From the, “just what we need, another holiday” files.

Just kidding, it’s not a holiday but a marketing gimmick by Basex to get folks to focus on the problem of information overload — and gimmick or not, that is a worthwhile cause.

The half-day, Information Overload Awareness Day, August 12, is an online event featuring Nathan Zeldes, who Basex Chief Analyst Jonathan Spira describes as the former “Information Overload Czar” at Intel, a Basex client. Attendees will receive an executive summary of the Basex report “Intel’s War Against Information Overload.”

I’ve written about Basex’s efforts several times the past few years. Spira has been banging the drum for some time with detailed analysis of how information overload zaps productivity and now he’s bringing some experts together online to bring better focus to the issue.

Basex says today knowledge workers lose 25 percent of the work day due to Information Overload and by 2012 the typical knowledge worker will receive hundreds of messages each day via e-mail, IM, text, and social networks (good to know I’m ahead of the curve already)!

Other speakers include Colonel Peter Marksteiner (U.S. Air Force), Christina Randle of Effective Edge and Mark Hurst, author of “Bit Literacy.”

(Image Courtesy of Basex)

Cost is $50, but there’s a cute twist: attendees who promise not to multi-task (i.e. IM, e-mail, or text) during the event will receive a half-price discount. I’ve also been told you can get in for free by entering the code: InternetnewsGuest.

“We have met the enemy and he is us,” Spira told me. “We have to change our behavior.”

While he’s quick to note e-mail is only one of the sources of information overload, he has a particular pet peeve on the misuse or overuse of “reply all” in electronic correspondence.