Data makes decision making easy. Data adds credibility to communications. Data clarifies and corrects misconceptions. Data helps provide direction.
When is the last time you dug up some data?
P.S. If you’re feeling indecisive during this election season, check out the data at Project Vote Smart.
OpenID will become a brand-inside-a-brand – Dovetailing BL Ochman’s #8 online marketing prediction on Privacy, I believe user-centric identity federation will steal the limelight in ’08. And customer-centric companies will continue taking the lead in offering OpenID – a feature with instant, yet lasting, benefits.
A key driver – on top of the Web’s natural growth – for user-centric identity will be the ‘softening economy,’ particularly as it relates to education. With fewer donations and less funding (and many more people going back to and/or staying in school to wait out the job market), the education world will be quicker to embrace OpenID in ’08.
I think it will start to seriously percolate in Higher Ed by the end of Q3, picking up solid steam by year’s end. Once the education case studies are established, the business world adopt at a quicker pace, too. Fortune companies will grudgingly accept it as a work-around, mostly out of frustration with the current governances and legal issues relating to enterprise-wide federated identity.
Once again, the Web proves to be a force to be reckoned with, turning identity management inside out by putting the focus of identity and privacy issues outside in.
SPECIAL NOTE: On behalf of all customers, congratulations and thanks to all the developers and supporters of OpenID.
Visit Web Strategy by Jeremiah for the 2008 list of web marketing tools and tactics.
Thanks for the valuable resource, Jeremiah.
Wouldn’t it be cool if Congress used the power of social media to connect with Americans and generate additional ideas regarding the economic stimulus package?
How would you spend $150B?
My two cents: I like the idea of investing in the improvement of our country’s infrastructure (ie, building rapid transit) using American labor and supplies.
P.S. Personally, I am keen on any idea that would have lasting, long-term effects. So, in that regard, perhaps we should have a “plan” rather than just a “package?”
“I just couldn’t make it go away even though there were many times that I wanted it to.”Seth Godin on “Curiosity” in a must-see video by Nic
As a dyed-in-the-wool inquisitive and independent individual, these are my sentiments exactly.
I was born curious. And my middle name should be “Why?”
Although my inherent curiosity was barely more than an annoyance for both my parents while growing up, it was handsomely rewarded in school – particularly grade school – where critical thinking was expected and taught. Ironically, I can say this now with clarity – not solely from memories – because I recently had the chance to peek at an old school-papers file with workbooks/report cards (from my Mom) that I unearthed during our last house move. I was surprised to see how intensely the grade school teachers and curriculums focused on the development of critical thinking skills. WOW. And to think I took my fabulous New York State public education for granted all these years?! Of course, when I got to college (SUNY-again, it was a quality education) the free thinking was roped in just a bit and the A grades definitely came easier if you gave the Prof what s/he wanted to hear, rather than what you actually thought. But, still, the only thing that mattered was that I still had my own thoughts.
The painful part for me came when I realized that everyone else in the world was not necessarily as curious.
Actually, it was painful leading up to that point, too, because I was “assuming” that everyone else was curious…creating an environment for skewed communication. Now, at least, I can handle a situation differently with the knowledge that curiosity may not, in fact, be a part of the communications mix.
Anyway, now that I am older and wiser I am grateful for this gift of curiosity – although I can’t quite say that I’ve figured out what to do with it yet!
Note: If you want to enhance your critical thinking skills, I recommend taking a critical thinking seminar from the American Management Association (AMA). The one I attended a few years ago was called “Critical Thinking: A New Paradigm for Peak Performance.” As a curious person, I felt quite “at home” at this particular seminar. Enjoy.
UPDATE 1.28.08 – AMA now offers a seminar called “Critical Thinking.” I recommend the instructor James Morgan.