Tim Bauer’s Running Thoughts

Semi-daily webcast summaries/insights

Equals.com (Scoble QIK Interview): Solve Solicitors Calling You

Scoble binged on interviews on 5/13 posting up five in one day but he called out one interview as being noteworthy:

Equals. This is a startup that hasn’t shown anyone its main product yet, I get an exclusive first-look at what they are doing. Wow, what a new way to work using Twitter, social networks, phones, and more. If you only watch one, I’d watch this one. The CEO is a bit wordy, but the demos he shows me are interesting.

Intrigued (and a bit weary of the obsession with social XYZ) I fired it up in hopes of some new perspective.

Details Notable Points
Title/Link:

  • N/A
  • A series of QIK interview snippets at the Equals new offices

Duration:

  • ~30m

Interviewee:

Recommend to Watch? Perhaps

  • If you are into unified messaging perhaps … or … you constantly are interrupted at dinner by solicitors. No hurry however, the beta solution is not even out yet (ETA July).
 1. Free Version of MSFT’s Unified Messaging Vision

  • So, basically they are offering a centralized offering where you (1) register all your communication devices (IM, Email, Phones) (2) integrate that to your systems that track your status (Calendar, Twitter, etc) and (3) pull in your social network. That blob of data is then used to determine how a contact event (call, email, IM) is routed (voicemail, phone, IM, email + who is calling) and to which device (which phone is current). For those MSFT posse out there this is basically a free mini-me version of the Unified Communications vision they have been trying to sell for 2-3 years to corporate america.
  • Free. Ah, how I like that word.

2. Target Market — Hyper Engaged

  • They are targeting the hyper engaged but I wonder if that actor will value the appropriate routing of their phone versus the additional coordination of other data they use (calendar, twitter status, etc). The usability of just flipping a phone to vibrate or silent when going into a no-call zone is pretty simple. I suspect it will struggle to be simple enough while correctly routing calls. Still worth a try.

3. Bauer’s View — The Biggest Market — Stop Dinner Interruptions From Solicitors

  • Who needs a Do Not Call list? Thing doesn’t work anyway. Equals.com will basically route all your calls through their servers and check to see if the CallerID is ‘known’ (this is a simple use case, you can do quite a bit more based on your current context). If the Caller ID isn’t known, they are routed to voicemail. Who wouldn’t set that up at home. I know I will.

4. Sidenote: Scoble Starting a New Show — WorkFast

  • Scoble commented briefly about a new show focused on the Enterprise (not startups) called “WorkFast” I believe. He mentions it occasionally on friendfeed. Anyway, good news. A focus on initiatives that can drive immediate impact to existing companies is wise.

All and all an intriguing offer that I will definitely try out … especially on the home setup. The work setup seems to present another headache to me … not sure I am that worried about if my phone rings or not … or if people can’t reach me.

Would be curious on your thoughts … as always.

* START OF RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

• http://www.equals.com/
• 5/14/2008, 6:01 AM
• http://qik.com/video/77124
• CEO
…………….Ajay Madhok
…………….http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/etel2006/view/e_spkr/2519
• Finished move
• Simplify communications
…………….○ Use name to get ahold of me w/ all the identifiers
…………….○ Choice, privacy, controls
…………….○ Filters
…………………………..§ Temporal context
…………………………..§ Who is calling
• Equals.com
…………….○ Value proposition on flip side of card
…………….○ Get away from walled garden model
…………….○ Single signon 1st attempt to break walled garden
• How is this different than friendfeed
…………….○ Connection
…………………………..§ As you speak, happens in background
…………………………..§ Xobni … reference … sidebar … shows relative to people
…………….○ Calendar drives when phone is available for calls
…………….○ Present in skype doesn’t mean you can take calls
…………….○ No one console to manage relationships and availability
…………….○ People in skype, email, calendar, contancts
…………….○ Create your walled garden
…………….○ I defragment my world … then my slice of your world defragments
• Where Would I use Your Platform
…………….○ Social network … show today … and discover new
…………….○ When find someone … how handle people … equals
…………….○ Find people but limit how they connect
…………….○ When they find me … presented as a proper role (image) to that context .. Icon …
• Free service …
• 5/14/2008, 6:09 AM
• Who compete with?
…………….○ Virtual agent …
…………….○ Party line
…………….○ BuzzTalk
…………….○ Bauer comment - not a good answer
• Example
…………….○ How coordinate going to drink
…………………………..§ Don’t setup bridge
…………………………..§ Want to call one number and it calls all devices active for friends
…………………………..§ Bauer comment MSFT vision from 2-3 years back … difference it is free
…………….○ Competitors are all walled gardens
…………….○ They are not
• Campfire … Friendconnect
…………….○ Excited
…………….○ Social Networks - Hypertrend
…………….○ Use all networks as once … One profile
…………….○ Bauer comment - He is getting long in tooth on description
…………….○ 5/14/2008, 6:13 AM
• Using OpenSocial, etc … Help build graph faster
• 5/14/2008, 6:14 AM
• http://qik.com/video/77129
• DEMO
…………….○ Connect based on name … but how work on phone
…………….○ Ajin (sp?) Founder
…………….○ Talk, Text, Video … all interview
…………….○ Choose to interact in any of these services
…………….○ Universal identifier (email addr, phone #, etc)
…………….○ If I give you something I lose control … you can contact me whenever
…………….○ 5/14/2008, 6:17 AM
…………….○ Hidden caller ID … no answer
…………….○ Email. No clue who they are … could be spam
…………….○ Founder refocus … control of when contacted when you are contacted
…………….○ 5/14/2008, 6:19 AM
…………….○ Bauer comment - Still talking about case (restatement of overview segment)
…………….○ 5/14/2008, 6:19 AM
…………….○ Demo … 3 phones
…………………………..§ So a universal #
…………………………..§ Bauer comment - so redirection … on Switch
…………………………..§ Set on profile busy … which synch’s with calendar
…………………………..§ Integrate w/ - Google Calendar, Notes, Outlook
…………………………..§ A profiler … innner circle of calls
…………………………..§ Bauer comment - Way to block callers
…………….○ Potential ability to sell access … joke (but is it really)
…………….○ 5/14/2008, 6:23 AM
…………….○ Now show twitter … update twitter …synch to all … next call …
…………….○ Change context … gtalk, ivr, IM, email, etc … all possible
…………….○ Not released
…………………………..§ Sometime in July release
…………………………..§ Copyline is available today
…………….○ Gtalk example
…………………………..§ IM to assistant … available … facebook profile changes …
…………………………..§ Show different roles trying to contact
…………………………..§ Message
…………….○ Does equal figure out IM?
…………………………..§ No. Right now calendar gets parsed.
…………………………..§ Defining operators … for IM … like LOC ON China
…………….○ Equals context
…………………………..§ There are keywords that equals rests
…………….○ Show how facebook or web talk to you
…………………………..§ “BuzzMe” in location …
…………………………..§ Inner circle … gets different message … since sleeping … redirects to IM
…………………………..§ Insert tag 8295 … uniquely identifies conversation to reply back
…………………………..§ Bauer comment - better make those #’s alphanumeric … could get big quickly … how handle typos
…………….○ Context change via IVR
…………………………..§ Status - at home, working, silent, sleeping, etc … by numbers
…………………………..§ Silent means goes right to voicemail
…………………………..§ Get IM on PC when phone calls are in queue … so when in meeting can pinged quitely
…………………………..§ Bauer comment - seems to do some jott
…………………………..§ Example of not knowing either # … just know where current phone is active … detected presence on skype
…………………………..§ Bauer comment - wonder how well it works on other digital parties
…………….○ 5/14/2008, 6:35 AM
…………….○ Calls to room very expensive (hotel)
…………………………..§ Can define context … in which phone is used
…………………………..§ Bauer comment - can you define work locations and toggle between them
…………….○ 5/14/2008, 6:36 AM
…………….○ Context should change based on activity stream not you having to change stuff
…………….○ 5/14/2008, 6:37 AM
…………….○ Email to Voice
…………………………..§ Not been done before (Actually Jott has done reverse)
…………………………..§ New show in july “Workfast.tv”
…………………………..§ Email comes in … attended by virtual assistant
…………………………………………□ Replies back … hi harry … thank you for invitation … call me now … click … skype … so auto attendant that is more personal
…………………………………………□ If they don’t use email immediately it’s a timeless link … so it goes to current context

