I used to work at a systems integrator, as part of their Knowledge Management practice, and then latterly as a business consultant in their Information Management practice.
Vignette was a name that always came up in discussions about web content management, and so it’s interesting to see that it was bought by OpenText this summer.
I happened to be browsing through Slideshare, and found these presentations by Gerardo Dada, who is Senior Director, Product Marketing at Vignette.
With Sapient
This first presentation is useful in terms of Social Media ‘strategising’:
a major international association of independent accounting firms and business advisers that has been meeting the needs of clients with interests in more than one country for 45 years. The association now has over 300 offices across the world.
DFK International creates special value for clients with cross-border interests. DFK member firms enjoy effective cooperation throughout the world resulting in the ability to deliver international services on time and at a competitive cost.
Fascinating to find out that I should be speaking at an event for a far-flung business networking organisation!
The Burns Supper
I thought it might be a good idea to go up the night before – there was a set-piece Burns Supper with haggis. Our table had a great vibe, but not enough grub: maybe we were just being greedy [shurely not! – Ed.]
I made a recording of my presentation, which is of better quality than the screenshot below. You can be your own judge of how informative it was… n.b. it’s probably 55 minutes, so if you’ve watched it all the way through – I’d love your feedback. Thanks!
Once piece of constructive feedback is that there was probably too much content on the slides. Unfortunately I haven’t reached heights of greatness akin to Tara Hunt or Stowe Boyd. :-(
Anyway, feel free to whack whatever comments you might have below.
Ok, so I should admit that I have previous with Microsoft and SharePoint. An NTMCSE of 1999, I have been involved in a number of bids and delivery projects (e.g. here and here) involving SharePoint.
The latest version, ‘Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007’ has a number of Social Media tools, but my experience has been that both business users and technical implementers don’t really know what Wikis and Blogs *are*, let along know how to exploit them.
Happily, the penny seems to have dropped at SharePoint Towers. Not only have they compiled a couple of best practice guides about exploiting social media functionality, they have put together a dedicated Social Computing microsite.
To get a sense of their plans, check out the video below [will probably require Windows Media Player to be installed] or otherwise it’s embedded on this page, which unfortunately doesn’t provide an embed code so hopefully this WLW widget will work for you :-).
I’m assuming that Microsoft don’t mind me reproducing it’s own brochureware on Scribd; click on the button at top-right of the Scribd widget to make it Full Screen – often the easiest way to see the detail.
The Community Kit for SharePoint is a set of best practices, templates, Web Parts, tools, and source code that enables practically anyone to create a community website based on SharePoint technology for practically any group of people with a common interest.
A glossy intro for Business readers, which sets out four business benefits for Social Media, and places SharePoint in the context of the wider Microsoft product set.
UPDATE 1/9/09: I’ve put a widget into this page which will hopefully show the MOSS video in its glory. However, will require Windows Media Player to be installed on your machine – but have given link to page so you can check it out on the MOSS site [maybe you need Silverlight?!] :-D
Last week I made a business development call on a local company, who were looking to find out more about Social Media–and what it could do for them.
They are a business-to-business organisation, and I was slightly stumped when asked about B2B case studies in Social Media, so I decided to have a bit Google and find out more.
Summary Presentation
The following is a really rather good presentation, which I have embedded from Slideshare.
According to Dan Sears, you might consider the following:
Listen and monitor the online conversation
Gather product requirements and feedback
Alert customers of new product features, upcoming events
Introduce products to prospects
Develop advocates and Industry influencers
Reposition products and brands
Share information during tradeshows and events
Align and connect communities of interest and practice
Generate awareness and exposure (press release)
Which of these might be useful for you?
Link Love
There are also a number of good links below to get you started. The Marketing Profs article “latching” (although 3rd hand) has a useful swathe of numbers which might whet your marketing appetite.
I’ve also included an article I’ve found which sets out the Devil’s Advocate position, i.e. that it’s a waste of time [but it’s from 2007 ;-)].
