World AIDS Day: Turning Disaster into Opportunity

If you’re a fan of U2, you may have been wondering what the band was going to do for yesterday’s World AIDS Day without its fearless leader, Bono.

The singer, whose ONE Campaign and Product(RED) cause marketing effort have been longtime nonprofit faces of the AIDS-eradication movement, was seriously injured in a bike accident last month. The mishap, in which Bono suffered multiple fractures  (opens in a new tab), was serious enough to sideline the band during a promotional campaign for its latest album.

But rather than let the situation get them down, U2 got a little help from some famous friends,  (opens in a new tab)particularly Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. The band, nicknamed U2 Minus One for the occasion, took the stage at a benefit concert Monday night with the two equally high-profile singers taking Bono’s place.

The show went on as planned, and as a result, the unusual scene of The Boss leading U2 in “Where the Streets Have No Name” drew more attention to the benefit concert  (opens in a new tab) than it might have earned on its own.

For event planners there’s an important lesson here. In the occasion where the star of the show can’t make it, your organization can still come out ahead with some quick thinking.

The secret is to build a contingency plan, along with being quick-witted when it comes to making the right phone calls. Your Rolodex may not roll as deep as Bono’s, but odds are that it runs pretty deep. Leverage that.

Infographics: Still Worth It?

Are Infographics Still Worth the Investment? Take a look w/ this piece by @ExpWriters  (opens in a new tab) http://t.co/zJXIWCqDui  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) #sm4np  (opens in a new tab) #smallbusiness  (opens in a new tab)

— Incline Marketing (@InclineMktg) December 1, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

For years, detailed infographics have found a safe home online, but their value hasn’t always been consistent. Why’s that? For one thing, not all infographics are created equal, and the low-quality ones have lessened the impact of those that actually do a good job covering a well-researched topic.

For a while, there was a concern that leaning too much on infographics could hurt your search engine mojo, but Business 2 Community‘s Julia McCoy says  (opens in a new tab) the real answer is somewhere in between. If the content is good and the information is relevant to the reader, it can still do quite well for you.

“Just like any other type of content, you can either nail it or fail it with an infographic,” McCoy writes. “If you focus on producing high quality, you’ll fly. But if you produce low quality, you’ll get hammered!” (ht @ InclineMktg  (opens in a new tab))

Other Links of Note

Here’s a map that should give you pause: The cybersecurity firm Norse has an interactive graphic  (opens in a new tab) that shows all distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks taking place, live. It’s mind-blowing, honestly.

Think less, develop more: Inc.com contributor Mark Miller has a few useful brainstorming tips  (opens in a new tab).

If your workers are too anxious about responding to their emails right away, it might be sapping their excitement about going to work, Business Insider notes  (opens in a new tab).

Filling in for Bono: Bruce Springsteen. (YouTube screenshot)