** END RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

May 15, 2008 Posted by bauertim | 2-Perhaps (what floats your boat?) | , , , | 2 Comments

Sapphire 2008 Keynote (Pat Lencioni): Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Actually I have a better title for this for Pat …

  • Management 101: Mitigating Your Five Dysfunctions (you know … the ones you don’t have)

Because when I read his title I thought “Man, we all are dysfunctional” as his “Five Dysfunctions” (below) really can apply to anyone .. not just those creating or managing teams.

So I canceled my appointment with my therapist and got to running.

Details Notable Points
Title/Link:

Duration:

  • ~40m

Speakers:

Recommend to Watch? Perhaps

  • Here are the barriers
    • Requires a registration
    • Doesn’t work when you try to play it back (had to download the audio only)
  • The pro’s are his points are timeless reminders of the dynamics of teams … something we all face every day.
 1. Absence of Trust

  • The nuance he brought up was the litmus test of if people feel accepted enough to admit their weakness(es) to a team. Are they safe enough? Will their team members ‘catch them’. If not, they will not rock the boat and their thoughts (which you need) will not come to the fore. It was interesting that he used Bill Clinton’s open style handling his flaws in 1992 as an example. In his view, Bill got into office because people built trust with him from that.
  • BAUER NUANCE - You have to demonstrate it’s o.k. to be vulnerable (wrong) on a consistent basis as a leader.

2. Fear of Conflict

  • Disagreements over issues and ideas are a good thing. He gave a variety of examples of how today’s culture tends to focus so much on being ‘mannerly’ we lose the ability to challenge one another directly … which then turns the resistance to passive styles … which is far more destructive.
  • BAUER NUANCE — It’s not always yelling. What arguing looks like is different by culture / region. The key is to recognize that disagreement is happening and encourage it (on the right topics).

3. Lack of Commitment

  • The old pocket veto. He talked about how you need to get people to air their thoughts on items in contention.
  • BAUER NUANCE - Not only do you need to get them to voice why items will fail. You need to then loop back and address why you are going with (or against them) when a decision needs to be made.

4. Avoidance of Accountability

  • I liked how he talked about great teams (49′ers) that basically enforce the team rules. Boss doesn’t get involved. Hard to implement in practice consistently.
  • BAUER NUANCE - If you can tie their personal incentive plan to their success in (1) identifying risks and then (2) mitigating them you have a shot. Keep it general on the framework so you can add risks to that list in the year.

5. Inattention To Results

  • What are your teammates motivated by … their success … or the team? If the former, you have issues as their focus will be on themselves and not the results the team is chartered to deliver.
  • BAUER NUANCE - The performance plan needs to recognize and reward a large chunk of metrics that are externally focused. Sharing knowledge. Mentoring. IP to a shared drive. Etc. How are they creating assets for the org.

I still think that anyone, if they are honest, have these five Dysfunctions … and they are not going away. Given that, what we should be doing is figuring out how to mitigate them … not solving them … as I think they are core to the human ego.

Would be curious on your thoughts … as always.

