Digital Discourse / Uncategorized

SIPAlert Daily – New finds in the crowded technology corridor

September 11, 2013 By

SIPA’s Marketing Listserv was brimming with activity yesterday with discussions on digital revenue, publication exit strategies and calculating the value of a subscriber. SIIA Content Division, ABM and SIPA members can sign up here for this valuable resource.  It’s a secure and actionable place to post, posit or postulate.

One of yesterday’s responses recommended Evernote’s Clearly for a “Zen like reading experience” (no ads or disruptions). Clearly makes blog posts, articles and webpages clean and easy to read. Publishers need to monitor this type of tool, especially ones who depend on digital ad revenue. Evernote is a service that works on your desktop or laptop, on your iPad, iPhone, Android phone, etc., and synchronizes your information across each platform. So if you take a note on your iPad, you can view it later on your smartphone, and vice versa. In addition, Evernote Hello lets you remember people easier—a good Conference tool—and helps to bring in information about those people you meet.

Here are a few more technology tips I’ve heard recommended around our digital water cooler.

- CamScanner turns your smartphone into a scanner. Users can scan documents by taking a picture with their phone’s camera and save them as pdf files. The app has some capability to recognize words in a scanned document, so you can search for phrases…

- I’ve heard good buzz about WalkMe. From its website: It “enables your business to simplify the online experience and eliminate user confusion. Think of it like a GPS, but instead of giving driving directions, WalkMe guides users every step of the way to successfully complete their online tasks.”

- Two tools from Google: First Click Free. If you offer subscription-based access to your website content, or if users must register to access your content, then search engines cannot access some of your site’s most relevant, valuable content. Implementing FCF for your content allows you to include your restricted content in Google’s main search index. Google is calling Helpouts “real help from real people in real time.” It’s a new way to connect people who need help with people who can give help. They’re “collecting” experts for now so might be worth it to “apply.”

- Speaking of Lifehacking, which someone referenced on the Listserv yesterday, Safely Go (free) for Android turns off your ringer and alert tones and sends an auto-reply to people who call or text you while you’re on the road.

- Grid is a new organizational app. Tap on an empty grid square and you can mark out an area of the document that suits your content.

- A new Poetry App lets users find poems by mood, subject and poet, as well as by browsing through online audio files. Might come in handy for your next marketing piece or spouse’s birthday.

I am quite sure that most of these “inventions” did not happen without some kind of group discussion, either in flushing out the idea or helping to develop it. That’s also the idea behind SIPA’s upcoming Fall Publishers Roundtable, Monday, Sept. 30, here in Washington, D.C. The topic is Creating Profitable New Products, and the two leaders, David Foster of BVR and Don Nicholas of Mequoda, will harness the amazing group knowledge that will be present to help you create the next new thing.

 

To subscribe to the SIPAlert Daily, create or update your SIIA User profile and select “SIPA interest.”

Ronn LevineRonn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @SIPAOnline

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Filed Under: Content, SIPA, SIPAlert Daily, Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

What’s New in Common Core: August

September 4, 2013 By

As the 2013-2014 school year is starting around the country Common Core preparation has ramped up. There was no legislation in the states during the usually quiet month of August, but the two consortia organizations are gearing up for the year of preparation ahead with recently released documents and resources.

Both Smarter Balanced and PARCC released information on field tests that can help districts and companies prepare for the transition. The results of the field tests will help schools decide what sort of materials will best suit the new curriculum.

A recent webinar outlined expected release dates for future materials from both consortia organizations. It also allowed educators and other interested parties to ask questions directly to the consortia leaders.  Teachers, administrators, and district leaders are all concerned and about the changes and what they can do to make cost effective decisions for their districts.

The “What’s new in Common Core” document gives links and summaries to these August releases as well as a comprehensive collection of important resources released in 2013 so far. SIIA members can download the document to learn more about the resources available to companies and districts looking to navigate the upcoming transition.

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Education, Education Policies, Education Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

SIPAlert Daily – Not always best to focus on just one thing

August 21, 2013 By

Last night I was sure that I lost my card to get into our building. I was bemoaning the red tape I would encounter today to get a new one when it turned up at the bottom of my briefcase. (It’s usually in my pocket.) So this morning all I could think about was that card and the firm grip I had on it. Alas, I emerged from the D.C. Metro and realized I had left my phone home.

The moral: Focusing on just one thing may cause you to lose sight of some others. Here are five tips in five areas of your business. Email me if one rings true; might not be best to call or text me today.

