CRM Update – May 28 : 3:08 pm

Oracle announces a significant buy, acquiring cloud-based social, marketing company Vitrue on Wednesday.

An Indian company is opening a 300-seat call center in Columbia.

AMC Technology, a provider of enterprise and contact center application integration software, announced today that its Contact Canvas 2012 will be sold through Avaya.

It used to be that the only reputable research was academic studies that involved hidden research methods and concealing of findings until published later in scholarly journals. With many universities having a “publish or parish” mentality, faculty and scholars took careful steps to conceal research in desk drawers promoting a very un-collaborative environment.
However, research is changing, and the ability to search and share data and information is quite different as other platforms are helping scholars organize and navigate data…

Like it or not, emotions are a big part of leadership. Here’s how to deal with them–without becoming your team’s therapist.I once had a coaching client express her frustration with the inability of a senior team to get behind a plan and get moving. The client was a good leader with a good team. But the organization’s growth, its pace of change, and uncertainty about its future had led to a series of false starts. The CEO was exasperated and asked, essentially, “What is it that the team does not get?”While the team may have intellectually “got it” about the new plan, their collective emotions did not…

The Dark Knight does not care about iPhones or Androids — he’s all about Windows Phone 7, wrapped into a black polycarbonate shell of a Lumia 900.
That, at least, is what Nokia wants us to believe as it prepares a Batman-themed Lumia 900, announced via Twitter.
The device, Pocket-lint learns, will be “extremely limited,” and will come only in black, with a laser-etched Batman logo on the back. It’s safe to assume that, functionality-wise, it will be exactly the same as the standard Lumia 900…

The World at Work is powered by GE. This new series highlights the people, projects and startups that are driving innovation and making the world a better place.

Name: WILL Interactive
Big Idea: WILL Interactive develops Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulations (VEILS), which are interactive movies that force users to make serious decisions as a learning experience.
Why It’s Working: With more than 70 games on topics including the military, financial decision-making and youth education, WILL Interactive has developed a new form of educational and therapeutic media…

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his bride, Priscilla Chan, have made a bizarre, odds-beating cameo in a Chinese documentary that’s become a viral sensation in that country.
The doc, from China Central Television, shows the two cavorting in Shanghai in March, weeks before their recent wedding. The pair visited the country that month for a personal trip. According to CNet, the images of Zuck and Chan have since gone viral in China on Sina Weibo, a popular social media site.
The 40-second clip above shows the two apparently caught at random during the shooting of the doc — an unlikely event considering Shanghai’s population of 13 million…

Are you looking for simple, straightforward metrics to measure the impact of your social media efforts?Social networks and blogs continue to dominate Americans’ time online (accounting for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet) according to a recent Nielsen report on social media, .While we all know how important it is to market through the various social networks, it is vital to track and measure your efforts for success.Here are five simple metrics to find out whether your social media effort is paying dividends…

One of my favorite games when I was younger was Hide and Seek. I loved the thrill of finding a great hiding place, but even more than that I loved being the one looking. Excitement came for me from asking the question, “If I were Grant, where would I be hiding?” Knowing Grant was one of my heavier friends, I could pretty much rule out under any of the beds or in tight spaces. Also, knowing his habitual fear of heights, the surrounding trees were out.
That pretty much left the closets in my house, making sure that Grant would be the one seeking in the next round…

It’s no secret that at one in 1,000, the average click-through rate for banner ad is rather pitiful. Think of other things with similar probabilities. For instance, over the course of your life, you have a one in 3,000 chance of getting struck by lightning.
Despite the challenging odds, a few intrepid ad executives still see banners as promising terrain. The fact that display ads are often seen as a backwater controlled by direct-response marketers doesn’t daunt such modern day Mad Men, who think they can redefine the medium and, yes, even get readers to click…

URL structure is one of the most important and basic elements of SEO and, even in this day and age, far too many sites ignore URL best practices. If you have ever encountered an overly long URL that is mostly a series of numbers that mean absolutely nothing to you (or anyone else besides the site’s original webmaster for that matter), then you know exactly what I mean. Below are the basic guidelines for creating search engine friendly URLs that both users and web crawlers will find appealing…

An estimated $53 billion will be spent on pets this year. This is just one reason that the pet care industry is ripe for starting a business. Here are a few more reasons.Why It’s HotDogs (and cats) have long been man’s best friend, and these days, they’re full-fledged members of the family. Pet owners dote on their feline and canine “children” with deluxe hotel suites, wading pools, and in-home grooming services. Forget about old-fashioned kennels; today, pet owners take their companions for massages and psychotherapy…

An estimated $53 billion will be spent on pets this year. Good thing entrepreneur Lori Weiner’s pet hotel specializes in fancy pet services.Lori Weiner raises and handles show dogs. In her 15-year career, she has shown Afghan hounds, borzoi, and two types of greyhounds—over 18 dogs in all—at thousands of shows in the U.S. and Canada.So when Weiner thought of starting a business, she decided to go with her passion: pet care. In February 2011, Weiner launched The Pet Hotel at Barkingham Palace, a Palm Desert, California-based boutique boarding and grooming place for dogs, cats, and birds…

T-Mobile is hiring in Springfield.

Gone are the days when you could simply break into TV viewers’ shows with your ad, tell them how great your product is and then wait for them to show up at your door. The Internet doesn’t work that way. While the Internet can connect you with a wider pool of potential customers, it’s also more challenging.
The issue is your potential customers can instantly click away to countless competitors around the world. Paradoxically, the Internet’s vast reach also comes with a personal touch. People don’t just view information; they interact with it and with those giving it to them…