Yes, I know, liking Lotus Notes is weird. It's a little like liking Emacs, but even more inexplicable.
But Lotus Notes 8.5 lets me easily add my Google Calendar to my work calendar!
This rocks. =D
Oh, and I can work with Activities offline, too… I'm in love!
When Todd Waymon connected to me on the Greater IBM Connection, I remembered a story that he and his wife (Lynne Waymon, author of Make Your Contacts Count) would probably find interesting. I was looking for my blog post about it, but I must've forgotten to tell that story then. Well, here it is!
It was September 2006. I was a graduate student researching Enterprise 2.0, and my blog was one of the most popular ones in IBM. I heard about the Greater IBM Initiative's planned launch party in New York, and I really wanted to go. When the organizers read on my blog that I was trying to figure out how to get there, they invited me to become one of their Core Connectors. Kevin Aires called me all the way from the UK to invite me personally. I was thrilled! What a great opportunity to see corporate social networking in action, and to learn more about social networking in the process of supporting real-life connections.
I asked my research supervisor if I could have travel funding. He said no; our budget had already been earmarked for the research conferences. I asked the IBM Center for Advanced Studies for travel funding, seeing as the trip was mainly for the benefit of IBM. They said no, because they didn't want to set a precedent. I didn't want to pass up the opportunity, though, so I searched and searched until I found a bus ride to New York for the round trip price of USD 100. My mom connected me with a family friend who let me stay on her couch. I was going to make it happen.
With the logistics out of the way, I focused on making the Greater IBM launch party the best possible event. I remembered how good introductions helped me bring together my mostly-introverted friends from different circles, and I wanted to create that same kind of friendly atmosphere at the event. We had been using Xing as our social networking platform, and all the attendees had profiles there. I browsed each profile, copying their details and their pictures into a document - a social networking dossier. Their profiles included their current positions, their former IBM positions, their interests, and what they were looking for. I sent this dossier to the organizers, who printed it out and inserted it into each attendee's event bag.
To make the most of the 8-hour trip, I printed out a copy of my social networking dossier for myself. I also created flashcards, putting names on one side of the card and interesting details on the other site. I noted common interests, too. I couldn't print pictures, but I had those in my main dossier. As we rattled along the highways in a small van, I thumbed through my flashcards, committing as much as I could to memory.
That totally rocked.
As guests filtered into the swanky NY venue, I greeted them and often helped them find interesting conversations. Some had written only their first name on their nametags, but after I asked them their last name, I could remember everything I'd learned about them. I really enjoyed being able to delight people by introducing them with a few choice details - their current positions, their previous positions, the interests they shared. For example, in one conversation, I revealed that both of the other participants liked skiing enough to put it on their profiles. I think everyone walked away feeling like a VIP!
There are so many interesting things we can do when we combine online and offline social networking. I can't wait to see how we can make the experience even better. I'm looking forward to experimenting with this by organizing or helping host events!
I think it's amazing that I get to talk about my favorite tools and encourage people to try things out. I'm at the GBS Learning Week in Niagara-on-the-Lake in order to present "The Top Ten Web 2.0 Tools Every IBM Consultant Should Try," and I'm scheduled to do it four times over two days. I'm also giving part of the keynote presentation–a short segment on the demographic revolution, given twice over two days. Oh, and I've got an early-morning presentation on Tuesday, an unconference session to facilitate, and another Web 2.0 teleconference workshop on Friday.
I am so going to earn that massage.
I did the first set of presentations today. About thirty people attended the first session, and about fifteen people attended the second.
Back-to-back sessions are tough. I felt more comfortable with the first session because I could chat with the audience before starting. The second was a bit more difficult because I didn't want to wait too long, but that meant that people filtered in during the start of the presentation. Next time, I'm going to give myself more time between presentations so that I can grab a drink of water, chat with people, and reset myself.
Good stuff, though. I'm tempted to radically restructure the presentation as a story. Might be worth trying–and it'll be fun! I should ask the organizers if I can get the feedback forms from the first day separate from the feedback forms from the second day. After all, how many times will I get to test presentation styles with the same layout, same type of audience, same timeslot, and things like that? =)
Ooh, this will be fun.
I'm happy to share that one of my favorite Enterprise 2.0 tools within IBM is now available on the Internet. IBM Pass It Along is now available on Alphaworks, a public IBM site for people interested in trying out emerging technologies–all you need is a free ibm.com account. IBM Pass It Along is about sharing what you know and learning from other people. If you have a how-to you'd like to share, create a topic for it. If you're curious about something, request it. If you're just curious about the crazy tools we use within the enterprise, check it out! =)
Here's what I love about Pass It Along, and I think you'll love it too:
I also really like how a newbie like me can create value for other people by sharing what I'm learning. =) Whee! I'm copying some of my public content over, and you can find my topics on Pass It Along.
IBM Pass It Along on Alphaworks is a public site open to everyone. Access controls will follow soon, so you can limit topic access to just your organization if needed. IBM Pass It Along is even better inside your organization, where you can link it up with your employee directory or do all sorts of other cool stuff.
Check it out - it might be a great fit for your organization!
