1. Site Build

• The web site itself is developed in a manner that allows Google and other search engines to crawl and index the site properly.
• Wordpress has a handful of plug-ins that will help search engines through this process.
• Google Sitemap Plug-in “This plugin will generate a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com to better index your site. With such a sitemap, it’s much easier for the crawlers to see the complete structure of your site and retrieve it more efficiently. The plugin supports all kinds of WordPress generated pages as well as custom URLs. Additionally it notifies all major search engines every time you create a post about the new content.”
• All in 1 SEO Plug-in This will allow us to tweak title, keywords and descriptions for each page.

2. Content

• Unfortunately a site can’t just rely on how it’s built for SEO.
• The more content updates you have to your site the better. The more articles, additions and posts to the site the better.
• If search engine bots recognize that your site is full of new relative content, they come back more often. The idea behind these frequent bot visits are to raise page rankings thus getting more traffic to the site via search engines.

3. Networking

• Content needs to be networked and talked about outside of your site.
• Content needs to be pushed/pulled to/from other networks in an effort to generate traffic to your site.

photo credit: yark64

Today marks the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that initiated World War II. More than 2,400 Americans were killed, including 1,177 crew members on the USS Arizona. Part of this vessel still rests at the bottom of the harbor to serve as a memorial to the people who perished in this tragic attack.

In 1997, I was able to visit the memorial constructed at Pearl Harbor in person. At the time, my husband Kevin (who served in the U.S. Air Force for 10 years) was serving a one year unaccompanied tour in Kunsan Air Base, Korea. We were meeting up at his 6-month, mid-tour mark in Honolulu for a 2-week reunion. The clearest memory of this visit to the memorial site was seeing the oil from the USS Arizona still rising to the surface of the water around us.

Although I was not born until the 70’s, I had learned about Pearl Harbor through history classes and personal stories from my grandfathers who had served in both the U.S. Navy and U.S Army. It was extremely important for me to honor and acknowledge this sacrifice made by so many of our military. I feel fortunate to have not lost anyone personally, but as a military spouse for 10 years, I had experienced what it felt like for my husband to get sent away twice to foreign countries for more than 6 months at a time and return safely on both occasions.

Please keep the military in your thoughts today - both past and present.

I feel that cymatics can teach us that you can look in very unlikely spots to find something incredible. Whether its an idea, inspiration or solution its out there to be discovered.
photo credit: Collin Mel

Photo courtesy of dotbenjamin

I read a great article by Brian Solis this week about the science of retweets. The article got me thinking about why hospitals don’t use the Twitter retweet function more often.

According to Ed Bennett’s most recent list of hospitals engaging in social media, 297 U.S. hospitals have established Twitter accounts. Yet when you look at these accounts, one thing is readily apparent – most don’t understand the power of the retweet. Instead of using Twitter to engage with the community and to humanize health care, they’re using it as a broadcasting medium to promote their service lines and extend their brand. And when you look at their Twitter stream, more often than not, they’re doing all of the talking.

Why is this? One reason is that not all consultants seem to understand social media and the value it brings to health care . My client shared with me an August 12, 2009 Advisory Board article that pooh-poohed the value of the retweet function saying: “By retweeting…hospitals missed an opportunity to connect the story to a service offering or a call to action. While retweets can be an easy way to boost the number of messages sent to your Twitter following, you’ll want to be selective in order to retain your own voice with your audience, avoid “content spam,” and maximize interest in your specific institution.

Hospitals that feel this way are never going to harness the power of the social media. Here are five reasons hospitals should retweet more:

1. Give credit where credit is due: If someone says something interesting or compelling, you should retweet it. Not only does this acknowledge the person or the organization for saying something noteworthy, but it also allows you to share it with your followers.
2. Prove you’re not a robot: Too many hospitals are talking to themselves – sending out information about their service lines and their clinicians, but not listening to what their followers are saying. By retweeting others, you demonstrate that you’re not a robot and are reading the tweets of others and finding what they’re saying is relevant and worth sharing.
3. Develop a closer connection with the community: We all know health care is local, so it’s important for hospitals to show they’re a member of the community they serve. By retweeting area residents or sharing information about things that are happening in their community, you can become a community cheerleader and show that you care about what happens in your community.
4. Serve as a healthcare resource: Hospitals are a major healthcare resource for the community, so it’s important they share health information with their followers. By retweeting healthcare authorities, such as the Centers for Disease Control or the New England Journal for Medicine, you’re sharing important health information with your community and becoming the place people can go to for health care information.
5. Provide consumers with what they want − health information: While hospitals want to promote their service lines, consumers don’t want to read a steady stream of information about what your doctors are doing or how many times a doctor has performed a specific procedure. You can share this information, but you should also provide consumers with what they want – health information. By retweeting health information and providing links to where people can go to find additional information, you’re providing real value.

Hospitals need to realize that they can’t just talk about themselves – they need to provide information that is relevant to their community and their followers. Retweeting others is a great way to do this.

photo credit: Ken Wilcox.

This past weekend I learned of a neighbor who recently caught their babysitter on a nanny-cam stealing money from their child’s piggy bank. This bank was not filled with your typical quarters, nickels and dimes, but with $4,000 in future savings for the little girl (Whoa!).

The sitter was arrested and charges are being filed against her. This babysitter was not just a random person only called on by this family. She was a former nanny to the neighbors across the street and was still living with this family because she needed a place to live. They were doing her a favor. The whole neighborhood knew who she was and many people in our neighborhood used her on a regular basis to baby-sit, house-sit or pet-sit.

