In February, the Republican National Committee held its first-ever Tech Summit. The event, which was open to the public and broadcast over the internet, brought together party leaders, tech experts, and marketers to address the party's real and perceived technological weaknesses. Following Democrat Barack Obama's presidential win—widely attributed to his successful use of technology and new media to connect with young voters—in 2008, the Republican Party has begun to get serious about embracing innovation.

Organized by RNC chair Michael Steele, the summit featured a series of presentations about how the party can build its technological savvy and use everything from social networking sites to video games to iPhone applications to build its base.

“When we get to 2010, I want my campaigns here,” said Steele, holding up his cell phone. “I want whatever we're doing to be within my thumb's reach. We don't want to just do what Obama did in '08—that's the floor.”

Though technology was the primary topic at the Tech Summit, several attendees argued that the party's real weakness is not its rocky relationship with new media, but rather its lack of a cohesive, inspirational message to unite the party and win the hearts and votes of the American people.

“Every generation has to use the technology of their generation,” said Newt Gingrich. However, “what really matters is not how you communicate, but what you communicate.”

1. Identify your target audience. Who would you like to have reading your blog? Existing customers? Potential customers? Technophiles? Technophobes? Studies show that most executive-level decision makers don't regularly read blogs, but lower-level influencers do. Whoever your target readers are, you'll want to make sure to tailor your content to their interests.
    
2. Define your subject matter. Will you write about company news? About industry news? About new products and service offerings? Will you offer technical advice? Tips and tricks for better or more economical printing? Give your blog focus by choosing a general subject that you can write about competently and which will appeal to your target audience. 
    
3. Monitor your traffic. Have your webmaster install tracking software so you can see which blog entries are getting the most hits, and which are getting the fewest. Knowing these statistics, you can tailor your future content to appeal more strongly to your readers.
    
4. Use keywords. The same keywords you use (or should be using) throughout your website to attract more visitors and improve your search engine results can be used throughout your blog entries to score more Google hits. If you're a Cincinnati-based Ricoh dealership, for example, you'll want to use words like "Cincinnati" "Ricoh" "copier" and "dealer" as often as possible.
    
5. Monitor or disable comments. The last thing you want is for weird comments from customers, competitors, or random internet weirdos to reflect badly on your business. Disable comments in your blog, or—if you think it's necessary to have them—make sure to monitor them closely. Only approve those comments that are fit for publication.
    
6. Update frequently. Keep your readers interested by adding fresh content often, at least a couple of times a week. It's better not to blog at all than to blog too infrequently.”
    
7. Stick to business. Just because blogging offers a casual way to connect with clients doesn't mean your tone or your content should be casual. Keep it relevant and professional, and for goodness' sake, use your spell check.

KMBS announces new direct organization.   In furtherance of their one company, one vision, one voice theme, Rick Taylor, KMBS COO, today announced the formation of a new direct organization named Konica Minolta Imaging (KMI). KMI will consist of Konica Minolta’s direct branches and some subsidiaries as well as the former Danka operations.

KMI will consist of approximately 150 sales locations covering 30 strategic market areas.   Each market area will be managed by a Market Vice President, reporting to one of four Regional Presidents who will report to the President of KMI.
Stating that KMI has been designed to bring decision-making closer to the customer and allow quick response to changes in local market conditions, the Regional Presidents will have full operational and P&L responsibility for the region.
The leaders of this new organization are as follows:

President, Konica Minolta Imaging: Bill Troxil, who will report directly to Rick Taylor. Bill most recently served as President and COO of Konica Minolta Danka Imaging and Danka Office Imaging before last year’s acquisition.

President, Eastern Region: Mark Bradford has been with Konica Minolta for 25 years in numerous executive positions in both the field and home office. Since last September, Mark has served as Senior Vice President & General Manager of Konica Minota’s Direct Sales Operations.

President, South Region: Brent Colston joins KMI from Toshiba Business Solutions (TBS) where he spent the last eight years as President of TBS Florida/Georgia.

President, Western Region: Bill Michas joined KMI from Toshiba Business Solutions where he served as President of TBS California/Nevada.

The President for the Midwest Region: To be announced.
Rick went on to highlight how well positioned KMBS will be with their powerful dealer network and a profit focused branch network.

KMBS’ mantra of one company, one vision, one theme is clearly more than just words. Rick and the other executives at KMBS are focused to building a quality direct organization that will function harmoniously with their dealer channel.

Ricoh Demonstrates New Embedded Intelligence Technology for Monitoring Networked MFPs at IBM Pulse Conference. This solution tracks the activity of all Ricoh MFPs connected to a network in order to gauge real-time metrics of power usage through IBM's Tivoli system management software.  The system is able to identify when established thresholds have been reached and it will automatically adjust the network's settings, helping companies to keep their energy use under control.

Xerox Canada CEO Kevin Warren Named One of Black Enterprise Magazine's "100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America."  Warren's appointment makes him the first CEO of a Canadian company to be named to the list since its inception in 2005.  "Kevin has served as an excellent role model in both the business and philanthropic community in Canada," says Damon Knights, president of the Canadian chapter of the National Black MBA Association.  "In his relatively short time as Xerox Canada CEO, he has become a founding member of our organization, [has] volunteer[ed] on numerous boards, and has made youth-focused charities a priority." 

HP Announces Support for Windows Mobile 6.5 on Future Smartphones.  Windows Mobile 6.5 on smartphones will offer key enhancements to business productivity, personal messaging, and mobile internet capabilities, making it easier for mobile customers to communicate and to manage critical business and personal information. "HP continues to work toward developing smartphones that simplify the mobile experience and meet evolving customer needs," said Susan Macke, VP of Marketing for HP's Handheld Global Business Unit.  "Working closely with key partners such as Microsoft allows for smooth integration of new technologies for the best possible customer experience." 

CompTIA Preparing Best-in-Class Index for Managed Technology Service Providers.  The index, developed in cooperation with Service Leadership, Inc., an industry benchmarking firm, will identify and provide comprehensive analysis on more than 45 critical factors and ratios that affect success or failure in the managed services market.  Data for the index is being collected from managed service providers through an online survey, available at www.comptia.org. 

ITEX To Be Held March 18-19^th in Las Vegas. For more information about ITEX, visit www.itexshow.com. 

Last month, we asked you whether your business or employer is properly equipped to offer managed print services. The results were split nearly down the middle, with 53.9% of respondents saying their companies are ready to offer managed print and 43.9% saying that their companies aren't ready, but they need to make the transition soon. A mere 3% defended the ol' box-selling model—these respondents said they don't offer managed print services, nor do they believe that it's necessary to do so. Here's what you told us:

Reader comments included:

“Managed print services are the only way to make any money these days.  It's good for clients and for the dealership.”

“All too often, great ideas get ahead of real life situations and end up making everyone lose credibility.  There is no end to the companies touting the best MPS tools, plans, and solutions.  Unfortunately, many have never actually signed a deal or faced an IT or department manager!  MPS strategies need a great deal of planning and thought, but they also need the 'buy-in' of the entire organization.  Unless everyone is on board and supporting the MPS team, it will fail." 

“No matter what the sales strategy is, at the end of the day stellar customer service, [good] people, and strong partnerships with your customers win more business."

“I'm not buying it.  Just sell boxes.” 

“Managed print services are the future of our industry.”

“Managed print services are at the forefront of our offerings, and we're completely set up to implement all functions and sizes.  What worries me is being recently bought by a large manufacturer, with the underlying statement of 'sell the box and not the complete package.'”

Does your company operate a blog?

- Yes.
- No.