Build an Innovation Factory, Learn to be an Innovator, Launch new Innovations

Creativity And Innovation Driving Business announces engaging online workshops to jump start innovation at your business. Learn how top innovators in the world innovate, change and grow their business successfully, especially during economic cycles. The Innovation Bootcamp workshops will INSPIRE you to unlock your creativity, spark new ideas, uncover and create game-changing innovations, and accelerate your business.

InnovationMain.com and Sanjay Dalal, Chief Innovator, have successfully delivered over 500 hours of Innovation Bootcamp web seminar workshops live and on demand to online attendees!

Learn over 100 relevant + insightful strategies, tools and techniques to unleash creativity and innovation!

The Innovation Bootcamp will help you:

• Become an Innovator at your Organization.
• Unleash the Creativity and Spark new Ideas.
• Launch New Innovations with sound Processes.
• Accelerate the Growth of your Business.

"The Innovation Bootcamp has helped me in countless situations, not only on the job but also in my personal life. Sanjay Dalal's tenacious and diligent coverage of all the core innovation techniques and case studies has given me a more well-rounded understanding of the business world." - Business Consultant

The Innovation Bootcamp consists of Six Engaging Online Workshop Sessions (details below):
1. Benchmarking and Leading with Innovation
The Business Case for Innovation
2. Unblocking Creativity and Innovation
The Essential Processes and Skills
3. Unleashing Team Innovation
Great Teams Deliver Great Innovations
4. and 5. Business Innovation Case Studies
Learn how Top Innovators Lead with Innovation
6. Building an Innovation Factory
Create a sustainable, scalable Innovation Process

Hurry...April 2009 Innovation Bootcamp registration closing fast. April 10, 17, 24 from 8:30 am through 4:00 pm Pacific time! Register now...

The Innovation Bootcamp is delivered live and online using Web seminars! You only need a computer and 90 minutes to engage, interact and collaborate live, at home or at your office! It's that simple...

The Innovation Bootcamp consists of online interactive workshops of 90 minutes each. Each workshop begins with an interactive quiz, collaborative brainstorm and a live Q&A. Our online workshop seminars are limited to 15 attendees per bootcamp to facilitate maximum interaction and collaboration. Presenting the outline of these intensive workshops:

1. Benchmarking and Leading with Innovation

• The Business Case for Innovation
  
• The Current State of Business Innovation - Six Innovators' timeless wisdom
  
• The Disruptive Innovation Gap - Five strategies to Change your business
  
• The Innovation Index - Correlating Innovation & Business Performance - Three insights
  
• Measuring Business Innovation Success - Focus on game-changers - Three takeaways
  
• Innovations for the Web 2.0 Business Models - Ten Business models
  

2. Unblocking Creativity and Innovation

• The Essential Processes and Skills
  
• Blocking Creativity and Innovation - Four blockers and Nine Processes
  
• Failures Driving Innovation - Five Takeaways to implement today
  
• Developing Organizational Creativity - Twenty Five techniques to jumpstart creativity
  
• Avoiding Cycles of Innovation - Four Innovation blunders - Build Institutional Memory
  
• Six Ways to Find Innovation - Spark New Ideas for your Business
  

3. Unleashing Team Innovation

• Great Teams Deliver Great Innovations
  
• Ten Traits of Creative Leaders - Are you an innovative leader?
  
• Leadership Driving Innovation - Ten must-have leadership drivers
  
• Seven Characteristics of Highly Innovative Teams - Build that great team
  
• Examples of Effective Teams - Learn how creative teams deliver - Three examples
  
• Ten Principles to Unleash Team Innovation - Crank up your Team Creativity
  
• Unlocking Team Creativity - Create that well oiled assembly line
  

4. and 5. Innovation Case Studies

• Learn how Top Innovators Lead with Innovation
  
• Business Models, Product, Process and Customer Experience Innovation
  
• Apple - What makes Apple the #1 Innovative Company?
  
• Google's Innovation Strategy and performance vis-a-vis Yahoo
  
• Netflix versus Blockbuster - Winner Takes All. Netflix' Innovation strategy
  
• Toyota's Innovation Factory - Innovation Assembly Line
  
• Strategic Innovation at Deloitte - Edge to Core to Edge
  
• Co-creation driving Innovation - Customers, Partners, Users, Prosumers - Web 2.0 Innovations

6. Building an Innovation Factory

• Create a Sustainable, Scalable Innovation Process
  
• Five Principles For Driving Successful Innovation - Key takeaways
  
• Making a Business Case for Innovation - Strategic Plan to drive innovation
  
• Implementing Innovation Models at Your Business
  
• Group Innovation Brainstorm and Project
  
• Final Project to propose, plan and create an Innovation Factory

The Innovation Bootcamp will help you:
1. Create 100+ real strategies, tools, and techniques to unleash innovation at your organizaton.
2. Prepare you and your team to convert ideas and creativity into successful innovation.
3. Enable you to accelerate and grow your business profitably.

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have...It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it." - Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive officer.

Who should register?

VPs, Consultants, Managers, Leaders, Marketing Managers, Product Managers, Technologists, Engineers, Professors, Business and Engineering Professionals, Marketing Executives, Information Executives, Team Leaders, Sales Managers, Sales Directors, Strategists, Product Marketing Managers, Business Development Managers, Entrepreneurs - Professionals who wants to excel at Innovation in Business

Why should I attend?

Challenge your mind. Think different. Be innovative. Unlock your creativity. Create and generate new ideas. Convert ideas into successful innovations. Accelerate and grow your business. Become an innovator and entrepreneur. Build an Innovation Factory. We guarantee that you will be inspired and ready after attending the Innovation Bootcamp to jumpstart new innovations at your business.

An Investment Well Worth the Cost

The Rigorous Innovation Bootcamp only costs $49 per session. We offer the first workshop session for FREE. We are confident that you will join the entire Bootcamp after attending our first session. What does $245 (total cost) give you? Live, online coaching with top innovator in the nation, the leading Business Innovation eBook used by over 300 organizations including Pepsi, EDS, Hallmark and Pfizer, pertinent presentation training materials to immediately help you innovate at work (a $200 value), Innovation Bootcamp certificate from Creativity And Innovation Driving Business, and a paid subscription to our Business Innovation monthly report for one year (a $120 value).

Register for the Innovation Bootcamp Today

Rigorous Innovation Bootcamp delivered over six sessions (back to back all day):
Bootcamp Schedule: April 10, 17, 24 Time: 8:30 am until 4:00 pm Pacific time Register now

About Creativity and Innovation Driving Business
The mission of Creativity and Innovation Driving Business is to provide uncommon insights, strategy and solutions with proven processes that drive Creativity and Innovation at your business, create real market growth and success for your products and services, and achieve market leadership. We make innovation a sustainable competitive advantage, inspire you to build an innovation factory, effect and manage change, and accelerate your business. We have considerable experience and expertise in working with small, growing and established companies, product and marketing departments, and innovation teams.

Selected references:
Leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business
Creativity and Innovation Best Practices
Creativity and Innovation Case Studies
The Innovation Index
Top 50 innovative companies in the world

Creating Online Home Business Ideas

The following paragraphs summarize the work of experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of . Heed their advice to avoid any surprises.