* START OF RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

According to Pat Lencioni, teamwork remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare. He makes the point that if you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time. Based on his runaway best-seller, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni uncovers the natural human tendencies that derail teams and lead to politics and confusion in so many organizations. 2008 ASUG Annual Conference attendees will walk away with specific advice and practical tools for overcoming dysfunctions and making their functional and project teams more effective and cohesive.
Speakers:
………………• Patrick Lencioni, Founder and President, The Table Group
………………• 5/12/2008, 6:11 AM
………………• Myers/Briggs - He is ENFP … no focus
………………………………§ Likes Q&A
………………………………§ Office is near Berkley … but this won’t be a Berkley talk (no love in)
………………• Teamwork is where competitive advantage comes from
………………• Two reasons
………………………………§ It is rare
………………………………………………□ SW Airlines … due to culture
………………………………§ It is the key that lets you leverage the other stuff (tech, strategy, etc)
………………• Teamwork is like parenting
………………………………§ He has 4 boys
………………………………§ 1st child you over think. Last child gets the basics (but the good stuff).
………………………………………………□ Over read / theories on 1st child
………………………………§ Talk to Dad w/ 7 kids … doing well .. Keys he saw … three things
………………………………………………□ Clear boundaries
………………………………………………□ Praise them for being in boundaries
………………………………………………□ Whatever they do … they know that you love them
………………• What is he going to share … you know
………………• He just puts it in a framework so you can remember
………………• Quote … People need to be reminded … Not instructed
………………• 5/12/2008, 6:19 AM
………………• 5 dysfunctions of a team
………………………………§ Absence of Trust
………………………………………………□ Not Predictive Trust - Where you know the word of a person is good.
………………………………………………□ KEY –> Vulnerability Based Trust - I need help. Will people reach out
………………………………………………□ Why 5 dysfunction … Why not the five functions? You are interested on why people fail.
………………………………………………□ Story - Tech stratup. Handpicked people from a variety of companies
………………………………………………………………® Struggling vs competition
………………………………………………………………® Not core business assets … good there
………………………………………………………………® Weird dynamics on team … some people speak … no one responds. It was the ‘funky’ guy.
………………………………………………………………® Kept meeting with executives
………………………………………………………………® Over dinner the funky guy jokes that they don’t really trust one another
………………………………………………………………® CEO and He worked to try and get him to trust people … didn’t
………………………………………………………………® Let him go
………………………………………………………………® Night and day difference
………………………………………………□ Leader must be vunerable 1st … then others will follow the lead
………………………………………………□ Another story
………………………………………………………………® Another example of head of company … no one trusted him … Head of HR did feedback survey
………………………………………………………………® Reviewed w/ no one at first
………………………………………………………………® Went over it with team … allowed him to observe
………………………………………………………………® Report says not a good listener … everyone says he is a good listener
………………………………………………………………………………◊ So he skips
………………………………………………………………® Not enough feedback, praise … everyone gives praise
………………………………………………………………………………◊ So he skips it
………………………………………………………………………………◊ He rolled up to the CIO … someone had to write this stuff
………………………………………………………………………………◊ So one person vouched for needing more praise (marketing guy)
………………………………………………………………………………◊ Group still denied after marketing guy
………………………………………………………………® This was the day the CIO lost credibility
………………………………………………………………………………◊ Didn’t acknowledge the problems he had … and set the culture of not being ok to be wrong to be vunerabilility
………………………………………………□ Can’t change via an event … needs to become something you do … all the time
………………………………………………□ Another example — politics
………………………………………………………………® Clinton (bill)
………………………………………………………………® 1992 … asked him about tough questions … said he made mistakes … not a perfect man
………………………………………………………………® A few years later made another mistake
………………………………………………□ Vunerability happens in daily debate … you realize you wrong … before they do … and then you admit it … versus walking away … look at people and say I wish I was like you … people will walk through walls of fire for those that are human
………………………………§ Fear of Conflict
………………………………………………□ Good — Around Issues And Ideas
………………………………………………□ Bad — Conflict on people behaviors
………………………………………………□ Japan example … how they agree or not
………………………………………………………………® Agree - They say Hi (yes)
………………………………………………………………® Disagree - They suck in their breathe and they say Hi (yes)
………………………………………………………………® Hard to tell difference
………………………………………………………………® Regional … say same things mean different stuff
………………………………………………□ What matters is if team is holding back … are they choosing their battles
………………………………………………□ Example of Marriage
………………………………………………………………® How one couple broke up due to inability to argue
………………………………………………………………® Discuss … however you want to do it (japanese … suttle … or in your face like east coast)
………………………………………………□ No conflict due to protecting feelings
………………………………………………………………® What organizations have worst back channel character crushers
………………………………………………………………® Churches
………………………………………………………………® Meetings … show respect … too nice
………………………………………………………………® But backchannel on ideas … the person realizes … and it becomes an unspoken argument … will become a character conflict
………………………………………………□ Why not just make the decision … for them … avoid conflict
………………………………………………………………® Cut off conflict … run into 3rd dysfunction
………………………………§ Lack of commitment
………………………………………………□ When people don’t weigh in … They don’t buy in
………………………………………………□ Doesn’t mean you will get consensus
………………………………………………□ As a leader … you have to give opp to hear what people think … then move
………………………………………………………………® Listen … then if not consensus …
………………………………………………………………® Restate various aspects … why doing … or not doing … people angles
………………………………………………………………® Then say angle you are going with
………………………………………………………………® Heard and considered … Not humored
………………………………………………□ No speaking … passive commitment
………………………………………………□ Not sabotage … Just no heart … No battle on problems they see … Mild resistenance
………………………………§ Avoidance of Accountability
………………………………………………□ How much courage do you have to hold your PEER (not boss) accountable
………………………………………………□ Story 49′ers
………………………………………………………………® Player sprained ankle … didn’t come to game
………………………………………………………………® Players told him on Monday he would be gone at their request if he does it again (NOT BOSS)
………………………………………………………………® Irony … leader has to show ability to confront difficult issues
………………………………………………□ Most CxO’s have issues dealing w/ difficult issues
………………………………………………………………® Mistake ability to fire … w/ accountability
………………………………………………………………® Story - CEO Startup
………………………………………………………………………………◊ 1 yr stabilize company
………………………………………………………………………………◊ Strategy … External … focus … hire president / COO
………………………………………………………………………………◊ Fred (direct report) … started telling people (backchannel) he was the guy for COO .. Didn’t like
………………………………………………………………………………◊ CEO … didn’t know … told him
………………………………………………………………………………………………► Said … absolutely not …
………………………………………………………………………………………………► Will you tell him … no … not time and energy …
………………………………………………………………………………………………► Running away from what they don’t want to do
………………………………………………………………® Example
………………………………………………………………………………◊ Budget review w/ CFO … not supporting his consulting work
………………………………………………………………………………◊ Said he would can his programs if he could
………………………………………………………………………………◊ CEO … CFO … basically not agreeing on investment
………………………………………………………………………………◊ His point to CEO convince … get on board … CFO
………………………………………………………………………………◊ CEO … Fred saying he hates programs … talk to him and work it out … CEO refused … makes company look bad … no time
………………………………………………………………………………◊ Lack of time …. Procrastinate … drives decay from internal
………………………………………………□ Lessons of Accountability - Management Guru … his Son
………………………………………………………………® Has twins … one was acting up at reading
………………………………………………………………® Wife … not a whoosie … kicked him out
………………………………………………………………® Matthew … 1/2 way through … stay for 2nd half … come back
………………………………………………………………® Allowed (he is weak)
………………………………………………………………® 2nd son points out not holding accountable … teammates did
………………………………………………□ 5/12/2008, 6:51 AM
………………………………§ Inattention to Results
………………………………………………□ when team members put their individual needs (such as ego, career development, or recognition) or even the needs of their divisions above the collective goals of the team.
………………………………………………□ Example - Scottie Pippen
………………………………………………………………® Leader of bulls after Jordan …
………………………………………………………………® Favored to win championship … w/ Jordan
………………………………………………………………® Get to playoffs
………………………………………………………………® Timeout CHI … ball Pipen (no) … put to other guy … Pipen refused to go out on floor … wants to take shot
………………………………………………………………® Substitute for Pipen …
………………………………………………………………® Bulls made shot anyway
………………………………………………………………® Courage of audacity … stand up and say its about me …
………………………………………………………………………………◊ Then you know who to fire
………………………………………………□ Reality is teamwork is not natural
………………………………………………□ Hold them accountable at peer level … more partners watching
• 5/12/2008, 6:55 AM
• Closing points
………………………………………………

** END RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

May 12, 2008 Posted by bauertim | 2-Perhaps (what floats your boat?) | , , | 7 Comments

Jive Software (Collaboration): Ruth’s Chris vs. Raman Noodles

Ask yourself this question …

  • Is there an ROI to collaboration?

because when you start looking at collaboration products like Jive Software your aren’t talking chump change. They face the same hurdles as any efficiency based initiative. The executives want to see hard dollars have have either the word INCREASED REVENUE in them or REDUCED COST.  If you can’t show it they will give you a $1 to buy a six pack of Top Raman.  If you can, they money is there.

So with images of Raman dancing in my head I clicked on play and got to running.

