Name game
Not the song, but as in name tags. (Personally, hate 'em!) But this new technology/gadget sounds like something that just may make an impact in the techie circles. A company called nTag has come up with a mini computer in one of those plastic badges we wear at conferences and trade shows. Like the infrared technology used in Palms, when two attendees come within 3-5 feet with their tags facing each other, info can be shared between the tags.

Developed by a couple of guys from MIT's Media Lab, nTag looks like a plastic name bade but has 128 KB of memory, a 2-line LCD display and wireless communication technology. It stores general info like the name, job title and company of the wearer, but can be customized to include things like company goals for wearing at the annual meeting or hobbies or interests if you're trying to meet people at a social event.

The tags also have ID chips that use radio waves to communicate with the central nTag computer at the event and can broadcast polls or announcements with upcoming seminars. Users can also flip the display so they can view the window and scroll through the schedule of events or view messages or beam contact information to an exhibitor.

While the technology isn't cheap now, in a few years, who knows? We may be wearing these badges, complete with those awful photos from the year book, at the 25 year high school class reunion.
- posted by Paula Porter @ 9:12 AM

 
Flash Mobs
A new phenomenon is taking place around the world thanks to email and the web - flash mobs. If you haven't heard, an organizer sends out an email to a group of contacts and asks them to send out the email, etc., with a date, time and place to meet. The first one was held in NYC at a Macy's rug department, where the group said they were looking to buy a love rug for the commune. They all show up at the same time, do a stunt for a few minutes, then disappear. Here's aninvitation. Notice it was called an inexplicable mob. There's even a new site devoted to flash mob events around the world -- Cheesebikini.com. (And no I don't know if it's swiss cheese!)

So what has flash mobs to do with engineering? Think about it...how about using the idea to get all the project leaders in one place at one time? Why not do a company-wide flash mob to make an announcement? If nothing else, you'll get people there just out of plain curosity. I'm open to any other ideas...drop me a note at asktheexpert@reedbusiness.com.

- posted by Paula Porter @ 1:13 PM

 
Mining your contacts
If you're like me, then you have personal stuff on your work computer and work stuff on your home computer. You work at home on weekends just to get caught up and can access your network remotely. And you've got the bowling team and golfing buddies in your Outlook list on the job.

Well, according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, you may want to consider changing your ways. A couple of business-oriented software programs are now available to "mine" your lists for potential clients. The programs scan Outlook, your instant-message buddy lists, electronic calendars, etc. The goal is to itake this information and us it to identify people within the company who have useful contacts and could make a personal introduction. So if your golfing buddy is a purchasing manager with mega big company and your sales staff wants to try to get his company online, they may use you to initiate the conversation.

Companies that will soon be offering this software include Visible Path,(which has a password protected website), Spoke Software and Zero Degrees.

If you have a subscription to the WSJ, you can read the full article here

- posted by Paula Porter @ 3:05 PM