August 7th, 2008
Make sure to take part in Yellow Day!
Monday is the 11th, or ye11ow day! I hope everyone participates. See Nathan's blog post for ideas.
I also suggest we use the tag ye11owday (one word, with 1's not l's) for blog posts, flickr pictures, youtube videos, podcasts, etc!
August 6th, 2008
Mac gurus, can you please help me with iCal
I am having a problem managing my day via iCal.app, and I was hoping one of you experienced Mac users could help me.
A typical calendar invite has many fields; title, date, time, location, host, etc.. but also usually contains a great deal of important information about the meeting is in the body, like meeting notes, web-conference details, etc.
However, I can't figure out how to show that information in iCal. I just get the basics, like date and time. I looked in help, searched online, but I can't figure out how to get iCal to show me fields like host/organizer/chair (so I know who's meeting it is) and more importantly, the body of the invite.
Help please!
August 6th, 2008
It’s coming
August 5th, 2008
Fun (but hard) Lotus Crossword Puzzle
I found this crossword from a post on Ed's blog.
I did not do very well! It requires knowledge of several App Dev and Sys Admin terms, which is good for the geeks. ;-)
Very cool site, give it a try.
August 4th, 2008
People ask me why Twitter has any business value
Early adopters like myself seem to always be defending new technologies. First it was email, then instant messaging, blogs, wikis, virtual worlds, social networking, etc. Now it is Twitter, or more generically micro-blogging.
Micro-blogging is a way to quickly express yourself in 140 characters or less. You can ask a question, get something off your mind, say where you are, link to a web site you want to share, and so on.
So why would anyone do this?
For me, there are two reasons.
1. As an employee who works at home away from my colleagues, living in a city away from most of my friends and family, it allows me to "connect" with people. I see where they are, what they are working on, what they are reading, what they are doing on vacation, movies they have seen, and so much more. It gives me a sense of closeness that blogs do not provide. Most blogs are discussions about a specific topic, not tidbits into peoples' lives. Does it replace seeing people in person or talking to them on the phone? Of course not, but it does fill in a lot of the blanks. Laugh if you want, but this means a lot to me. I'm thinking of teaching my mom to follow my twitter stream so she can know more about what is going on with me between phone calls.
2. I have learned a TON from the things people share on Twitter. It is not really all that important to me to see that someone had a tuna sandwich for lunch, but I do like reading messages such as "signing up for so-and-so conference", or "just finished reading a web page about the newest _______", or "finally found a solution to that problem where _______". When people share real content, others can benefit. When people ask questions, the wisdom of all people on Twitter can answer them. For example, as I've been having challenges switching from Windows to Mac, I've had dozens of excellent tips and interactions about it on Twitter. I'm not sure why, but I like this a lot more than signing on a trolling through some customer support forum.
A week or so ago I posted about how Firefox is providing customer service via Twitter. Well, again this morning I ran into a similar situation. I posted a comment about VMWare (it was not even a question) and someone on Twitter (whom I don't even know) saw my post and took the time to tell me about VMWare's Twitter presence. (thanks!!!) I think that is pretty cool, and has real business value.
Fad? Sure. Value? Yes.
August 4th, 2008
The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth
This thing is pretty amazing. Watch this robot go up hills, over uneven surfaces, balance on ice, resist getting kicked over, jump, and more. There are parts of the video where the audio is really annoying, but keep watching, perhaps on mute ;-)
August 4th, 2008
Improving Sales and Marketing Effectiveness with Social Software
This Wed, August 6th at 3pm GMT and 11am PDT you can hear my new boss, Ross Mayfield discuss how social software tools can help people working in either Sales or Marketing roles.
I've love it if you could join in, or at least request that some people from your company in Sales or Marketing do so.
Register here, and tell them Alan sent you to get your free puppy.*
*free puppies is a lie, I'm sorry, I'm just like that.
July 31st, 2008
I’m wearing yellow to celebrate!!!
Lotus comes out swinging, and lays the smackdown on Microsoft! What great news from Lotus today, go read... IBM Growth in Emerging Markets Fuels Lotus Momentum.
In celebration, I'm wear yellow today!
Which got me thinking... let's declare August 11th, Lotus Ye11ow day, or Yeow day! I bet the folks at Lotus9"11" can come up with a cool logo for it! Put up posters around your company, and lets have a contest to see who can get the best yellow company photo! (ok Nathan, your hair does not count!)
Thoughts?
July 30th, 2008
So Alan, why did you choose Socialtext?
Over the last few weeks, I've been asked numerous times by Lotus customers, business partners, IBM employees, as well as friends and family "Why did you choose Socialtext, and what should I know about them?" Below are the answers.
