I’m very thankful that Forbes has extended me an offer to be a regular contributor discussing emerging technologies for the evolving customer strategy.
CMOs are hungry for information. The information landscape is in flux, consumers are more empowered as they assert control using social technologies. Additionally, things are moving faster, as mobile devices and microblogging makes real-time responses from companies not fast enough. As a result, they are thirsty for what’s next, and how they can get ahead of the curve –with minimal risk.
This regular monthly (or more) column on the Forbes CMO network (@ForbesCMO) isn’t reporting, but instead will marry industry level insight and provide pragmatic advice. After I post industry insights at Forbes, I’ll also cross-post or point to it from the Web Strategy blog so you don’t miss out on anything.
Having met many of the CMO and marketing leaders at a recent Forbes event, they are certainly more sophisticated in their understanding (my first piece at Forbes) of new technologies and are ready to understand, trial, and adopt new methods. While we know that ’social marketing’ is the hot topic for senior marketers especially during a recession, I’ll be pushing the thinking as I explore location based social networks and mobile technologies –all in support of improving the customer relationship. I’m thankful for the opportunity to advance the industry, and hope to be a guide to marketing leaders who want to benefit from new technologies.
Now, to hear your opinions. As we continue to connect with marketing leaders and CMOs around the globe, I need your help what do you think they should know about emerging technologies. If you could speak to CMOs, what would you tell them? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
People on the Move in the Social Media Industry: Nov 6, 2009
Categories: Career, On the movePosted on November 6th, 2009
Things appear to be picking up in the economy, and I’d like to continue to recognize those moving in the social media space. I’ve started this post series (see archives) to both track and congratulate folks who get promoted, move, or accept new exciting positions. Please help me congratulate the following folks:
- Mike Pascucci leaves AAA Mid-Atlantic, and accepts the job of Social Media Strategist with Ektron, a Content Management System (CMS) company based out of Nashua, NH. Find him on Twitter at @mikepascucci.
- Kingsely Joseph leaves Salesforce and joins Digital Chocolate an digital gaming company in San Mateo as Sr. Product Manager, Social Games at Digital Chocolate. I’m sure I’ll be hearing a lot about his new ventures, as we share the same building (keep it down up there alright? kiddin), find him on Twitter at Kingsley2
- Former Facebook platform marketing manager Josh Elman joins Twitter as the Product Manager. I’ve interacted with Josh frequently during his role at Facebook, and found him insightful, helpful, and now a friend. Best wishes to Josh on his new adventure at yet-the-next-big thing. Find him on Twitter at @joshelman
- Warren Sukernek leaves Radian 6 and was hired at Lift 9 as the Partner & VP of Strategies. Warren will be responsible for leading teams in providing actionable insights from the company’s socail media research and analytics solutions, find him at @warrenss
- Gwen Peake joins Ford Motor Company as the Digital Communications Manager Reporting to Scott Monty, and will coordinate digital communications & social media efforts for Ford. Find Gwen on twitter at @gwenj.
- Mike Osswald is promted at Hanson, Inc., a digital agency as VP, Experience Innovation Where he will focus on identifying future-forward, significant trends and technologies. His focus on, social technologies will allow co-workers and channel partners to engage in all facets of product and service design.
- Additionally, Lisa Wilberding also joins Hanson, Inc as the Midwest Social Engagement & Messaging Strategist where she will define, plan and execute long-term Social Engagement solutions for clients, as well as create messaging for web sites and interactive communications.
- Dan Kidd is hired at community platform vendor Neighborhood America as a Senior Director, CPG, Custom Research where he’ll be focused on Social Media Campaign Analytics.
- Last but not least, congrats to Augie Ray, who was hired at Forrester Research as an industry analyst covering Social Computing For Interactive Marketers. We wish him the best in this fantastic new role –congrats to the team! Find him at @augieray
How to connect with others (or get a job):
Several people have been hired because of this blog post series, here’s how you can too:
Submit an announcement
If you know folks that are moving up in the social media industry, fill out this form.