1. Build trust with an audience. Ben Heald, CEO of Sift Digital—who will be speaking at SIIA’s Digital Content & Media Summit next month in London—wants you to be more open when you speak to colleagues and audiences. He recounts a talk he gave to local start-up entrepreneurs where he spoke about the issues and mistakes that his company had dealt with. “I could easily have given them a glossier version of events, in which we smoothly got to 130 staff and £8m revenue, but the learning experience wouldn’t have been nearly so strong,” he wrote in his blog. “The audience seemed to be interested—loads of questions and comments, good chats afterwards, LinkedIn requests, personal emails and even an invitation to repeat the talk in Manchester. …once again it was a reminder that if you want to build trust with an audience you need to put your real self out there.”

2. Think global. From Elana Fine, managing director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business: “Understand every business is a global business. I repeat. Understand every business is a global business and every entrepreneur is a global entrepreneur. For those of you who use the business model canvas as a planning tool—think of your canvas and look at which box represents a global opportunity. Is it a customer segment, a manufacturing partner or a distribution channel?”

3. Market to inspire participation. Ariana Huffington on what Jeff Bezos should do with The Washington Post (from an article in the Washington City Paper): “The first thing…is start to bring the incredible level of consumer engagement that he created at Amazon to the paper. I’ve always said the future of journalism is going to be a hybrid future—one that combines the best tools of traditional media…with the best tools of the digital world, like speed and engagement. Journalism is moving from a mode of presentation to participation.”

4. Improve meetings. Speaking of Bezos, Daniel Pink writes in his book, To Sell Is Human, that the Amazon founder often includes an empty chair at the table in important planning meetings. It represents the customer: “Seeing it encourages meeting attendees to take the perspective of the invisible but essential person. What’s going through her mind? What desires and concerns? What would she think of the ideas we are putting forward?” While you’re looking at that empty chair,” writes Jill Geisler of Poynter, “remember to make sure you think of every possible customer that could occupy it—not just those who look and sound like the colleagues in the room with you.

5. Truly commit to digital first. Writing on the Poynter site, Cory Bergman, GM of NBC’s Breaking News, chronicled Facebook’s mobile turnaround. ”Even at a thriving Silicon Valley startup full of employees in their twenties and thirties, [CEO Mark] Zuckerberg battled a desktop-centric culture. He backed up his ‘mobile first’ declaration with his own behavior. He removed his desktop monitor from his desk. Whenever someone pitched him an idea, he would ask, ‘What does that look like on mobile?’ He urged staff to ditch their iPhones for Android phones to more closely mirror the population of Facebook mobile users.” Note: 85% of Breaking News’ visits now originate from a mobile device.

 

To subscribe to the SIPAlert Daily, create or update your SIIA User profile and select “SIPA interest.”

Ronn LevineRonn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @SIPAOnline

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SIPAlert Daily: Keys to bringing positive change to your company

August 15, 2013 By

Enacting change in your business is necessary—but not easy. Whether it’s creating new products, changing your organizational structure or simply moving in a different direction, it takes ingenuity and teamwork.

I recently came across a New York Times interview with Fred Hassan, chairman of Bausch & Lomb, about ways he has brought change to the companies he has managed. He spoke of building “credibility, and [being] very authentic with everybody so people start to believe you and trust you…You have to gain a mandate for change. You can’t just say, ‘I’m the new change agent.’

“You have to behave in a very consistent manner,” Hassan continued. He stressed that your choices need to be credible to others in the company, and it’s the front-line managers who matter most, “because if they start to see themselves as ambassadors as opposed to shop stewards, it totally changes the productivity of the whole organization.”

Julian Turner (pictured here), CEO of Electric Word PLC in London, and I spoke on this same subject at the recent SIPA Annual Conference. Electric Word started in 2000 with just one newsletter but quickly found another small business to acquire with four newsletters aimed at UK school leaders. It has now evolved into a fully online subscription service with six hubs—including a successful sports business group—40 (yes, 40!) conferences and supply training products. With about 150 employees now, Turner asked the question, “How do I set up a structure where all my middle managers are delivering in a consistent way? It gets harder as you get bigger. I’m very interested in the communications of this.”

In a follow-up discussion by phone, Turner said that, “We need to keep encouraging [our] people to use the numbers, work out what’s going on and make evidence-based decisions. Sometimes I feel like banging my fists on the floor more, and it can be frustrating not to make the progress you want to make, but it’s a privilege to have the opportunity and very motivating.” He wants to build a place where people can make mistakes, take risks and “make decisions in a rational way.”

I think Hassan would agree about staff empowerment helping to lead to positive change. In a meeting with the employees of a new company he was leading, he spoke to them as a group. “…I asked everyone to identify their main issues, their main problems, and we went around the room. Then I went around the room again and I said, ‘Now tell me how you’re going to solve it, and how everybody else can help you.’ By asking them in that manner, I wanted them to take ownership and accountability.