Details Notable Points
Title/Link:

Duration:

  • ~60m

Speakers:

  • Adam Mertz
    • Product Marketing Manager
  • Clay Moore
    • Product Manager

Recommend to Watch? Perhaps

  • If you are curious on the UI and look and feel I would watch this. Early on they were trying to set the stage for why the product is needed but I think the message was blurry. However, the tail end feature review was good to see. In addition, they use Adobe’s Presenter7 so you can zoom to any segment rather easily (broken down by slide).
 1. Raman Noodles vs. Eating Out

  • This wasn’t in the presentation but its implied when looking at any 3rd party collaboration solution. Should you just wire together a variety of free solutions and focus on cost (ala Raman Noodles) or pay someone for an integrated one and focus on experience (ala Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse). Either approach will probably get you a full belly … and it will be hard (from an ROI perspective) to tell the difference initially. Crunching up the raman you see a solution based on Google Sites (wiki), Blogger (blog), PHPBB3 (free forums), and Friendfeed and/or Twitter (real time conversation/status). This drives, in pieces, a pretty robust feature set when compared to Jive. Problem is when you get to large scale usage the operational headaches of managing all those Raman Noodles fragments. The manual processes that tie them all together will begin to be a burden.

2. Very focused on business buyer … where is the IT buyer angle?

  • Jive pointed out the collaboration needs of a variety of roles in the org … which was interesting … in that they focused on the business. Valid angle. One aspect I noticed they are missing is the collaboration medium for the technical roles. In organizations I have served those groups tend to collaborate around tools that have the features of Jive BUT integrate to the build process. Pre-built solutions like Confluence/JIRA do a better job than JIVE here. However you could integrate your build toolset to JIVE and achieve the same.

3. Subscribing via Tagging … Good Idea … Will Implode In Practice

  • There was some commentary around tagging of content in the Jive stack being able to drive subscriptions. This is good but in the Enterprise people will want a centralized meta tag management solution in short order (ala ECM). So I wouldn’t build processes on adhoc tags that are too ornate. Wait for the centralized model and keep it simple in the interim.

3. Brand Solution Is Weak

  • They showed how Jive could drive branded solutions (like Product sites) but in reality other solutions that come from a business angle (not a technology basis like Jive) are better. Look at Powered for example. Excellent marketing focused product. When they talk about the ROI of social commerce (collaboration between you and your customers) you get it.

4. That “Sizzle” you hear is widgets cooking …

  • Widgets on the homepage was next. Jive is all fired up that they are the only ones providing this. Really? Seems to be alot like WordPress widgets to me. But I guess that is comparing Raman Noodles and Ruth’s Chris again.

5. Hey … Twitter … someone stole your battery …

  • I loved that skit by Eddie Murphy where he has a conversation with his car computer after someone stole the battery. “Hey man, someone stole your battery … I say we go get the mother ..” Classic. Anyway, seems Jive stole Twitter’s battery as they integrated status updates into the profile of people. Steve Jobs would be proud of their Piracy. I might be giving credit to Twitter when someone else came up w/ the concept 1st … but that is how people referred to the function in Q&A as well. “So, that feature … it’s like Twitter … right?”

All and all, I see two things:

  1. The ROI of collaboration is STILL not clear
  2. Jive is a great choice when you have a large, complex, internally business focused group. There are better options for IT and External uses.

Personally? In my business we eat Raman Noodles. Free is appealing for a startup … at least till the adoption warrants re-assessing the maintenance headache of disparate systems. I was close though .. the shiny package of Jive was tempting. I would do it over Sharepoint that is for sure.

Would be curious on your thoughts … as always.

