A big hand to the American Heart Association for using multimedia to promote their new hands-only CPR technique. Viewers get jazzed up on their microsite by creating their own sound track made up of hands clapping, finger snapping, and fist punching.

A new study validates the concepts that we have been employing to help clients connect with journalists using social media. Check out our post “Reinventing the Online Newsroom” which focuses on a project for the American Bar Association.  This study by Cision reports that about two-thirds (65%) of journalists say they use blogs to research stories and more than half (52%) use microblogging sites like Twitter.  The big issue for journalists is credibility, and companies and associations can enhance their own standing and outreach by using these tools to be a reliable source of fresh content.

I have been highly impressed by the use of multimedia during the recent catastrophe in Haiti. News organizations and the public have relied on Twitter, blog posts, photo and video sharing sites for news and images from this earthquake ravaged country. CNN has compiled a list of organizations tweeting about the Haiti earthquake.

And social media has become a critical component of the international aid effort. The American Red Cross has set up a cell phone donation campaign, where individuals can text Haiti to 90999 to donate $10, which will then be included in their next cell phone bill

As a side note, the LA Times is featuring an interactive Flash earthquake feature that provides interesting background on the location of fault lines globally, the types of faults and the different types of earthquake waves

We are about to see touch-screen technology invade the desktop computer world.  That’s the prediction of some of the biggest players in the industry, including one of our client’s Intel.  While this technology has been used successfully in kiosk applications like the one the Chicago 2016 committee used to help sell the city as the site of the Summer Olympics, it now is being used as a viable interface for many other business applications according to a recent article in the New York Times.  Apple can take a large measure of credit for advancing touch-screen navigation with its iPhone – the net result could be a change in the way people interact with websites – “let your fingers do the walking…”