Accidentally on Purpose Blog

Lee has done it again!   This one should be played on broadcast TV for the masses.

Electing a US President in Plain English

Well, its been a long time since I’ve written a real post.  To say I’ve been busy doesn’t even begin to describe the past couple of months.  Some things have gone well — other’s? — not so good!  The quick view.

In the GOOD Column:

• SAPPHIRE’s: Orlando & Berlin. There’s a lot of pre and post work that goes on to pull off events of this size and scope - two events on different continents in less than three weeks is no small effort; but, the view was well worth the climb!
• We invited a number of new faces to the SAPPHIRE Bloggers’ Corner this year and from my perspective they were a tremendous asset to the success of the event!
• The incorporation of several live streaming video segments and the use of @eventtrack were really productive and beneficial.  We’ll incorporate them again into the TechEd schedules (if were lucky maybe even sooner) but either way we’ll up the ante with something completely unexpected.  I can’t wait!
• Lots of interest from bloggers I haven’t met or worked with in the past.   The more the merrier!
• Finally got my boat in the water.
• I work with a great group of people! 

As for the NOT so good?

• Two days after I put the boat in the water we had bad Nor’easter (in May no less)
• Got sick and didn’t use the boat for a month.
• When I finally got to use the boat — I had to put gas in it!
• Well, let’s just say my all expenses paid (by me) vacation (in the hospital) wasn’t exactly one of my planned activities.   I won’t go into the details because it really doesn’t make for interesting reading.  I will say that it wasn’t/isn’t life threatening; although, it was/is exceptionally painful.  The net-net is, I’m in need of some surgery (August 4th) and if all goes according to plan — I’ll be as good as new by September!
• The fact that this medical situation has put me so far in the hole on a host of important items means that I’m burning the candle at both ends to get caught up. Worse still, when I get caught up, I’ll be out again for the surgery and behind yet again!
• I’ve been struggling with my WordPress install and Windows Live Writer for close to three months!   When it works - its the best!  When it doesn’t - well you know — its kind of like that feeling you’ve had lately regarding Twitter.  Hat tip to Chris Heuer for the technical assistance — YOU ROCK!

So, I’m getting back to normal and will begin to pick up the pace on posting.   I have a few draft posts about the Media industry and the notion of communicating with various “influencer” categories that I think need to be discussed or at the very least, I need to get them off my chest.  I think its time to knock some of the rough edges off those drafts and get them published.  A while back I wrote about a social media training curriculum that I was developing.   While its almost complete — I certainly have enough content to start posting. Finally, Chris Brogan has inspired me with some great ideas that I think will make for some good posts during my recovery from surgery; since after the surgery, I’ll be pretty much just laying low. 

Well, that’s the high level anyway.  So, to get back into full stride here are a few links that I thought you may find interesting - I did!

• The Art of Conversation - Thoughts and Observations
• Will Social Media Force Spending Up or Down?
• How Social Media will Change Marketing

PS.  I guess the newest version of WP or perhaps Live Writer doesn’t like “bullet points”.   Anyone know how to fix that?

Jerry Bowles  posted a great interview with IBM’s Luis Suarez.  From his most interesting perch on the Canary Islands, he is perhaps one of the best examples of the social media evangelist trend so many big companies are employing with respect to challenging the status quo.

“I had been playing a very interesting role of evangelist all along, creating lots and lots of demos and tutorials on how to make use of social media in a business environment, including proving its business value and what the corporation gets, as well as what the employees get from all of it,” he says.

Social Media champions inside the enterprise are important agents for change.  The savviest practitioners understand this and take great care to build social sense into their programs.  For example: 

1. Ensuring that people with social skills are chosen – or at least allowed to emerge – to lead the projects
2. Appealing to both the group and individual needs of the participants
3. Where it makes sense, building communities around particular services as a way to scale the population of users. 

Forrester’s Charlene Li touched on this subject last week with her presentation at SxSW.  You can view her slides via slideshare here.  

A long time ago (2005) in a place not that far away (Walldorf, Germany) I met Thomas Otter.   Funny thing was that it took James Governor of Redmonk fame to introduce me to another SAP employee.  Thomas was one of those unselfish people you meet in life that when he offers you praise or criticism you know it comes with no agenda or strings attached.  He’s a damn decent guy who’s really got his head on straight.  All he really wants to do is help you succeed — no matter who you are and no matter what you do.

It was during phase 1 of the SAP Global Survey –  Shel referenced social media as being a “Cult of Generosity”, well for my money Thomas is the embodiment of that spirit.   Today is Thomas’ last day at SAP and I for one will miss him terribly.   I don’t think I’ve told him before how much I really appreciated his tutelage and our discussions about business, social media, communications and all the other topics we’ve discussed along the way. 

Today Thomas begins his new career with Gartner and I want to wish him all of my very best!  Thomas, we will miss your presence both physical and virtual at SAP but I am sure that we will be seeing each other soon enough.   Perhaps at SAPPHIRE Berlin?  Hopefully much sooner.

Your a good man Thomas Otter — a very good man!

BTW, who is the other Thomas Otter anyway?