Within this drama today, we'll look at several ways you can vigor about creating online home business ideas.
Many people have come evolution cloak online home business ideas but have found these ventures to be ill-starred. Within this chestnut today are some research tools to help you find out whether or not your business can hold office successful. The first online home business idea which will give you help is found at www. worldwidebrands. com. This website offers an online shipping directory to help you find wholesalers.


These wholesalers will ship pains to your customers so you don't have to worry about keeping product in your house. This will allow you to sell different items on eBay or on your own website without having to worry about sinking your money into inventory or on high priced shipping to bring the products to you. This can allow you to find what products ante up very well and then replace these trends briskly, assuming your wholesaler has this particular product in stock.

If you bargain that you are a good writer, there are many different places that you guilt ply your trade on the Internet. You are able to post to different job boards and bid for writing projects. Licensed are many different websites out there but some of the ones that seem to be better apparent there are www. Elance. com and www. directfreelance. com. If you spend a single whack looking on the Internet for different job boards, you'll find a great deal of information on where you are able to work and make money writing from home.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to .

This can be a very flexible road for you to travel due to the fact that you can write when you obtain time. It can stand for easily fit around your current schedule and you are able to it amen when you have occasion.

Another good creating online home business idea is to create an Internet research website. There are many companies you can sell yourself and your abilities to create new content for their websites. You would urgency to make sure that you are very well intelligent in how to research different subjects on the Internet but you would be free to make money in diverse different ways.
Hopefully these creating online home business ideas will help you out in your search for a great idea. Each of these ideas should not cost you much money but it can have a great backlash in your pocketbook leadership the long run.

Developing a website can take a great deal of time so hold office patient if you do not see quick profits from the beginning. By taking time to work on your project every day you'll find that you will have great success 6 - 8 months down the line as you begin to develop a reputation. Writing or doing Internet research could have a more immediate return on your time and money as you could be making money within a day or even hours, depending upon how much you push the envelope.

Is there really any information about that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.

International Business Questions And Answers

Import Export Business Question:

We are to Norwegian export agents based in Vancouver, Canada,
who would like to find potential buyers in Norway for Canadian
and American companies. Even though one of us has a bachelor
degree in International marketing & export, we still have some
questions about how things really work in the real world.

Due to our limited resources, we have just started a home-based
export business, and we think we have everything in its place now.
However, we are a little bit unsecured if we as agent need to be
responsible for the shipping of the goods and custom declaration?

Could some companies require this?

Import Export Business Answer

Even though you have a degree, I would still suggest you get a copy of
our Exporters Master Training package since it contains "real world"
information, not just theory - you may review details at:
http://www.importexporthelp.com/trdspm1.htm

I will attempt to answer your question below, but you should also take
several hours and visit our import export business blog at:
http://importexportbusiness.blogspot.com
*** look on the right side - down a bit - to find the dated archived posts -
not all will be of interest but the majority are questions and answers
that we have received and answered over the years which will be
beneficial to you.

Now to your question - working as an agent/broker can involve you doing
everything that is part of the exporting process from taking care of the
shipping, customs, financing, etc. if that is what you agree to do or
what your client requires in order to do business.

You can also work the business (again subject to your negotiated
agreement with the supplier/manufacturer) in a manner like I do where all
I do is generate or identify potential buyers for manufacturers and pass
those qualified leads on to the supplier - upon completion of a sale to
the parties I introduce them to, I get paid a commission which is far
less than the one I could earn if I wanted to handle all the follow up
details as you have described.

Some purists would say I am a finder, some would say I am nothing
more than a lead generator and I would respond, call me what you will
but as long as they have my name or my company's name spelled
correctly on their checks, I could care less what anyone else wishes
to call me.

So bottom line, it comes down to you and the supplier and what
involvement you wish to have in the process - the more involvement,
the more you can demand in payment, the less involvement and the
you can expect to be paid less - you have to weigh the offset of the
time you spend on a deal versus what you will get paid for that time.

Hope this helps and again, I strongly recommend you and your
partners get the Exporters Master training package - it is something
you all may use and continue to use if and when you hire any employees
or take on any new partners in your business.

Good luck and I wish you success!

Ron Coble
http://www.importexporthelp.com

Keeping on top of Stimulus / Education News

Keep on top of the ways in which the Stim will effect your school at: Schools and the Stimulus from Ed Week.

3 BIG FAMILY OWNED MEDIA FIRMS FACE SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES

Family owned and controlled businesses face challenges because of difficulties in passing firms on to succeeding generations of the family. Tax issues are a common problem, but the biggest challenges involve finding effective managers among the family and the needs for new capital that diminishes family control.

How family members view the company over time create problems for sustainability. Individuals who establish firms tend to view it as a business enterprise; their children tend to see it as supporting the family; and multigenerational family businesses tend see it has providing status in the community. These latter priorities can interfere with profit and reinvestment objectives and endanger long-term sustainability.

As a consequence of these kinds of factors, only about 30% of family firms are passed to a second generation and only 13% reach a third generation.

This brings us to the challenges facing media firms. Three big companies—News Corp., Viacom, and New York Times Co.— all are struggling with succession and control issues.

Rupert Murdoch, who built the News Corp. global empire after inheriting the firm from his father, is now 77 and having difficultly convincing an heir to take over. The oldest son, Lachlan, left the company three years ago and his other children, James and Elizabeth, recently declined to become his number 2. James still runs the company’s European and Asian operations, but Elizabeth prefers to run her own independent TV production company. Whether the company can remain family run in the coming years is unclear.

Sumner Redstone—who is 75 and has had strategic disagreements with many managers at Viacom—turned to his daughter Shari Redstone to help manage National Amusements, Viacom and CBS. She proved quite adept and by 2005 it was assumed that she would succeed Sumner as head of the company. The two had a serious falling out two years ago over succession and governance, however, and it is now uncertain who will lead the firm in the future. Certainly it won’t be Sumner’s son Brent, who sued him over disputes about his portion of the family business.

The Sulzberger family is struggling to maintain control over the strategic direction and operation of New York Times Co., despite the greater influence they have because of that companies preferential share structure. They increasingly have to go outside the company for capital—such as making the deal with Mexican mogul Carlos Slim—and they are continuing struggling with other major investors who are demanding more influence on company management. The family is slowly losing the automony it once had in running the company.

If solutions to succession and family control issues are not found, it is likely that these firms may have to turn to outside managers. History has show that when that occurs, family members become detached from the firm and are more likely to sell their shares and leave the business altogether.

Creating A Work Home Business Internet Online

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you'll find that the subject of is certainly no exception.

Within this article today, we're going to look at creating a work at home business that focuses on the Internet and online. There are many different businesses that you can spotlight on and we will look at what you should look for within a particular business that you want to organize.

There are great many opportunities for you hold creating a work at home business that focus on the Internet and online. One of the best resources for you to find information about this is at www. affiliateprograms. com. You'll hunger to spend a great happening of time visiting this website because you can find many different affiliate programs that you can market in multitudinous discrepant categories. Some of the categories that they have that you can market include cultivate and investment, food and beverage, automotive, and health and fitness. Take the interval to read because each affiliate program will list their website as well as a small description on what they do and you will want to visit the website as well. If you are going to be spending a huge deal of your time promoting a particular website and program, you'll want to make sure that this is perk your while. Also, with each of these particular programs, you should look at how much money you would be making by selling each of these. You'll probably find diverse programs that seem interesting to you so see which one peaks your interest and pays well and head for that opportunity.

