As you may have well already read over at Dennis Howlett’s Irregular Enterprise blog, or through my various twitterings, this coming Saturday I will be travelling again to the US to attend my first conference of the year and must say that I will be starting with an awesome event that I have been looking forward to for the last couple of years. Yes, indeed, this coming Saturday, and till Friday afternoon next week, I shall be in Orlando, Florida, attending IBM’s Lotusphere 2008!!!

To say that I am incredibly excited about the whole thing is probably an understatement, because I know I am off to a wild ride (Never better said!)!! This time is going to be a special occasion as well, since I will not be presenting at the event itself. I will just be splitting my time in attending as many of the sessions as I possibly can and hanging out at the "Social Software @ IBM" booth where I will be talking to a whole bunch of customers on the topic of social software, social computing and how IBM is making use of such tools to improve the knowledge sharing and collaboration across the enterprise.

At the same time I will be spending quite a bit of time demoing, while talking, of course, some of the most interesting IBM social software tools that have been coming along over the last few months, as well as giving folks a teaser about a couple of them that haven’t seen the light publicly just yet, but of which you will find out some more about very very soon! One of them, specially, is the one holding me from sharing the slide deck and pitch I did at the recent IBM iForum event in Zurich that I have been talking about quite a bit. Stay tuned because that one is coming up shortly as well! Thus if you are around and are willing to spend some time seeing what’s going on in that space come over to the "Social Software @ IBM" booth and say "Hi!"

As I get myself more and more exposed to various different details, I shall be sharing them over here. However, there are already tons of materials available all over the place that you can check out to see what the event is going to be like.  As a starter check out the Technorati tag for the event: Lotusphere2008. Then you can head over to Planet Lotus, which I am sure is going to be raving with commentary throughout the event (Already got started!). There is also a Ning space built up for the occasion as well as a Twitter channel. And the list goes on and on and on…

Also, and while you are busy trying to figure it all out, you may want to check out the link to the Tracks and Sessions to see some of the outstanding materials that will be presented throughout the few days the conference lasts. I would be, of course, very interested in following up with all of the different sessions related to social software and social computing (InsideLotus - Lotus, Portal and Collaboration Software has actually put together a very nice summary in this case, if you would want to read further on it right away).

Oh, you may be thinking that checking out all of the different sessions and tracks through the Web site is not really that friendly, right? Well, here is Genii Software coming to our rescue and putting together a superb Lotus Notes database with which you can navigate through the entire event and find the sessions you would be interested in! Here is another link to one of the most recent blog posts on the topic where you would be able to read some more about it. This would certainly become really handy, while I am stranded in airplanes for over 20 hours this coming Saturday, don’t you think?

Finally, there is one other thing that I would want to share further with you. Stay tuned for the various multiple updates that would be coming from various prolific Lotus bloggers, because I am sure they are not going to stop a single minute before, during and after the event. Special attention to Ed Brill’s blog, Alan Lepofsky’s, Chris Reckling & Ted Stanton’s InsideLotus, Mary Beth Raven’s blog, Rocky Oliver’s Lotus Geek and The Taking Notes Podcast blogs, amongst many many others, because I am sure they will all keep you busy for quite a bit. Oh, and I, too, would be looking forward to Blogging community birds-of-a-feather, of which you can read plenty more over at Ed’s blog.

In short, it looks like it is going to be one of those events difficult to forget! Plenty of good fun all around! And since it is my first Lotusphere I bet I am going to enjoy it even more! More than anything else because I am seriously looking forward to meet up with a bunch of folks I work with in this distributed world day in day out, also meet up with some of the folks I have been reading of their blogs for so many years (It surely is going to be nice to put a face behind the quality writings); and finally get together on to some really good discussions with various different people on social software and social computing! What else can I ask for?

