I recently discovered Something Extra, a blog from SNC Destinations, that offers some good tips. Like this post on kissing customs between business partners around the world (you know, which cheek to start with, do you drop two cheek-pecks or three?). Their advice:

I recall an incident when I was certain that the kiss would start on the left cheek, but among the Dutch the rule is to start on the right. Imagine playing face tango with a business associate! What I learned thereafter, since the kissing protocol can also have regional differences within the same country, was to extend my hand, stand still, and take the lead from the person I was greeting.

I also really liked this one, which includes tips on selecting a Web conferencing provider, based on their experience.

I can’t remember how I found this one, but I added it to my news reader a week or so ago, and have been enjoying it.

A followup to this post, where I muse about the results of a Fast Company poll about what’s more important in the workplace, likeability or competence: It pays to be popular at work (from CNN—thanks to Beth for the pointer!).

Seems the studies show that the FC Now poll was right on the money:

Research at Columbia University shows that jobs, pay raises and promotions are more apt to be awarded based on a worker’s charisma than on academic background or professional qualifications.

Fortunately, likeability can be learned. The article has some great tips on how—actually, the tips are pretty good for a better life in general.

I spoke this morning with someone from a large medical conference who wanted to know if blogs might be a good addition to their meeting marketing mix (here’s what a blog is). I’ve written a few articles about meeting blogs (here, here, and here), but here’s the short version.

The plusses: Blogs are easy and free-to-very-cheap to set up. They can be on external sites, or integrated into your website. They can extend your reach beyond your usual mailing lists because they tend to get picked up by search engines (because they usually contain a lot of links and are linked to from other blogs). They also can boost your site traffic if integrated into your site. They provide an additional sponsorship opportunity. They are a great way to connect with your attendee base because they have a “voice,” attitude, and personality that usually isn’t present in public relations and marketing pieces. They also show your attendees that you’re up on all the latest tech tools. They can be a way to extend your conference to non-attendees if you post writeups of sessions during the show, and provide a way to follow up with attendees afterward.

The minuses: They are a lot of work. To be effective, you have to post several times a week; daily is better. They can’t be just a rehash of your other public relations/marketing efforts—readers won’t come back if it’s just the usual PR. The posts have to be provocative, thought-provoking, and insightful, and even amusing, if possible. Your blogger has to be careful of libel, slander, and all that good stuff (plus HIPPA for for medical meetings). Your blogger should be someone well-regarded in your specialty. Spammers also like blogs, and if you allow comments, you’ll probably spend some time every day deleting spam from the comments area and trackbacks. You also have to monitor comments to make sure no one gets out of hand. (These two points can be eliminated if you don’t allow comments.) They also won’t replace anything you’re currently doing to market your meeting.

I’m probably missing some stuff (I’m sure Rich could think of more), but those are the main points we talked about. Personally, I’d say, go for it, but only if you’re willing to put in the time, thought, and energy to do it right. If done well, it will make your organization—and your conference—even more attractive to your attendees (if they’re not early adapters of this technology, it might only be a hit with a few people, but why not be a hit with a few people? They have friends, too. And blogging is finally getting some traction, so you’d be ahead of the game for next time around). If not done well, it’d be a big waste of time and energy.