As far as fair warning for what seems to be opportunities on the Netting for other things, there are many different websites that promise that you can make money through either taking surveys or through posting on free forums for several hours day.

The information about presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

This sounded good and many people have signed up and found that they have wasted a pronounced deal of time and money in the end when trying out these so - called " opportunities. Remember to listen to your overturn when you're knowledge about this. There are several work - at - home scams out there so make sure to take your time in reading about what the different websites have to offer.

Another great work home business that has an online focus can act for eBay. This is stressed throughout some articles on this website but it is a great tool for you to begin your career. You can learn how to write sales copy for your auctions considering well through how to properly promote yourself. If you take the lessons to be learned on eBay and apply them to other Internet marketing areas, you will find yourself ready to tackle almost anything out there.

Hopefully this article on creating a work at home business that focuses on the Internet and online has been beneficial to you. When we designed this article and wrote it, we want you to know what to look for within a particular business as well as what to do for it. It is important to notice what to look for as well as what to avoid.
Sometimes it's tough to sort out all the details related to this subject, but I'm positive you'll have no trouble making sense of the information presented above.

MLM Opportunity Lead-How to Use Web Content Writing to Drive MORE Traffic to Your MLM Website

You can find plenty of mlm opportunity lead to talk to when you use interntet marketing strategies to drive traffic to your mlm website. One important thing to remember is that search engines are all about content. So, what better way to increase the number of traffic to your website than by providing high quality content writing that is relevant to the needs of the mlm niche you targeting. But article writing is the challenge that most webmasters face. However, if this is the case for you then you need not worry. There are various ghost writers on the internet who can write these articles for you; you can have exclusive rights for it and even put your name on it if you wish.


There are some rules you need to follow when you want to have content on your website that is suitable for search engine optimization purposes. For example, you need to research about the keywords that most people type on search engines. There are free tools that can help you find the right keywords such as Google's keyword tool and the free version of Wordtracker. Then you'll need to integrate these keywords in the article itself but there is an ideal keyword density required. You should never try to fool search engines by spamming the article with keywords because your site will only get penalized. Instead, you should place the keywords in well-placed positions within the article such as the headline and the first and the last paragraphs.


Aside from writing great content for your website, there are many other uses for your articles. You can submit these articles to various article directories and ezines so that a greater number of people can view them. These tools also offer a resource box at the end of the article; you can put your name as well as your website there. Inevitably, this will increase your site traffic especially if your mlm opportunity lead is interested in learning more about the solutions you will be offering to their problems.


Content articles will also improve your link popularity. When other webmasters see that your site is doing well because of the kind of content you have, they will be encouraged to link to you. Getting relevant links will also increase your search engine ranking because of your improved page rank. In addition, content writing has the potential to stay forever on the internet and can generate a lot of traffic. So the key to driving a lot of traffic to your website is through creating quality articles that have timeless information. Imagine generating passive revenue ten years down the road because of the effort you put into creating content articles today. There are certainly many benefits you can derive from having quality content, it is no wonder then that internet experts always emphasize that content is king.

Provide great content and your mlm opportunity lead will be frequent visitors to your site as well as develop a know, like, and trust relationship with you.

Until next time,

Monique Hawkins
540-858-2885 anytime
Skype: Monique371
Be A Mentor With A Servant's Heart

P.S. Ask me about my 2 minute story.

P.S.S. Everybody knows you have to use the secret language when talking to prospects. It's all explained beginning on page 46 of this free ebook, Success in 10 Steps:

http://mentormonique.bigmlmtruths.com/?mad=9091

Thinking about the 'Doomed Pedagogical Fad'

Ken Kay is on the ASCD blog today, so inevitably, a topic of discussion is Jay Mathews' January Washington Post piece on the 'doomed fad' of teaching 21st century skills.

Webblog-ed had an eloquent response to the column back when it came out. I don't think I can add much to his critique. Though I've found it sort of astounding over the last two months -- as the original piece has made the rounds on the web -- that Mathews would never have considered the irony in writing an article critical of 21st century skills that requires those same skills to deconstruct it.

Hundreds of comments have been filed on this piece. Is Mr. Mathews really still wondering if people understand how to use the Internet?

When Mathews nearly brags concerning his own short-career as a student in a college science class that:

My final exam would be applauded today by promoters of 21st-century skills. We had to plot a course on a Boston Harbor cruise ship, strategizing, analyzing, collaborating. I don't recall understanding any of what was going on, but I turned something in. As I expected, I got a good grade and a bachelor's degree, despite learning no science.

...he demonstrates that he has no idea of what 21st century skills are.

Plotting a course on a cruise ship via pen and paper back in the Dark Ages when Mr. Mathews was in college doesn't qualify as a '21st century skill'. Mathews' admission that he 'didn't recall any of what was going on, yet turned something in anyway' seems more representative of the filing of this piece of reactive schlock in the Washington Post than it does of a bygone take-home test.

I guess Mr. Mathews did learn something in that class.

Mathews says that he's 'nervous whenever I hear of some brilliant new teaching method that is going to sweep our students into a new century'. Well, Jay, it's not the teaching method that's sweeping our students into a new century -- it's our teaching methods that are now playing catch-up to where our new century has already swept our students.

To top it all off, Mathews ends with the tired trope that:

In our poorest neighborhoods, we still have some of our weakest teachers, either too inexperienced to handle methods like modeling instruction or too cynical to consider 21st-century skills anything more than another doomed fad. There might be a way to turn them around, but if there isn't, instead of engaged and inspired students, we will have just one more big waste of time.

All the more reason to get authentic 21st century learning into our classrooms. Because it's not gonna be Jay Mathews who saves those poor neighborhoods, it's gonna be the best and brightest of our creatively skilled and locally/globally connected 21st century students.

And they're gonna need skills.

Practical Advice on Limiting Emailing/IMs During Class

A reader recently emailed me concerning a situation regarding a student caught emailing during class. Turns out the student and several others were engaged in a rather, um, volatile discussion concerning a few other students; there was much crudity and what's to be expected in such teenaged converbalizations. In short, the teacher who wrote to me was distressed and feels taken advantage of by the students.

A similar thing happened in one of my classes early in my paperless days. I would say that it's probably the most common problem a paperless teacher will face. So here's some first-hand advice based on my experience.

First things first: you have to stop the behavior. I collected the offending emails in my class via a tried and true method: SynchronEyes and a friendly in-house IT guy. Then, one morning, without announcing what I was going to do, I projected the offensive emails (names blocked out) onto my wall. When the students arrived, I was nowhere to be found and my students entered a dark room lit only by the glow of the vitriolic digital dispatches.

By the time I decided to enter, the room had fallen into complete silence. And, not saying a word about it, I flipped the screen to the day's lesson and began.

And I've not had a problem since.