Why did I choose Socialtext?
Hopefully when I announced Career 2.0, it was clear that my decision to leave IBM was driven by my desire for change, not by any "issues at Lotus". This was not a quick decision. For months I had conversations with mentors both inside and outside IBM. After a great deal of soul searching, I concluded that I really needed to leave in order to gain the new experiences I am looking for. I could have stayed within IBM and changed jobs, departments, or even divisions, but ultimately I think that would have lead to more of the same. While going to Microsoft or Google might seem like a logical next step, I don't feel that they would provide the difference I'm looking for either. I knew that for now, I needed to go somewhere small.
Similar to back in the dot.com era, there are dozens of different web2.0 vendors popping up everyday. So I started thinking about which of these companies are doing things that interest me, and which ones I could help become successful. It was also important to me to go to a company with a proven executive team. I spoke with several vendors, but ultimately Socialtext was the clear winner all around. They are a small company which began as the first enterprise wiki provider, but under the guidance of some amazing people is now evolving into a full service enterprise social software company. While my title highlights my role in marketing, I am also going to be helping with business partners, strategy, product development, and more. Everyone at Socialtext has been so welcoming in listening to my ideas, trusting my experience, and making me feel like a lot more than just a cog in the machine.
So what should you know about Socialtext?
Obviously the social software market is hot, and everyone is working to claim their space. At one end of the spectrum there are small niche vendors which develop individual products such as a wiki, blog, or dashboard/portal. Some of these products are even free. At the other end are the large enterprise vendors such as IBM and Microsoft which offer a full portfolio of features, but are complete platform plays requiring large amounts of time, money, and resources to implement. Socialtext is well positioned to fill the huge market segment that falls in between.
The foundation of Socialtext is our wiki platform which provide companies a way to create and share information. However, as mentioned above, Socialtext is evolving beyond it roots, to now offer an integrated portfolio of social software tools. Coming soon are Dashboards and People, providing a home page that aggregates multiple sources of information (from Socialtext products as well as others partners, Google gadgets, and more), and access to your business contacts.
Also coming soon is Socialcalc, which allows embedding of spreadsheets inside wikis, and vice versa! A spreadsheet that supports wiki features! This is so AWESOME, and one of the main reasons I came to Socialtext. I can't wait to talk more about this, but I'll save it for future posts. Let me just say that this has the potential to really improve the way people input and share structured information, and redefine the way you think of delivering reports.
We also have some products coming that I can't talk about yet... stay tuned!
Unlike some of the other vendors in this space who simply provide software for you to download, and then leave you on your own, Socialtext delivers our products either via hosting in our data-centers, or via an appliance which you install behind your firewall.
Finally, Socialtext provides consulting services to help you plan and implement your solution. This is incredibly important, as a well planned project will be far more successful than just throwing up a server and hoping your employees decide to use it. We'll work with you to find business process inside your company that can be improved, and tailor solutions to your unique needs. If you don't solve a business need, and deliver that solution in an easy to use manner, than the project is doomed to fail.
No other vendor offers such a complete package at anywhere near our price. That is why I choose Socialtext, and why I hope you do as well.
I look forward to talking about each of these things is much greater detail, and I'll obviously be covering how we compliment your investment in Lotus technologies. We're a Lotus Business Partner! (wow, I'm on the other side now!)
Anyone looking for specific details, either as a customer or a business partner, please don't hesitate to contact me.
July 28th, 2008
For those outside the US, what marketing, social media, advertising, press sites do you read?
For example, where do you read about best practices, what communities are you part of, etc. I'm looking for sites with a business to business focus.
July 24th, 2008
New Lotus Design Team Blog
July 24th, 2008
Cool Menu Finder in Mac OS X 10.5 (and Notes)
Yesterday I was looking for a menu command in Notes, and when I typed in what I was looking for in the Help Search bar, bam.... the menus actually popped open and a big blue arrow pointed me it! You can read more about the new feature here.
July 24th, 2008
Change the background of your Sametime client
| Lotus Business Partner Carl Tyler has created a cool (free!) plugin which allows you to change the background of your Sametime Connect client. Surf on over and check it out. |
July 23rd, 2008
Can you copy document from one TeamRoom to another?
I've been trying to help someone with a problem they are having when copy and pasting documents from one TeamRoom to another. When they paste, the documents are not retaining their categories, but I can't reproduce the issue using either the Notes 7 TeamRoom, nor the Notes 8 TeamRoom.
When I go into a second TeamRoom and use Edit - Paste, the new documents are created, and the category is there.
Does this work for you? If not, what version are you using?
July 23rd, 2008
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
Is it just me, or is this new Heineken commercial a copy of the Liberty Mutual commercial from two years ago?
