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

IBM’s Lotusphere 2010 Highlights – A Proposal for DIA

As you may have noticed, it’s been a bit over a week since the last time I have been able to put together a blog post over here. And that, basically, means that things didn’t work out all right eventually. Yes, of course, I am talking about last week’s IBM’s Lotusphere 2010 event that took place from the 17th till 21st of January. If you have been reading this blog for a while I sense you already know where I’m heading, right? … Indeed, this is another article with a plea towards, finally, putting together "A Proposal for DIA".

Remember that blog post that I put together a few months ago that talked about one of the highlights of the Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston? Yes, the one about the lack of a decent, and accessible!, wi-fi connection throughout the conference? Well, that very same thing happened most of the week last week. Again! So that’s why you didn’t see any blog posts coming through from yours truly, and why my twittering was very much like the Guadiana river!

Ouch!! Once again, Lotusphere couldn’t cope with the demand of its thousands of attendees to provide a decent, and reliable!, Internet connection while the event took place during the course of the week. So those of us who came from abroad were left out in limbo land. Once again! Very disappointing!

I know the demand for this year’s event has been huge, tremendous, probably too much, if you ask me (45,000 connections to the various access points on a single moment at the beginning of the conference?!?! WOW!), but I’m wondering whether it is the right time for that "Proposal for DIA (Decent Internet Access)". I mean, maybe it’s time to rethink how we put together the overall online experience for these kinds of technical conference events altogether, right? Who knows… The important thing is that we just can’t stop right there and "do nothing". Year after year.

I know it is not an easy solution, but folks like Eric Norlin (From Defrag) and the EventoBlog organisers have proved that you can actually put together a conference event and still keep the wi-fi up and running steadily and throughout the entire event. So why can’t the others follow those steps? Yes, like I said, it’s a tough job to do it right, but, in my opinion, totally worth it! I mean, can you imagine what Lotusphere’s Opening General Session would have been like if we would all have had a good and reliable Internet connection throughout? I am sure that, instead of the 4000 tweets that got registered, as mentioned during the event, we would have had several thousand more! But, alas, that wasn’t the case…

That is why you didn’t see much of me online, since, out of sheer frustration, I got rather de-motivated and, instead of letting it grow in me (Like it has happened at other events in the past), I decided to take a much more pro-active approach and, instead of doing online social networking, focus all of my efforts and energy on the physical, face-to-face, social networking interactions. Perhaps, that’s what conference events are all about: place the focus back on the real life social networking activities and forget about being online. I am sure we would all feel much better than having to raise our eyebrows, once again, because things didn’t work out the way they were supposed to in the first place.

Back at the Enterprise 2.0, I created an article where I was actively asking for that DIA proposal; I am still waiting… That’s why, next time around, I will be looking into things differently and come up with plan B (and perhaps plan C, too!). In fact, just as I was on my way to catch the plane to Orlando, my plan B arrived in the mail. I wish I would have had much more time to play with it, but since I didn’t, I didn’t put it into practice. However, I’m surely going to do it next time around. I will not comment on what it is, but suffice to say that it is going to change the way I enjoy conference events in the near future. So stay tuned for more updates to come through and you will see what I mean …

So, having said all that, you may be wondering whether I will be putting together a couple of blog posts on some of the major highlights of what the event was all about, right? Obviously, there won’t be any live blogging, but I will be writing down some further thoughts on what the event was like, specially now that all of the presentation materials are available for download (Thanks much, Volker, for putting together such stunning piece of work!). Thus I will be talking, very shortly, about the various different speaker sessions I attended, as well as what happened at the various Labs, networking events that I attended, Tweet Ups, etc. etc.

As a starting point, and to give you folks a little bit of a taster, have a look into this YouTube video clip from DJ Steve Porter, who did an inspiring remix of the event itself in under three minutes. Worth while watching it through:

Oh, but talking about Twitter, I didn’t get much of a chance to keep playing with my experiment on splitting personalities, so I hardly used my IBM related account (@elsua_b) to share with folks out there some other live tweeting that I would have wished I could have done. Okay, I will be addressing that one as well and deal with it by sharing some tweets from here onwards into that account trying to share some of the magic that we experienced during the event itself.