Second, in terms of prevention, SynchronEyes doesn't lie. In the same way that you are liable to be at your best behavior in a court of law, likewise watcher-programs like SynchronEyes tend to keep folks on a short digital leash. That said, one of the downsides of the program is that it may bear too much of a 'Big Brother' feel unto your class. There are times when -- if you are really going to get the students to think outside the box -- you are going to have to allow them the courtesy of unmonitored access. I really believe this. But unmonitored access is something earned; it is not an assumption in my classroom.

And this comes down to a matter of respect and responsibility both on behalf of the student and the teacher. I tend to run my classroom on the basis of earned respect; that doesn't change just because we're online.

So, in general, I prefer the time-honored tradition of "hands-up". In the same way that this has worked for countless generations of teachers, probably going back to Plato catching Aristotle passing notes, it works for 1:1 computing teachers as well.

You are going to have to find out what works for you. And trust goes a long way -- perhaps even further should it be broken. But don't be disheartened; rather, this sort of thing is just one more aspect of teaching students how to live in the 21st century.

Perhaps my kids are not the only ones...

... addicted to Pixton.

A reader writes:

I find Pixton to be, not a substitute for drawing, but a complement to it. To a serious artist, it is a quick way to try out scenes and poses (and color combinations), and it stimulates creativity. I have not yet found Pixton's limits.

I like the idea here that it "stimulates creativity". In other words, although it could be, Pixton is not in and of itself necessarily the end-product. Like the best aspects of Web 2.0 technology -- as well as the best practices for the classroom -- it is open, flexible, and ongoing. It's an ideal brainstorming tool; and in a sense, to use it is to take part in a visual brainstorming exercise.

Effective SEO Comes Cheap

When you're learning about something new, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of relevant information available. This informative article should help you focus on the central points.

Search engine optimization or seo is the hottest way to drive targeted traffic to your website. Maximizing the benefits of a well optimized website will revenue lots of earnings for the marketer. However, optimizing your site proficiency cost you thousands of dollars if you are not skilled in this area.

But to tell you the authenticity, you can essentially get knowledge on low cost SEO anywhere network the Internet. But only several really show you how to salt mines out an affordable search engine optimization endeavor. And those few that really inform include this article.


1. Link exchanges

One cheap seo method that can get you best results is through link exchanges or linking to and from other web sites. Depending on the websites that you would agnate to exchange links with, this tool could constant cost you nothing at all. Trial the author or lessor of the web site you want to hold a link exchange with. You will be surprised with the eventual spiking up of your page ranking using this means of getting your website optimized.

2. Write or acquire key word rich articles

Writing in toto informative and keyword - opulent articles is one surefire way to make your Internet business more visible than ever. It's either you write your own articles or you get them from article directories that allow you to post these articles on your website as long as you keep the resource box or the author's byline in tact.

So far, we've uncovered some interesting facts about . You may decide that the following information is even more interesting.

Just don't stuff your articles with keywords that even idiots would get bore of reading them. The readability and freshness of your articles will still be the basis of whether your writers will keep on coming back to your website or not.

3. Catchy Domain Name

What better will make your target visitors remember your website but with a very easy - to - recall section name. Something sweet and short will prove to be very meritorious. Registering your domain name is not for free. But creativity is.

4. Organize your site navigation

Providing easy steps in navigating your site is one way to make your visitors become at ease with your site. This, in turn, will improve the scamper of traffic to your website.

Low cost SEO is always evolving like any other approach in information technology. There are many methods that can very well land you on the top ten rankings of Google or on any other search engines. Some may cost a lot but licensed are methods that can give you the same contact at a low price or you can unbroken do on your own such as those mentioned above.

The day will come when you can use something you read about here to have a beneficial impact. Then you'll be glad you took the time to learn more about .

Get Goghing with AdSense for search

A few months ago, we shared a number of AdSense for search optimization tips with you. Here's the story of one AdSense publisher who recently tried some of these techniques and saw substantial results after making a few small changes.

VanGoghGallery.com is an art resource site that provides information about the life and work of Vincent van Gogh. Site owner Greg Alexander runs the Van Gogh Gallery to educate and share information about the artist, and has also used the site to explore new Internet marketing techniques. Greg joined AdSense in 2007, and although he didn't know much about the program at first, he found it "a great opportunity to generate some revenue without spending the effort to sell ads." He also tried other ad providers, "but none of them yielded the results that AdSense did. In addition, AdSense was the only one that provided relevant ads for our visitors."

To help users navigate through the many pages of the Van Gogh Gallery, Greg added an AdSense for search box to the right column of his pages. By enabling SiteSearch and displaying search results on his own pages, he was able to help users find what they were looking for while staying on his site.

As an optimization experiment, Greg recently moved his search box to the center column of his pages and extended it to twice its original width.

Before

After

In addition, Greg made slight changes to the search results pages -- he removed the borders from the ads and search results, and added a new search box to the search results pages. According to Greg, "altogether, these changes took less than 15 minutes to do."

After making these updates, Greg noticed a dramatic and immediate increase in the usage of search on the Van Gogh Gallery. He found that "the number of queries performed each day increased 8 to 10 times, and search ad clicks and revenues increased even more." His search earnings quickly grew from less than a dollar a day to double digits since his optimization test. "Now we frequently receive more search ad clicks than our total number of searches pre-optimization," says Greg. "I'm still amazed at how simple changes can have such an incredible impact."

Greg has started using the earnings from his AdSearch optimization efforts to build and host additional websites about other artists. "Ultimately," Greg says,"we hope to use the earnings to fund research trips to Europe to see the works of the masters and expand the quality of information we offer visitors to our sites."

Have you also tried our AdSense for search optimization tips and found success? Let us know.

Posted by Jane Brinkley - AdSense Optimization Team

Re-enVISION

Webblogg-ed on Ed Tech and the Stim:

You want to make the most of the stimulus? Invest it in getting teachers and students connected, and in professional development that goes far, far beyond the one-day Powerpoint workshops many are mired in to something that focuses on how learning changes in a networked world. One that helps teachers see the world differently and helps them re-envision their classroom practice.

My emphasis there.

The Google cloud speaks 7 new languages

Today felt like a normal day. I woke up and went through my normal morning routine: got my clothes together, checked the news, watched a few minutes of the Golden Girls (hey – just being honest!), and drove off through the gray day towards work. Indeed, it turned out to be an appropriately "cloudy" day.

Because without any work on my part, without any software updates or downloads, hardware patches or rewiring, today, our Google Translate team added seven new languages to our Google Translate tool in the cloud. This means that anyone using Google Translate technologies, including all the Google Search Appliance customers currently using Cross-Language Enterprise Search (a recent feature added to our Enterprise Labs), instantly had their repertoire of languages increase to include Turkish, Thai, Hungarian, Estonian, Albanian, Maltese, and Galician. With this launch, Google Translate has now achieved automatic translations between 41 languages (that's 1640 language pairs!).



This, to me, is the beauty of the cloud, and the beauty of where we're headed in Enterprise search: securely bridging the gap that had existed in traditional enterprise deployments, bringing together the best of the corporate network and the cloud. With the Google Search Appliance, you get a hardware unit that packages the powerful algorithms of Google.com, and which allows you to search all of your internal documents securely behind your corporate firewall. While this hardware sits safely in your office, tools like Cross-Language Enterprise Search, Google Apps integration and Google Sites integration, allow an IT department to tap into the unique features and "versionless" innovation possible only in the cloud.