Oh, yes, I got myself an extra battery for the MacBook Pro I’ll be bringing in with me, so it looks like I am all set! Let’s hope that the network connection would work as you would expect (So that I can blog about some of the stuff that would be going on during the event); that I get the chance to show the demos the way I intend to (Yes, indeed, I will be using the Mac for those, too!! ) and that I am able to find the folks I want to meet up amongst the several thousand people attending!! So if you are around in Orlando during that time (Starting this coming Saturday and till Friday morning) and want to say "Hi!" or go together for a drink or two while doing some massive social networking … stay in touch! You can comment on this blog post, contact me through Twitter, or Facebook, or the Ning Lotusphere space, or e-mail, or … well, you know where to find me

See you there!

Tags: IBM, Lotus, Lotusphere, Lotusphere2008, Collaboration, Social Software, Social Computing, Social Networking, Social Media, Enterprise 2.0, Web 2.0, Collaboration 2.0, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Personal Knowledge Management, PKM, Learning, Communities, Dennis Howlett, Irregular Enterprise, Orlando, Florida, iForum, Innovation, Ning, Planet Lotus, Twiter, Genii Software, Lotus Notes, Notes, Connections, Lotus Connections, Quickr, Lotus Quickr, Sametime, Lotus Sametime, Ed Brill, Alan Lepofsky, Chris Reckling, Ted Stanton, InsideLotus, Mary Beth Raven, Rocky Oliver, Lotus Geek, Taking Notes Podcast, Blogging, Metablogging, Mac, MacBook Pro, MBP, Apple

While still trying to digest some of the fantastic, overwhelming and exciting reactions to the initial blog post on Next Generation Knowledge Sharing & Learning Online Conference Event - In Spring 2008? and while I am still trying to figure out a couple of things before I comment further back into that particular blog entry on further steps, I thought I would go ahead and do some light blogging on a topic that I seem to have been tagged from a couple of folks already, who I read on a regular basis and who have been participating in a couple of different memes on a very similar topic: Seven things you didn’t know about me by Martin Koser and Gullible about Work / Blog Balance by Reasonable Robinson.

Yes, that is right. It is another meme where the rules seem to be pretty straight forward:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.

2. List EIGHT random facts about yourself.

3. Tag EIGHT people at the end of your post and list their names.

4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

And although Martin’s meme post seems to be slightly different I thought about combining both of them since the overall outcome seems to be pretty similar. So here we go with the meme post and here you have eight random facts about myself that you may not have heard / read elsewhere:

1. I was born and raised in a very small village in León, which is where I have spent a good chunk of my life. Another good chunk is spread around The Netherlands (Where I lived 7 years) and, finally, Gran Canaria, where I have been living for nearly four years now.

2. I first got exposed to the world of computers in high school (Yes, I was one of the folks who owned an Amstrad CPC 464!) and back then my marks on computer lessons were really bad, which gave me the impression I would never, ever, work with computers. Fast forward to today … Already 10 years in the IT world and still going strong!

3. After I graduated from University, I spent one year working in Thale, Germany, where I got to experience one of the most severe winters in my life thus far with up to -30C. for several days!! But I must say I loved the overall experience quite a bit!!

4. First time I came to Gran Canaria was in 1996 (For a very short period of time) and back then I knew I would be coming back at some point. It took me only 8 years to make that happen

5. I actually got my job at IBM while I was spending a two week holiday in The Netherlands in 1997. Probably the longest two weeks I’ve ever known!! (Already heading for my 11th year in the company!)

6. While working for IBM, I spent another year of my life in Dublin, Ireland, where there is very little I would need to explain, if you ever have been there. Yes, I know, I need to get back there for a short visit and catch up some time soon!

7. I was first exposed to Knowledge Management by the end of 1999 and during that time I already sensed it was going to be the field / discipline I would be developing my skills & expertise over the course of the years. Two years later I was working, full time, in a Knowledge Management team. Till today. (And, yes, still going strong, in case you are wondering…)

8. And, finally, I initially got started with my blogging experience back in 2003, as a way to prove to myself how I could work smarter, not necessarily harder, relying on the community and my social networks to get the job done versus having to do the job myself re-inventing the wheel over and over again. Four years later, and just a couple of days after the 10th year anniversary of the word "Weblog", I still feel the same way. Blogs, and plenty of the various different social networks where I hang out, still make me work smarter. Much smarter! Not harder.

