Jeff Davidson's session

The benefits you will receive for attending Jeff Davidson's session on Managing Information and Communication Overload

[ ] identify major inhibitors of information management and learn to avoid them

[ ] become and remain organized

[ ] gain more room in your desk, file folders, shelves, and cabinets

[ ] manage your computer desktop with the same grace and ease as your physical desktop

[ ] gain practical tips and strategies for handling the daily volume of information

[ ] improve concentration for tasks big and small, long and short

[ ] keep track of professional as well as personal tasks you're handling

[ ] develop a rapid responsive system for verbal, written, and e-communications

[ ] more easily identify, screen, and assess information potentially valuable to you

[ ] cross fertilize disparate ideas to derive new insights and effective solutions

[ ] overcome the sense of overwhelm that can diminish your energy and creativity

Gap Between Press and Public

Survey Finds Huge Gap Between Press and Public on Many Issues
By Joe Strupp, a senior editor at Editor & Publisher, May 15, 2005

A survey released last May reveals a wide gap on many media issues between a group of journalists and the general public. In one finding, 43% of the public say they believe the press has too much freedom, while only 3% of journalists agree. Just 14% of the public can name "freedom of the press" as a guarantee in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in the major poll conducted by the University of Connecticut Department of Public Policy.

Six in ten among the public feel the media show bias in reporting the news, and 22% say the government should be allowed to censor the press. More than 7 in 10 journalists believe the media does a good or excellent job on accuracy--but only 4 in 10 among the public feel that way. And a solid 53% of the public think stories with unnamed sources should not be published at all.

Perhaps the widest gap of all: 8 in 10 journalists said they read blogs, while less than 1 in 10 others do so. Still, a majority of the news pros do not believe bloggers deserve to be called journalists.

Asked who they voted for in the past election, the journalists reported picking Kerry over Bush by 68% to 25%. In this sample of 300 journalists, from both newspapers and TV, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 3 to 1 -– but about half claim to be Independent. As in previous polls, a majority (53%) called their political orientation "moderate," versus 28% liberal and 10% conservative.

The new poll was carried out in March and April. For the public opinion part, 1000 adults were interviewed.

6 Keys to the Future, circa 1990

In his 1990 book, Powershift, author Alvin Toffler proclaimed that the top six keys to the future are:
* interactivity * mobility * convertibility
* connectivity * ubiquity * globalization.

When combined, said Toffler these six principles point to a total transformation, not nearly in the way we send messages to one another, but in the way we think, how we see ourselves in the world, where we stand in our relationships. Put together, they will make it impossible for any institution to manage ideas, imagery data information or knowledge as they once did.

Still true? Could be.

Webliography on Info Overload

Here is an “Information/Work Overload Annotated Webliography.” Best bet: scroll down to the turquoise blue banner containing links to books and articles.

Cell Phones and Family Tension

Study: Cell phones tied to family tension

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The round-the-clock availability that cell phones and pagers have brought to people's lives may be taking a toll on family life, a new study suggests.

The study, which followed more than 1,300 adults over 2 years, found that those who consistently used a mobile phone or pager throughout the study period were more likely to report negative "spillover" between work and home life -- and, in turn, less satisfaction with their family life.

Spillover essentially means that the line between work and home begins to blur. Work life may invade home life -- when a parent is taking job-related calls at home, for instance -- or household issues may start to take up work time.

In the latter scenario, a child may call mom at work, not to say that he aced his English test but that the "microwave exploded," explained Noelle Chesley, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the author of the study.

The problem with cell phones and pagers seems to be that they are allowing for ever more spillover between work and home, according to Chesley's findings, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. This may be especially true for working women, the study found.

Among men, consistent use of mobile phones and pagers seemed to allow more work issues to creep into family time. But for women, the spillover tended to go in both directions -- being "connected" meant that work cut into home time, and family issues seeped into work life. And people who reported more negative spillover -- spillover of the exploding-microwave variety -- tended to be less satisfied with their family life.

The point, Chesley told Reuters, is that cell phones and pagers seem to be opening more lines for stressful exchanges among family members, rather than positive ones….