Because “If there’s no fixed point of reference, we just walk in circles and inevitably get lost.” [Gizmodo] Here’s the science.

Another beaut from Gizmodo today is this video of the “intricate choreography of flight — it’s just mesmerizing.

That’s what this post on Ragan.com asks, and from the comments, it sounds like the majority say it is. I can see it being rude if people are just checking e-mail or shopping on eBay or whatever, but really, live-tweeting about a session is perceived to be rude? I didn’t know that. And, while I agree with those who say that just parroting the speaker’s words isn’t adding much, but that’s pretty much all I have time to do if I want to keep up with what s/he is saying — no time to add deep thoughts to the mix.

Hmm, maybe I should rethink my conference coverage strategies…

What do you think? Is it being rude to those in the room with you, or is it, as I always have thought, an acceptable if not perfect way to try to share what’s happening in the room with those who can’t be there?

Julius Solaris gives us a peek into one of the coolest ideas I’ve heard about in a while in this post: The Best Way to Integrate Facebook to Your Event: RFID. As he says, “Long story short, Coca Cola used RFID in their Coca Cola Village to let customers ‘Like’ stuff in real life.” Don’t miss the video!

Just think about what you could do with this at your events…

It just keeps coming, and I can’t stop myself from reading/watching/being bemused by all the anti-TSA bits floating around. I started to put together some of my favorites, then ran across two people who have already done an infinitely more thorough job than I would ever want to:

TSA Backscatter X-ray Backlash: Bruce Schneier’s collection of links and commentary

TSA Myth or Fact: Leaked Images, Handcuffed Hosts, Religious Garb, and More! TSA’s Blogger Bob gives the official response to some of the TSA-related rumors flashing around the Internet.

If you need any more reasons to make sure you’re providing adequate bandwidth for your attendees, here they come. According to a study conducted by StudyLogic for Sheraton, a full 60 percent of the 4,204 people surveyed in the U.S., U.K., and China use social media, not the phone or e-mail, to keep in touch with loved ones while on the road. About 80 percent access social media sites throughout the day (about a fifth log in to an SM site multiple times each hour when traveling), and 39% said they “could not live without” social media sites (hmm, and about half said they used SM to arrange a tryst while on the road, which seems awfully indiscreet, among other things).

More than half also do a quick check of a new contact’s SM profile before a meeting, and 56 percent also said it was important to do business with people active in social media; 55 percent use online social networking to meet new business contacts and maintain current ones. But take what you learn with a grain of salt, since almost 70 percent also said they were less than honest on social networking sites, and 20 percent said they flat-out lie.

Sheraton wanted to gauge SM to ensure its new Link@Sheraton service — which I haven’t seen yet but, according to a press release, sounds like a pretty nice version of a cyber cafe with free wi-fi and Internet-enabled computer stations — was in line with what people want. I like the idea, of course, but also want wi-fi in the meeting spaces and guest rooms as well. As Hoyt Harper, SVP and Global Brand Leader for Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, says in the release, it’s no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity.

Do you take the jet-laggedness (I know, not a word) of your meeting’s attendees into account when you’re scheduling sessions? If not, you should be. Not just to be nice and considerate of those who come from other time zones, but also to maximize their learning. And why might that be? Well, we’ve always thought it was the case, but now we know for sure that jet lag makes you stupid (at least, it does if you’re a hamster).

Forbes Travel Guide (formerly Mobil Travel Guide) has come out with its 2011 four- and five-star winners.

The five-star hotels are Island Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong, and Falling Rock at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pa. Congratulations also to the five-star spas: The Spa at The Grand Del Mar in San Diego, and The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, in Las Vegas.

Despite calls for an airport scanner opt-out day and even a protest song, a CBS news poll finds that four out of five people support full-body airport scanners. From the article:

“Although some civil rights groups allege that they represent an unconstitutional invasion of privacy, Americans overwhelmingly agree that airports should use the digital x-ray machines to electronically screen passengers in airport security lines, according to the new poll. Eighty-one percent think airports should use these new machines — including a majority of both men and women, Americans of all age groups, and Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike. Fifteen percent said airports should not use them.”

Maybe only 15 percent of those surveyed are regular fliers? Or they thought the survey was asking about the old-style X-ray machines? Maybe they haven’t yet heard about Gizmodo’s publishing of 100 images of digitally stripped people saved on a full-body scanner at an Orlando, Fla., courthouse, despite claims by TSA that “Advanced imaging technology cannot store, print, transmit or save the image, and the image is automatically deleted from the system after it is cleared by the remotely located security officer”? (Update: TSA’s blogger Bob says the two situations don’t correlate and reiterates the above statement.)

This is one meeting I wish I could go to, at least based on this writeup of PICNIC 2010. While the poster is admittedly biased, I loved everything about it. This part may be the key:

“Much of it had to do with concentrating in storytelling as opposed to selling, going back to the “festival” experience instead of just a conference and developing a look and feel that was at the same time playful and that offered serious insights in how we can redesign our World.”

Yes, yes, and yes.

And in a totally different way, Event Camp East Coast sounds like it was an equally incredible experience for its participants, despite some disagreements over privacy/transparency issues. I love the thought that went into each aspect of these two very different events to make sure that they got it right for who would be there and what they hoped to accomplish. Nice!

Otherwise known as yet another reason why you should make sure your session leaders actually engage participants instead of just present: Mind wandering. According to some Harvard research, mind wandering may be an integral way of life for us humans, but it also makes us less happy than when we’re focused on the task at hand. However, letting our minds go to another place also is critical for creativity and problem-solving, so a good conference design should have a little (or a lot) of both structured, focused learning and time for reflection.

I know, we all knew that, but it’s always nice to have a little more science to back it up.