Following on from the phenomenally popular future-focused chapter that wrapped up last year’s Netsize guide (a chapter I was proud to co-create with Stan Chesnais, Netsize CEO), this year’s publication will continue to explore the personal experiences and business opportunities emerging as our virtual and physical worlds converge. Another highlight: 25+ interviews with C-Level executives and influencers.

I’m particularly interested in connecting with companies and pioneers taking mobility to a new level with the help of technology that links digital information with real-world places as we pass by.

The buzzword here is augmented reality, and I am pleased to report I already have an interview scheduled with John Ellenby, GeoVector CEO. GeoVector, a developer of mobile technology that recently launched its directional search and pointing application for mobile phones and released World Surfer for download from the Apple iTunes App Store and Android Market.

I’m also looking forward to a Q&A with Ogilvy’s mobile advertising mastermind Scott Seaborn, who is quite bullish about augmented reality and the central role it is likely to play in a wide variety of mobile marketing and promotion campaigns moving forward.

However, the Netsize Guide isn’t just about cool stuff on the horizon.

It also looks at the impact of app stores on the mobile business ecosystem that (at least traditionally) has the mobile operator at its center; the evolution of social media and the excitement over the social address book (more specifically, who owns it?); the trends that matter in mobile communitainment (games, music, social networking); and pivotal importance of personal engagement in mobile marketing and advertising.

I’m pleased to report that key players including Google, Sony Ericsson, Nokia Interactive Advertising, the Mobile Marketing Association, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, are already on board – a line-up sure to make the Netsize Guide 2010 a runaway success. (Another boost: Netsize’s decision to promote the guide via a destination within the new Thought Leadership section of MSearchGroove. This commercial offer, one of MSearchGroove’s growing portfolio of media solutions, allows a select group of companies to launch a branded microsite on MSearchGroove, thus presenting their commentary, case studies and subject matter expertise to a wide audience of executives and influencers.

This year’s guide also has a strong emphasis on mobile CRM, mobile commerce and case studies that illustrate how industry verticals (Education, Finance, Healthcare, Retail, Enterprise) are using mobile to fundamentally change/improve how they do business.

The bottom line: It’s not about mobile; it’s about mobilizing. We fully understand that mobile is personal, portable and part of our daily routine. Now the mobile industry has to stop talking to the mobile industry and reach out to verticals just beginning to explore what mobility means for them.

Against this backdrop, I am particularly open to hear how you (or your customer) has implemented (or is planning to implement) mobile. From mobile education case studies in emerging markets to cool new ways companies use mobile to super-charge customer service and CRM – I want to hear your story. All the better if the service harnesses a unique characteristic of mobile (context, location data, personal preferences and browsing patterns) to get the job done.

Ironically, this was also the topic of my recent article for EContent aptly titled the Immersive Enterprise.

I enjoyed connecting with companies including EMC, Liquid Machines, SecondLife and ThinkBalm, a super-cool company offering independent IT industry analysis and strategic advisory services to technology marketers and immersive Internet advocates. I was extremely impressed by Erica Driver, co-founder and principal at ThinkBalm, who invited me to join her ThinkBalm Innovation Community, a collaborative community in SecondLife dedicated to propelling the enterprise use of the Internet forward.

In addition to some surprising observations (which I recount in my article) Erica also shared the findings of a recent ThinkBalm survey of 66 immersive Internet practitioners. More than 40 percent of those surveyed saw a positive economic benefit from investments in immersive technologies in 2008 and 1Q2009, and more than half expect to obtain a positive total economic benefit in 2009. Looking to the future, over one third (36 percent) said their organizations will definitely expand their investments in 2009 an 2010, and another 38 percent indicated they might even expand their investment.

In my article I interpret this as proof that the next round of innovation will have to enable us to work in multiple locations, multiple dimensions (!) and across multiple devices.

But it was Martin Frid-Nielsen, CEO of Soonr, a company offering mobile cloud services, that put it best.

As Martin sees it: it’s not about enterprises embracing mobility, it’s about them absorbing mobility into every aspect of what they do. “The concept of mobility will be a given going forward for every company everywhere.”

If you have similar opinions/insights or if you want to be considered for inclusion in the Netsize Guide 2010, contact me directly (peggy@msearchgroove.com)

Deadline: October 30.

Disclaimer: Netsize is an MSG supporter.