Connie - EDR, Inc and Google

Once again I decided to include my company, Environmental Data Resources, in my weekly Blog Post. Since this week is about Google, I thought I would search Google's Web, News and Blog pages to see what the top three EDR search results are.

Here is what I found.

Web results:
The first result is for the company's homepage: www.edrnet.com
The second result is for the company's information on http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=28143
And the third result is for the company's Linkedin page (which we have discussed in class. http://www.linkedin.com/companies/environmental-data-resources

News results:
Only three news articles came up for the month of January. One of which had nothing to do with EDR. These are the ones that did.
http://www.pr-inside.com/environmental-data-resources-extends-global-r995228.htm

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jan/16/prudential-tropical-realty-one-stop-shop/

Blog results:
Only two of the top three results were about EDR.
http://www.environmental-expert.com/resultEachArticle.aspx?cid=30012&codi=43039&idproducttype=8&level=0&section=5

http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2008/12/16/search-any-property-address-for-signs-of-environmental-contamination/

Denis - The Printeg Blog

8 days ago we were talking about the printed blog and how does it work with copyright of bloggers.
I contacted the company via to find out:

"Hi Denis,

Thank you for contacting The Printed Blog. We've received permission from every blogger that we publish. If a blog was recommended to us, we will contact the author to get their consent.

Does that answer your question? Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

Jennifer

Social Networking Manager

The Printed Blog"


under the following link you find the Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Blogger

http://www.google.com/blogger_dmca.html

Ritsa- Digg

Digg, is a social networking site I use at work. I can log on to Digg, post the url of the blog I had written that day on my site, and share it with my Digg friends. Digg is pretty much a site you can go to and view the sites, articles, and content that people find interesting and post on their digg homepage. In order for stories to appear on the Digg homepage, they must be "dugg" or liked by Digg users. From experience, it is definitely hard to get people to "digg" the content you are posting, especially if it has to do with health insurance.

Ritsa

Denis - Layout

Just changed the template of our blog (don't know if I have the authority or not)...thought a change would be nice. Hope everybody agrees!!!

Kristin - 10 Yrs. Ago This Would Have Been Crazy

So I just returned last night from a week long trip to Vegas. On one of my afternoons out on the Las Vegas strip me and my friend decided to stop into the Bellagio hotel for an afternoon cocktail. While sitting at the bar we began talking to a couple in their 30s. Turns out they were on their honeymoon. After about an hour of conversation with them I found out they had both signed up for Match.com (a popular online dating site) nearly two years ago. They found each other within their first month of membership and really hit it off. I used to think that online dating sites were crazy and you would never find the "love of your life" through a computer. Turns out I was very wrong! This couple seemed to be the perfect match for each other. It is crazy to think that these social networking sites exist that through answering simple questions can pair you with prospective future husbands and wives. Ten years ago if I met anyone who met online I would have probably thought it was crazy but I've noticed more and more in today's society people are meeting on these sites and it really seems to be working for many of them. Interesting to think about...could your future spose be one click away?!?!

Kristin

Shane - The Uses of Facebook

Facebook was founded in 2004 by a Harvard sophomore named Mark Zucherberg. It was an idea that he applied for the use of Harvard students. Shortly after, however, it was made availible to all colleges and high schools. Designed as a way for people to easily connect with each other and share information and media, it quickly became head to head with MySpace, another social networking site. In the first stages of Facebook it was up to the school to make facebook availible to their students. Before students could access the site and create a profile, the school was required to "sign up" for the service. During my freshman year at Sacred Heart in 2004 is when Sacred Heart joined the growing network. There were plenty of rumors throughout the years that the school had purchased a program that could get past the security features students set up in order to monitor us. After e-mailing the Facebook team this rumor was put to rest. They responded saying while facebook was not intended as a monitoring tool, unfortunately it may be used as one. However, there is nothing availible for purchase that would allow anyone to gain access to anyones information past the security settings the user sets. Facebook seemed more attractive to many people because of its seemingly tighter security settings availible compared to MySpace. Recently, MySpace mimicked Facebook's security format. A major factor separating the two is their layout. Facebook has a standard format much like a form for its users to complete rather than MySpace which gives its users a blank canvas with the ability to add anything and everything including various music and video to automatically appear when anyone lands on the page. Facebook also integrates advertising right into each members web page; most often on the right side. This allows viewing a users information a marketing tool as well. Facebook, as a social networking site, has had tremendous success and it does not look like it is slowing down anytime soon, especially with Google recently purchasing some of its shares.