In wanting to help Ross Cooney plug these events, I thought I’d re-produce his e-mail of today:
“I am working with the organisers of a few IT related events based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on the 29th July and was thinking that you might be interested in attending some or all of these events:
While you can find all the details of each event on their web pages, a simple synopsis is as follows:
CloudSeminar — Discover how ‘the cloud’ can help your IT operation
Venue: Newcastle University
Cost: £10 (or free to Codeworks Connect members)
Make no mistake, ‘the cloud’ is going to be disruptive to IT. It offers significant threats to market incumbents but huge opportunities to new entrants and established companies that respond quickly. Delegates will leave the seminar with a clear view of the compelling reasons for using cloud computing – and how to do it.
Venue: Newcastle University
Cost: £10 (or free to Codeworks Connect members)
CloudCamp is an unconference where early adopters and industry leaders of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas. With the rapid change occurring in the industry, we need a place we can meet to share our experiences, challenges and solutions. At CloudCamp, you have the opportunity to share your thoughts in several open discussions, as we strive for the advancement of Cloud Computing. End users, IT professionals and vendors are all encouraged to participate.
Venue: Black Swan Bar, Newcastle Arts Centre, 67 Westgate Road, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE1 1SG
After a long day spouting shite with technical boffins you can relax and have a drink watching a fun-filled but competitive team tournament in which teams of up to five members will compete against each other at selected games from the Wii sports package.
A bus will be on hand to bring you to the venue after CloudCamp.
While the organisers of these events are working together very closely it is necessary to register for each event separately using the following links:
I am pleased to tell you that you have now achieved Full NEESPR approval. Your NEESPR Pin number is 12640. You may be asked for this pin number in the future by a broker.
… a regional register of service providers that can provide business development solutions to the north east business community. This is the only register being used by all Business Link Brokers to impartially source provision for their clients. Use of the NEESPR is also extending to other business support organisations in the region.
I was having a bit Google search re what others were saying about their membership of NEESPR. So, being in a hurry, and finding that Octopus Media Ltd had summarised the situation rather nicely, I’m quoting them saying that they’re:
[…] an approved supplier on the North East England Service Provider Register (NEESPR). This means we can help you take advantage of government funding which is available for North East businesses, including those based in Tyne & Wear, Northumberland and County Durham.
Applicants to the register are assessed and approved to ensure they are able to provide a high level of service to referred customers. High standards in both customer service and the quality of our work are required to ensure continued inclusion on the NEESPR register.
Funding is available for both start ups and existing business’ and can help pay for web development, web design, brand identity, logo design, print design, marketing, and search engine optimisation.
The availability of funding changes all the time and up to date information can be obtained directly from your local Business Link branch.
Good points, all of them! btw I’ve quoted Octopus & credited them because I’ve seen a couple of different companies who seem to be sharing very similar wordings [but different from the above]. Best pay credit where it’s due… ;-)
So, if you are looking for assistance around
Social Media strategy & fulfilment (e.g. how can I use blogging & Twitter for my business?)
Document, Information & Knowledge Management, and using collaborative technologies in general
Management of Change to help your people adapt to new technologies & new ways of working / thinking
I’ve been kicking some ideas around for a while about what SCL is for – what is the Big Picture?
Those who know me know that I think in pictures. So, instead of publishing a long-winded explication, I’m publishing this mindmap to get my thoughts into the Public Domain, and hopefully to garner some feedback and strike some ideas off you folk.
Hopefully you will be able to use the Scribd viewer to zoom in to the doc & properly read it. ;-)
Over-arching idea is that information is v. important, and that you want to share & exploit it as effectively as possible. Information can be in a database (structured), or elsewhere (e.g. Office docs in a document management system) but it’s not much good if you can capture & store it, if you can’t find and re-use it.
And so much more [sounds like a 1980’s advert – Ed.]
I’ve also been investigating some pro bono work to assist some non-profit organisations and generate some happy customers — and thereby reference material!
STOP PRESS: Over the weekend I have contributed to a bid — my part being how the solution might involve online collaboration. The wheels begin to turn! :-)
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A post to announce that Souter Consulting Limited has joined the 