Seeking Social Media Professionals?
If you’re seeking to connect with community advocates and community managers there are few resources
This list, which started with just 8 names continues to grow as folks submit to it. List of Social Computing Strategists and Community Managers for Enterprise Corporations 2008 –Social Media Professionals.
Job Resources in the Social Media and Web Industry
Web Strategy Jobs powered by Job o Matic (Post a job there and be seen by these blog readers, these affiliate fees pay for my hosting) Read Write Web keeps announcements flowing at Jobwire, although is broader than just social media jobs Facebook group for community manager group in Facebook Jake McKee’s community portal for jobs Chris Heuer’s Social Media Jobs SimplyHired aggregates job listings, as does Indeed ForumOne Jobs for Social Media and Community Teresa has a few jobs, some around community New Media hire has an extensive job database Social Media Headhunter Social media jobs Jobs in social media Altimeter Group’s list of social media consultants and agencies
Hiring? Leave a comment
If you’re seeking candidates in the social media industry, many of them are within arms reach, feel free to leave a link to a job description (but not the whole job description, please)
Behind Closed Doors: What’s On the Mind Of Chief Marketing Officers
Categories: CMOPosted on October 30th, 2009We attended the Forbes CMO Summit in sunny Palm Beach, to learn what’s on the minds of executive marketing leaders. The conversation from this group regarding social was more sophisticated, which Charlene and I don’t think is reflective of most chief marketing groups we speak with. What’s unique about these Forbes CMOs? Perhaps they are more progressive, well read, and tuned into the rapid changes coming.
In consideration to attendees of this event, I won’t be giving any specific individual quotes, (this wasn’t a media event) but instead, I’ll focus on the insights related to emerging technologies, overall budgets and market economics.
The Dialog on Social Marketing Has Elevated:
CMOs on a holding pattern for growth. Our host, Steve Forbes kicked off the first evening, telling us why he believes we got into this financial spiral. He gave a broad economic lecture covering mortgage, congress, the weakened dollar and compared the current situation to other global and historical incidents. Although the theme of the event was “Preparing for Growth”, I didn’t get the sense that marketers had increased their budgets or were preparing for a marketing upswing. Yet despite decreased marketing budgets, the opportunity to innovate with inexpensive channels were discussed.
CMOs admitted they were losing power to the empowered consumer. A few years ago, the conversation may have been one of resistance, argument or fear of these changes. Yet this group had moved on, accepted the changes, and had already put into place programs to benefit from market changes. I liked Greg Walsh’s quotes, one of the opening moderators (I just reviewed his book) he openly admitted that power was shifting to the empowered consumers. He gave the analogy that previously marketers were used to ‘Bowling’, where marketers could easily throw a message down the aisle and hit the pins with great confidence. Now, he eloquently describe, it was more like ‘Pinball’ where a marketer could load the message up, shoot it out, but have no idea where it will end up.
Social was on the lips of nearly everyone. Although not all the panels and speeches were focused on social, it was noted by speakers and moderators it was a recurring theme among the day. Charlene Li (who invited me to attend, thanks) lead a panel with executives from the Ritz-Carlton, Porsche, and HP. This wasn’t the usual social rhetoric of the 101 questions, but the overall group asked sophisticated questions around the change in influence, reputation management, and integration with existing programs. For example, the Ritz, has already woven in social to their experience, each hotel manager spend over an hour reviewing the online conversation (even Tweets) at their location before walking the grounds each morning.
Social is difficult to measure –yet marketers know they must be there. One of the Forbes moderators gave a stat that they polled the Forbes CMO group to find that “Over 70% of the CMOs polled will do more in the social space this coming year”. Yet, when asked “How do you measure success?” there wasn’t a clear answer, it’s still baffling. Although social marketing is easier to measure than real world ‘analog’ ads, it’s more difficult to measure than web based digital ads. Similar to the difficulties measuring analog marketing, they’re ok with not being able to measure everything in social –they now see the value.