Thus stay tuned, because more belated blog posts and tweets will be coming through shortly, with links and everything. For me though there is one thing very clear in my mind; maybe a lesson learned, who knows. From now onwards I will definitely not have any single expectation that Internet connection will be available at conference events; if it is still there after the first 15 minutes, I will go ahead and use it. If not, I will stop complaining and whining about it, as well as I will stop getting stressed, frustrated, annoyed, exasperated, disappointed, etc. and, instead, go for that plan B I have just mentioned above… Life is just too short, don’t you think? Yes, I know… Intriguing, eh?

(Not to worry, in a follow-up post, I will be sharing some further insights on what that plan B will be like, especially, once I get a chance to play with what came in the mail the day before I left for Orlando and which, surely, is going to make my life *so* much easier… And not just for conference events!)

Tags: Lotusphere, Lotusphere 2010, LS10, Lotusphere2010, Highlights, Lotus Knows, Lotus-Knows, LotusKnows, #ls10, Twitter, Micro-blogging, Micro-sharing, Live Blogging, Live Con-blogging, DIA, Decent Internet Access, Events, Conference Events, Wi-Fi, Internet, Connectivity, Eric Norlin, Defrag, EventoBlog, Opening General Session, Volker Weber, DJ Steve Porter, Steve Porter, Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, IBM, Networking, Social Networks, Conversations, Connections, Productivity, Orlando

IBM’s Lotusphere 2010: What About BlueIQ?

Over the last couple of days, and as I have been wrapping up things at work to start making my way to Orlando, Florida, in order to be able to attend next week’s IBM’s Lotusphere 2010 conference event, a few people have been asking me whether I would be having a speaking slot at the event itself as well; so today I thought I would take this opportunity and share with you folks what I will be doing myself during the course of next week (Apart from being one other regular attendee, that is). To start with, no, I won’t be speaking during the event.

My BlueIQ team and myself have submitted a couple of abstracts, as well as a BoFs session on Social Software Adoption in a large corporate environment as that one from IBM, and, unfortunately, none of them got approved We know and understand how tough it is eventually to get a speaking slot on from what’s already a rather crowded and rigorous selection, so next year we are going to try harder and be back for more! Hopefully, by then the committee behind the approval of abstracts would be much more interested around the topic of Social Software Adoption in general (Hint: If you noticed, there isn’t a single session within the social software set of abstracts that made it through dedicated to the rather important subject of moving beyond the tools and their deployment and focusing on extracting value from a successful social software adoption strategy … Oh well … )

Either way, we know and understand how tough it is to get on the agenda, so we are committed to try much harder next year and see if that time around we can make it. Ok, but that doesn’t mean that we would not be doing anything during the course of the event, right? Of course, not! Like I have been saying already for a few more days, my entire team is going to be there and we got a bunch of different unevents piled up that we hope folks interested in the subject of social software adoption would be willing to participate and share some more insights with us exchanging experiences, know how, lessons learned, good practices, etc. etc.

Thus we will eventually be hosting a couple of lunches under the heading "Adoption and Value", both on Tuesday and Wednesday from noon EDT to 1:30pm EDT. You may be wondering what kind of conversations we would be having with those present both my team and myself, right? Well, here is a short blurb that describes what we thought about:

"Learn how to conduct social software advocacy in the enterprise – a chat with IBM Software Group’s internal adoption team.
 Look in the lunchroom for balloons marking "BlueIQ" tables
"

Now, you would remember how in the past I have been talking in this blog about the program I am part of and what my team does, right? BlueIQ, indeed! But you may be wondering what do we do exactly beyond helping accelerate the adoption rate of social software at IBM. Basically, some more specifics on what it is to drive the social software adoption inside IBM and for 500k employees.

Well, here is another short blurb that may help out a bit addressing those questions:

"Code-named "BlueIQ", this internal program coordinates the IBM Software Group adoption of social tools like Lotus Connections, Lotus Quickr, and Rational Asset Manager, as well as pilot work developed in IBM’s Technology Adoption Program and research labs. We provide both high-level value analysis as well as deep-dives on the technology; and we’re called on to provide training worldwide, engage with clients, and speak at conferences.



