Technology

SITTING IN ON A BRAINSTORMING SESSION with Autodesk’s event marketing group must feel a bit like a meeting with Al Gore. The company has become an innovator in designing exhibits and events that leave little environmental footprint but still pack an awe-inspiring punch. Just one look at the brand’s eco-friendly plywood trade show booth and it’s pretty clear—at Autodesk going green doesn’t mean sacrificing exhibit substance or style.

For a technology brand with the word “invent” as its slogan an early foray into the world of virtual events may not seem like much of a stretch. It was Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard after all who first staked out territory in Silicon Valley in 1939 founding one of the most successful high-tech companies in the world out of a one-car garage and bringing to market over the next 75 years industry firsts like calculators handheld devices email programs laser printers and touchscreen PCs.

Facebook has more than 150 million monthly active users. Twitter visits have skyrocketed 1 400 percent in the past year. And according to a recent Nielsen report the time consumers spend on social networks has increased 73 percent since 2008. Yes social media is exploding all around us. Even our moms are giving it a go.
Yet despite its popularity the social networking space is a vast and tricky medium to activate in.

Mobile phones have become more than just a device for making calls. More than ever they’re an integral part of people’s lifestyles and their identities. People are watching movies and listening to music on their cell phones taking pictures and playing video games and getting their daily dose of news.

If Larry King can Twitter then anybody can. The recent Twitter popularity contest between the CNN host and actor Ashton Kutcher (a.k.a. Mr. Demi Moore) to see who could gain a million followers first had crowds tweeting fast and furiously to put their favored celebrity on top. Kutcher took the trophy but in the end Twitter won the biggest popularity contest of all.