E L S U A ~ A KM Blog Thinking Outside The Inbox by Luis Suarez

Ziki – Your New Social Network and People Portal Search Engine

Last time that I created a blog post around this very same subject it was a few months back, and given the recent changes taking place, I thought it would be a good time to talk briefly about it again. Yes, that is right. One of my favourite Web 2.0 applications, created and developed in France, that I have been using extensively for quite some time now (It’s still part of the one liner from my mail closing info!) has gone through a massive re-design change and for the better! For the so much better! Folks, check out the new user interface from Ziki – Be Visible!

All along I have been mentioning how impressed I have been with Ziki and how more and more they have established themselves as a massively engaging and very attractive open people portal where you can establish yourself what your own online persona would be like by aggregating content from those various resources you get to participate in on a more or less regular basis. And all of that with you always in control of what is going on. Pretty nifty, to say the least.

Well, a few weeks back I discovered how they were also issuing the first Ziki e-Cards. Right now I still got a bunch of the lovely MOO cards, but whenever I run out of them I am so going to get my Ziki business cards. No doubt! And on top of all of that, just recently they have presented us with a new user interface. Much more slicker and easier to navigate through. Incredibly fast as well and with all of its different features (Summary, Connections, Following, Followers, Subscribers, Similar Profiles, Keywords, Profile, etc., etc.) very nicely integrated throughout the entire Web site. Highly recommended, in case you may not have tried it in the past, or in case you thought the previous interface was a bit too crowded. You will not get that now, for sure. On the contrary. It looks like simple is more back at Ziki.

But perhaps out of the entire new re-design they have done of the Web site the feature I really like the most is the front page. Short, sweet and simple. Yet, incredibly efficient and effective! Sounds familiar, right? Well, this is the motto you will be able to read over there: Ziki.com is a next generation search engine designed for people, powered by people.

That is right. It does what it says, you can start searching for people over there and it will find them. At least, their online presence and various life streams, whether they are members of Ziki or not, you would be able to discover the hang-out places for all of those people you may want to find out some more on where they live on the Web. How cool is that? No longer a need to sort out through different results from various search engines trying to find out whether you are searching for the right contact or not. With Ziki that hassle is over! As simple as that.

Yes, I do know and realise that there are other applications out there to help build up further your online life stream and everything and I do get to use some of them as well, but Ziki still keeps ahead of a good bunch of them for a whole set of different reasons and still remains as one of my favourite social networking tools; and if there would be a single feature that I think would be missing from everything they have got to offer so far is that lovely integration with … Facebook. Yes, I know you saw that coming… Then the circle would be complete!

(Oh, and in case you would want to check out my own profile over there to connect further you will be able to find me over here. Drop by and let’s get connected!)

Tags: Ziki, People Portal, People Search, Search Engine, Social Search Engines, Social Computing, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Software, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Collaboration, Communities, MOO, e-cards, Business Cards, Portals, Facebook, Knowledge Sharing, Life Stream, Declarative Living, Be Visible

20 Knowledge Management Blogs I’m Currently Enjoying

The last couple of days have been rather busy at work, as I get to finalise the transition from my old job into the new one, but I thought I would share over here a blog post that I have meant to write a little while ago, but didn’t have a chance to till now. Some time ago John Tropea, author of Library Clips (One of my favourite and essential daily reads), created a blog post under 20 Blogs I’m Currently Enjoying, where he actually started a new meme by capturing 20 blogs he has been enjoying quite a bit lately.

That very same day Jack Vinson (Another one of my daily must-reads) created a follow up blog post to respond to John’s meme under the title Blogs I’m Enjoying of Late where he shared his list as well. And I thought that I should finally put together that list of 20 blogs I am enjoying a lot at the moment and that way I will be able to answer John’s challenge (By the way, thanks ever so much for the mention! It is greatly appreciated!) and share with you some of the stuff I have been reading recently.

So, following that same spirit, below you will find a list of 20 blogs, but with a little bit of a twist. I currently monitor several hundred feeds, so for me to reduce that to 20 is going to be rather difficult. I manage a number of different categories and having to chose 20 of those favourite blogs from each category is already quite a task! Thus since this particular blog is about Knowledge Management (Amongst other topics ) I thought about creating that list, but with 20 of my favourite blogs within the area of KM.

I want to make it very clear though that this is not my complete essential list of KM reads. To me, that would be the entire 200 KM blogs I am subscribed to right now and that I follow on a regular basis. What this list is, actually, is a whole bunch of folks who have grabbed my interest the most just recently and I will be adding a single line per blog detailing what may be of interest to you, so that you would have the opportunity to check them out further, if you wish to. And I will try to keep it short… Then perhaps at a later time I will be creating another post where I can share the complete list. But one step at a time. For now, let’s get down to business and share with you all that list of 20 Knowledge Management blogs:

