Voting Goes Digital on Election Day

Today is Election Day, which is exciting particularly for residents of Oregon. As part of a pilot program, some disable will cast their votes with an iPad instead of a regular paper ballot. Oregon is the first state to use iPads in the voting process.

Apple donated five iPads to the state for the program, and Oregon developed software to make the voting process work. The office tested several different types of devices before settling on the iPad.

Oregon officials tested the iPad, Android tablet, a Windows-based tablet, the Lenovo Thinkpad and a regular laptop to see which was the most effective in assisting residents with disabilities.

State officials plan to use iPads in the January elections as well. We expect to see other states implementing technology into the voting process, to increase efficiency, accuracy and lower costs.

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Google+ Pages Versus Facebook Pages

Yesterday Google introduced business and brand pages for their social platform Google+. The concept is clearly modeled after Facebook’s Pages. But, are they really that similar?

Internal research shows us they are different, and in fact, Google+ pages could be superior in the long run. Here is why:

• Search — Google+ will most likely appear in Realtime Search results, and Facebook and Twitter no longer can, due to expired contracts. This will give businesses the opportunity to appear organically in real-time on a user’s search query.
• Integration — With the introduction of Google Pages, there is little reason for users to leave the world of Google products – which includes calendars, email, apps, video chat, and now a social network.
• Location — Google can integrate the new Google+ pages with Google Places, which appear in its Maps search results. This would allow a user to interact directly with a given company after it appeared on Google Maps, which Facebook is not able to do.
• Additional benefits include Google Ads, Analytics and Google Wallet, an e-commerce portal. All of these combined set up an ideal community for businesses seeking an online presence.

However, the overall success of Google + for businesses will depend on adoption levels. Many companies maintain a presence on Facebook and are hesitant to devote resources to a new platform that is less populated. Will your organization create a Google Business Page?

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