BlueIQ’s methodology for social software adoption combines task-focused education materials, jumpstarts, metrics, motivational activities, and enablement social tools with our most valuable asset: volunteers. 



Over 900 BlueIQ Ambassadors voluntarily carry the message of “productivity through social software” to the furthest corners of the company. In exchange, they’re the first to learn about new technologies, receive specialized content to share with their clients and peers, and grow their careers through an internal network of like-minded experts.



Through reverse-mentoring, we also pair subject matter experts with executives in order to provide task-focused social software education tailored to their unique needs"

That’s just not too bad, eh? Finally, I have found a chance to share with everyone out there what it is that I do on a daily basis while at work in my role as a Knowledge Manager, CommunityBuilder and, specially, Social Computing Evangelist. That’s why we are really excited to move forward with these unevents so that folks who may be interested in these topics would have an opportunity to come along and exchange plenty of ideas and experiences with us in order to make it a mutual learning experience, which, I guess, is what matters the most. Always! I mean, the learning experience heh

So, if you are a fellow IBMer who is interested in finding out what it is like helping accelerate such adoption of social tools, or if you are within Sales and would want to find out plenty more about how these social tools could help you, your customers and business partners, feel free to bring them along and let’s get the conversation going! Alternatively, if you are none of the groups mentioned above, BUT still with a keen interest in exchanging some more ideas on these topics, by all means, come on up, too, join us and let’s get the dialogue going!

In fact, that’s the whole point of having these kind of informal unlunches with the BlueIQ team I belong to; learn plenty more around the art of doing things right while helping your entire organisation, or business unit, adopt social software tools, so you would have an opportunity to show them how these social tools can be effectively business tools that would certainly help you, your team and your communities improve your / their day to day productivity.

Thus we hope to see you there! (Remember to re-read the text above on how you can find us on the huge lunch room and don’t be shy; come and say "Hi!" and share lunch with us for a few minutes. I promise we won’t bite … )

Tags: Lotusphere, Lotusphere 2010, LS10, Lotusphere2010, Lotus Knows, Lotus-Knows, LotusKnows, #ls10, BlueIQ, Social Software Adoption, Unevents, Unlunches, Informal Conversations, Dialogue, Sharing Experiences, Lessons Learned, Good Practices, Value, Business Value, Adoption, Lotus Connections, Connections, Social Tools, Metrics, Task Centric Computing, Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, IBM, Networking, Social Networks, Connections, Productivity, Events, Conference Events, Orlando, Florida

IBM’s Lotusphere 2010: Getting the Most out of It (Virtually)

Yesterday I mentioned how the last couple of days I have been preparing, and getting everything ready, too!, for my first business trip of the year, which happens to be the first conference event as well. IBM’s Lotusphere 2010 is just around the corner (Starting next week already!) and there are lots of things to take care of. This year will be my third consecutive time I will be going there and, like every single time, the excitement is piling up rather quick! Yes, indeed, I can’t wait for it to get started!

A bunch of the folks I usually interact with online through various different social networking tools are going to be there and it’s going to be great seeing them again and continue, face-to-face, with the various conversations that we have been covering on line for the last few months. However, some other folks have reached out to me and mentioned that they won’t be able to make it this year, yet they would want to know what online spaces they would need to keep on eye on in order to get a glimpse of what the event will be all about…

Well, this is one of those blog posts that will try to address some of that. This is also one of those entries that will try to cover a little bit where all the hot action of event will be taking place for those folks who may be attending the event live. Lotusphere, as most folks who may have attended it already would know, is a huge event. So, if you’re not well prepared, there is plenty of the stuff that will go by without you not knowing much about it all. So this post is an attempt to help folks channel through some of their attention into what may well be some of the most relevant resources available out there.