Previously, bringing seven new languages into an enterprise search solution would have required the addition of entirely new hardware or software, taking hours or days to update and to train people on. Today, the cloud allows these innovations to flow directly into the Google Search Appliance, for any and all to take advantage of. Any Google Search Appliance customers interested in utilizing this tool and others like it can download these features in our Enterprise Labs.

Here's to future innovations - or as some might say:
"gelecek yenilikler"
"นวัตกรรมในอนาคต"
"jövőbeni innovációk"
"tulevikus uuendused"
"ardhmen novacioneve"
"innovazzjonijiet fil-futur"
"innovacións futuras"

And to all on the Google Translate team: thank you for being a friend.

Posted by Cyrus Mistry, Product Manager, Google Enterprise

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Another reader fed up with the way Ed Tech is treated:

People are in denial of just how important technology is to our world now and people need to help the schools of today out and keep them up to date with the technology of the era. Ed tech plays an extremely important role to our future and it needs to be taken into consideration instead of ignored.

As I talk to more folks -- especially teachers -- I see that what we're really experiencing is a 'Boy Cries Wolf' moment in education. For years, theorists and professional development organizers have been rehashing and recycling the same old ideas and presenting them as both something new and something that we just won't be able to live without. Everything that's old is new again. This turned teachers off. Parents too.

Now, we're in a situation where the wolf -- the Digital Age -- is actually upon us, and a lot of folks aren't willing to deal with the situation because they've been burned so many times before.

How Managed Service Provider Accreditation Helps Buyers

In today's changing volatile economy, companies find the predictable monthly service charges of a managed service provider (MSP) highly attractive. They can deploy technology, confident that they're not pouring money down a black hole. The problem is, scads of technology providers are now trying to recast themselves as MSPs.

How can you tell which ones are qualified?

That's Charles Weaver’s job. He's CEO of the 8,000-member International Association of Managed Service Providers. His nine-year-old group offers an accreditation program for managed service providers, and it's closer to a bar exam than a pro forma blessing. No MSP has ever received a perfect score, and it can take as many as three tries before a company passes. (For more on MSP accreditation, see When Selecting Qualified MSPs, Assume Nothing.)

Part Technology, All Business
The Managed Services Accreditation Program (MSAP) has two parts: a written exam and a physical inspection. The written exam is only about one-fourth weighted toward technology, says Weaver. The other 75 percent relates to the business. "It's not a technology certification. We look at everything from their financials to their facilities. We make sure they're a healthy stable company. We ask questions about disaster recovery and security, but a lot of the exam is designed to determine their financial stability."

The physical inspection follows, during which Weaver or one of the 15 IAMSP board members visits the facility. They check for physical security and process documentation, among other issues. "Documentation is a big problem at the small and midsize service providers," says Weaver. "They fail to write things down, and that puts their business at risk." If they fail the test, the IAMSP shows them how to improve, and they can take the test again (at a cost of $1500).

Dealing with Growth
The accreditation program has been so successful that Weaver is hoping to set up partnerships with consulting firms to help MSPs prepare. The IAMSP has already added sub-categories relating to accreditation for green IT facilities and master MSPs (those who lease services to smaller MSPs).

But keeping up with the growth in the industry is keeping Weaver busy. "Companies are demanding managed services because they're trying to cut costs. But they're finding very green, very immature vendors who say they're an MSP because they went to a seminar," he says.

If you're entrusting your company's technology to an MSP, then invest the time to determine whether your MSP is accredited, and what that accreditation process involved.

From a Student's Perspective...

A reader writes:

Our society becomes more and more dependent on technology everyday. How are students expected to be successful after school if they can't get the education required to work with the new technologies? My generation finds the idea of a paperless classroom strange and I'm not even out of college yet. If I am already so far behind I can't imagine what it is like to be in a high school using out of date computers or even worse no computers at all.

Creating An Online Business

So what is really all about? The following report includes some fascinating information about --info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you.
There are multifarious different online business that you can create and in this article today we are going to look at a couple of different types. This article focused on creating online businesses and the different types that you can create.


The first kind of businesses that you can create when looking to create an online business would be a website which serves a particular niche in the bazaar. Many people have done on this and this is often done by trying to find an underserved niche, building a website, and then profiting off of this small but healthful fight. A great place to find heavier information on this particular topic would be www. findhotniches. com. Here the author has created a website which finds underserved niches which you could potentially build a website around. When you're castle a website, you're going to want to find cheap keywords that you pledge use to aid build your business as well as create good sparkling. By creating the content and then creating back links between yourself and other websites, you'll substitute setting yourself up to have a high page rank with Google. By using AdWords to bring traffic to your website and then also developing your natural search mechanism traffic through building up a website, you will have built yourself a very on ice business. This is just one way of creating online business.
Another conduct to you can build and create an online business is through eBay. This is an area which was particularly hot several years ago and still remains a intent business proposition.
You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial information about . But don't be surprised if you find yourself recalling and using this very information in the next few days.
Many people are able to engender a full - time income on eBay. You entrust desideratum to find a wholesaler where you can get products at a discount to sell on eBay. The general idea when process on selling on eBay is to find a gambol shipper. A tenor of a bounce shipper is a wholesaler sells you a product and will ship the product to a customer. You will buy the trial at the pandemic price and then make money on the difference between what you buy the product for and sell the product for on eBay. Using the wholesaler allows you to focus on selling the product without worrying about stocking the product. You do not need to worry about any sort of shipping or backend but you will want to make sure that everything gets sent out. If there are problems with shipments, the customer will be coming back to you and not to the wholesaler to. If you go to worldwidebrands. com, you will find the best wholesale shipping directory on the Internet.
These are two of the different ideas in creating an online business. There are many ways to make money on the Internet but these are two proven methods. You leave not keep to use a lot of money up front to create these particular online businesses and these businesses can be something that you will have great deal of success with.
Sometimes it's tough to sort out all the details related to this subject, but I'm positive you'll have no trouble making sense of the information presented above.

How to Make Viral Videos Drive More Traffic to a Website

Today's free network marketing post has to do with the power of online videos.

It's a fact of life: the weirder or funnier the video, the more hits it generates. The more hits it generates, the more it is palmed off to other Internet subscribers. The more people who see the video, the more hits it generates. It's a win-win scenario that entails a bit of creativity, a bit of posting, a bit of word-of-mouth advertising and viola! You've got (what else?) a hit.

This is the theory that backs the promotion of viral videos on websites.

A viral video is really any video clip that spreads a virus on the Internet. It is usually passed on through blogs, emails, instant messages or other media sharing websites like YouTube. The most successful viral videos are the funnier, if not weirder amateur clips, although there are some noteworthy (and copyrighted) commercials, and excerpts from TV series and movies. Many online advertisers are now seeing the potential of the viral video phenomenon, and some of them are opting for this as a new marketing strategy.


Why? The answer is simple. Some videos are calling so much attention that they cross over to the more conventional arenas of the tri-media: the newspapers, radio and TV shows. It provokes a domino effect that gathers a lot of momentum with very little expended energy.