Here is the full story.

Denis - Google earth and the police

This has nothing to do with this weeks topic.
I literally just started to read the book "The Search". After the few pages I thought about that I never googled Google. So i did. The first hit were some news results for "Google". And I found some interesting news..."Swiss police spy marijuana field with Google Earth"

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ijU2wg5cVrOioHNX21y_uCXj0yKQD960T7180

Denis - "the german facebook"

Three years ago the "german facebook" went online. It is called "studi.vz" and means basically student directory or list. More than 12 million are users registered. That is a large number for a country like germany, which has around 82 million inhabitants.

You can check it out under following link...but it is only in german ;)

http://www.studivz.net/

Denis - Facebook is not just used to share pics...

Most of the Facebook-members use the social-networking website as a tool to share pictures and to stay in touch with friends. But it becomes more involved in the political scene lately. Obama created a profile for his campaign as a strategy to target specifically the younger generation. this in an example for america. but facebook gives the oppportunity to communicate with people all over the world. with the group application people that have the same interests can find eacht other. this used by people, who want to bring some change in the society.

"Earlier this year there was a dramatic example of that, as 12 million people in 190 cities took to the streets in February to protest against the Colombian terrorist group FARC. They were all organized by one man who proudly admitted, we created a groundswell."


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,459945,00.html

Liz - Profit in online social networks

The concept of how online social networks (MySpace, Facebook, etc) made money intrigued me. But it makes sense when you consider how many millions of members exist in all the different networks, thus advertising will pay big bucks for the exposure. MySpace's deal with Google was worth $900million over 3 yrs, .but it is through advertising that it makes the money. 2008 advertising profits were projected to be $700-800million! Pushing that even further is HyperTargeting, a software MySpace uses to steer advertisers towards its members according to those users' interests. Mobil ring tones and artist merchandise also bring in money - MySpace has deals w/some major record labels. Both Facebook and MySpace allow some profile sharing with select sites. MySpace allows sharing with Yahoo and eBay. I think this will make advertising on those site even more valuable (higher profit) because the sharing open doors to additional users.

Here is the link to a USA Today article:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/industry/2008-05-11-social-networking_N.htm

Sue--Genes and the Friends You Make

There is an interesting article in Tuesday's WSJ about social networking and heredity. Researchers drew their data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which is a survey among high school students(1994-1995) which looked at social and economic factors, and the physical state of the students. From there they narrowed the data down to 1,100 same sex twins, both identical and fraternal. The researchers noticed greater similarities in the identical twin's social structure--suggesting genes played a definite role. They also found that your genes may help determine not only how many people count you as a friend within the social network, but how many of your friends are friends among themselves. James Fowler, a political scientist, also has a theory that genetics may play a role in certain health conditions(obesity) and social networks may in turn influence behaviors such as smoking. Networks also affect the spread of ideas and there is an additional study suggesting an individual's happiness depends on the happiness of others in his or her social network.

Kristen - Facebook: Social Utility site

Since the beginning of Facebook, it has become the second largest social utility site on the Internet--Myspace being the first, only in terms of traffic and how many people are entering the site each day. It's very clear to see the reason Facebook became so popular, so quickly: it began as only a social utility for select college campuses, then expanded to all college campuses and onto high school students, geographical locations and now anyone with a functioning email address is capable of having their own Facebook page.

Social networking has become the new big thing to do on the Internet and Facebook is an outlet for people all over the world to do just that. While reading a biography of Facebook, I learned that Facebook was pretty much started on a whim by former Harvard grad, Mark Zuckerberg, and he had a bit of financial help from a close friend. Zuckerberg managed the site out of his dorm room at Harvard while he was still enrolled as a student and the website has since exploded into the must-have in terms of social networking. However, Zuckerberg stresses that Facebook calls itself a social utility because it was made for just that: a way for people to socialize, rather than a social network which is defined as a site in which serves a certain goal. With the ability to post photos, comments ,wall posts and send messages to friends, there is no doubt that soon Facebook will be the most popular social utility site on the Internet.

