Jan. 07 - Jan. 13, 2005

High Tech

Chamber adds RSS feed to keep members in the loop

by KEN SCHACHTER

Is e-mail just too slow in keeping your customers, members or employees up to date?

Then consider this from the playbook of Huntington-based Young Professionals Chamber of Commerce (www.ypchamber.com).

In December, the group supplemented its online membership tools with an RSS feed that can provide fresh information almost instantaneously.

RSS - Really Simple Syndication - spares Web surfers from revisiting Web sites to check for updates. For instance, users of the My Yahoo! personalized portal can add YPCC headlines to their lists of news sources. When YPCC adds news, it automatically pops up on subscribers' My Yahoo! pages. Other RSS readers can deliver updates to users' e-mail boxes.

"We use it in addition to our e-mail list," said Gregory Galant, president and CEO of Internet provider Halenet Inc. and founder of the YPCC. It lets you get the information "on your own terms," he added.

What's the future of RSS and business? Galant believes it will be big.

"As more people view their news through RSS, the impact on businesses could be huge," he said in an e-mail. "They'll have the opportunity to micropublish their news updates, tip sheets and event listings through RSS in the same manner as major media sources."