For the more hard-nosed net marketers, videos can be used to jack up traffic to a projected website, provided that it is done in connection with the products and services available on the website itself. Making them funny or weird is one way of making the video stand out among the thousands of new videos being uploaded on the Internet daily.


There are two ways of placing a video on your website. One: you take an already popular video and upload it to your page. Two: you create your own video and upload it to your page.


If you are opting for option number one, it might be best to judge first if the content of the video is even remotely associated with the theme of your website. If not, it would be best not to post it. That video can be downloaded from other sites, and you just as well may be getting more competition you can handle. Sure, it might generate traffic for some time, but is it quality traffic? And for how long will the interest hold out?


Besides, posting any video for the sake of posting something just might have a negative effect on you and your website. Site visitors might assume that you are as disorganized as your page and as a marketer, you would not want that.

The second way is to create your own video, which is more advisable if you are seriously considering the quality of traffic going through your site. It does not need to be a funny or weird video. The trend these days is leaning towards informative "how-to" videos. If your video or videos complements the other graphics, banners and articles of your site, you will not only have an increase in quality traffic, but an increase in the "expert-reputation" as well.


Until next time,

Monique Hawkins
540-858-2885 anytime
Skype: Monique371
Be A Mentor With A Servant's Heart

P.S. Ask me about my 2 minute story.

P.S.S. Everybody knows you have to use the secret language when talking to prospects. It's all explained beginning on page 46 of this free ebook, Success in 10 Steps:

http://mentormonique.bigmlmtruths.com/?mad=9091

New Status Dashboard for Google Apps

We made a commitment last year to increase transparency and communication with Google Apps customers in several ways. We heard your feedback around the need for better communication when issues like yesterday's Gmail outage occur.

As part of that commitment, we're pleased to announce today the availability of the Google Apps Status Dashboard. Customers can use this Status Dashboard to check on the current service status of individual services such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs, Google Sites and Google Video for business. Administrators of Google Apps for their businesses, schools and organizations can also view the performance of the administrative control panel.

The Google Apps Status Dashboard represents an additional layer of transparency that we believe will be particularly useful for our business users, and it's also relevant to users of our consumer products. The Status Dashboard is the best place to check for information on service availability for Google Apps anywhere in the world. In my role on the sales team, I regularly talk with customers to make sure that they're getting the most out of Google Apps and I think that you will find this tool indispensable in managing your Google Apps deployment.

Additionally, here are other resources I often recommend to help account administrators get up and running quickly and smoothly and also to stay on top of new functionality:

Google Apps Help Center. Our Help Center for Google Apps admins can answer questions on "getting started" and also help you troubleshoot or find out the status about known issues. Topics include everything from email routing to data migration. We update the information in the Help Center regularly so it's a good starting point for any questions you encounter as you setup and manage your Google Apps account.

Google Apps Help Forum. In addition to our own online support resources (see below), we have a vibrant community of Google Apps administrators who are always willing to lend a helping hand. To read tips and get help from your peers, join this discussion board for IT admins. This forum is moderated by Google Apps Advisors and fueled by the knowledge of expert Power Posters. Recent questions answered in the Help Forum include ones on IMAP functionality and MX record settings.

Google Apps update alerts. Whenever we launch improvements to any of the apps or add new administrative capabilities – whether it's a minor user interface tweak or the release of major new functionality – we publish a summary with usage instructions and links where you can find more details. For example, we recently shared information on new capabilities for administrators to authorize who can upload videos to Google Video for business and instructions for setting password strength requirements. You can automatically get this information either as email alerts to your inbox, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed.

Google Apps Channel on YouTube Here you can find product tutorials and overviews, as well as video testimonials from Google Apps customers and recordings of Google Apps-related talks and webinars. We recently posted a tour of a corporate intranet built by one of our customers and created a Google Apps Learning Center playlist to educate end users on topics such as "Webmail vs. Desktop," "Archiving or Deleting" in Gmail, for example. Take a look at the videos we've created.

The Solutions Marketplace. If you know that Google Apps is right for you but need some extra help, visit the Solutions Marketplace to find details about products and services from vendors whose solutions integrate and extend Google Apps. You can find vendors to help you with setup and deployment, data migration, integration with existing IT systems, user training and more. You can see how vendors have been rated by other customers and also read about customer experiences with partners.

I hope that this information helps you get the most out of Google Apps. One of the great things about Google Apps is the community that has grown up around it, thanks to you!

Posted by Tessa Prescott, Google Apps Sales Team

User-made Web 2.0 apps as a custom-teaching tool

Got a question in to Clayton M. Christensen and Michael B. Horn, the authors of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns during their Education Week chat this morning. Horn's response is pretty forward-thinking about the future of teacher-parent-and-student created Web 2.0 apps. This would be an extension of personalized teaching (that literally could turn on a dime to meet the needs of the student) to a degree hitherto unimaginable.

Do you think Web 2.0 apps are going to become the standard both for addressing individualization in learning as well as creating authentic situations in which students with varied learning styles and motivations can collaborate on substantive projects with one another?

Michael B. Horn:

In our book we project that Web 2.0 apps will play a vital role in the actual customization of learning opportunities--and a result should be exactly what you suggest in the second half of your question. We believe that facilitated user networks will begin to arise that allow teachers, parents, and students to create applications and learning experiences to help other students (and teachers and parents!) understand concepts in a way that makes sense for them. We know that we often learn best when we have to actually teach something; these user networks will provide that opportunity. We suspect that many of these applications that take off will do so first in tutoring applications. Tutoring is a huge area of nonconsumption and one where much innovation can take place.

There's Still Barf On My Face Book Wall!

I thought maybe we could put a dint in this sucker but I was wrong. I thought if we did a podcast with Frank and Mike called "don't barf on my wall" that people would listen. Frank even did a video of the same title and posted it at you tube. It seems all our efforts may have been in vain.

Why you ask?

Because I'm still getting barfs on my face book wall everyday. They even show up in my inbox.
I'm weary of all this scrubbing and I'm out of cleaner.

What's a barf you ask? A barf is some one who posts an ad for their business on your wall the second they meet you. They don't bother to check your profile to see that you already have 2 businesses that you are working, or ask anything along the lines of getting to know you or offer something of value to you to start the friendship off.

No their first course of action is to barf an ad for their business on your wall.

It is kind of like meeting someone at a party who before they shake hands with you they throw up on your shoes. Aren't you charmed to meet them.

Or the telemarketers you slam the phone down on. Or the vacuum cleaner salesman you threw out of your house for being obnoxious.

So I posted this on my Face Book profile.."don't lead with your business..get to know people first" thinking I had finally come up with a slogan people would grab.

Maybe THIS would work I told myself.

Three people showed up and said they agree with me and said good things.

Then a fourth guy showed up, said he agreed too... and then he posted a barf on my wall for his business.

This is amazing I thought to myself.

Who taught people to do this? Are they getting results this way?

I'm starting to think it is some sort of barfing virus going around that has no cure.

Maybe there's a Face Book secret society that meets at midnight dressed in black hoods that circle a bonfire chanting "must barf on wall..must barf on wall". Yes a bunch of Face Book zombies who just can't help themselves.