- Anecdote: If you are interested in narrative, sensemaking and story telling and how they can be applied within a KM environment this blog from Shawn Callahan and Mark Schenk is an essential read.
- Chieftech is the blog where James Dellow gets to share some refreshing views of KM merging both traditional and next generation aspects. And quite-thought provoking some times, too!
- Cognitive-Edge by Dave Snowden. Talking about thought-provoking… This is probably as good as it gets! If you want to know where KM originated, where KM is and where KM will be in the next few years, this is it. Dave’s blog is all you need to take with you. Indispensable, engaging, enlightening, educational and most of the times mind-blowing!
- Collaborative Thinking where Mike Gotta will get to share with you, amongst many other things, how different businesses get to apply both traditional KM and next gen, perhaps with an extra focus on the latter and with a heavy presence from social computing.
- Gurteen Knowledge: Another essential read where David gets to share what I call an overall KM experience. If you are doing any KM related activity, whatever that may well be, there is a chance that David has not only done it, but blogged about it! Just like an open book. On KM, of course!
- eme ká eme with Miguel Cornejo Castro. This blog from Miguel has become one of my daily reads as being one of the very very few KM related blogs in Spanish (Articles in English, too!) that several times during the course of the last few months have helped understand where KM in Spain is (Violently agreeing with Miguel there are lots of work to be done still!)
- Engineers without Fears: To me one of the most energising re-entries into the KM space. Matt Moore surely has got a unique vision on what KM should be and believe me, it is not what everyone else thinks it is! Oh, and with a touch of genius, too!
- How to Save the World. I am not sure I ever said this about Dave Pollard’s blog, but I shall say once more. Those of us who have been doing KM for a while now will never be able to realise how grateful we all are to some of the stunning KM thought leadership that transpires from his blog. It is one of those amazing KM reads you engage with time and time again while savouring a lovely cup of coffee!
- Green Chameleon with Patrick Lambe. There is very little that I can say about Patrick that has not been said elsewhere. If you are looking for a unique, witty, thought-provoking approach towards what KM should be Patrick’s blog is all you need! Enough said!
- KM Space with Doug Cornelius. Another blog that I discovered just recently in the KM space and the reason why I am enjoying it quite a bit is Doug’s thoroughness in putting together some really nice and well thought-out blog articles on KM! And he is also very good at live con-blogging!
- Knowledge Jolt with Jack, like I said, Jack Vinson’s blog is one of my favourite daily reads, specially for his talent in venturing away from traditional KM into the next gen and do a superb job at it!
- Library Clips, to me, is one of the best Librarian 2.0 KM blogs available out there! Without a single doubt! I know that KM has never been very grateful to librarians, but stuff of the quality and impressive essays you can find at John’s blog are very difficult to find. If you want to see how you can apply successfully a good bunch of social software tools for KM and, specially for Personal KM, I strongly encourage you all to check out his blog. You will thank me later …
- frogpond with Martin Koser. Another of my daily must-reads who over the course of the last few months has been able to help me educate myself on new ways of applying KM successfully. He is also one of the very very few KM people that I know who uses del.icio.us quite extensively annotating most of the different URLs. If you are looking for topics to blog about, check his del.icio.us and get yourself some free time. You are going to need it to enjoy the ride.
- McGee’s Musings, with Jim McGee, is probably one of the oldest KM blogs that I follow and the thing that I enjoy the most from Jim’s articles is the fact that despite the years I am still very keen on reading his various thoughts around KM topics, because there is always the chance I will learn something! Always refreshing and renewing himself.
- Perfect Path, with Lloyd Davis, is where you can get a grasp of how KM is evolving thanks to social computing into the next generation of KM. Want to know about some of the latest social software tools? Then Lloyd’s blog is the perfect path for you!
- Portals and KM, another one of my all time favourite KM blogs, where Bill Ives has spent the last few months on exploring emerging technologies and apply them to KM successfully by sharing his experiences and expertise on the subject. It is one of those reads for everyone interested in finding out where KM is heading. Another must-have!
- Soulsoup, with Anol Bhattacharya, is one of those incredibly helpful KM blogs with some deep reflections on where KM is heading at the same time that Anol gets to share some of the most interesting KM finds around coming from all over the place. Always different. Always unique. Always something to say about Knowledge Management.
- Weekly Knowledge Management blog by Stan Garfield, one of my other indispensable reads where if you want to know where is the hot action in KM during the course of the week you can just head over to Stan’s blog and you will find there really good and useful conversations on the topic. Stan has got an amazing talent and gift to digest really complex KM topics and present them in a form that just sells by itself. Wish he would blog more regularly … heh
- Ton’s Independent Thoughts, with Ton Zylstra, is one of those blogs that will keep you engaged reading for hours to come. Ton uses his blog to share stuff related to his own experiences with both KM and social software. You will be able to find out there how various different social computing tools are actually helping him become much more successful with his own Personal KM strategy. Oh, and he is always on the cutting edge of technology!
Wirearchy, finally, is probably one of the KM blogs that I have been enjoying as well for quite some time now. Jon Husband’s wit and unique sense of humour around KM is just pure genius and very contagious! And he always has got an opinion that will make you think twice. No matter what, he is the kind of person who enjoys conversations around KM to the extreme and one of the folks from whom you always have to learn a thing or two. Truly inspirational!