And that would be it. Next on this blog post is to actually tag another 8 people who would be willing, hopefully, to take the challenge and share with us 8 factoids about themselves that we may not have heard elsewhere. So here is my list of folks I would love to hear some more from on this particular topic. In random order: Jasmin Tragas (a.k.a. Jazzydee), Thomas van der Wal (a.k.a. wanderwal), David Stephenson (a.k.a. DavidStephenson), Susan Scrupski (a.k.a. ITSinsider), Dennis McDonald (a.k.a. ddmcd), Stuart Henshall (a.k.a. stuarthenshall), Andy Piper (a.k.a. andypiper) and Jon Husband (a.k.a. jonhusband).

I am sure that I could have included a whole bunch of the folks I get to interact with on a daily basis, so feel tagged as well if you would want to chime in a well. Why not, right?

Either way, I am sure that with this particular blog post you actually got to find out about stuff on me that you probably haven’t seen / read elsewhere. Hope you have found it just as entertaining as it was for me to put it up going through that trip down the memory lane.

Now time to go ahead and digest some of the wonderful discussions going on Next Generation Knowledge Sharing & Learning Online Conference Event - In Spring 2008? and see where it would take us all… Fancy joining us on that wild ride, too?

Tags: Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Blogging, Metablogging, Blogs, Meme, Things, Martin Koser, Reasonable Robinson, Tagging, Leon, Spain, Gran Canaria, Amstrad CPC 464, Thale, Germany, IBM, The Netherlands, Dublin, Ireland, Blogiversary, Weblog Anniversary, Work Smarter, Jasmin Tragas, Wonderwebby, Thomas van der Wal, David Stephenson, Susan Scrupski, ITSinsider, Dennis McDonald, Stuart Henshall, Andy Piper, Jon Husband, Social Computing, Social Networking, Social Software, Social Media, Web 2.0

I am sure that you would remember the blog post I created some time ago where I was referring to a recent presentation that my fellow IBM colleague, and good friend, Andy Piper, did on Social Media @ IBM. In that particular presentation he covered some of the stuff that is going in IBM sharing some further thoughts around some of the different social software tools that IBMers are making use of both inside and outside of the firewall. That presentation, which you can still get to go through in Slideshare, is just perhaps the perfect introduction to what I am about to share in this particular post.

For those folks out there who would want to know some more about the specific details as to how IBM did get started with social media, both inside and outside of the firewall, over four years ago, I would strongly suggest you check out the very insightful blog post put together by another IBMer, and good friend, too, George Faulkner: Social Media at IBM - Focus on Podcasting.

I know it is a rather long article, but in it George has detailed very thoroughly, and quite nicely, a lovely trip down the memory lane on how social media got started inside IBM in the first place four years ago; talking not only about the overall approach from IBM towards New Media, but also talking about some of the specific tools that we have been making use of all along. Examples like Blog Central or IBM’s Media Library, to name a couple; including as well some of the stats on their penetration in the corporate workspace. Very enlightening to say the least, specially for those folks who may want to know some more on the topic.

But things don’t stop there, because George himself has been very much involved (And still is, as a member of the Corporate New Media team) with Social Media himself. You may be remember a number of different podcasts that he hosted under the weekly podcast show ShortCuts or his involvement with IBM and The Future Of… series.

Finally, George has decided to jump into the Internet blogosphere with his own external blog (Blueprints - Podcasting and Social Media at IBM) and some of the different posts he has put together already would give you a strong sense of how he is living social software at the same time that you would get to read further on how IBM is continuing to spread the message about social computing with various different initiatives. George’s focus is on podcasting, as you may have noticed already, but I am sure that over the course of time you would be able to read some more on other stuff he has been involved with, along with his team, around the area of social software.

