Week 16 : Curated Shorts

WTF are curated shorts? Bermudas worn in the 19th century? No. Not one to miss a bandwagon I noticed that the CURATED WEB is now in full flow. The idea is that you don’t have to produce lots of original material to get noticed but merely re-purpose someone else’s work. Sounds like a wheeze from rusty old marketing agencies who finally realise there is nothing new under their sun so simply re-invent older material.

So, in honour of this ace new marketing phrase we’ve re-purposed the name to use it here, in our shorts section … which has always been about nicking interesting stuff off the web and dropping it here in snippets. I think the difference between our approach and maybe the agency world is that we give full credit and a link back to the original article. I’m not saying agencies are thieving scum, that’s more inline with the view held by the infamous Dave Knockles.

Anyway, onwards and upwards with the curation.

The Maybe Not so Ultimate Guide to Reaching Tablet Shoppers. Tablet use is on the rise—and for good reason. It blends elements from mobile and desktop experiences into a package that consumers have responded to in force. A positive psychological effect occurs when users touch and move content on a screen with their hands as opposed to clicking with disembodied cursors. Why deny visitors a customized experience for their chosen medium? [read more]

Vancouver based start-up, Connect the Doc, is excited to launch their online marketing and appointment booking platform for dentists at the 2012 Pacific Dental Conference in March. Connect the Doc is proud to announce the official launch of their online marketing platform for dentists at the 2012 Pacific Dental Conference on March 8th and 9th in Vancouver, British Columbia at the Vancouver Convention Center.

Officially launched in the winter of 2011, Connect the Doc’s marketing platform facilitates improved relationships between private healthcare professionals and patients through an easy to use online marketing and appointment booking platform. The system has already been proven in the [read more]

In a changing travel climate, travel agents reclaim the spotlight. (ARA) – Recent years have been revolutionary for the travel industry. The democratization of booking tickets and vacations turned the traditional model on its head – instead of going to an agent, consumers could suddenly book everything with a few clicks. But that was then – today’s travel landscape is evolving in new ways, some of which have travelers reassessing the value of DIY planning versus enlisting a travel agent.

The old adage that “familiarity breeds contempt” is ringing true for a lot of travelers who have become accustomed to booking it all online. The weaknesses of online booking engines have come to light, including lost bookings, lack of expert service and advice and little or no support during travel. Beyond that, it’s difficult to know whether you’re finding a truly good deal or getting the trip that is right for you. [read more]

6 Tips for Booking at Ontario Parks. Ontario Parks received almost ten million visits last year – an increase of 50,000 visits over 2010. If you plan to visit Ontario Parks this summer, did you know that you can reserve your campsite or roofed accommodation five months in advance of your arrival dates? Book online at OntarioParks.com or by calling the Ontario Parks reservation line, 1-888-ONT-PARK (Canada & USA). These six tips will make your 2012 Ontario Parks trip planning easier:

1. Sites are not all booked in advance.

Less than 30% of all reservations made in a year at Ontario Parks, are booked before March 31. This online tool allows you to easily explore different parks, campgrounds, and dates, and check for availability. It even includes park photos: [read more]

Blogging Declines Across the Inc. 500. A new longitudinal study at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth focusing on the online activities of the Inc. 500 has found a huge drop in the number of companies maintaining corporate blogs over the past year. The UMass researchers, under the direction of Nora Barnes, has been following this group for several years. Only 37% of those interviewed had a corporate blog last year, down from half of those interviewed in 2010.

“The use of blogging may have peaked as a primary social media tool in the US business world,” she writes. “The new data shows adoption of blogging is declining for the first time since 2007 [read more]

Week Shorts is a curated compendium of interesting news articles compiled at Connected and published for those interested in the new media world. All the articles are taken from third party sources and links are provided back to see the full article after minor editing and formatting changes. Connected acknowledges the owners of the work and respective copyrights. The article is provided, as-is with no warranty as to its accuracy. Connected cannot control and therefore will not be held liable for the content of third-party web-sites.