A Few of My Favorite Things ...

Don't worry - I'm not going to break into the score from the Sound of Music. (Although now I will have that tune running through my head the rest of the day.)

Instead, I wanted to take a minute to share a few of my favorite things - those "tech" tools that make my job a little easier. Some of these are old news - ones that we, and probably many of you, have been using forever. Keep in mind though, that "forever" in the world of today's technology may mean less than a year. Others are ones that I'd heard about but have just recently found ways to adapt to our clients' needs.

1) Delicious - This social bookmarking site has been on my radar for a year or two, but I never understood the appeal. Maybe it's because I'm not a big "bookmarker" -- it's always seemed just as easy to turn to my old friend Google to track down what I needed.

But this year I've seen the light. For associations that are trying to keep track of their news coverage without the help of expensive media monitoring services, Delicious can be a simple and easy way to organize these story and article links. Each day, I can check my Google and Yahoo News Alerts, as well as my blog searches, and pull all relevant links into my Delicious site. Gone are the days of staff members constantly e-mailing links around the office -- these are all collected and easily viewable from one single site. And it's easy to share with others outside the office, such as clients or partners, and easy to sort with the use of tags.

2) Splitweet - Ok, I know I'm probably going to get blasted for this one, as I've been told time and again of the vast superiority of Tweetdeck and other Twitter applications. And depending on what you're trying to do, they can be. But for basic posting across multiple accounts and clients - particularly when you have multiple "tweeters" in your organization, Splitweet is simple and straightforward. (But then again, maybe next month I'll be telling you about my new love affair with Tweetdeck - technology is a fickle mistress.)

3) SurveyMonkey -An oldie but goodie. It may not have many bells or whistles, but it gets the job done. Its simplicity also makes it less "frightening" for our less tech-savvy members, which increases the likelihood that they'll respond. From meeting evaluations to consumer surveys to publication feedback, SurveyMonkey continues to be our go-to online survey service. Although, I'll admit, Zoomerang has more recently caught my eye -- would love to hear feedback on this service from someone currently using it.

So, tell me, what are a few of YOUR "favorite things" at the moment?