And that is the whole purpose of writing this blog post today. First to point you to a fantastic article he has put together under Social Media at IBM - Focus on Podcasting, but also sharing some link love with him and encourage you all to subscribe to his blog if you would want to find out some more on the IBM happenings behind social computing. There is a great chance that rather George may have blogged about some of the most interesting topics, and if not, I’ll be that he would be more than happy to accommodate any further queries folks may have around the subject of how IBM started embracing social media over 4 years ago and how it is progressing further in that massive adoption of new media within the corporate firewall!

Thus welcome to the Blogosphere, George! Yes, indeed, the waters are lovely! Glad to see you over here diving further on to the various different conversations! … Keep it up!

Tags: IBM, Andy Piper, Social Media, New Media, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Podcasting, Podcasts, Slideshare, George Faulkner, ShortCuts, IBM and the Future Of…, Blueprints, Link Love, Innovation, Collaboration, Communities, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Personal Knowledge Management, PKM, Learning

As most of you may remember from a recent blog post I created a few weeks back, today was my first day at my new job as part of IBM’s Software (SWG) Tech Sales and Social Software Programs and Enablement Teams. Overall, I have been having an incredibly busy day with plenty of meetings, getting to know folks, prepare a number of different initiatives and tasks (Some of which I am hoping to be sharing over here as well at some point), buzzing around from one place to another, but all in all with plenty of good fun! Yes, I mentioned it way back, when I was first announced it, to me, this is my dream job come true! And today I have been able to validate that hunch. And big time!

Like I have just mentioned, I have been having some really good discussions around the subject of social software and the adoption of social computing within the Enterprise. Today, for instance, I participated, as one of the panelists, on one of the most powerful IBM (Behind the firewall) communities monthly events around the subject of ROI for Social Software (Yes, one of my favourite subjects recently) and the dialogue around it is still buzzing around in my head, despite the fact it took place several hours ago. I got to come back to it again and share some more insights on that particular subject.

Also another thing that I have been working on today is starting to figure out how to reach out to larger audiences and get them more involved with the subject of social networking. We already have got something piled and almost ready to go, but it will actually be taking place at a later time this month. Not to worry, I shall be blogging about it as well.

So, as you can imagine, it has been really busy the whole day today, with hardly any chance to hang out in many of the various social networking tools I frequently engage with, but I knew from the beginning of the day that it was going to be that hectic and still looked forward to it, as I knew I was going to be able to contribute into several different places on how knowledge workers can start embracing some of that social software culture!

But all that excitement was topped by something that has got to do pretty much with the subject of this blog post. Yes, I had an interesting, very busy, incredibly enlightening and rich day at work, but a day like today, 8 years ago, I became an IBM full time employee, having worked before for over two more years with a contractor company to IBM. Yes, that is right, I have been working for this company since 1997, but on November 1st 1999, I became an IBM full time employee.

Who would have thought that a bloke like me, graduated as an English teacher in 1995, at the University of Salamanca, Spain, would have been for so long in one of the largest IT companies in the world doing what he loves the most: working as a Knowledge Manager, Community Builder and Social Computing Evangelist! And landing in what appears to be his dream job, too!!

Is there a better way to celebrate your 8th anniversary in a company having gone through all that? I doubt it. The whole day has been an exhilarating set of events, one after the other, and if someone would have told me 8 years ago where I would be in 2007, I would have probably told them they were crazy. But then again, it looks like I am the one who is crazy, because I am still having plenty of good fun. And big time!

Tomorrow is Friday, just a day before the weekend, so guess what I will be doing after I am done with work… of course … CELEBRATING!!! It doesn’t happen every day that you make 8 years (10 in total, with the contractor work) in a job you never thought you would be getting the hang out of it long term. Well, you never know. I may have … after all.

Thus Happy 8th Anniversary, Mr! Hope you still go strong for another 8 years!

Tags: IBM, Software, SWG, Tech Sales, Social Software, Social Software Enablement, Social Media, Social Computing, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Collaboration, Communities, Anniversary, University of Salamanca, Spain, Knowledge Worker, Celebrations, Life, Work, Job

I am sure that if you have been reading through my blogs for a little while now you would know how, more and more, I am relying on my MacBook Pro to carry out my daily job rather than whatever else I have been using in the past. I know that for plenty of folks out there this wouldn’t be really any piece of news, but, believe me, to me it surely is. And very good ones!