By all means this is my list of suggestions; definitely, not the most exhaustive and comprehensive that you will be finding out there, but certainly it could well be a good start for those folks who may be interested, especially, in the area of social computing, knowledge sharing, learning and collaboration. Basically, most of the stuff I would be interested in myself. Yes, that’s right, this is going to be an article where I will be sharing with you folks the list of online resources that I will be paying attention to while I am of the Lotusphere event in Orlando starting to January 17th.

If you think that I may have missed a key important online resource that we should all be paying attention to, don’t be shy, go ahead and leave a comment below and let us know about it. The more comprehensive that list of online resources is, the better it will be for all of us. So go ahead and let us know what will you be paying attention to while Lotusphere takes place in the next few days…

So here is the list of online spaces that I will be checking on a regular basis during the course of the Lotusphere event:

• The Lotusphere Agenda: which you can find at the main Lotusphere Web site, but that this year comes together in a whole bunch of lovely formats. Going from IntraVision’s lovely mobile Lotusphere Web site, to Turtle’s super nifty iPhone application (Available at the Apple Store for free) or Genii Software’s helpful Lotus Notes database, amongst several other options. Really nice, don’t you think?
• Planet Lotus: for those folks who may be looking into what the blogosphere may be saying about the overall event I can certainly recommend Planet Lotus; that incredibly powerful online resource where several hundred bloggers, I’m sure, will keep (live) blogging away non stop from the beginning to the end of the event. A special mention will be going as well to my good friend, and fellow IBM colleague, Ed Brill, who, another year, I’m sure would continue to channel through plenty of that energy from the overall "yellow" blogosphere.
• Another blog worthwhile taking a a look at, and which also gets a special mention from me, is the Lotusphere Blog, for obvious reasons, but don’t forget to also keep an eye on Lotus Knows itself, because I’m sure is going to thrive with plenty of activity as well, as well as plenty of goodies!
• Ok, now, if you didn’t have enough with those various links I just mentioned above to keep you going, let’s have a look into what I think it is going to be really hot this year at Lotusphere… Twitter, of course!

  Yes, indeed, last year Twitter was used already quite a bit, but I have a feeling that this year is going to go crazy, more than anything else because of the sheer increase in the number of twitterers attending the event, as well as plenty of them wanting to share plenty of the excitement as they have become more and more comfortable with the medium. So, to start off, I will keep an eye on the hash tag #ls10; at the same time I would also check out the tweets coming through from Planet Lotus, @Lotusphere, @LotusKnows and all of the various Lotus related Twitter IDs.

• As you will see, apart from all the blogging and micro-blogging/-sharing that would be taking place, there will also be a Posterous Web site that anyone can post items to, as well as a couple of Facebook groups and a LinkedIn one that people can drop by to see what’s happening, and a specific space over at Slideshare where people can share their own presentations used while at Lotusphere.

Not too bad, eh? Well, those are the main online spaces that I will keep an eye on over the next few days to try to get a glimpse of what’s going to happen before, during and after Lotusphere 2010. Like I have mentioned above, I am pretty sure that there are plenty of other good, and worthwhile reading, resources that can help you complete that overview I just try to share with you folks in this post. So if you think I have missed any, feel free to comment away and let us know. We would greatly appreciate it.

For now though, I am going to leave this blog post here and finalise another one I’m working on, where I will share some further insights on what I plan to do, and use, myself in order to relate most of what I would be exposed to, including hanging out virtually, as well as face to face, with those folks I usually hang out with already and who I know will be there as well. Oh, this upcoming blog post will be a rather interesting one as well, because it would introduce the one other experiment I just started for  2010, and which I have mentioned briefly in a couple of articles already … Thus stay tuned for some more!

Tags: Lotusphere, Lotusphere 2010, LS10, Lotusphere2010, Agendas, IntraVision, iPhone, Mobile, Turtle, Genii Software, Apple Store, iPhone Apps, Applications, Planet Lotus, Ed Brill, Lotusphere Blog, Lotus Knows, Lotus-Knows, LotusKnows, #ls10, Twitter, Micro-blogging, Micro-sharing, Live Blogging, Live Con-blogging, Posterous, Facebook, LinkedIn, Slideshare, Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, IBM, Networking, Social Networks, Conversations, Connections, Productivity, Events, Conference Events, Orlando, Florida