* START OF RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

• https://admin.acrobat.com/_a773188684/p96493791/
• Enterprise Collaboration & Community Software
• 4/28/2008, 6:05 AM - 2:02 in still doing housekeeping
• 7 years … 15% of Fortune 500 … 2000 customers
• Internal and External communities (hit both)
• Products
……………○ Clearspace
……………○ Clearspace community (external)
• Unique of Jive - Adhoc Conversation
……………○ Not document centric
……………○ Bauer comment - So they avoid the wiki, sharepoint angle of penetration
• 4/28/2008, 6:09 AM
• Some graph proving collaboration was largest impact to business
……………○ Bauer comment - a word smithing point? I mean doesn’t that mean people talking hits all pieces?
• 4/28/2008, 6:10 AM
• External community keys
……………○ Talk about products
……………○ More than support
……………○ Feedback, sentiment, learning, story telling, associations
• Web help is more effective than call center
……………○ Supporting stats
……………○ Bauer comment - not very targetted examples … rather high level
• 4/28/2008, 6:12 AM
• Poll - What communities are you looking to create to drive value in your business
……………○ Primary response was collaboration in the enterprise (71%)
……………○ Service & Support (45%)
……………○ Developer & Partner community (36%)
• 4/28/2008, 6:14 AM
• Examples of customer implementations
……………○ PC World, Sprint, VMWare, Net App, Bank of America, John Deer
……………○ Enterprise Collab, BrandAffinity, etc are solutions
• 4/28/2008, 6:15 AM
• Focus on Enterprise Collaboration
……………○ Slide on communication flows (Bubbles, typical questions)
…………………………§ Bauer comment - still not crystallizing a core message for me. Might be they are moving across a lot of topics very lightly.
……………○ Service Tech
…………………………§ Ideas shared by networking / meeting
…………………………§ R&D getting feedback
…………………………§ Without clearspace doesn’t get widely leveraged
……………○ Make captured conversation easily visible
…………………………§ Discussion
…………………………§ Document
…………………………§ Content management (Sharepoint integration)
…………………………§ Finding the right SME in an org around a question search
……………○ Bauer comment - its interesting they don’t talk to how different roles want different tools to interact w/ the collab stack. Wiki is typically not a biz user preference (not powerful enough in formatting and other functions)
• 4/28/2008, 6:19 AM
• Example of capture of info
……………○ Bauer comment .. Like a blog post or a forum post
……………○ Anyone watching space or tags on post get auto email notification
…………………………§ Bauer comment this is somewhat notable (how to make people aware efficiently) but then the debate of how to effectively tag in an org becomes the riddle (ala ECM meta tagging from years back)
• 4/28/2008, 6:21 AM
• External collaboration example
……………○ Brand and peer to peer support community (excellent example per them)
…………………………§ Bauer comment - I would say the example is weak. Powered does a much better job (given their marketing focus/background) on how to use tools like Jive CS 2.0 to drive brand
……………○ Shows a ton of discussions (forum)
…………………………§ Company mines and watches these threads
……………○ Bauer comment - interesting how they are focusing on the ‘build it they will come’ when really your partner and recurring customers would prefer a decentralized model that aggregates to their preferred reader (don’t assume your external user only does the role that works w/ you)
• 4/28/2008, 6:24 AM
• Poll - Biggest Driver of Success
……………○ Ease of Use - 58%
……………○ All in one system - Wiki, Blog, Forum, etc - 10%
…………………………§ Bauer comment - This isn’t a concern until users get in an realize integration (or lack of) breaks the workflows across the various collab environments
• 4/28/2008, 6:28 AM New features
……………○ Personalization on homepage
…………………………§ Widgets ala how wordpress feels
…………………………§ No other competitor does this
…………………………§ Bauer comment - Wouldn’t WordPress local do similar? Make homepage style a blog model (posts and pages)
…………………………§ One homepage example - Calendar (bauer - pick your favorite), recent content (bauer - live mesh), Status update (bauer - twitter), tasks ( bauer - remember the milk)
………………………………………□ Bauer comment - They spent 1-2m on status sharing being important in the enterprise … hello twitter (in private mode)
…………………………§ Another homepage example - 2-3 people you are tracking (bauer - hello friendfeed), product tracking (bauer - document change via mesh), external rss feeds (techcrunch)
……………○ Visibility of org relationships / profiles
…………………………§ 4/28/2008, 6:34 AM
…………………………§ LDAP and AD integration … pull into clearspace … populate the system
……………○ Projects
…………………………§ 4/28/2008, 6:35 AM
…………………………§ Self organize
…………………………§ Configure like homepage … tasks, discussions, blogs tied to project
……………○ Sharepoint integration
…………………………§ 4/28/2008, 6:36 AM
…………………………§ 1st Goal making it part of the enterprise footprint of documentation
…………………………§ Enhance link functionality to tie to what exists in SP sites
………………………………………□ So if you hit link button there is a SP tab that allows you to pull content from sites in SP
…………………………§ Bauer comment - interesting how we are not talking to the collaboration style that the dev team wants / needs versus what functional roles want/need … and how the two work together.
…………………………§ Bauer comment - Its ‘free’ footprint continues to keep it in the game (at least the starting version is free)
…………………………§ Sharepoint is also tied to search results
……………○ Document sharing
…………………………§ Users can share content outside of clearspace (collaboration)
…………………………§ Partners, contractors … secure and managable
………………………………………□ Give access to partners @ discussion and/or document level
……………○ Admin console Auditing
…………………………§ 4/28/2008, 6:40 AM
…………………………§ Visibility and control of any change in admin (bauer comment phpBB3 does this default)
……………○ Additional items
…………………………§ Rich text editor
…………………………§ Widget framework
…………………………§ Core arch - better API, REST, Spring/Struts based upgrade
• 4/28/2008, 6:41 AM
• Demo
……………○ Login as VP OPS
……………○ Homepage Widgets
…………………………§ Watching tags
…………………………§ Watching people activity
………………………………………□ Bauer comment that is a nice widget
…………………………§ Discussions
…………………………§ His Tasks
………………………………………□ Not clear if this is a one-off project tool or tied to a Proj Mgmt Sys
…………………………§ Blog posts
…………………………§ Your Projects
…………………………§ You Colleagues
…………………………§ 4/28/2008, 6:44 AM (still going on homepage)
………………………………………□ Bauer comment - would agree the innovation area is how to bubble up the activity from the raw areas
……………○ Search
…………………………§ Search for online marketing
…………………………§ Ability to expand to detail search results in search result pane
…………………………§ Profile
…………………………§ Actions - Email, Private Message, etc
…………………………§ See reporting relationships
…………………………§ Mini profile (on mouseover of names - shows what they are working on)
………………………………………□ Bauer comment - Amusing the ongoing ’status’ play
……………○ Project Calendar customization
…………………………§ 4/28/2008, 6:48 AM
…………………………§ Mention of how this isn’t the core system the PM is using … goal is one calendar, doc repos, discussion area
• End
……………○ Bauer comment - Collaboration (JIVE): Pick Your Flavor or Flounder (like JIVE)
• 4/28/2008, 6:51 AM
• Q&A
……………○ 4/28/2008, 6:51 AM
……………○ Differences in CS 2.0 Ent vs CS 2.0 Community
…………………………§ Personalization, projects are bundled in enterprise. Can turn on (for a fee?)
…………………………§ Nuances for external versus internal communities
…………………………§ Next release has a bunch more of features focused on social networking
……………○ Status update like twitter?
…………………………§ Yes. Can see in ’status widget’ or ‘my colleague widget’
……………○ Plugin for video
…………………………§ Yes. I.e. Youtube.
…………………………§ Jive Space (Deverloper space) can help build custom widgets
……………○ Internal Calendar (Jotlet) can synch to Outlook
…………………………§ Yes
……………○ Printable
…………………………§ Yes
……………○ Profile integrate w/ 3rd party HR systems
…………………………§ LDAP focused
…………………………§ Can choose some fields that come out of CS
…………………………§ Bauer comment - So no
……………○ Admin, shut off ability to customize?
…………………………§ Yes
……………○ Guest access
…………………………§ Yes, by feature
……………○ Sharing and watching … what is that
…………………………§ You watch their activity (stream)
…………………………§ Bauer comment - Why wouldn’t small companies just do Friendfeed private?
……………○ Questions around integration
……………○ Abuse flagging?
…………………………§ Yes certain types … go to moderation
……………○ Project available in CS Community?
…………………………§ Yes off by default.
…………………………§ Can turn on (made it sound free)
……………○ Blog
…………………………§ President — www.jivesoftware.com/community/blogs/jivetalks
…………………………§ Dave hirsh

** END RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

May 9, 2008 Posted by bauertim | 2-Perhaps (what floats your boat?) | , , , , , , , | No Comments

Clay Shirky (Author): The World Is Drunk, On TV

Have you ever wished …

  • For more time?
  • To have a greater purpose than just the 9 to 5 job?
  • To not have to pay your cable company?

I have, so when I tripped across Clay Shirky (author of “Here Comes Everybody: Organizing Without Organizations”) speaking I caught a snippet of these themes in his opening remarks. His style and flow seemed solid … so I hit play and started running.

Details Notable Points
Title/Link:

Duration:

  • ~25m

Speakers:

  • Clay Shirky
    • Writer (web focus since 1996, 4 books), Consultant, Teacher (NYU).

Recommend to Watch? Yes

  • Clay comes at time management from a new angle … not why you should do it … or how … but rather how society is moving to it regardless
 1. The World Is Drunk, On TV

  • Clay points out that about 60 years ago there was a notable change. All of a sudden, the world had a ton of free time. Just as the key to the industrial revolution was getting drunk on gin to deal w/ the change going on … in our times society freaked out and ended up overdosing on the first outlet they found (TV/Big Media).

2. But All Benders Have to Come To An End

  • And we are coming to the end of ours. No more reliance on TV to numb away our free time. There is now a way to use that capital to do something more. Enter “Crowd Force” and “Community Projects” like Wikipedia, You Tube, Blogging, etc.

3. Don’t Get Snotty, Playing With Your PC is FAR BETTER Than TV

  • He commented on how people who play World of Warcraft (guilty) are using their time far more wisely than TV gazers. They, at least, are building relationships and interacting (a give and take between them and the game). Who interacts w/ TV?

