Location

Arthur C. Clarke once said that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." PlaceMatters has recently been using and demonstrating some innovative and low-cost touch-tables and electronic whiteboards.  Our audiences and partners are excited to use this intuitive interface. Inspired in part by Johnnie Chung Lee's TED.com talk, we have been using these tools to help brainstorm, create comments on maps, and use our new anyWare Planning™ tools. 

These tools are useful in synthesizing information on maps, something that is time consuming if you have multiple tables with paper maps that have to be digitized. They also allow more innovative presentations that go beyond Powerpoint, a relief for any regular conference attendee.

As much as the tools are smart and appealing, we want to use them strategically, rather than as just as a shiny new technology (see Fred Armisen's hilarious use on Saturday Night Live below). We are constantly asking for feedback on the use of the tools, and are careful to make sure their use fits the situation. 

PlaceMatters is also continuing to look for new technologies that would help us to reach more people, and to more effectively engage them.  Who knows, maybe holograms, as CNN demo-ed during the 2008 elections, are next--they certainly approach magic if you ask me.