“Initially, there’s a tendency to just focus on the problems and almost act a little helpless. But by asking them to talk about the solutions, and encouraging them to speak in front of their peers, that creates a certain positive tension. It forces people to say, ‘What am I going to do to make a contribution to the effort here?’”

Turner also spoke about “trying to build on the strengths of the people around you. That’s all quite important to me.” He knows that it’s easier with a smaller staff, but he sees a “great opportunity” with a larger company. “…you can have a much greater impact with 140 people than 6 people, but it’s a lot harder.”

SIIA’s Digital Content and Media Summit in London, Sept. 23-25, will take on questions like these and much, much more. If you have any possible chance of attending, you should. A quick look at the speakers will tell you that this is a premier-league conference.  

To subscribe to the SIPAlert Daily, create or update your SIIA User profile and select “SIPA interest.”

Ronn LevineRonn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @SIPAOnline

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

July: What’s New in Common Core State Standards?

August 6, 2013 By

In Common Core states educators and administrators are moving forward with the planned 2014-2015 school year implementation, but not without difficulties.  This month’s SIIA members-only update includes reports showing progress towards implementation and some setbacks.

This month, some of the biggest news came from States shifting against the CCSS. Both Pennsylvania and Indiana had movements on the legislative front that would either delay or cancel CCSS Implementation. Indiana passed a bill that required a further study of Common Core implementation that will most likely cause an implementation delay. In Pennsylvania legislation was introduced that if passed, would require Pennsylvania to drop out of the common core within 60 days.

While there are offensives against common core in some states, others are moving forward with strong support. North Dakota selected SBAC to conduct tests within the state.  In addition to North Dakota’s move forward toward CCSS implementation, other states have signed on to participate in PARCC’s field testing of assessments in 2014. PARCC also announced its pricing structure, which has caused some concern among member states as they evaluate future assessment budgets.

SIIA members may download the latest “What’s New in Common Core?” document and see more details on what happened in July and archives of past months.  SIIA members can also review past SIIA webinars on CCSS.  Look for more updates by SIIA next month!

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Education, Education Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

SIIA Legal Brief Defends Digital Information Services from Sales and Use Tax in MI

July 11, 2013 By

On Wednesday, SIIA filed an Amicus Curiae Brief in support of Thompson Reuters in its appeal to the Treasury Department of the state of Michigan. At issue in the case is whether an information service, accessed online via the Internet, is subject to Michigan use tax. 

In the brief, SIIA concurs with Thomson Reuters’ assertion that providing an information service online does not constitute delivery of tangible personal property, different from providing a service either via CD-Rom or some other tangible form, and is thus immune to Michigan’s use tax.  Drawing on our technical knowledge about online services, and our experience speaking on behalf of the software and digital content industries, SIIA’s brief demonstrates that the MI Treasury Department’s tax treatment of CheckPoint is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of online services.

As highlighted in the brief, SIIA provides education about the fundamental physical and conceptual distinctions between various operations such as selling software, providing online services, or providing digital content.  It is critical that law impacting online services be developed and implemented with a full understanding of the Internet’s function as a platform for selling products and for providing services. Tax law surrounding information services should be interpreted in a way that is uniform, consistent and constitutional.

The next step in the case will be oral argument before a panel of three judges, which is generally scheduled 9-12 months after the last brief is filed.

David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy. Follow the SIIA public policy team on Twitter at @SIIAPolicy.

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Filed Under: Policy, Uncategorized

What’s New in Common Core Standards & Assessments? June edition

July 10, 2013 By

With all of the recent uncertainty surrounding Common Core, SIIA sees it as vital that our members are aware of the latest data and resources related to Common Core. The SIIA monthly updates from this year have been compiled into one easy to read document. This allows members to access the latest data and archives in one easy step.

June was not as busy or as controversial as May for common core, but some new developments and resources did pop up.  In response to the increased anti-common core sentiments, Secretary Duncan published an open letter indicating an increased awareness of the need for flexibility in implementation deadlines.  Pushback on the common core deadlines continued, with Michigan blocking any funds to be used for preparing or implementing common core. Other highlights from June include a new PARCC field test scheduled to begin next spring. A new report on the next generation science standards was also published. While the standards are not strictly a part of the Common Core curriculum they could have a similarly large impact on state curricula.

SIIA members can review past SIIA webinars on CCSS and view session summaries from SIIA’s Ed Tech Government Forum in Washington, DC. Look for more updates by SIIA next month!

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Education, Education Policy, Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,
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