I’ve been trying to get my colleagues to acknowledge that attacking our information overload problem will improve our overall knowledge sharing collaboration efforts and also contribute to our bottom line. But some people here just don’t understand the extent of the problem.

I just read about information overload awarenesss day and I’ve signed up our company as a participant and designated site – I hope this will get my point across to my colleagues and help them understand what we can do to improve our overall position relative to information overload. For others in my position (and I’m sure there are many of you) I encourage you to do the same, Information is available at http://www.informationoverloadday.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124683648696297965.html

Keep up the great work!!

You wrote in a post last year (Tech industry is at fault) that what you wanted “is for someone in the tech industry to step up and offer something that helps the knowledge worker – the everyday Joe. Not the IT department. ”

Well, as this post illustrates, the problem has not been solved, it has only become bigger !

My company has just recently launched a new product aimed at making YOUR life easier; PpcSoft iKnow is a personal knowledge management tool that is VERY easy to use, but still powerful enough to help you with all the different fragments of information that are causing you information overload.

Visit http://www.ppcsoft.com for more information

(by posting here I’m pretty sure your 78-year old neighbor won’t get the same message as you

Also as most organizations cut staff are they actually eliminating Non-productive information work, such as reformatting documents or reentering documents into computers or is some proportion of just being deferred for when the economy recovers (piles of paper waiting to be scanned etc.)

Has the IDC done some work related to managing IO in a recessionary environment ? Srategies/tactics for dealing with IO may differ in a recessionary environment vs. those in a static or growth environment.

http://www.orla.org

Compiled by Lou Berceli.

Please add any additions about your e-media overloads and leading edge DM solutions

Today’s e-media overload has created a B to B & B to C marketing challenge.

● We will each receive 6,390 unwanted e-mails a year by 2008 on average. per Jupiter Research August 2007

● Most are blocking, filtering and / or deleting far more e-mails at our home, office and on mobile PDAs than we are reading!

● Yahoo Mail, G Mail, AOL block or filter Billions of SPAM e-mails daily. 75% to 80% of business e-mail is Spam per Postini

● 49% of American adults change at least one e-mail address yearly. Ever wonder why? The Center for Media Research

● 145 million or 73% of American consumers are on 2007 National Do-Not-Call Registry. Canada started in Oct. 2008

● By 2009, TIVO and DVRs allow consumers to easily avoid commercials in over 40% of U.S. homes per Ad Age

● Consumers surf hundreds of TV channels, Web and Social Networking sites each month adding to e-media overload.

● iPod / MP3 players, Internet Radio are eroding broadcast radio’s commercial ad power in consumers’ cars, homes, mobile.

● Soon you will experience even more e-Media Ad Overload with Mobile TV via Smart Cell Phone and online with Hulu TV Free 24 x 7.

● U.S. Cell phone text message SPAM dramatically increased to 1.5 Billion messages in 2008 per Ferris Research

● By 2009, over 20 million subscribers will enjoy commercial free Sirius XM Radio in cars, home & office. Media Daily News

● 70% of Consumers say they receive too many e-mail promotions. Averaging 110 / week. Forrester

● Many e-promos / e-newsletters we originally signed up for are unread, deleted or filtered into overloaded e-mail in-boxes.

● Video monitors deliver promo ads to us at the grocery store cash register, gas station pumps, in elevators, fast food restaurants.

● The average American is exposed to as many as 3000 advertising messages per day. InfoTrends

Direct Mail is rapidly evolving as a multi-channel direct marketing media.

Direct Mail NEVER interrupts your favorite TV show / movie or enjoyment of radio music. You decide when to read DM !

USPS study concluded that 76% of American homes average 25 minutes a day reading direct mail.

Direct Marketing Association study shows over 35% prefer to respond to direct mail by going on-line.

Highly targeted direct mail lists help increase response rates for retail and e-commerce traffic and B to B sales.

Database driven direct mail marketing cuts through some of the e-media overload for most multi-channel marketers.

TransPromo = the merging of relevant DM Promo offers within your monthly Transactional statements is rapidly growing

Several companies now offer very high speed roll-fed digital color variable printing systems with cost saving inline finishing at greatly reduced costs per copy.

Adding variable imaged Personal URLs or PURLs to a direct mailer is a growing trend proven to increase response rates.

Cross-media PURLs offers real time response reporting, measurable ROI and can include rich audio/video media content and online coupons to drive measurable store traffic.

Contact: LouBerceli@Gmail.com http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/LouBerceli

In the sphere of Data (an important contributor to the “Overload” in IO), Business Intelligence Tools provide the ability to transform data into Intelligence and more importantly Actionable Intelligence. So most Decision Makers today are not deluged by raw data but by Metrics/Dashboards/Scorecards etc. on which to base their decision.

Similar aggregation, consolidation and presentation of other elements of Information can help in managing the “Overload” effectively.

As for the guy who spends “50 0f 60 minutes glued to the blackberry” the issue may be less about Information Overload and more about his need to get a Social Skills 101 Refresher !!