I can always tell when I'm chatting to people when they are going to burp up their business on me. I haven't even asked them anything about their business but here we go. It's like I'm standing in front of them and I can see that queasy look on their face. "Look out..here comes a barf"


I don't know what to do to stop this tidal wave of puke coming at me from every direction.

Maybe I need to run across America like Forrest Gump. I'll call it the "Face Book anti-barf run". All the anti-barfers could join me and we could all get in shape at the same time. We could finish up at the White house and have some sort of focus group discussion.

Although I'm sure the president has better things to do.

Maybe I'm just going to have to face it. It never stops.

I'd ask you to pass this article around but your probably busy cleaning up barf off your own wall.

David Rowe on Open Hardware business models

An interesting presentation by David Rowe, on what works and what doesn't in open hardware busineess models, presented at LCA: The Business of Open Source, Australia, January 2009.
"...the money doesn't go away, it just move to another place in the model and generally the world gets a little bit better..."

Further reading:
Open Business Models
Open Source Licensing and Business Models

Peer Pressure

And as if on cue considering my last post, eSchool publishes an article detailing concerns the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers have with trying to figure out what can be done about how US students compare to their International peers.

Said advisory group co-chair Janet Napolitano, former governor of Arizona and current secretary of Homeland Security for the Obama administration, "The time is now; we must ensure that our students are prepared to compete and innovate in the 21st century".

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Program for International Student Assessment:

Finland ranked first out of 30 industrialized countries in 2006 in math and science and in 2003 was first out of 29 countries in reading and second in problem solving. Korea came in first in math in 2006, second in reading in 2003, and first in problem solving in 2003.

American 15-year-olds ranked 25th in math and 21st in science achievement on the most recent international assessments in 2006.

And what is Finland's position on educational technology?

An official publication of the Finnish government called "Education, Training and Research in Information Society: A National Strategy for 2000-2004" states:

By the year 2004, Finland will be a leading interactive knowledge society. Success will be based on citizens' equal opportunities to study and develop their own intellectual capacity and extensively utilize information resources and educational services. A high-quality, ethically and economically sustainable mode of operation in network-based teaching and research will have been established (Ministry of Education 2001).

Further evidence for Finland's commitment to educational technology and the development of an interactive knowledge society can be found in these publications housed by UNESCO's Observatory Portal.

Education Technology got a bum deal in the Stimulus Bill

From Ed Week:

Advocates for school technology were disappointed that funding for the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology program was downsized by more than a third in the final bill from a proposed $1 billion. But they noted that the measure contains several other pots of money slated for technology, along with other money—though not earmarked for education technology...

Ed Tech got a bum deal in this stimulus package. There's no other way to put it. As we noted here before, the $650 million allotment means 20 bucks in tech ed for each of our K through 8 public school students. That doesn't even count high school.

Most of the folks on Capital Hill have no idea what Web 2.0 means, let alone do they understand how it is having and increasingly will have an impact on education. The fact that the biggest debate going on in public education in Washington right now has to do with what to rename NCLB demonstrates unequivocally that Republican and Democratic politicians alike just don't get it.

What really riles me up is that it's presented in such a way as if Ed Tech is just 'one more thing' or just 'the latest idea' in education.

Get this folks: unlike almost every single educational idea that's come down the pike since Dewey, this one was NOT rooted in educational theory. Ed Tech is not some theory that some egghead from MIT came up with. Culture itself has already transformed into the Digital Age. If anything, education is playing a game of 'catch-up' with culture.

When it comes to Ed Tech, there's no choice involved. The landscape has already changed. This isn't about buying pretty computers. This is about giving our children the opportunity to actively take part in the global 21st century world. If we do not let them take part; if we do not engage them with technology; if we do not become both efficient ourselves and facilitators for the next generation -- then we are headed for failure.

And as a culture we will be so far behind the curve, there will never be a chance again to catch up -- let alone lead.

Ed Tech Stimulus would not only create jobs by immediately filling IT positions in every public school in this country; it would not only encourage growth, accessibility, and Wi-Fi initiatives across our urban centers; it would not only create a new marketplace for ideas and innovation; it would fundamentally offer a new generation of students an authentic and fulfilling education. And sure-as-heck we're gonna need the next generation to be smart enough and wise enough and CONNECTED enough to fix all the problems that my generation and my parents' generation created.

How to Choose a Web Designer

When most people think of , what comes to mind is usually basic information that's not particularly interesting or beneficial. But there's a lot more to than just the basics.

Licensed are two important things to remember when looking for a web designer:


First, it is exigent to go with a freelancer if you are looking for a small and simple site. You can probably get one done for $30 to $50. There are many freelancing companies on the web that you can tap into to find the designer for you.

Second, it is important that you ask to see a few illustration sites that the web designer has done and that you check any ratings that may be available for the designer. This may keep you from getting wrapped up in a project with someone who commit not finish or cannot do the type of job that they claim they can do.

Is everything making sense so far? If not, I'm sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.

If you cannot put together your own website to publician your articles on and you don’t want to pay the extra $7 to $12 dollars per month that it may cost to get a host that offers a What You See Is What You Get website builder, then your only other option is to hire a web designer. The good thing is that, if you are looking for a very basic 2 - 5 page site and you hire a freelancer somewhat than going with a web design company, then it will be relatively easy on your wallet.

Show us and win: Where's your GSA?

As you may have read here a couple of months back, we've been focused recently on the "art of findability" – or the ability to find and locate critical information quickly through the power of enterprise search. At Google, we believe that finding relevant business information through effective search should be as easy as...well, finding a yellow Google Search Appliance in your data center!

In this spirit, we're launching a contest to see how "findable" the Google Search Appliance is in your workplace, and to learn more about how search is making a difference. Two lucky winners will receive an all-expense paid trip to the Google IO conference and have a chance to tell their story during an enterprise search session (if that's not your cup of tea we can also shoot a video). Other prizes include two HTC Dream phones, and a whole host of Google schwag. The only catch: contest rules being what they are, we can only offer these prizes to winners in North America.

Want guidelines? Read on:

1. Take a picture of you and your Google Search Appliance. Pictures can be of just you, or of your whole workgroup, as long as you're near your GSA. Yes, the GSA has to be in the picture. Have fun and be as original as possible! Oh, but make sure that this is in keeping with company guidelines – in other words, get the right "sign offs" first.

2. Submit your GSA story. Read the rules , then fill out the form to describe how your GSA has impacted your business. What do your users do better with the power of search? How much time is your IT team saving? What's easy about working with the GSA?

3. The GSA team will convene. We'll look at your pictures and read your stories, and judge on both – 50% on the quality and uniqueness of your picture (look here for inspiration!), and 50% on what you say in your story.

Come on! Enter the contest. Don't yet own a Google Search Appliance? Click here to learn more. We'll share the news here when we announce our winners, so stay tuned. We look forward to hearing your stories and seeing your GSA.

Contest Deadline: March 31, 2009. Winners will be announced on April 17.

Posted by David Kim, Google Enterprise Team Member and Avid Appliance Photographer

Your feedback on the blog

A big thank you to everyone who sent us feedback about the blog, and if you haven't had chance to speak your mind, please take a minute to send us your thoughts on the blog.  Here's a quick update on what you've said so far:

• 67% of you read the blog at least once a week, so thanks for the loyal readership! 
• The top reason for reading the blog is to learn about new features and releases (voted for by 89% of readers), followed by keeping track of online advertising trends (voted for by 53% of readers).
  