TIME magazine interview with Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg

Kerry- Social Networking Sites

While searching through yahoo on related articles about Social Networking I came across the below article from Wikipedia. It was interesting to see that there were so many social networks out there. In this article it told you how many users each network had and a description of the social networks that are listed. Social Networking just isn’t your typical MySpace or Facebook there are so many other networks like those who like CouchSurfing, MyChurch, and CafeMom just to name a few. I also did a search in Google for Social Networking and I came across some interesting AdWords on creating your own social network. Your very own mother or father can create their own social networking website and it could end up as the next Facebook!

List of all Active Social Networking Sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

Kerry

Krista - Google article in Newsweek

This article talks about how Google still thrives in an uncertain economy.

On Google China:"I wish [Google]understood the power that it could have to support free speech against regimes in countries like China and Iran. The argument that is made by Google and its defenders on that point is that it is better for the Chinese to have a hampered Internet than no Internet at all. I think that underestimates Google's own power and strength. If suddenly the Chinese had the opportunity to lose Google tomorrow, I think they might well rise up, and that'd be "the Google Revolution."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/181829

Krista - Professional Networking Sites

I'll be presenting the LinkedIn Case this week. LinkedIn different from Facebook/MySpace in that it's Professional Networking versus a Social Networking site. I've been a member of LinkedIn for years but never really used it until recently when friends of mine found it to be a useful career tool. After reading the case and getting back on the site, I agree it's a valuable career resource.

Here's link to some additional Professional Networking sites (most I've never heard of) http://www.deitel.com/ResourceCenters/Web20/SocialNetworking/BusinessandProfessionalNetworkingSites/tabid/1296/Default.aspx

However if you Google Professional Networking sites, LinkedIn is the #1 match.

Here is also an article on sites that business should be on:
http://www.insidecrm.com/features/50-social-sites-012808/

Stay tuned for more Thursday night.

Drew-Social Networks

I figured the social networks that are being presented this week I will learn enough about in class or I'm already familiar with them. So I decided the best bet would be to simply take a gander at social networks in general. While searching the Internet for a more general sense of social networks a few things came up. First and foremost was the plethora of online dating services which spanned pages. The amount of these pages that came up before any of the networks being discussed in class this week surprised me. Also, more than one article that I read spoke about the increasing amount of adults that are joining such networks. I didn't know how accurate the age statistics were(quadrupled in past 4 years) but the perception that these networks are strictly for young people is no more. Other interesting things I found were how easy they're used to raise money, to find a job, or to get fired through these social networks. So be careful what you post, your boss might be watching or even..your grandma.

some good articles- http://www.socialtimes.com/tag/social-networks/

Ironically, this eerily similar video came up in the search
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc&feature=user

Drew

Mark - What is LinkedIn all about?

I had previously heard about the web site called LinkedIn, but I didn’t know exactly what it was used for. I thought it was just like Facebook until I did some research on it. Although it is similar to Facebook, LinkedIn is geared towards business needs. It is a social networking site that provides users the ability to make lists of business professional contacts they know and trust. I think this is a great site because it shows how your contacts are connected; enabling you to find the right person or company for the job you need to get done. Although you may not know the end user, with LinkedIn, you can see which contacts have a connection to reach the person you want.

Here’s a video that explains what the site is all about:
What is LinkedIn?

In November 2008, LinkedIn launched their new search platform. Such changes have been made as suggested search, customizable views and streamline search results.

Here’s a link that goes into more detail on the new search platform:
New search platform

Anca - $6 Billion for Broadband

This post relates to Sue's presentation on Thursday stressing the importance of having your technology up-to-speed if you are in the telecom market.

This article from PCMagazine states the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, Jan 22nd, approved a $6 billion broadband plan that would provide grants for those who build out high-speed Internet networks and require the government to maintain a public, online broadband inventory map.

The plan is part of an $825 billion overall economic stimulus package unveiled last week by the House Appropriations Committee. So, public money is not used only for bail-outs at this time...

Prof. Micu

Connie - EDR, Inc. and Social Networking

One of the ways that my company has joined the Social Networking craze is by a website called CmmonGround.