3. Your Kids Next Question — “Daddy, Where Is The Mouse”?

  • His closing story was a father / daughter watching TV. She disappears behind the TV and comes back out and says “Daddy, Where Is The Mouse”. Point being, she is growing up in a world where the memorizing TUBE isn’t enough. She wants to interact .. Watch out big media.

So, 10 points to Clay for framing an interesting view on what is going on today to enable the community movement behind so many initiatives. It provides definite context on why this isn’t a fad but rather the re-awakening of people … and how they use their time.

Would be curious on your thoughts … as always.

* START OF RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

• 5/7/2008, 6:24 AM
• http://blip.tv/file/855937
• Clay Shirky
…………….○ GIN key was transformation during industrial revolution in London
…………………………..§ Meaning people freaked out, didn’t innovate till they recovered from hangover
…………………………..§ Then the new stuff came — elected officials, libraries, etc
…………….○ Social lubricant for today
…………………………..§ Sit Com
…………………………..§ In our time … 1st time we had ‘free time’
…………………………..§ Went to TV … initially
…………………………..§ TV was our GIN … now we are realizing free time shouldn’t be TV
…………….○ 5/7/2008, 6:27 AM
…………….○ New Book - Here Comes Everybody
…………………………..§ What is interesting - Wikipedia article on Pluto
…………………………………………□ How community evolved the definition
…………………………..§ The counter was “where do people find the time” from interviewer
…………………………………………□ The time comes from TV (which mass media doesn’t want you to give up)
…………………………..§ 200 BILLION hours a year on TV
…………………………………………□ 2000 Wikipedia projects could be done w/ that
…………………………..§ 100 MILLION HOURS a weekend … watching just the ads
…………….○ 5/7/2008, 6:30 AM
…………….○ What to do w/ the surplus (like Gin)
…………………………..§ People experiment on how to use
…………………………..§ Explore complex ecosystems … try lots of things
…………………………..§ Failures leave the trail of where not to go
…………….○ Wikimap for crime in Brazil
…………………………..§ Pushpin on Google
…………………………..§ Start see map of where crimes are
…………………………..§ Something society knows but can’t get a accurate easy hold on
…………………………..§ Cops aren’t incented to provide it in a model for consumers to use / slice
…………….○ So the TV generation … finds time … by shutting off TV (like Gin Generation w/ prior)
…………….○ 5/7/2008, 6:33 AM
…………….○ WOW Guilds
…………………………..§ Doing something w/ people (better than TV)
…………………………..§ Example to Gilligan Island … how they almost ALWAYS got off the island … but never did
…………………………..§ Worse to sit in basement and argue about reality TV
…………………………..§ Better to something than nothing
…………………………..§ Even ‘wall cats’ … hold out invitation for participation … anyone can mark up walls
…………………………..§ Media doesn’t understand
…………………………………………□ Run prior to now as consumption model
…………….○ 5/7/2008, 6:35 AM
…………….○ Triathlon
…………………………..§ Consumer (sure), Produce, Share
…………………………..§ They will take up offer to produce and share
…………….○ Small change
…………………………..§ 1% … 1 TRILLION HRS of TV a year watched by internet site people
…………………………..§ That’s 1000 Wikipedia sites … which are community models
…………….○ 5/7/2008, 6:37 AM
…………….○ Isn’t this a Fad (still with his recall of an interview over his book)
…………………………..§ Big one time shift ala industrial revolution
…………….○ Sitting w/ 4 year old daughter — story
…………………………..§ Girl goes behind TV … tryin g Shutting off TV … looking for mouse
…………………………..§ Kids think media w/o mouse are not interactive enough … want that or will go elsewhere
…………….○ 5/7/2008, 6:39 AM
…………….○ Repeat consume, produce, share
…………………………..§ Work hammer, tong … figure out next idea … look for mouse (where it isn’t today) .. Reference to TV story above

** END RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

May 7, 2008 Posted by bauertim | 1-Definitely Watch This | , , | 2 Comments

Paul Graham (YCombinator): Unleash the Cockroach In You

Here is a sign when you need to watch a webcast. You briefly scan the comments … and then, for some reason, one image … one phrase … sticks in your head.

Such was my experience w/ Paul Graham’s reference to why we all (but especially startups) need to be more like cockroaches. I was impressed since:

  1. What better visual could a new businesses have for its stakeholders and themselves on the attitude they wanted to take on how time and money should be spent?
  2. The cockroach as a role model was an interesting one. On one hand you have the eventual masters of planet earth. On the other hand they are ugly.

I needed some grounding, so I fired it up to see the context that Paul positioned our six legged friend in.

Details Notable Points
Title/Link:

Duration:

  • ~30m

Speakers:

  • Paul Graham
    • Founder, YCombinator (startup VC) but made his mark by selling Yahoo his company ViaWeb which then became the basis for Yahoo! Store.

Recommend to Watch? Amen Brother!

  • Paul is an excellent speaker and I think what he is talking about here applies to startups, businesses, and people in general.
 1. First The Cockroach … Symbol of Humility

  • Actually the cockroach didn’t play a large part of his talk … but I liked it and I am writing this … so it gets top billing. What was interesting was that startups, businesses, and people tend to go large with their risks. Similar to the U.S. “Shock and Awe” foreign policy. Unfortunately, while “Shock and Awe” sounds cool it doesn’t seem to work in war (has Iraq given up yet?) and it doesn’t work in alot of business conditions. What works more consistently is focusing on survival and adaptation. Granted, not as sexy. But buying time and adapting till the moment arrives to go big just resonates with me. It removes/reduces the timing variable in any investment model (since few ideas are right out of the gate). So, as Paul Graham recommends, start as a cockroach, then wait for the time to morph.

2. His Primary Point In The Talk — Get the Wind At Your Back From Benevolence

  • He positioned this in the context of sea battles. How early sailing ships jockeyed for weather gauge (wind). Then he pointed out the wind advantage in business (or personal life) is having your cause be one that people can rally around. A ‘benevolent’ cause. If you can get your business to resonate with benevolence you get (1) better employee moral (2) better help from external entities and (3) have a decisive standard to act from. Craiglist was one example of a company w/ a inner spirit of benevolence. He pointed out they could have charged more but instead they focused on a culture that tried to be as small as possible and charge less (if not zero). Definitely against the supersize culture (and marketing style) in the USA.

3. Benevolence is Like Being Robin Hood … But Careful … Or You’ll Become The Rich

  • He showed how since the late 90’s MSFT has been flat in valuation. He then asked the audience to think about if that was that due to Robin Hood (MSFT) winning the battle against John of England (IBM) but in doing so forgetting that their appeal to the people was operating in a lifestyle similar to their own (underdog)? If that is true (which it is) how did leaving Sherwood Forest’s simple way of life (doing business) impact the passion of the employees that worked for them? How their partners treated them? How customers saw them? Is that temptation repeating now with Apple (the new Robin Hood) taking on MSFT (the new John of England)? I have to agree I have begun to feel Apple is manipulating me more and more … can’t put programs on iPhone without getting approval from them and selling through them, can’t use anything but their hardware/software bundles, etc. Sounds like John of England to me. Sorry Apple Fan Boys.