• The top product, outside of AdWords, that you want to read more about is Google Analytics (voted for by 74% of readers).  

We're also taking the time to read through every response you sent in about how we can improve the blog. Next week we'll share some of your ideas for improving the blog and also our plans for implementing them.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

On the Natural Connection between the Arts and Technology

ASCD practically researches ancient history with this post today:

All too often, arts education is regarded as a whimsical activity rather than a serious academic subject. In the December 1987/January 1988 issue of Educational Leadership, former U.S. Commissioner of Education and President of the Carnegie Foundation Ernest Boyer argues that the arts should be considered in both an intellectual and imaginative context.

I love working in the Department of Fine Arts. I've got a little desk in the television studio's control room littered with computer paraphernalia and a small collection of jazz cds; I teach Art History and a course on Digital Audio Production; and I help maintain a lab of Macs including some in the hall where we project student work.

To me, the Fine Arts -- especially in an academic context -- are all about problem solving. To 'make' something is to make a series of decisions. In almost no other discipline is the line between 'getting it' and 'not getting it' so clear. Either you've learned how to make a pot or you haven't. Either you can edit a video or you can't. Everything else is a matter of style and character.

And that's why it's so invigorating to teach. Because, in a way, you get the basic stuff out of the way early. What's left is the real stuff of the soul.

I would also say that in no other department is technology so naturally intertwined with our everyday work. As I write this, the student TV crew is preparing a live production. It's all a blur of kids hurrying about plotting the digital mixers, switchers, multi-monitor set-ups... let alone setting up the cameras, lighting rigs, and everything else. Across the hall, the drawing teacher is projecting enlarged digital versions of classwork for crit. Next door, a dozen students are busy laying out the school newspaper in digital format. My class is down the hall working on a collaborative blog project that I'm monitoring from over here in my office.

More and more, the arts and technology are being merged in completely naturally and beneficial ways. That's the way it should be.

The Paperless Classroom: Out Sick!

I've received a bunch of emails lately from teachers asking me to post what a normal day's work is like in a paperless classroom. Well, yesterday I was home from school with a sick kid; so, I had to submit my plans to the assistant principal to give to my sub.

Here are the plans. I think they give a sense of what goes on on a totally ordinary day in a paperless classroom when the teacher is out and a sub is in. Make of it what you will.

Latin I - Vocab Quiz: please create 10 word vocab quizzes for one another. Email the quiz to a partner in class, post answers on your blog, and check as blog comments. Honor code applies! (Must have correct time-stamp). Then, please work on your two blog posts for the week: one on a biography of Julius Caesar (with pictures and sources) and the other on Emperor Augustus (with pictures and sources). Due next class.

Latin II - Please be sure that your 'In Verrem' test is posted. For today's class -- Vocab Quiz: please create 10 word vocab quizzes for one another. Email the quiz to a partner in class, post answers on your blog, and check as blog comments. Honor code applies! (Must have correct time-stamp). Then, please work on your two blog posts for the week (to get background info for the Verres Oration): one on a history of Sicily from Bronze Age through the Roman Period and one on the influence of Cicero on later writers and scholars in the Middle Ages. Due Next Class.

Latin III - Thanks for all of your hard work on Catullus 37; please be sure that your Cat 37 test is posted. (Must have correct time-stamp). Now please translate poem 39. You may work in pairs. Be sure to highlight and parse at least five verbs. Save in a Google Doc. Due Next Class.

AP Latin - Please be sure that your Subordination Test is posted. (Must have correct time-stamp). Then go to Pixton.com. Create a 'comic-book' record of the major scenes in Books 4. Please begin by creating characters for Aeneas, Dido, and Anna as well as a character for yourself. If you have time, get started translating the Bk 4 -- through line 197 due Fri on your blog; note that all text in your comics will have to be in the original Latin. Also, please keep up with the translation schedule; all translations so far this quarter must be posted on your blog by Friday for Mid-Quarter credit. Check my blog for schedule.

AP Art History - Please be sure that your architecture test is posted. (Must have correct time-stamp). Classwork: Please curate a small exhibition on your blog of the work of the Realists: Corot and Courbet; compare / contrast their landscapes to the earlier landscape painting from 16th and 17th century Netherlands / Flanders. See Met Online Timeline for ideas. Please source each pic via hyperlink.

LMS and Google Apps - First Comes Love...

We always enjoy going "back to school" – visiting college campus quads and K-12 classrooms – especially because we get to learn from our users, who are always happy to tell us what they want. One idea we hear a lot is, "Build a learning management system (LMS) to go along with Google Apps." We love the concept – but we also really value the great work being done by educational software developers - including those in the Open Source community who work on projects like Moodle, an LMS web application that educators can use to create effective online learning sites.

Up until now, Google Apps and Moodle were pretty much eying each other across the classroom – but not quite talking. Then Moodlerooms, a Moodle partner, entered the scene.

Here's why. Moodlerooms, a SaaS provider of Moodle, just launched an application built on the Moodle platform that lets school admins bring Moodle and Google Apps together with a single sign-in. So now, students who told us they didn't want to sign in to multiple environments – like an LMS to get their course content and a productivity suite like Google Apps to actually do their work – have the answer they've wanted.

With the update, administrators of Moodle can easily set up Google Apps accounts for their students. And students who log into their school's version of Moodle can now automatically be signed in to their school's Google Apps Education Edition service. Now, they can access whatever their instructors may have posted in their LMS, such as lecture notes, homework assignments, and relevant links and resources, and easily integrate that content into their workspace on Google Apps. They can collaborate with their classmates in Google Docs, build a fully fleshed-out Google Site, or even just send an email - without having to manage multiple accounts in multiple systems. And, needless to say, the same goes for their teachers, professors, administrators – anyone who uses the system.

Moodlerooms used the industry standard SAML 2.0 and OAuth protocols to securely integrate with Moodle, building on open extensibility features of Google Apps Education Edition. Using these extensibility features, any educational software vendor can take a similar approach to provide user directory synchronization, single sign-on, and user data integration with their service.

At what cost is this daring combination, you may ask. That is one of the best parts - both products are, in fact, free, and the integration components are open source and hosted on Google Code. So be sure to sign up for Google Apps Education Edition and for Moodle and provide an integrated experience for your students.

Posted by Cristin Frodella, Google Apps for Education team

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Fil Estate Properties Inc. and La Compaña de Sta. Barbara Inc. launched Sta. Barbara Heights Saturday in a rousing a grand open house. The premiere subdivision is situated on a higher ground at Brgy. Inangayan, Sta. Barbara Iloilo. The open house started with a ribbon cutting ceremony graced by Fil Estate and La Compaña de Sta. Barbara top brass. (From left) La Compaña de Sta Barbara board of directors member Jaime Cacho, Fil-Estate Properties president Atty. Ferdinand Santos, Sta. Barbara Mayor Isabelo Maquino, La Compaña de Sta Barbara board of directors member Noel Cariño and Sta. Barbara Heights land owners-partners Francisco Maravilla and son Hermenio Maravilla...READ MORE!!!