CommonGround is an online networking community created just for the environmental due diligence industry. It is a collaborative place where environmental professionals, engineers, mortgage lenders, attorneys, insurers, appraisers, inspectors and industry can come together to improve the quality of real estate due diligence. It is designed to be the go-to destination for all things environmental due diligence- including discussion forums, blogs, networking opportunities, podcasts, downloadable information and an opportunity to pose questions and receive feedback

The site was launched in April 2008, and has been accessed by thousands of environmental professionals in the U.S.

In December 2008, Reuters posted a small article about the site. Click on the below link to read it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS145451+30-Dec-2008+BW20081230

A New Way of Communication

Communication has no doubt evolved tremendously over recent years alongside technological advances. Moving from "snail mail" to email and rotary phones to VoIP, it has helped unite the world. Advances are made constantly with file and technological sharing across borders and video chat making the United States and China neighbors. From all of this has come a surplus of information sharing capabilities; the most increasingly popular of which seems to be blogging. It was at first thought of to the general public as a fun, leisurely way of spreading your thoughts (which it still is for many) but has become a staple for many businesses today. The company I currently work for blogs each day. This is not only to provide information but also to get our name out in the World Wide Searchable Web. The more information we have on our blogs, the more possibility someone searching a topic relating to us will easily find our site. There are at least two people in our class alone that look to a blog for their news each day, even if it is about the new celebrity break-up.

Shane

MySpace

I have never used or been a part of MySpace. I don't do much for social networking on the Internet, except for Facebook. I was going through some search results for current MySpace news, and came across this one article about how certain celebrities are making video pledges online, and posting them on MySpace. Certain celebrities such as P. Diddy, Cameron Diaz and Eva Longoria are making pledges of service to President Obama. The whole idea behind these videos is for celebrities and viewers to do what they can to contribute to the "change" campaign Obama has been pushing. It's great to see that celebrities are doing their part to help influence others to do what they can to make the world a better place. Viewers are encouraged to post their own videos too.

Here's a link to some of the videos:
MySpace Pledges

Mark

Blog

I had my first experience with blogging four and a half years ago. I was doing an internship for a Tonix pictures in Germany. The company is basically doing TV and DVD productions in the sports industry like snowboard and surfing. One part of my responsibilities as an intern was to publish posts on many blogs that relate those sports. In these post I was presenting/talking about new products or if an event was coming up. So this was basically part of their advertising strategy. They had no expenses and reached totally their target market quickly.
From that I was really interested in this tool, which has many benefits

Denis

Online video

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/21/inauguration.online.video/

online videos is one of the upcoming cases....Barrack's inauguration set a new record for online streaming. Over 7.7 million people logged on at the same time for the actual inaguration while 27 million logged on throughout the day on CNN! Facebook had a link to watch the events. I logged on to CNN but the video kept stopping, so I eventually went to the TV for coverage. It was reported that there were a lot of interruption in online videos, which means that it is widely used (obviously as stated above), but also that there needs to be improvements.

The link above will take you to the article. From that page, there is a link that takes you to another article, " A Blogger's Inauguration." I thought it was interesting that the new director of media for the White House posted a blog.

Elizabeth

China censors just about everything...

So my topic for our individual projects is Google in China. I've been doing a little bit of research on the topic and stumbled across some pretty interesting topics. Due to everything going on, Obama is on the brain in the U.S. and apparently he is also on the brain in China. He is striving for political change, etc. and China is seeing a big problem with this for their own people.

China reported Obama's speech to the people of the country, however it was drastically censored. Barack had mentioned the word "communism" as well as some other pro-democracy statements (which we in the States find extremely normal and acceptable), however in China, those phrases are hidden from their people. Any speak of people having a say in the government or being able to make a change from the old government is extremely avoided and prohibited in China.