I was recently tagged for the “8 Things” meme by Thomas and Giovanni.   Thanks guys.   I’ll respond to both here in an attempt to not have to come up with “16 things.”  

1. The last time I was tagged I revealed that I wanted a boat really bad!   Well, today I am happy to report that I now have one!   I’m really looking forward to getting out on the water down at the Jersey Shore!
2. I swam competitively from the the age of 7 until I was 19.  Yes, I wore a Speedo : (
3. My first real job was a bill collector for a very large bank.  That job actually made an impression on me with regard to how to properly deal with people.   Customer Service is all to often just lip service — at MBNA America it was much more than that.   I still keep that spirit with me today some 20 years later — to many a “customer service” rep’s dismay.
4. I ran the product PR team at the Remington Arms Company for a while.   It was an incredible experience for a 29 year old. If you really want to test your PR chops give it a go.   Comparatively speaking, software is a walk in the park!
5. I love getting my hair cut and my shoes shined when I’m traveling.   Besides the therapeutic nature of it all, you get a really good understanding of the local people — its amazing what you’ll learn if you just ask some questions! 
6. I’m a bit of a “Cliff Claven.”  My wife is constantly telling me to go on television game show circuit because of all the useless knowledge I possess.
7. My wife and I love Tennis.  She’s really good and I’m — well — not so much.   Our goal is to attend each of Tennis’ four Grand Slam events.   One down three to go!   We’re watching the Australian Open almost exclusively for the next two weeks.  If anyone has a lead on Wimbledon or the French Open tickets please let me know!  I only need two.
8. Finally, I’m genuinely happy with my lot in life and not a lot of people can say that!
9. Bonus item!   I really do love this commercial:

So in the spirit of this meme, I’d like to know 8 things about: Ed Brice, Dennis McDonald, Etay Gafni, Charlie Wood, David Terrar, Zoli Erdos, Tris Hussey and Niel Robertson.  

I know this is about two weeks old now but, I have to say how impressed I am with David Weinberger’s post about how he accidentally got bumped from the Le Web 3 program.  It’s worth reproducing in its entirety:

“It was my fault. I missed (somehow) the email that said to check in by the left of the stage half an hour before my talk. I therefore went by the printed schedule and thought I was just supposed to climb onto the stage when it was my turn. But the printed schedule was wrong, and so they were pretty surprised when I climbed onto the stage at what was no longer my appointed time, and when they had thought I was a no-show. (In fact I was in the hall all afternoon, and standing by the wrong side of the stage, which makes the whole thing more frustrating.) My fault.

Loic offered to put me on after the UN folks were finished, but I thought it was right that the conference end with the UN Web project to educate nine million child refugees. I still think that was the right decision, but, in any case, it was my decision, not Loic’s.

Still, I’m pretty bummed. I worked hard on this talk. But it was an excellent conference with some great hallway networking and sessions” 

David sounds more embarrassed than annoyed — a true sign of humility.  I won’t pretend to know David very well but at a recent Technorati & The Conversation Group social in NYC some weeks back, I had the opportunity to sit and speak with David for about 30 minutes.  Just pleasant conversation nothing about social media, nothing about business — we just spoke about everyday things.  

David – you’re a real gentleman.  Thanks for the chat!

I’m attending a party in NYC tonight where the official theme is food and wine blogging.  I say “official” because I am guessing the real purpose of the gathering is to socialize — with advertising people, media people, PR people, and blogger people.  Among the many folks attending is David Weinberger, co-author of the Cluetrain Manifesto.  But among the folks not attending is New York Times marketing columnist Rob Walker.  One of the event organizers says that Rob — who is based in Savannah — send his regrets, as well as a link to a blog post on the topic of, well, blogging.  It’s worth reposting in its entirety.

No serious wine consumer makes decisions about what to buy based on the aesthetics of the label or the bottle.

But here at Murketing HQ, that’s exactly what we do. And it is for this reason that we — “we” being me (henceforth known as “R.”) and my wife (or “E,” to you) — have founded The International Review of Wine Packaging Aesthetics.

Other than that, it seems pretty much self-explanatory. We will add only this point of clarification: Many wines we buy regularly and enjoy will not be included here, because the packaging is of no interest.

The International Review of Wine Packaging Aesthetics will appear once in a while.

Volume 14: Irony vs. Sincerity: The showdown.

Volume 13: “Not just a ‘tude wine — a novelty ‘tude wine.”

Volume 12, (Double-Dog Special!): “This celebrates the dog. The other one humiliates the dog.”

Volume 11: “Punk rock in a bottle?”

Volume 10: “Stylish. Yet still somehow cute.”

Volume 9: “‘Cone-shaped stone buildings’ unique to the Puglia region. Yeah?”

Volume 8: “A bit too self consciously ‘design-y’ — but that’s why we bought it.”

Volume 7: “The very idea is repellent.”

Volume 6: “A wine inspired by posters? Stupid. But great-looking.”

Volume 5: “Big bold fleur de lys, rendered in a tattoo style. Eye-catching!”

Volume 4: “The clearness and the little guy –- very exciting.”

