While the rise of social media also gave rise to the level of trust we put in the great unwashed (aka, friends, peers, and other people just like us), that now seems to be leveling off, according to this LA Times article. It looks at the Edelman Trust Barometer’s latest findings:

According to the survey, since 2008 the number of people who view their friends and peers as credible sources of consumer and business information dropped by almost half, from 45% to 25%. Similarly, in the past year, the number of people who view peers as credible spokespersons also slipped. Even more strikingly, however, after a precipitous decline earlier in the decade, informed consumers have regained trust in traditional authorities and experts.

Blame the increasing professionalization of social networking sites as companies have climbed on board, and way too much irrelevant noise from just about everyone (myself included — sorry!). Also from the article:

After indulging the thoughts and opinions of anyone who was “just like me,” it seems that people are now looking for a firmer guarantee of clarity, objectivity and accuracy.

I’d like to add to the mix that social media has also spawned a whole new crop of experts who have risen above the “just like me” level while still feeling more like a friend and peer than an aloof expert (think Jeff Hurt, for just one of many in this business).

Does this mean that people now will translate this to the face-to-face environment, with participants wanting fewer peer-to-peer sessions, unconferences, and roundtables and more expert-delivered lectures? Geez, I hope not, but it does make me wonder. (Thanks to Lisa for the pointer!)

While outboarding — renting a hotel suite and wooing customers at a trade show without actually supporting the show itself — is nothing new, the recent Consumer Electronics Show’s problems with it have caught the attention of the New York Times In fact IAEE released a statement condemning the practice four years ago.

What does seem to be new, at least to me, is that hotels at CES seemed to be taking the initiative to give the boot to convention crashers. Is that putting too much of a burden on the hotel? I tend to agree with the hospitality lawyer the article quotes and say it is, especially in this economy, a bit much to ask hotels to be the exhibit police, though I applaud those that are willing and able to do it.

I can’t imagine this problem is going to ever go away entirely, but it is interesting to see a major newspaper covering it.

Update: If you ever have doubts about the importance of fact checking, there’s a doozy in the article that someone just pointed out to me: The article says CES drew 1.4 million attendees, down from 1.7 million. Needless to say, those numbers actually refer to the show’s square footage. Oops.

Update: I should have known this was too juicy to be true. Here’s the real scoop from the TSA blog. Thanks, Jim, for the update.

If you’re Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, you sign autographs on them. At least that’s what happened when he found people holding copies of the scans of his body taken with one of the new full-body scanners at London’s Heathrow, according to Yahoo India News. From the article:

Khan said he did not know that the body-scans - installed in the wake of last year’s abortive Christmas Day bombing of a transatlantic flight over Detroit - showed up every little detail of one’s body…

‘Then I saw these girls - they had these printouts. I looked at them. I thought they were some forms you had to fill. I said ‘give them to me’ - and you could see everything inside. So I autographed them for them.’

He’s a way better sport than I would have been.

So sad to hear that the record snowfall in the D.C. area — with more to come — has prompted ASAE and The Center to cancel its 2010 Technology Conference, which was to start tomorrow and run through Friday. Check the link of refund information, etc.

Meanwhile, here in the usually frozen lands of New England, it’s been awfully dry lately. They say we’ll get a bit of the next storm, but where I live is on the north side of the state, so we’re not supposed to get a lot of accumulation.

Update: Thanks to Joan’s comment below, we now know that there’ll be an unconference of some sort. Stay tuned to #tech10 on Twitter for details.

2nd update: This is getting cooler by the minute. Now there’s a Web site with unconference details, and an unconference schedule wiki, and, well, just go over to Maddie Grant’s post for all the details. The new Twitter hashtag is #untech10. I don’t know why I’m getting so excited about this, especially since I’m nowhere near D.C. today, but it’s just so cool to watch this unfold that I actually wrote “cool” three times now in once paragraph.

If you’re wondering who’s hiring in special events now, and why, check out this article, which just so happens to be titled Who’s Hiring in Special Events Now–And Why. Some good news is that Special Events found 17 percent of the companies surveyed were planning to hire new employees.

Just in case your meeting’s registration line ever backs up, this article from today’s Boston Globe will give you a little perspective: Standing in line: The case for our least-favorite activity. I must say that I never looked at waiting in line as a “masterpiece of social cohesion and a civilizational building-block” before!

I love it when people live what they are passionate about. Take my colleague Barbara Scofidio, editor of Corporate Meetings & Incentives,. She has been writing about meetings that give back to their host communities, and meetings-related organizations that help their local communities, for what seems like forever.

Now she’s put together a microsite where planners who want to incorporate giving back into their meetings and incentives can go for ideas, tips, how to’s, case studies, resources — and she is committed to continue adding to the site any time she hears of a new idea to share. Go ahead, check out http://meetingsnet.com/give-back/, and if you have anything to share, drop Barbara an e-mail.

Click on the photo to enlarge it, then tell me — is this not the best airplane paint job ever? It’s brought to you by Kulula, South Africa’s low-cost airline. (Thanks to Chris Rawlinson!)

Mike McCallen offers some interesting insights on events he gleaned from the gazillion-ticket-selling movie Avatar. Just what you need to know to make your next meeting a blockbuster (well, this info plus a few hundred million ought to do it).

Just a friendly reminder to get your data in for the 2009 CEIR Index. It should be quick and easy to do, and you’ll get a free copy of the results for participating if you get your data input by this Friday.