The article I referenced for this post can be seen at the link below. Check it out to learn more about the way China has censored political change in America.

http://www.lostlaowai.com/blog/2009/01/21/obama-speech-censored-in-china/


Kristen

Facebook

This is my first blog so here it goes:

After reading the article on Facebook it made me realize that Facebook is not only a place to catch up with old friends but it could also help you network yourself. Facebook allows people to join groups of interest and it also allows you to meet other people that have the same interest as you. If you currently lost your job or if you are looking for a new job this site allows you to market yourself to other companies. This site always you not only to send messages to your friends but you can also chat with them when they come online to the site. No other site that I know of allows you to do this. After reading this article come to find out that my company just formed a group to help them with recruiting for open positions. Facebook is the new way of recruiting for company positions and is the new way to create/maintain Client relationships. There are endless opportunities to network through Facebook. I feel that this is only the beginning to a new era of networking!

www.facebook.com

I hope that you enjoyed it!

Kerry

Search Ads Beyond Search Engines

I read an article in the WSJ yesterday about the way marketing is not only changing in general, but also how its changing on the internet. Marketing online before was mainly through search engines. The article was relevant to class last week on how companies bid on certain search words. It also spoke about how growth in spending on advertising through these avenues is expected to decline significantly in the next 3-5 years. As many of you guys know these internet marketing budgets are shifting to sites like facebook and myspace to pinpoint target audiences through user profiles. I'll bring the article to class.

Drew

New Media Marketing

I read a fairly recent article from Business Week that really touched on the concept of "The New Consumer". I thought the article did a good job of touching on the reality that marketing and advertising are definately undergoing a renaissance as technology grows. I think in the face of the hard economic times we face today companies are being forced to find new ways to get their products/services out to the customer with more cost effective means. It is interesting to see what companies are doing to reach customers in the digital age and what seems to work and what doesn't. The latest method to reach customers seems to be through phones and social networks. I think it will be interesting to see what new methods marketing companies will come up with in the face of one of the worst recessions we have ever seen. Below is the article...Enjoy!

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_02/b4115048776067.htm

Kristin

On blogs and AdAge article

I know nothing about blogging except that there are a lot of political blogs out there. I understandwhy people would write about politics, but I reallly don't understand why anyone would take the time to write about an industry, company, or product. so I will read the links posted with interest!

On a positive note, I received an AdAge article in my box about the positives for marketers in this black economy. here are soome highlights:
* lobbyists are back in full swing with all government spending on the table
*direct response TV is growing strong -- esp. if your product has something to do with Obama
*budget beer -- the cheap relaxer is experiencing growth
*online video, as discussed in class, is growing in leaps and bounds
*Latino population is a huge growth sector
*Kindle - e-books: the book industries answer to plummeting sales.
*PR, esp. if you're good at spinning bad news into good. (Anyone want to try their hand at, say, Citigroup???)
*Cable TV hires lots of consultants on a project basis.
*outside home media outlets, like phones & radio are getting more and more traffic. people are spending more time away from homes as jobs become more demanding
*mobile marketing to increase an est. 26% per yr until 2012
*Pet care. no matter what, fido ges fed
*marketing analysis --Neilson can't hire enough people!
*packaged good s and fast food. no more fancy restaurant meals.
*online coupon companies. get the consumers where consumers are -- online, not reading the inserts in newspapers
*last but not least, gun sales are way up. No not fear of burglary, fear of Obama axing the gun ownership laws.

That's right, you heard it hear first!
Amy

Health Plan One

I work in the marketing department of a health insurance broker and my main job is search engine optimization which means i do a bunch of things, including blogging, to get our page to rank higher in search engines like google or yahoo. My main job is to blog every day in the three blogs we have so i guess you can say I know a little bit about blogging and how it can help both a company and consumers.
To check out the blogs, click the links below. And no judging!
www.healthplanone.com/blog
www.medicaresolutions.com/blog
http://affordablehealth-insurance.org

Ritsa

Blogging at Work

Like many other companies, the company I work for, Environmental Data Resources, has a "blog" section on their website. A number of people have blogs on various topics. Some of the topics are Property Talk by our CEO (he brings his unique perspective to address topics of strategic interest); Market Maven by our Market Research Group Managing Director (she shares her insights on the state of the environmental due diligence market); and Ear to the Ground by our Managing Director of Corporate, Legal and Government Services (he provides insight on environmental industry trends). Reading the blogs allows us to keep up with want is going on in the company and the our business industry.

Here is the link to EDR's blog section:

http://commonground.edrnet.com/n/forumIndex.aspx?webtag=edrblogindex

Connie

Welcome!

Welcome to MK670!!!!!

Prof. Micu