Volume 3: “The bottle design is, self evidently, awful.”

Volume 2: “Let us be honest: What made us buy this was the monster illustration.”

Volume 1: “We find this gimmick to be fully satisfying.”

As the saying goes, in vino veritas.  I’m looking forward to a frank talk with the bloggers tonight.

Well today is my birthday and I thought I’d use it as a test bed of sorts for things 2.0.  Interesting phenomenon birthdays.   Here’s an interesting link to a site all about birthday traditions from around the world. Enjoy!

As with all discussions nowadays, I guess its only appropriate to make some sort of comparison against Facebook – It is the competitive benchmark of all things isn’t it?   I’ve used FB to remind me of friends’ birthdays on a number of occasions but, is it really the preferred channel for saying “Happy Birthday”?  Lets look at the numbers:

Q. how many people sent me virtual gifts on Facebook? 

A. 1 (Thanks Robin) 

Q. how many people wrote to me on my Facebook wall to say Happy Birthday? 

A. 1 (Thanks Richard)

Q. how many people sent me Facebook email to say Happy Birthday?  

A. 4 (That was so nice of them wasn’t it?)

Q. how many people sent me a regular email for the occasion? 

A. 20+ 

Q. How many people sent me an e Card

A. 3 (yes folks, people still do this!)

Q. how many people actually called me?  

A. I didn’t really count but it was by far the largest number!   I was on one conference call yesterday where I was ambushed by perhaps a dozen or more well wishers. 

With all the web 2.0 ways with which to communicate — is Facebook the standard?  I guess that depends on your social network. Apparently, its not my network’s standard. Not yet anyway!

So which channel do I prefer?  All of them, of course!  Whether you use Facebook, Outlook or even that old day timer/planner (you know who you are) – make sure you remember to say happy birthday to your friends and acquaintances.   Remember, its not about the technology — it is always about the people. 

BTW, I was worried that the one (most important) person that hadn’t wished me a Happy Birthday yet wouldn’t have before I posted this.  Well, I just lucked out — she called!  (thanks mom!)

Well, I’ve been on a self-imposed blogging hiatus of sorts these past few weeks.  Beginning the last week of August when I spent a week at the beach with my family not thinking of work (well maybe thinking about it — point is, I wasn’t doing any)  

I then traveled to San Francisco for the Office 2.0 conference.  What a great event!  I spent most of my time in the sessions listening to some really bright people and meeting with the likes of  Robin Carey, Shel Israel, Giovanni Rodriguez, Jen McClure and Jeremiah Owyang.  I even had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of Etay Gafni a colleague of mine, that until the O2O conference, I’ve never had the opportunity to meet in person.

Last week I was in Hamburg, Germany for a team offsite where we kind of huddled and figured out what still needs to happen before the end of the year, start the planning process for 2008 in earnest and taking some time to get re-acquainted with one other.  One of the more interesting things we did in Hamburg was to invite a few journalists to attend — we turned the tables on them a bit by asking them the questions (foreshadow alert.)

From left to right: Peter Sayer (Paris Bureau Chief - IDG News Service), Georgina Prodhan (Reuters), Herbert Heitmann (Head of SAP Communications), Matthias Lambrecht (Financial Times Deutschland) and Andy McCue (Silicon.com)

This week I’ll be in NYC for our A1S event.  I’ll remain quiet on that topic for now and let the bloggers we’ve invited share their thoughts on what they hear.   

As you can see there’s a lot going on (and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.) For now I need to be heads down and focus on what it is I have in front of me.  Speaking of what’s in front of me, I almost forgot.  I’m also in the process of redoing this blog.  You might even say that the “accidental” part is about to end and the ”purpose” part is about to begin. 

So, cheers for now from the river Elbe (by way of NYC).

Dan Greenfield, VP. Communications at Earthlink tagged me over the weekend for the 8 Random Things About Me meme.  Truth be told, I’m not one for this tagging thing but, what the hell.  I met Dan at a Social Media Club workshop in Palo Alto back in June.  The workshop was about starting the conversation — Dan and I did just that. 

Here are  8 random things about me:

1. I’m just recently getting back into baseball.  Having walked away from MLB after the 1994 strike when I vowed to never again return as a fan.  I wouldn’t be back now except for my seven year old son is a baseball fanatic.  Go Phillies!
2. Two of my favorite reads: The Pentagon’s New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas P.M. Barnett & An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths by Glenn Reynolds
3. The last time I went to a movie (excluding taking my kids) was in 1998 (Saving Private Ryan.)  If its not in rotation on USAirways – I haven’t seen it.
4. I want a boat so bad! 
5. In 1984/85 I drove limousines for the casinos in Atlantic City. 
6. If I had to do it all over again, I’d become a meteorologist — My dream job is on-air-talent at the Weather Channel.
7. My favorite restaurant in the world is in South Philadelphia’s Italian Market — Villa di Roma — cash only, no reservations, no ambiance; BUT, the best Italian food in the world!  And yes, I have been to Italy!
8. I’m a music junkie.   My iPod is with me at all times and I’m always on the lookout for new music.