It occurred to me how important CRT/tanaka’s Shared Value #2 is (Be Open and Honest) and how much that applies to both home and work life. I’ve come to realize how important it is to be open and honest with myself enough to ask for help when needed.

Sometimes when the deadlines are tight and the stress level is high, things can get overwhelming, but I find when I ask for help, I get a favorable response from my team and feel like a weight has been lifted. The result is always better than if I had gone it solo and internalized the stress.

I wonder what would have happened if this girl had just simply asked for financial help from the people around her who clearly trusted her. The worst answer could’ve been ‘No’. Chances are the answer would have been ‘Yes’. Instead, she made a bad decision that she will have to live with for the rest of her life.

I am not suggesting wandering aimlessly around town but based around a simple objective you can selectively choose places to go to and observe. Let’s say you have boiled down your client’s objective to it’s simplest form. In this example lets say your client wants to increase membership of a service. Where could you go in the real world and find some good examples of strong memberships? Maybe a Gym, Church or Museum? So, go out and visit one of these places.

And what happens when you get to one of these magical spots? Explore the environment, observe the physical, functional and emotional attributes and ask questions. Document your findings and be prepared to use your inventory of observations as a point of inspiration.

After it was over on Saturday I sat back and thought about the differences between attending Gnomedex last year and watching it virtually this year and what impact both have had on my life. I narrowed it down to the fact that it is the human interaction that I missed the most about this conference. There are plenty of tech or other niche geared events that push products, technology or cool ideas - Gnomedex is about taking it to the level of making the world a better place. Whether it be learning the definition of being awesome (hat tip to Micah Baldwin) or blaming it on Drew’s cancer the content was definitely awesome, but the ability to connect in person with the passion is lost through the wire.

So how has Gnomedex impacted my life?

Last year I was able to be a part of changing a few Cambodian kids lives with the power of connections using social media - has inspired me to take this on personally with a similar local cause to support Special Olympics in the Richmond area (you can find out more about the effort and goal).

This year I learned what has defined the question of how to measure influence I have had for a few months now. I see how one man can impact awareness of homelessness to the nation with virtually no budget.

As a fellow photographer I especially enjoyed Kris Krüg’s humorous look back over Gnomedex 9.0 and the photos he captured of passionate visionaries. I can’t wait to attend (hopefully in person) next year and soak up and share my experiences with those who will listen.

For related thoughts from a virgin Gnomedex attendee check out Bob Dunn’s article on “Gnomedex 9.0 – Oh, What I Learned…” or visit the photo group on flickr!

I remember the first time my coworkers and I got hyped up about YouTube. We had all seen sites that had video content before - but not a site that was a vault for ALL video content, around the world, that could be so easily accessible to our fingertips. To us, that was cutting edge.

So, what makes a Web site cutting edge?

According to Thesaurus.com - synonyms for “cutting edge” include, but are not limited to:

• Advanced
• Innovative
• Modern
• Pioneering
• Visionary

I searched some sites to see what new Web sites are ranking at the top of the Web 2.0 list and this is what I found.

www.iliketotallyloveit.com - Think Amazon on crack. I found the items to be purchased a little silly, but what I do love about this site is the further exploration of social shopping - ie. User posted content and user rankings to categorize information displayed. (http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1809858_1809957_1811555,00.html)

www.pyschcentral.com - We’ve all gone online either to research feedback about a medication or to look up information on a diagnosis. This site connects real people with mental health concerns to other folks battling the same issues. Also has ask the expert sections that connect users to therapists. (http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/1,28804,1809858_1809957,00.html)

www.mapjack.com - Planning a trip to California and want to map out the area with navigation tools and beautiful photos? This site takes Google maps to the next level. (http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1809858_1809955_1811438,00.html)

www.stumbleupon.com - Sign up and install this tool bar to your browser and you’ll soon have a deep catalogue of endless sites you can surf that are specific to your interests. This site combs the web for you based on the sites you already view and finds more. (http://www.youbundle.com/b/carhartt-master—top-50-best-websites-of-2009#)

www.petfinder.com - Not a new site, but one to bookmark if you are a pet lover. This pet adoption site connects thousands of people to rescue groups and pet adoption services to find their new furry friend. Search by breed, age, size and location.

After reviewing all over 50 links, the common features that I found were as follows:

• Forums
• Ask the Expert
• WIKI pages
• Slideshows
• Video Content

Overall, these cutting edge sites are not about how flashy they look - some are actually pretty naked as far as web graphics go. The rich user content and innovative web tools that these sites offer help us to navigate through life a little easier and connect to the issues that are important to us.

Inspiration is a tough concept to manufacture. It’s easy to mistake, simple to replicate, and ultimately hard to capture twice. There are plenty of sources to initiate inspiration in any particular niche, but the key to original inspiration is transcending the normal viewpoint to one that is fresh and engaging. Inspiration is when action meets vision and the process pays off.

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

Often patterns emerge of being stuck with a favorite (goto) perspective. I.e. if all you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. My personal weakness is technology. I love solving problems via technology - automation is my solution - I find myself attempting to push one solution to solve problems via technology when they’d might easily solved another way. It’s hard to break the favorite-perspective addiction, but thinking through what the solution costs in terms of overall effectiveness, that helps provide the push needed to branch out. For me a change in perspective means to alter the way of looking at a set of assumptions which define my interpretation of experience of goals and ambitions for the future.

So my rule to live by: Simply changing perspective can initiate inspiration.