Sam Michel's blog

A few weeks ago, myself and some of the Chinwag gang trotted off to VIctoria to meet with UK Trade & Invest. If you've not come across them before, then hopefully that's something that will change in the coming months.

OK, so I thought I'd got some of the major predictions for the year. Deirdre's back in the office for half a day, and wallop, she's got a hole lot more to add to the list. And their corkers:

The relative peace of these first three days back in the office has given me far too many opportunities to procrastinate on the rather impressive email mountain that's appeared in my inbox over the holidays. In a further, and I'd like to think, rather productive attempt to put off tackling this I cast an email out to the sages of the uk-netmarketing list hunting for 2008 predictions for digital media, either those they'd found online or, if brave enough, any of their own.

The Chinwag massive was out and about yesterday, firstly taking in a Chinwag Live 'On  Tour' session at ad:tech London, followed by a swift beverage across the road with friends, colleagues, contacts and exhausted exhibitors from the show.

In a fit of configuration and setting this up, we've created a new group for Chinwaggers on LinkedIn. This comes hot on the heels of the Facebook group, which has been a handy way of keeping people in touch with the latest happenings at Chinwag Towers.

Interesting to see that the social network frenzy continues unabated. So, Facebook finally grabs the UK's No. 1 social media slot from Myspace.

I love email. Well, I say love, what I actually mean is that it's my primary form of communication at work. Email can be great, especially if its well-crafted, but beware of what you send. Sometimes it can go badly wrong.

In the TV business, there's a lot of discussion, some might say nooise, about user-generated content and how it can be harnessed to create "TV". I'm sure it's one of the topics that we'll tackle at the next Chinwag Live debate, Web TV Takeover.

It might be an age-old stereotype, but in that freaky way that activity online mirrors the real-world, so it does here, too. A survey produced by Bizrate.com, reported by eMarketer, showed that the balance of US online buyers in 2002 shifted towards a majority of female buyers.

What do you get if you cross a games console, TV tuner, a personal video recorder (e.g. TiVo or Sky+) with a recordable DVD player, music player and throw in some Internet connectivity for good measure?

Ask someone how they found out information about their latest holiday and it's increasingly likely they'll have used the Internet. Heck, even my Dad's at it and he only started using a computer in the last couple of years. According to a recent survey by Churchill Insurance, 60% of us depend daily on the Internet.

Some other titbits from the research:

Recent research from Nielsen//NetRatings, covered by Netimperative is claiming a massive rise in the number of high-speed internet connections in the UK with a staggering 235% growth rate. Across the whole of Europe, the rate is lower at 136%, but still represents significant growth.

The number 419 may mean nothing to you. However, if you've had an email address for a while the chances are a solicitation has slipped through your spam filters enticing you to send your bank details off to Nigeria to share in untold wealth.

The 4-1-9 scam is particularly well known, with both the US Secret Service and the Nigerian Government setting up websites devoted to tackling the problem.

Well. Are you? Now's your chance to prove your marketing nouse, with this Marketing IQ test from Copernicus Marketing Consulting.

Decide whether the 20 statements presented are true or false. For the cop-outs amongst us, there's a don't know option, too. Correct answers get you points, which you'll lose for getting questions wrong. Fun and educational. What more could you ask for?

Finding the time and budget to attend a conference these days is getting more and more difficult. If international terrorism and lurgies don't put you off, then there's a good chance you'll spend plenty of time trying to convince the powers that be they should let you jet off to some exotic location.