Today is the last day you can register to attend the 2nd annual Biz Tech Expo! As the area’s largest Business to Business conference, this year’s event will include a variety of educational topics and seminars, a presentation luncheon with two impressive keynote speakers, and the ability to network with tons of successful local businesses. The conference will be held at the Wilmington Convention Center this Thursday, January 26th from 12-7 pm.

Sage Island has been given a special discount code just for our Facebook fans and customers, so if you are in the area and want to attend,  register with the code: sagebiztech. This waives the $5 entry fee to attend both the Expo and the after hours event. We hope to see you there!

Since the rise of social media, many people have questioned whether people are migrating away from TV to engage more in popular social media platforms. Recently, this theory was put to the test.

Major news organizations including, ABC, CNN, BBC, ITV, Sky and others have been working extremely close with Twitter’s Media Team on new ways to integrate live media coverage and Twitter. As of last week, Twitter experienced its widest television integration to date with live coverage surrounding the royal wedding. According to Twitter Media, Royal Wedding related hashtags dominated the conversation with over 5.8 million tweets in a little over four days, with peak activity at 16,000 tweets per minute between 5 and 6am ET on the wedding day. On-air integration of Twitter hashtags were made very prominent within the live TV broadcasting of the Royal Wedding events, turning normal viewers into engaged participants. As part of the new media marketing environment, it was very exciting to witness.

There are many other successful campaigns integrating Twitter and TV – the Royal Wedding was just one example that reached new heights. Twitter reports that they have found that when TV shows bring Twitter elements into a broadcast, there is a direct and immediate increase in engagement on Twitter – that can ultimately drive higher TV viewership.

These media platforms are finding ways to complement one another more and more every day. Broadcasters are eager to develop new ways to encourage engagement, and utilizing social media marketing is certainly one way to do just that.

Earlier this week, Google began testing their new Voice Search feature, which is a voice activated search that recognizes several different languages and different speech patterns. This feature has been available for some time now on the Android platform phones, but until now has never been tested for your home and office computers. When the voice feature recognizes your microphone settings, it includes a “Speak Now” button located next to the search bar.  And the search doesn’t just stop there; the new voice feature allows you to speak commands as well. For example, if I speak “Directions to Sage Island Marketing Agency” it will pull up the Google Maps tab and provide the directions that I had asked for. I can also say “Listen to Lady Gaga” and it will pull up the appropriate program, such as Pandora, and begin playing the station that you had asked for.

Some may believe that this feature is not as helpful in settings like the office, but for the people that can speak much faster than they can type, this feature could be fully utilized. A voice search desktop widget could also be in the works for this product. Google has given no statement that they plan to permanently include this feature on their site, but for now it is released to a select amount of users.

What do you think about Google Voice Search?

As tornadoes continue to touch down over the U.S., having access to immediate information is so important. Once again, social media platforms, especially Twitter, are helping to spread the word about the devastating tornadoes, and are perhaps saving lives.

It is said that most deaths and injuries happen to people who are uninformed and unaware. Having access to social media can help you stay alert. To track the weather conditions in your state via Twitter, you can follow #(state abbreviation)wx. For instance, our Sage Island office is in NC, so we are following the hashtag #NCwx very closely. We hope everyone stays safe until these storms pass!

Facebook launched their Deals site earlier today to a small group of cities including San Francisco, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta and San Diego. The new Groupon competitor site fully utilizes all of the social features of Facebook, such as Notifications, Sponsored Stories, Likes and Shares amongst friends, email blasts and more.  Within the Facebook Deals Guide for Business they describe the Deals feature as a way to create unique social experiences for friends to enjoy together. Deals encourage people to share their excitement about your business, creating word-of-mouth for your business and can help you build long lasting relationships with your customers.

We believe this new Facebook feature is a great way to increase new customer reach, as well as increase your brand and customer loyalty. Facebook seems to be making it increasingly easier for people to recommend your business through several different sharing options within their platform. These days it is crucial to utilize the marketing features of Facebook and other social media channels because of their endless opportunities and simpler marketing tactics.

If you have any questions about Facebook Marketing, please feel free to contact us here at Sage Island.

Join over 400 Wilmington area professionals for the 2011 Wilmington Information Technology eXchange and Conference. Held on April 7, WITX will bring leading professionals from the technology industry, along with UNCW students and faculty together to discuss the ever-evolving technology trends for 2011.

Focusing on information technology, Wilmington area industry leaders will demonstrate the technologies they are developing, and how technology is being integrated into industry applications.

As an experienced internet marketing professional, Sage Island’s very own Mike Duncan will participate on a panel specific to Social Networking and Collaboration Tools at 3:45 p.m. In this session, Mike will provide insightful information on current social media platforms. You won’t want to miss it!

Following this panel, students, faculty and local technology companies have the opportunity to network and share collective technology experiences in an open networking forum. Jason Dudley, UNCW IT student and Sage Island employee will be showcasing a project alongside other students from the Information Systems and Computer Science Department.

While the exhibit and networking opportunity is free of charge, the panel presentations require registration and seats are quickly filling. Register today and reserve your spot.

Mike is preparing for his big trip to China! Check out the Press Release below:

Local Business Owner to attend China Action Sports Retail Summit

WILMINGTON, NC, September 16, 2010 — Wilmington native and local business owner Mike Duncan will be a presenter at the China Actions Sports Retail Summit and CASE this month. Held September 25th-28th in conjunction with a Surfing Festival in Hangzhou, China, the Summit will bring together experts in the actions sports industry to focus on how action sports retail is evolving in the country and how US retailers can grow business in China during these fundamental, early years. The summit will include panels and Q & A on how US brands and independent retailers can partner to grow their business. “The potential for growth in this new, growing market is unlimited, and we are excited to be a part of this conference,” said Duncan.

Mike will be attending the summit on behalf of Board Retailers Association – a nonprofit organization that represents over 3,500 US storefronts in the action sports industry. The association is recognized nationally as the representative of surf, skate, snow, wake, wind and kite specialty retailers. BRA identifies ways of lowering the day-to-day costs of doing business and negotiates on behalf of the group to strengthen the specialty retail distribution base and grow the industry. The Board Retailers Association serves as the preeminent voice for independent retailers with manufacturers, trade show representatives and other associations. Mike’s experience in the action sports industry does not stop with BRA. He is also CEO of Warehouse Skateboards, an online skateboard store with over 15,000 products, all skate specific. WarehouseSkateboards.com is the go-to place on the internet to buy anything from decks, wheels, and accessories, and for skaters to immerse themselves in the online community Mike has created. Mike is also CEO of Sage Island, a local marketing agency with a large action sports client base