Prescott Shibles, a very savvy guy in all things tech, really hates the Folio Show’s electronic show dailies.

I have to say I agree with him on this one. The whole idea of plopping a print product—be it a show daily newspaper, a magazine, or a conference brochure—on the Web and expecting it to have the same impact as it would in print is, basically, silly. Web and print are two different things entirely. We read them differently, we expect different things of each, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

If you’re going to do an e-product, take advantage of what the media has to offer. Include links to surveys for each session where attendees can vote on the burning questions they want the speaker to discuss. Let people comment on the site, the venue, let them ask questions, contact speakers and organization leaders involved in the show. Let them download a podcast that’ll whet their appetite. Create an interactive way for attendees to meet each other ahead of time, to contact exhibitors, all that good stuff.

Much as I love it, print is a one-way street, for the most part. The Web is a busy intersection. Take advantage of what it can do.

Update: B2B consultant Paul Conley makes a great point about digital editions of show dailies—that the whole point of them is just to make the print edition available to non-attendess quickly. But why not give them a whole lot more than that, in a form that’s not so cumbersome (blogs, anyone)? And he makes another great point about how the writing (and the writers) themselves must work differently when it comes to the Web, and not just write the same way they would for a print show daily.

It seems like pretty much everyone sends out press releases touting their event to the local (and beyond, depending on the topic) media. So how come most meetings PR don’t seem to generate any results? Speaker and futurist Jim Carroll has some press release-writing tips to share. As someone on the receiving end of all too many that just don’t say anything worth following up on, I second his tips.

Update: I just found this three-year-old press release about how germy the average desk is—you know, that same thing that’s been making the rounds again in the news lately about how gross it is for people to eat at their computers?—and it’s a great example of how to do it right, from catchy headline on down. Thanks to The Publicity Hound for the pointer.

The newish Yahoo Maps API, and Google Maps API have some pretty cool meetings applications, and you don’t even have to be a geek to use them. Just think: You could have a map, either on the Google or Yahoo sites or in your own Web site, that detailed all the hotels, convention center, restaurants for special events—everywhere your attendees, speakers, and VIPs might need to know about, all on one handy area guide.

David Gammel is using it to show where his upcoming speaking gigs are. If anyone else is using this, please let me know. I’d love to see what you’re doing with it.

How does your sense of creativity work? Do you think more from your right brain, your left brain, or do you just think the whole idea is a no-brainer? Take this little test to find out.

Somewhere in the can of coffee beans, there’s a man’s head. Ready, set, go look for it!

How long did it take you to find it? If you found the cafeinated dude in three seconds or less, you’re a right-brainer; in a minute or less, you’re pretty much normal; more than a minute, and your left brain is dominant. Interesting, eh? (For more on the whole right-left brain thing, click here).

Since I spotted him right off, I must be pretty right-brained, but I’m guessing a lot of planners are still looking for him… (hint: look in the bottom, left of center).

Link to source, and thanks to Grass Shack Events & Media for the pointer!

If your session presenters tend to go over their allotted time, here’s an idea that might help: A clock you can fasten to the whiteboard. It draws the hour as it goes in dry-erase pen, and just might keep things running on time. Plus, it’s just cool.

Update: Oops, I forgot to put in the link! Here it is.

When pirates in little speedboats tried to attack Carnival’s 10,000-ton Seabourn Spirit off the coast of Somalia with a grenade launcher and machine guns, they were the ones to get the surprise: The ship’s crew blasted back with a sonic blaster that was developed to keep boats from attacking warships. “the non-lethal weapon sends out high-powered air vibrations that blow assailants off their feet. The equipment, about the size of a satellite dish, is rigged to the side of the ship.” (link to article in Britain’s Sunday Times.)

Should you put a sonic blaster on your list of site-inspection items for your next cruise meeting? I don’t know, but it might not be a bad idea, depending on where you’re cruising.

Update: According to CNN, the ship just outran the pirates. I like the sonic boom explanation better, but who knows which is the case.

Ireland’’s low-cost Ryanair airline is betting that in-flight gambling and other services will be lucrative enough that they won’t have to charge passengers for flights in a few years. (Link to TravelMole story, free reg. req’d.)

At least, that’s what airline’s chief executive Michael O’Leary seems to think. The addition of mobile phones, planned for next spring, will open up a whole new era in flight pricing as passengers dial up gambling through their cells or airline-provided equipment, which, according to The Guardian, could bring in up to £170 million in revenue.

The airline boss suggested that the success of in-flight gaming and services such as insurance and car hire could make flights free within four to five years.

“Entertainment is where the real money will be made in the future,” O’Leary reportedly said.

As a non-gambler, would I still get to fly free? Guess we’ll have to wait and see. Be interesting to see if any U.S. carriers fly with this idea…