Phew! And that was it! Long post, I know, but you will have to excuse me for it. Got too excited and carried away sharing with you folks that list of 20 KM blogs that I have been reading quite a bit lately and enjoying thoroughly. Hope you enjoy them, too! It is funny that all of these blogs are part of my daily readership, yet, I haven’t been commenting in most of them for quite some time! Well, I hope that with this blog I can share with them the good news that I am still there, reading away, wishing to find the opportunity to chime in and share a comment or two. It will come, I know, one step a time, it will come.

And now the challenge is on to them, whether they would want to share their list of 20 KM blogs or not… Hope they take the baton on and may I tag you so, too!

Tags: Knowledge Management, KM, Knowledge Sharing, Learning and Knowledge, Personal Knowledge Management, PKM, KM, KM 1.0, KM 2.0, Social Media, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Collaboration 2.0, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Remote Collaboration, Virtual Collaboration, John Tropea, Library Clips, Jack Vinson, Anecdote, Shawn Callahan, Mark Schenk, Chieftech, James Dellow, Cognitive-Edge, Dave Snowden, Colalborative Thinking, Mike Gotta, Gurteen Knowledge, David Gurteen, eme ká eme, Miguel Cornejo Castro, Engineers without Fears, Matt Moore, How To Save the World, Dave Pollard, Green Chameleon, Patrick Lambe, KM Space, Doug Cornelius, Knowledge Jolt, frogpond, Martin Koser, McGee’s Musings, Jim McGee, Perfect Path, Lloyd Davis, Portals and KM, Bill Ives, Soulsoup, Anol Bhattacharya, Weekly Knowledge Management, Stan Garfield, Ton’s Independent Thoughts, Ton Zylstra, Wirearchy, Jon Husband

The Art of Building Virtual Communities by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

Tags: Twitter, Jose Luis Cabello, Idocente, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Communities, Virtual Communities, Online Communities, Community Building, Community Builders, Nancy White, Etienne Wenger, Knowledge Management, KM, Knowledge Sharing, Collaboration, Remote Collaboration, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Networks, Social Media, Social Computing, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0

I love Twitter. Yes, I do, despite some of my twitterings saying how broken the RSS feeds are and how some times I keep missing out on various message exchanges. But I still love it. Honest. Why? Because apart from being connected with those folks I am interested in following up further, and getting to know some more about them for when I have the chance to meet them face to face, it gives me the great opportunity to bump into gems that otherwise would pass by me un-noticed. And just this morning I had one of those moments.

One of those folks I follow in Twitter, and various other places, is Jose Luis Cabello, author of Internet (Como Recurso) Docente, amongst others. Just this morning, and over at his Twitter handle, he shared the following comment: "The Art of Building Virtual Communities", in which he points to the following blog post by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach: The Art of Building Virtual Communities.

My goodness! What a superb article! Stop whatever you are doing. Now! Even reading this blog post and head over to Sheryl’s and read on. Even better. Get a cup of coffee (Or tea!), because I tell you, you are going to enjoy it quite a bit! What a fantastic resource, folks! One of the best, most thorough articles I have seen in years around the subject of online communities. As simple as that.

Sheryl has seriously done her homework very very nicely and she has proved with that particular blog post that building an online community is not an easy job. Even better, maintaining an online community is not as easy as what most people would think. Like, there, pick up your favourite social network and the community members would come to you. Well, well, well, how wrong!

If you check out the blog post that Sheryl has put together you would be able to find out how  most online groups out there are actually everything, but a community. Yet, most people claim to say they are communities, but they are not. If not, have a read through that article and then compare some of the key concepts shared over there towards the groups you may belong to already. Quite a difference, don’t you think?

I must say that as I read through some of those key concepts that I have mentioned above, like tools, structure, incentives, recognitions, community participation, facilitation, etc. etc. are along the same lines of the various community programs I have been exposed to up until now. Yes, the terms are different, but the key concepts are the same ones, which is a good thing, because it clearly comes to prove the point that working your way in an online community may not be as easy and un-demanding as whatever you ever thought in the past. And since community seems to be the new buzzword, I am sure this particular article would be rather educational for those folks diving in for the first time.

And that is certainly what I really enjoyed about Sheryl’s blog post on The Art of Building Virtual Communities. The fact that it is an invaluable source for everyone out there who would want to explore the world of community building and may not know where to start. Some people may place the focus on processes or tools, but certainly Sheryl hits the nail on the head by showing that it is not just the tools, nor the processes, but also the people, i.e. those online community members, the ones that play a key role in the successful implementation of a communities program, pretty much like with Knowledge Management.

In fact, if you care to notice most of the successful KM programs out there are actually still up and running very actively not because of having the best tools, nor processes, but because they have got different community building programs running side by side and with great success. So if you ever plan to come up with a KM strategy and not sure where to start putting together a community building program, Sheryl’s Art of Building Virtual Communities is a must-have fundamental resource.

And in case you may not have enough with it, which I doubt it, check out as well the different references to some incredibly helpful resources from some of the top leaders in this space like Nancy White or Etienne Wenger. Or browse through as well, why not?, the entire set of comments that people have put together so far and which help make the original post an essential reading for anyone out there getting involved with online virtual communities. Priceless!