I could talk about the many, many things I am thoroughly enjoying over the last few weeks. I could talk about the excellence on the multimedia components. I could talk about the really good quality of different Mac apps. I could talk about the incredible community of folks who share their passion about the Mac day in day out. And the list goes on and on and on. Yes, I know, I guess I could talk about that, yet, I am not going to. Instead, I am just going to share with you all why today is going to be a light blogging day and why every day I am becoming more and more a Mac fanboy:

4 Windows crashes, 4 Windows reboots, three of my most frequently used Windows applications out of order and still not knowing what is going on with them. Complete waste of productivity for the day… Enough said!

Yes, folks, I never thought I would be saying this, but I am becoming a Mac fanboy. Just wished that would have happened quite some time ago. So many frustrations would have been just a thing of the past. Sigh

(Stay tuned, because, as a follow up, I am writing up a blog post where I am sharing how this MacBook Pro is helping me improve my own overall social software experience, both inside and outside of the corporate firewall. Who would have thought about that, right?, just a few months back, eh? :-D)

Tags: Mac, Apple, MacBook Pro, MBP, Windows, Notebook, Lenovo 3000 N100, Fanboy, Productivity, Tools, Productivity Tools, Reboot, Crash

I cannot believe that another year has gone by just like that! Yes, that is right, folks. Today it is elsua.net’s second anniversary!! A day like today in October 2005 elsua.net was going live on the Internet. After 2.5 years of blogging internally behind the firewall, I finally decided, back then, to dive into the Internet blogosphere and join the crowds. Now, two years later, it still feels as if it was yesterday! Yet a few things have changed and quite a bit!

668 blog posts (This one included) and 1.148 comments (A ratio of 2.2% if you would be interested) later, I guess things are going pretty all right. I am still enjoying the experience as if it was my very first week of blogging! I know that most of you are not into statistics and everything, but I thought I would share a couple of comments to compare some of those details with the first anniversary.

I am now up to 714 RSS / Atom readers. Yes, that is right! That’s you folks out there faithfully reading some of the stuff I have been blogging over here over the last couple of years. Thanks ever so much for sticking around all along! Also just yesterday I reached the 60.000 page hits (Currently 60.225), which, for a Knowledge Management blog, I guess it’s not too bad. As you all may well know, the primary reason why I get to blog in all of my blogs is not to get some massive readership dropping by once or twice and then moving on. I would rather prefer to have a smart readership that sticks around for a while. So thanks a lot as well for dropping by every now and then!

I know that there are plenty of highlights I could mention over here of some of the really cool things that have happened over the course of the last year (Most of which you have already witnessed all along), but perhaps the one that will stick with me for a long while is the fact that starting Nov 1st I will be going into my dream job and part of that huge career move is due to elsua.net. At least, that is what people keep telling me. So if you still think that social computing does not have any kind of impact within your own career and the business you work for, you may need to think again

Because if it has worked out for me, there is no reason why it could as well work out for you! I am sure of that!

Here is to another 2 years of blogging! And hope you will be sticking around as well! I’ll see you all around!

(Oh, you may have noticed as well how, in the last few days, I have now tweaked the blog template and removed most of the different widgets that were slowing down the Web site itself and have moved most of those to my Facebook profile, but I will elaborate some more on this shortly, too!

Also according to Emezeta Rank, a new and rather interesting Spanish Web 2.0 offering, elsua.net could help me earn 850$/month. Isn’t that enticing or what? )

Tags: elsua, Luis Suarez, Knowledge Management, KM, Knowledge Sharing, Learning and Knowledge, Collaboration, Remote Collaboration, Communities, Online Communities, Social Computing, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Media, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, KM 2.0, Conversations, Anniversary, Blogiversary, IBM, Metablogging, Readership, Social Computing Evangelist, Dream Job