It's helpful to refer to Gartner Research Director Lydia Leong's blog post detailing the process of creating a Magic Quadrant report. 

"We lay this process out formally in the initiation letters sent to vendors when we start MQ research, so I'm not giving away any secrets here, just exposing a process that's probably not well known to people outside of analyst relations roles," she wrote.

Here's Lydia's summary of the objective process that she and the other Gartner analysts follow, which generally takes about four months:

• Step 1: Define a market and inclusion criteria.
• Step 2: Get approval from chief analysts.
• Step 3: Decide evaluation criteria and weights.
• Step 4: Send the evaluation criteria and weights to vendors.
• Step 5: Do hour long briefings with vendors.
• Step 6: Contact three to five reference customers provided by the vendor (however, Gartner mostly relies on the experiences of its clients).
• Step 7: Enter the numeric scores into the tool that generates the Magic Quadrant graph.
• Step 8: Write-up all the text.
• Step 9: Peer review.
• Step 10: Alter text and numeric scores accordingly.
• Step 11: Send the vendors a copy of the graphic and text written about them for fact-checking.
• Step 12: Finally, it goes on to editing and review.

Lydia goes into more detail here.

In Open Leadership, Charlene Li (who also wrote the bestseller Groundswell with former colleague Josh Bernoff at Forrester) offers the next step resource that shows leaders how to tap into the power of the social tech revolution and use social media to be effectively "open" while maintaining control. 

Readers will quickly see that Open Leadership is about how leaders must let go to gain more, and how greater transparency and authenticity can bring significant benefits to organizations.   

The preview copy we received (thanks to Charlene) is now really dogeared - a testimony to this practical work. 

Congratulations to Charlene - We've purchased several copies for Technology PR clients and recommend it to all marketers as a "must read".

See you at the launch party!

Alan Murray, deputy managing editor and executive editor, online, told Media Week today that by using $200 Skype kits for its reporters, the Wall Street Journal's Digital Group has a very low cost model for its new Digits show with no sacrifice in quality.  Murray explained, "Our reporters just need a broadcast connection and they're on." According to Murray, Digits has an economic advantage over traditional news players when it comes to live video on the Web, and that a lot of TV networks have tried this haven’t been able to do justify the expense.  

Beginning today, Digits will air live each weekday at 1:00 p.m. ET from New York and will be available on WSJ.com, Barrons.com, MarketWatch.com, AllThingsD.com and Dow Jones Newswires. Hosted by MarketWatch's Stacey Delo, Digits will feature reporting and analysis presented by reporters and editors from across Dow Jones, including regular contributions from WSJ.com technology editor Julia Angwin; Wall Street Journal personal technology columnist and AllThingsD.com co-editor Walt Mossberg; AllThingsD.com co-editor Kara Swisher; Eric Savitz, Barron's Tech Trader blogger and columnist; and Veronica Dagher of Dow Jones Newswires.  The show will also be available on-demand following the live broadcasts.

Just a few weeks after Gartner's purchase of AMR Research, Gartner announced today that it has acquired Burton Group.    A few clients have joked that it won't be long before the Analyst Relations business is referred to as "Gartner Relations". 

The reality is that there are still hundreds of other independent analysts and analyst firms that influence the purchasing decisions of today's technology buyers and consumers. 

The key to effective analyst relations is in knowing 1) which firms and independent analysts are end-user focused 2) which are vendor-focused, and most importantly, 3) which firms now employ the individual analysts who know your product category or niche industry really well - well enough to still be influencing the purchasing decisions of your target customer base.  

At Media Predicts: 2010, top business and technology journalists were recognized for their significant contributions to journalism, and spoke about the most notable technologies, trends and issues in technology while predicting what will be big in the year ahead. Honorees were: Steven Levy : , WIRED; Ben Worthen : , Wall Street Journal, Digits; Matt Marshall : , VentureBeat, DEMO Conferences; Byron Acohido : , USA Today, LastWatchDog; Brad Stone : , New York Times, Bits; Om Malik : , GigaOM; Connie Guglielmo, Bloomberg News. The discussion was moderated by Jim Goldman of CNBC, and Duffy Jennings of SFGate served as Master of Ceremonies.

Predictions for 2010 included that acquisitions will dominate the technology market, causing the strong [corporations] to get stronger; smart energy management will become a key trend; a very social Web will take over in a bigger way; location-based technologies will finally become prominent; Netbooks will be even hotter; the Android will present tough competition for the iPhone; online banking and small business security will be huge issues. And much, much more.

But before we go, we've rounded up 10 of our tech media friends' Holiday Gift Guides to reference on the mad dash.  Perhaps they'll also be of some help to you!

CNET Holiday Gift Guide

Pogue and Friends Holiday Gift Guide 2009

PC Magazine's Holiday Gift Guide 2009

Washington Post Gift Guide 2009

ZDNet's 2009 Holiday Tech Gift Guide

CBS News Holiday Gift Guide

PCWorld's Gift Guide for Tech-Lovin Ladies

Wired Magazine's Geek Dad Holiday Gift Guide

Wall Street Journals Holiday Gift Guide

Newsday Holiday Tech Gifts

Do you have other Gift Guide favorites? Let us know in the Comments section, and Happy Holidays!

2. Don't spread yourself too thin.  Establish a presence on the main social networks and go deep.   For most companies, that means Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.  Add Digg and Delicious if you’re into bookmarking, and niche networks if influencers in your industry or key competitors congregate there.

2. Choose Your Friends Wisely -  Follow the influencers in your industry. Get to know the people who "friend" you on Facebook, "follow" your brand or become your "fan" on Twitter.  By doing this, you’ll build a loyal follower base for the long term, and in return, you can follow the people who share your interests.

3. Consider the power of inbound marketing.  If all you do on your Twitter feed or Facebook page is send off marketing messages, you'll limit what social media can do for your company.   Listen first. Monitor the conversation in your industry.  Be helpful. Offer constructive criticism. Become part of the conversation.   Give away content for free without forms to be completed.    Interested parties will come back to you if they like what they read.

4. Don’t build it and walk away -  Starting a blog or creating a presence on a social network, and keeping it alive and growing takes commitment, adaptability and effort. You would never open a restaurant, then close down two weeks later because of low turnout. Go for the long term, and assign a dedicated professional to manage the social media program accordingly.

5. React Wisely  - Once you’re active online, you’re bound to get a few critics. Focus on the ones who deserve a response. Consider what you post and remember that it will live for a long time on the Internet. 

6. Social media takes time, talent and technology -  Yes, anyone can post what they’re eating for breakfast.   Social media for business is different from social media for personal use.  Effective social media programs for business require a communications strategy aligned with your business goals and social media guidelines unique to your organization.

If you plan ahead, pace yourself, become an active part of the conversation in your industry, and listen  carefully before you react, the social media world will open new opportunities, and help to build your brand in more ways than you can imagine.