideshare.net

Search “QR code create” for sites that create a QR code from a URL. If you used Google’s service above, just add “.qr” to the end of your short URL and click to get your QR code.

4) provide the QR code and short URL to your meeting members.

If they are on a smart phone, they’ll scan the URL and be instantly looking at your slideshow. If they are on a laptop, they’ll type in your URL and be instantly looking at your slideshow. If they are on a tablet, they’ll do either, depending on whether they have a camera or browser.

You could print these on businesscards you hand out, you could offer the scan from your phone, you could email the short URL with QR code.

I didn’t think of this, but I wish I had. Todd Ogasawara at SocialTimes thought of this when he was asked to speak to a group, but they met in a restaurant without AV support. His commenters added the suggestion of having a URL alongside, so folks without cameras could also join in.

Proposals can use this idea: Think about building a set of pages with additional detail/illustrations/animation for which QR codes could be created and printed in your proposal. Do you honestly think a technical reviewer will pass by the opportunity to check out what is behind the QR code?

Is huddling around a big laptop to show a presentation more professional than allowing each person to see the presentation on their own device? I’ve seen folks lugging in laptops for meeting presentations, but that limits the audience to one person or maybe two if they are comfortable snuggling up to one another.

For confidential materials, you can get a short URL that is time limited. Search for “URL shortener temporary time limit” which allows you to reach pages you don’t want them seeing again after you are out of the room.

Would it help if you knew whether they were showing the materials to others? Many of the short URL sites provide tracking so you can see how many folks visit the link.

All the examples here are free services, so you have no excuse not to try it out and noodle about how it might help your organization.

I’ll stop here. Lot’s of interesting opportunity to expand your ability to reach prospects. Go get’em!

This has probably been circulating for awhile, but I just got it. A list of URLs gone awry and great examples of why we double check for double entendres.

1. ‘Who Represents’ is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity. Their Web site is:
www.whorepresents.com

2. ‘Experts Exchange’ is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at:
www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a great pen? Look no further than ‘Pen Island’. It can be found at:
www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try ‘Therapist Finder’ at:
www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then there’s the ‘Italian Power Generator’ company. Check it out at:
www.powergenitalia.com

6.’IP computer’ software, there’s always:
www.ip_anywhere.com

7. And the designers at ‘Speed of Art’ await you at their wacky Web site:
www.speedofart.com

Laura Ewing just showed me a new site to research federal contracts.

http://www.usaspending.gov

Very nice interface. I’ve played around with it a few minutes and easily found contracts for clients and their competitors, as well as which agencies are contracting.

Tuck this one in your bookmarks and backup your bookmarks!

Technorati Tags: proposal database,contracts database,competitor data

The CIO at Kimberly Clark is working to eradicate tech speak and requires every word of the department email missives to be found in Webster’s Dictionary. (What have we come to that this is revolutionary news?!?)

As reported in the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Blog this week, acronyms must be translated into something meaningful for the recipient.

The time it takes to write with clarity and full explanation, multiplies your effort.

Time saved by your readers X  Number of readers being addressed = Value of your time spent editing for clarity.

When sending a proposal, the importance of the clarity is multiplied by the dollars involved in your proposed contract.

He also uses the same template I teach for mass email. Begin the message with “ACTION NEEDED:” so the responsible parties know whether they are personally holding up progress or just being informed of progress. In the case of Kimberly Clark, they begin with: If you use this system (fill in specifics here), Please read on.