I am now a Paul Graham fan. Great insights and style of presentation. If you are still reading I would be curious on your views on:

  1. How do the businesses we work for (or own, our ourselves personally) do to avoid the temptation of leaving Sherwood Forest (embracing a simple life and giving the rest back)?
  2. Is that viable? Or just idealism talking?
  3. And how about that Cockroach. Is that inspiring or just a gross visual?

Deep stuff … for me anyway.

** START OF RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

• Make Something People Want - Paul Graham founder of Ycombinator
• http://omnisio.com/startupschool08/paul-graham-at-startup-school-08
• 5/5/2008, 6:34 AM
…………….○ 280slides is being used for his presentation (some hiccups prior to his pitch)
…………….○ Make something people want
…………………………..§ Not 3 words
…………….○ Don’t worry about money
…………….○ Add together = Non profit
…………………………..§ Weird result … bug or new discovery?
…………….○ For example, Craigslist … is the above
…………………………..§ # of employees @ Craigslist … $/employee is HUGE
…………….○ Get ‘weather gauge’ … to decide when / where to engage
…………………………..§ Low op size gives you weather gauge
…………….○ Focus this thought
…………….○ Focus just on your 1st stage of your company
…………….○ Google was like that … low size
…………….○ There are ideas that have to be profit making companies to be done right (not non-profit)
…………….○ Successful startups … look like non-profits?
…………….○ Would all non-profits make good companies?
…………………………..§ Users have to have money
…………….○ To test idea … ask how far you would go to bet against it
…………………………..§ Benevolent models are hard to beat
…………….○ Just internet startups?
…………………………..§ Look at MSFT
…………………………..§ They were robin hood early on … IBM was the sheriff of nottingham trying to chare high $ for PCs
…………………………..§ They changed to the sheriff later
…………………………………………□ Stock has been flat since they went to sheriff role (due to size)
…………………………..§ Small you can’t bully users … you have to be nice … but once big … you can be mean …
…………….○ Don’t be evil might be the most important point of Paul B. to Google
…………………………..§ Catch is people will hold you to it
…………….○ A lot of evidence is benevolence works
…………….○ 5/5/2008, 6:44 AM
…………….○ 3 ways it helps (benevolence)
…………………………..§ Morale
…………………………………………□ Roller coaster of emotion … downside is your people stop working on downside
…………………………………………□ SO less times of feeling failures … if you feel like you have a greater mission … someone needs your help
…………………………..§ Others want to help
…………………………..§ You are decisive
…………….○ 5/5/2008, 6:46 AM
…………….○ Blogger … low lows … and survived
…………………………..§ One point ran out of money
…………………………..§ Evan Williams came back and he was the only one there … users needing him kept him going
…………………………..§ Users to take care of you are forced to take care of what they want
…………….○ Founder of Chatterous
…………………………..§ They realized they didn’t care if they had to move into their house ..
…………………………..§ Cared less about $
…………………………..§ Investors became more interested … their lack of need … the passion
…………….○ 5/5/2008, 6:48 AM
…………….○ Cockroach image
…………………………..§ This is the model for early phase business
…………………………..§ All come close to death … multiple times
…………………………..§ One attribute … doing good for the world … makes you get off the mat like rocky (my comment)
…………….○ Octapart
…………………………..§ Search site for industrial components
…………………………..§ Right way to search
…………………………..§ Bauer comment - edging in on manufacturers as well of parts
…………………………..§ Digikey … another competitor … trying to force them to stop … they operate on little information on price
…………………………..§ Nice founders
…………………………..§ Dropped out of Berkeley to do this
…………………………..§ He wanted to help them … because people are trying to stop them
…………………………..§ Because they are robin hood (benevolence)
…………………………..§ People will rally …employees, investors, customers
…………….○ A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week
…………………………..§ Picture of a general
…………………………..§ Translation get out there and start the battle … get engaged w/ the customers … will they tell their friends?
…………….○ 5/5/2008, 6:53 AM
…………….○ Being good … good in situation where things change fast
…………………………..§ Lying you have to remember a lot
…………………………..§ Truth you have to remember little
…………………………..§ Example … 80 startups … 57 are alive … invested in
…………………………………………□ When advising 57 … have to have a stateless (not specific to startups) due to they can’t remember
…………….○ Talk about being good … people assume you are beating the drum that you are good
…………………………..§ He isn’t not good
…………………………..§ He was loud … as a kid
…………………………..§ People don’t say he is a great guy … just say ‘he means well’
…………………………………………□ So he is average
…………….○ Don’t just be evil … be good
…………….○ 5/5/2008, 6:56 AM
…………….○ Q&A
…………………………..§ How many startups company’s have motto’s / mission statements / creedo’s?
…………………………………………□ He talked in general
…………………………………………□ Then pointed out the ‘good plan, execute’ concept
…………………………..§ Should people finish college grad degree or go start a company after undergrad
…………………………………………□ Not excited about leaving college
…………………………………………□ Making $ and startups isn’t the only thing in life … have fun … learn stuff …. Your idea might be that great … ideas come along quite often
…………………………..§ Most college graduates work for dropouts
…………………………………………□ Maybe
…………………………………………□ (guy sterotypes that everyone that runs /advises companies … )
……………………………………………………….® Follow your passion
……………………………………………………….® Guy gets loud
…………………………………………□ Maybe (nice counter … must be a Jim Fay fan
…………………………..§ Ideas that are already out there … what material to you read to get ideas
…………………………………………□ Look for problems … find good problems … stuff that seems broken
…………………………..§ What emphasis on web2.0 … all your companies you have funded are web2.0 … versus fundamental problem like search or security
…………………………………………□ Searching for components is fundamental
…………………………………………□ They have funded some infra players … like 2 DBMS players
…………………………………………□ They fund what is applied
…………………………………………□ It’s really driven by what the entrepreneurs are offering to do
…………………………..§ What factors used to determine what you fund
…………………………………………□ What they like …people that do stuff they like
…………………………………………□ No evil
…………………………………………□ Look for people that looks like they are going to exceed
…………………………………………□ Fund founders they like and think they are going succeed … and it turns out their bio is one of benevolence

** END RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

May 6, 2008 Posted by bauertim | 1-Definitely Watch This | , , , | 2 Comments

Zuckerberg/Lacy Interview: Why people are still referring to it

Story of my life. Day late. Dollar short. So, I am 40 days late to the blog fest around the keynote at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference with the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, was supposed to be interviewed. It caught my eye because people are still analyzing it. Why in God’s name would they do that? It was supposed to have been a snoozer w/ a mini revolt at the end. Who cares?

