Not only does web content increase relevance and therefore search engine rankings and results, “static” content – here, defined as articles, tutorials and other text-based information – reinforces the community’s central mission. In other words, it is valuable information that serves to interest and enrich the reader with utility and meaning.

Members of an affinity audience want to anchor their presence and participation. For example, locals want a place to call their online home. Followers and fans of a band choose their favorite “space” and invest their time there, adding songs, photos and more to their page. Digital video professionals congregate where FAQ and reference material is available 24/7. Good content makes this possible: When these same users also find useful articles, news, links and reviews, their attachment to their chosen site is strengthened.

Therefore, the more relevant, topical content that web publishers add to reinforce the uniqueness & value of their site/community, then the better it is for everybody – for users, advertisers and owners. Content creates value over time (so don’t unpublish anything!). The challenge is to find out how to create & present your special content in a special way that truly adds lasting value.

Why integrate a calendar in your online community? I highly recommend that publishers, especially those that serve a geographically local area, add an events list or calendar to their site. In addition to giving users yet another reason to return to your site, Calendar Hub lays out the user benefits quite clearly:

Stay Organized – reminders and deadlines for social, business and special events, including editorial & advertising closing dates.

Coordinate Your Team – to-do lists, tasks, milestones and to see what everyone else is doing and coordinate better.

Promote Yourself – special offers, limited-time sales & discounts and announcements, from groups & businesses.

Inform Your Audience – school dates, federal & commemorative holidays, meetings, festivals and more!

Stay in Touch – RSS, iCal and vCard standards can help you get reminders or import events into your own, private calendar , cel or iPhone.

There are many choices to add a calendar to your site – too many in fact – but I do have some requirements for any calendar that is to be integrated into a community before selecting among the many available options.

Any calendar must be affordable, flexible, easy-to-use, unbranded (preferably open-source or white-label) and user-friendly (preferably, with user submissions) plus allow for automated review/approval functions by the publisher. Not really a lot to ask, but most of these characteristics are – and I cannot emphasize this enough – vital if you want to maintain your sanity productivity.

Software – requires separate databse and/or site integration

jCal Pro – aka “the Joomla calendar” because, well, it integrates with Joomla *
EventList - supports multiple venues, categories, and details; especially useful for networking & affinity-based communities with diverse groups and genres *
http://www.planscalendar.com *
Jevents – an up-and-coming Joomla calendaring system
Thyme (Out of business May 2009) *
Localendar *
Webcal NG
Webcalendar
Vcalendar

Web-based - SaaS or outsourced solutions

EventsLink Network
Cozi
http://www.helioscalendar.com *
http://www.instantcal.com
famundo.com *
Jotlet *
Calendar Wiz
Connect Daily
30boxes
Matchbox
Trumba *(…ouch! $99.95 per month!?!)
HuntCal

The links marked with an asterisk are my favorites and recommendations – keep your eyes on Famundo and Jotlet in particular. Of course, you can search Google for “calendar” and you’ll find many commercial options, with many different prices – but not much more in the way of quality or functionality. (Believe me. Save your time. I looked.)

As White Paper Source states in its forum:

According to Michael Stelzner, author of “How to write a white paper – A white paper on white papers,”

What is a White Paper? 

The term white paper is an offshoot of the term white book, which is an official publication of a national government. A famous white paper example is the Winston Churchill White Paper of 1922, which addressed political conflict in Palestine. 

A white paper typically argues a specific position or solution to a problem. Although white papers take their roots in governmental policy, they have become a common tool used to introduce technology innovations and products. A typical search engine query on “white paper” will return millions of results, with many focused on technology-related issues. 

White papers are powerful marketing tools used to help key decision-makers and influencers justify implementing solutions.

So now you know. If you want more information about how to format, structure and price a white paper, the company offers – surprise: a white paper! – at their site: http://www.whitepapersource.com/report/index.html

Says David Sacks, founder of Twitter-for-business service Yammer, “We are all in the process of creating email 2.0.”

I know that increasingly I am decreasing my e-mail time and increasing my online-social time. I agree with many of the heavy users of services such as Facebook, Twitter and FriendFeed that the Internet is becoming much more pervasive – certainly, we are connecting to the Internet in ways far beyond the browser or news reader. It opens up new opportunities for sharing news as well as methods for delivering services.

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