According to new virtual conference benchmarks from Nuclear Analytics, the average daily view time for a live virtual conference is 2 hours, 10 minutes and 56 seconds. In scheduling their upcoming Virtual Divorce Conference Sept. 9-11, Business Valuation Resources has scheduled days of 2 hours five minutes, two hours 10 minutes and 3 hours 20 minutes.   To add even more value to their event and keep within a reasonable daily view time, BVR has added bonus sessions both before and after the main event. So there’s a 50-minute conference preview on Aug. 27, and then three 100-minute, follow-up programs Sept. 17, 24 and 30.    It's a great idea. There are no ground rules to virtual events. As has often been said, we are all wading in uncharted waters. These sessions allow BVR to showcase even more good speakers and then also does something many experts recommend—keep the engagement and community atmosphere going.    “We f ...

Pride 50th anniversary: Five ways you can be a better ally dentist Q&A: Discussing protests, supporting black community as dentists   Those are two June headlines from a new blog on the American Dental Association site called New Dentist Now. The days of blogs simply conveying an opinion or delivering information have passed. Blogs still do that but they can be so much more. Especially in these difficult times, blogs can give your organization a place to air more diverse voices, offer resources to your community and establish ties with new communities.   "Here are five ways you can become a better ally and ensure your office is welcoming for LGBTQ+ community," writes Dr. Alex Barrera, who practices general dentistry in Houston. "Be visible as an ally... Little things such as decorating your office for pride month (June), making a post on social media, or advertising in an LGBTQ+ magazine will show your s ...

All roads seem to be pointing to LinkedIn this morning. An email they just sent asks me to fill out a 2-minute survey so "we can best support our members on their professional journey." An article also showed up on my digital doorstep from Nonprofit Hub titled a 7 Step Guide to LinkedIn Marketing.

I've been perusing the websites of SIPA members and found some features very much worth replicating. Here they are:

I saw a wonderful new documentary last night titled, BANG! The Bert Berns Story. He was one of the greatest songwriters/producers you never heard of, responsible for hits like "A Little Bit of Soap," "Twist and Shout," "Tell Him," "Hang on Sloopy," "Here Comes the Night," "Brown Eyed Girl," "Under the Boardwalk" and "Piece of My Heart."

Looking at the homepage of Business Valuation Resources' shiny new website—a winner of a 2017 SIPAward for Best New or Relaunched Website—it reminds me of Dan Hanover's advice from marketing Access Intelligence's EventTech Conference.

The days of batch and blast are over. Today’s marketing efforts require a targeted approach that understands the behavior of you customer, what they want and soon, what they will do next. “The marketing game has changed dramatically,” said Tom Pines, CEO at Real Magnet. “We’ve gone from batch and blast to a much more sophisticated way to do things. The main driver is the flood of e-mails being sent. Everyone is overwhelmed. Now it’s all about relevancy, segmentation and targeting. Marketing is currently moving from marketing segmentation to marketing automation. The next phase will be predictive—looking at your data and start making recommendations for you.”

“We’re talking about a data model if executed properly is very powerful, very lucrative,” said moderator Russell Perkins, head of InfoCommerce Group, kicking off one of the best sessions at BIMS last month, titled Everyone in the Pool.

I recall once attending a taping of Late Night With David Letterman in New York, and a comedian came out to "warm us up." While you are just the seated audience, more interaction does produce a better show—more applause, funny comments, occasional questions—so it makes sense that they do that.