Well some people do care it seems. And they may be on to something since the people dynamic that drove the crowd to turn on its hosts was, many say, enabled by the emerging communication channel — Twitter. By allowing the audience to heckle and gripe behind the back of the speakers it emboldened the audience, says the theorists, to act out in real life.

Given that, my questions were these:

  1. What could have the interviewer done to avoid this?
  2. What drove it? The interviewer? The interviewee? The audience? Some mix?”
  3. Why do people care … enough to talk about it today … 40 days later?

That list of questions was enough to get me curious, so I fired it up to see this revolt live.

Details Notable Points
Title/Link:

Duration:

  • ~60m

Speakers:

Recommend to Watch? Perhaps

  • Watch the last 10 minutes as it will become a standard point of reference for what a keynote can implode into
  • If you are a presenter, it would be better to read the notes and they research other bloggers thoughts on how what happened could be avoided. My favorite was this comedian’s advice for Lacey.
 1. What she could of done

  • Check out my blog notes where Kawasaki interview Balmer at MIX08 this year. He starts out w/ some very tough questions. Not a love in. He also would ask questions that were like 10 seconds long then pause. I think Lacey felt sorry for Mark and was trying to fill dead air. This made it her dead air … and her problem. Instead she should of gone w/ quick jabs. See if Mark flinched. Use socratic questions that imply the answer but frame them controversially where Mark will feel compelled to rally to defend. I think he was afraid on stage and went to his primary defense mode … shutting up.

2. What Drove It — Boredom … Drove Them To Twitter.

  • Well, boredom drives many a bad thing … and this could be one. They lost the audience probably 10 minutes in. Actually, it might of been 5 minutes — outside of trying to count how many times Zuckerberg said “Empathy” to offset Facebook’s Beacon debacle — I have to read the notes to remember anything they said not tied to the drama of the last 10 minutes. So, I gave a link above that shows you the 250k posts that hit twitter during the 60 minutes of the keynote. Now by far the minority of that activity was at the conference but it didn’t matter they were all talking as Sarah and Mark were putting them to sleep.

3. Who cares? Presenters and drama addicts.

  • Presenters are probably wise to ponder the course of events here. Heck this could happen to them (Forrester Analyst Jeremiah Owyang did this writeup). The rest of the blogging and talking (95%) is just a Nascar event … every is sitting around drinking talking about the last wreck. A waste of time if you ask me but hey … you can’t argue with the dynamics of people … and people like a good wreck (mechanical or otherwise).

GIven the above you are probably surprised I give this a “Perhaps” recommendation. Primarily that is based on this being such a wreck. Everyone is talking about it in the blog sphere. So you can look rather ‘cool’ jabbering about it I suspect (short burst only). Either way, I think the core thing I took away of value (outside of the points above) was that Facebook needs to get a new faceman for conferences. Zuckerberg is horrible. He may have books scribbled with grand visions … but he sure as heck can’t articulate them (or pieces of them).

** START OF RAW SCRIBBLE TAKEN WHILE RUNNING **

Companies:
Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO of Facebook, which he founded in 2004. Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, families and coworkers. Mark is… Learn More
Pasted from
○ 4/30/2008, 5:59 AM
………………○ What is the role of facebook in world
………………………………§ Trusting and interesting relationships
………………………………§ Macro connections
………………………………§ Empathy
………………………………§ Launched internationally (on feb)
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:01 AM
………………………………§ [bauer comment - he looks ready to leap off the sofa]
………………………………§ Revolt against government is one use in boliva
………………………………§ Trusting, empathy, relationships
………………………………§ Add up connections you get something
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:02 AM
………………○ Why facebook to enable connection?
………………………………§ They are not alone
………………………………§ Key is tools
………………………………§ Extend that empathy / relationship …
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:03 AM
………………○ Facebook and terrorism
………………………………§ Lebanon user population
………………………………§ Terrorism comes from lack of connection, empathy, and understanding … they don’t have a lot of options … so they align w/ those that provide basic needs … but outside of that they are normal … facebook enabled connections to people to continue so that people have more relationships than just those that have darker aspects
………………………………§ Very profound to enable connections
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:06 AM
………………○ Proactive do good actions
………………………………§ Mission - help people communicate more efficiently
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:07 AM
………………○ 1st interview - On phone … really outspoken
………………………………§ Like a bird … too broad of questions
………………………………§ He is typically a short answer guy
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:08 AM
………………○ Back to mission
………………………………§ Not Philanthropy … to early
………………………………§ Build infrastructure to solve some of these problems
………………………………§ Build organization clout … NRA comparison … powerful organization on gun rights … so create similar org but focused on poverty …
………………………………………………□ Bill vote … aid to country in africa … congressman in IL … said his platform was to not take tax $ outside of country … then they protested it … so organized protesting
………………………………………………□ [bauer comment - 12m in … good thing I am running … going slow]
………………………………………………□ Another example of facebook allowing organization
………………………………§ Bottomup communications … important trend in world
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:12 AM
………………○ Facebook has a deeper impact on people than AMZN
………………………………§ No notable
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:13 AM
………………○ International launch
………………………………§ Launched spanish, german, french in last few months
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:14 AM
………………○ Hard time scaling for businesses out of niche and international
………………………………§ Relationships and connections are universal
………………………………§ There will be some platform that enables this
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:14 AM
………………○ $ … How you make dollars … ad deal w/ MSFT … how is that going
………………………………§ Step back
………………………………§ Its not $ … its about the infrastructure … the mission (connection / efficient)
………………………………§ Be inline with how people use the site
………………………………………………□ [bauer comment - so is he backpedalling off of beacon?]
………………………………§ [cat call from audience]
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:17 AM
………………○ Sense that have media revenue from MSFT but not sustainable. Pressure to crack how $ flow works or in 3 yrs you are not viable
………………………………§ MSFT is happy with facebook
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:18 AM
………………○ So what is Facebook is doing …
………………………………§ Part of larger trend … communicating / ads … via people
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:19 AM
………………○ Do you have the angle?
………………………………§ Annouced too early … didn’t have it all figured out
………………………………§ Economic engine driven by how sites used normally
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:19 AM
………………○ Beacon. WTF?
………………………………§ Open mind & listen (taunt of audience)
………………………………§ Beacon is not ad team … its infra team
………………………………§ Their DNA isn’t building all the widgets (social services) … 3rd parties do
………………………………………………□ Some in facebook
………………………………………………□ Some outside of facebook
………………………………§ Take the 1st step … take actions elsewhere … show in facebook
………………………………………………□ Bauer comment - Friendfeed does this … without the ad pushed on it
………………………………§ They are learning as a company
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:23 AM
………………○ Interesting compare and contrast beacon and newsfeed … Newsfeed was more of a risk … larger % of customers impacted. Both was privacy
………………………………§ Give complete control of information
………………………………§ 25% of people on facebook … share cell phones w/ just friends
………………………………§ So granualar control allows that connection / communication
………………○ 4/30/2008, 6:25 AM
………………○ Big things Facebook is doing …criticize … frivolous … how do