6by7 Reports. The words are free. I charge to arrange them.

Hi,

The daughter of a friend of mine has landed in the top ten of Jif’s Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich contest! Her name is Olivia T. from Nashua, New Hampshire and her entry is called “Peanut Butter Boredom Busters.” Please vote for her at http://www.tinyurl.com/votepbbb

She is already a top-ten finalist and with your help she could win a $25,000 scholarship! Vote for her once per day per person. Here’s a press release about the Jif contest so you can see it is legit. You can see a video about her entry here as well:

If you want to send her comments, let me know here and I’ll pass them along to her.

Thanks,

Gary

Hi,

Inspiration to write for a few minutes on this topic – Tom Fishburne and as always, Edward Tufte

1. Use some sharpies, draw on 3 x 5 cards, videotape, speed it up, edit, and narrate (see this Youtube video).

2. Make a diorama and puppets (see this Youtube video).

3. Pay a makeup artist to make you look like a very old man and present as if you came from the future and are telling people what will be. Yes, I did this.

4. Get in front of a video camera and talk from the heart (see this Youtube video)

5. Dance.

6. Use a flipchart, don’t speak at all, and flip your way through the story. Yes, I did this in front of 75 educators, and it was one of the more interactive sessions I’ve led.

7. Sing a song. Play an instrument.

8. Give an entire talk with no slides and no props. But practice a LOT and use your voice and face and body to wow them with your topic.

Gary

P.S. Bonus # 9: Put ONE WORD or at most a short phrase on the center of each slide and talk to your audience with only that slide behind you. This one makes you have a “slide deck” so your boss or conference coordinator can actually get a file. Even though you didn’t really use PowerPoint. Sneaky, huh?

Hi,

I’ll be presenting at the Yellow Edge Online User Conference called Sharing Ideas online. You can learn more about it here. This online presentation using Blackboard Collaborate will be on Nov 30, 2011 at 7:30pm New York time.

This is my topic (to continue a theme from my last post Six questions to help define your elearning goals):

Online teaching and learning: You get it, they don’t. How can you help?

You understand the ways in which online teaching and learning technologies can help a wide variety of teachers and learners. Yet your outreaches (political and educational) are sometimes met with blank stares. Or worse, your audience thinks an interactive whiteboard and a videoconference are the same thing – during funding discussions!

In this presentation, Gary Dietz will first present a simple elearning taxonomy you can use to break down the technologies and explain them to a variety of audiences. Gary will then close by leading a brainstorm on how and what kind of stories you can generate on your own team to help others understand the work you do and why it should continue and grow.

Again, see the Yellow Edge brochure about the conference to learn about the other speakers and sign up to attend.

Thanks,

Gary

Hi,

One the the topics I am often asked to revisit is the one where elearning folks, so used to talking to other elearning folks, forget that a majority of non-elearning folks don’t really understand what we are trying to accomplish. In this video, I attempt to quickly illustrate six high level questions people planning elearning and training efforts should ask in order to gather data for their plans.

I realize this list and its subtopics are not complete. I wanted to make it even briefer – 3:45 is probably still too long for this piece. I’d also like it to lead to a longer form white paper. (But still short – perhaps 8 to 10 pages.)

Let me know your ideas.

Thanks,

Gary

Hello all,

Motivated by my college mentor, who insists on calling me a businessperson, despite my obvious penchant for being non-businessy a bit too much, and for using commas far too liberally, whose name is Marly and whose post of her writing area is here, I present herewith my work area:

Upon which you can click to embiggen and see in its full splendor.

Have a great day.

Gary

Hi,

Why must white papers be locked behind a gate? Well, there really isn’t a reason for it. In fact, ungated white papers probably work better for vendors and consumers. This free white paper explains why and how to embrace the idea of just giving your white papers out without that darned form getting in the way.

You can get it on my web site here.

This white paper comes from ideas I learned from David Meerman Scott from Seth Godin and from Pragmatic Marketing classes I have taken.

Oh, I also have some personal experiences and ideas of my own that helped me come up with this white paper

Thanks for reading it. You can leave comments here if you want to.

Gary

Again, you can download my new whitepaper on my web site here.

Hi,

This is a quick first draft of a poem by Marly Youmans done in Prezi. Prezi is so much more than this — for example, I really want to play with some graphics and embedded video and using the unlimited palette with X, Y, Z coordinates and freeform navigation.

But hey, I just did this playing around and avoiding work on my new book!

You can buy Marly’s new book here and read her and her fan’s bloggified musings here.

Warm regards,

Gary

Hi,

For years I have been keeping and updating an elearning taxonomy as part of my consulting and thinking work. Here is an updated version of that perspective executed in the Prezi tool (since I hate PPT so much).

The elearning Taxonomy Prezi.

Let me know what you think.

Best regards,

Gary

Using Framemaker?
That was over long ago.
At least I thought so.

Createspace. Screen shots.
Optimum resolution?
Test test test test test.

User interface
is open to the public;
Samples very soon.

(I didn’t know he was haiku-ish…)

1. Steveify: Take a picture of yourself with an iPad’s forward facing camera and it seamlessly grafts your head onto an attractive gender appropriate body wearing trendy jeans and a black turtleneck.

2. iGlucose: Whack your forehead with your phone just enough to draw blood, and your blood sugar levels are measures and published on social networks (and to insurance databases without you knowing).

3. iDiaper: Much like the Nike exercise apps and shoes were all the rage last year, this app makes life easy for new parents. Just slip the iDiaper monitor on your baby’s bum and when he needs a changing, you get a new iMessage notification.

4. iLoud: iCloud lets you access your files and media from anywhere an on any device. But what about other people who really should be privy to your stuff, whether they want to be or not? Wasn’t it annoying that when you had a phone conversation on a bus only 1/2 the passengers can hear you? And that your text and iMessage messages were only accessible to that voice in your head? No more.

iLoud ensures that your end of a phone call, the remote end of phone call, and any text or iMessages are sent to any and all devices within a 50 foot range. Current device compatibility includes android phones, blackberries, any magnetic speaker, most makes of hearing aids, anyone wearing a headset, directly into the heads of people with an O+ blood type, and a projection of an ASL signer translating onto any surface nearby up to 50″ in diameter.

Gary