Beyond monitoring, insight from the social sphere is untapped. Social media monitoring is just the first baby step, most companies haven’t tapped into what the data actually means. I sat next to the CEO of Autonomy who’s mission is to organize customer and market data and make sense of it for companies. We were both nodding to each other seeing the opportunities to mine, understand, and make sense out of the vast unstructured social data sets and develop richer customer profiles and map out relationships.
In private conversations, I asked a few if they think the pace of technology change is increasing, and they said “yes”, interesting times ahead. Finally, I’d like to thank Forbes for inviting me to attend and participate, they graciously paid for my travel and hotel.
Update: This post has been reprinted on the Forbes CMO network.
Book Review: ‘Good For Business’ Asks The Right Questions, But Doesn’t Give the Answer
Categories: Book ReviewPosted on October 29th, 2009
I’m attending Steve Forbes’s CMO event in Florida with Charlene Li, and part of the recommended reading for all attendees is the book Good for Business, which came nicely packaged to my desk. Not one to defy Steve Forbes, and certainly wanting to be a good student, I’ve consumed the book on my flight, and share my notes openly, here’s what I found:
The Thesis: The Corporation of the Future Should Inspire Trust
Selling products to make a profit is no longer sufficient. Companies must also appease the human nature of their customers as they are now demanding sustainability, open conversation, helping the community, transparency, and an ethos and mission they can relate to. The book asks four fundamental questions, they are: 1) Do customers care about what the brand stands for beyond just the immediate use of the product? 2) Do customers talk to each other about these higher goals 3) What should companies do to assure their brand is more than a collection of boxes or software code? 4) Does it impact the bottom line? If so, how much?
Unlike Other “Do-Good” Books, There’s Useful Data
Good for Business is a touchy-feely book which ultimately concludes that companies need have loftier goals than just profit such as donating to charities, volunteer work, and brands that make you feel warm and fuzzy. At first, I groaned when reading the start of the book, having been victim of “do good” speeches when I was in corporate –it always felt like an empty shell. Yet the book started to win me over when the four authors presented meaningful stats and graphs about the growing fickle customer, their desire for brands to be more than just profit machines. Using data they made an argument that companies showing their human appeal a worth while investment.
Chock Full Of Case Studies –With Measurable Business Impact
I’m not sold that the earthy huggy ‘humanized brand’ is right for every company, some cultures simply won’t be able to adapt and some customers just want their immediate needs solved. The book also gives dozens of case studies of companies that have an ethos of more than just profit such as: Jones Soda empowers customers by letting consumers pick labels, Ernst and Young connects with their millennial employees talk back by launching an internal community called “Feedback Zone”. The Container Store is one of the top places to work as they allow employees to have flexible hours, How UK’s Innoccent drinks values it’s employees more than sales and profits and dozens of other examples.
Jeremiah’s Review: Good For Business
The Good: A Convincing Argument
The book Good for Business sets the stage that the world has changed and companies need to change too. It also gives some juicy data points and dozens of anecdotes of companies that have made the leap. It’s well-written, and can be consumed in a few hours.The Bad: Leaves More Questions Than Answers
The book falls short in a two ways. While stories are entertaining for a long flight I find myself asking more questions that were unanswered, like: 1) What were the challenges these companies went through during this metamorphosis? What was the common barrier 2) Although there’s a loose framework towards the end of the book, how do I get started? How do I do this? Although a nitpick, while the cover art is catchy, yet the smiley faced button is reminiscent of Walmart (was that intentional?) or the comic book movie The Watchman, which has no relation to this topic.The Verdict: Addresses Right Questions, But Doesn’t Tell You How
Good for Business asks the right questions, get you thinking, but seems it’s missing a few chapters. The thesis convinces you that changes need to be made, but feels empty, as it never tells you how to do it. I recommend you put Good For Business on your reading list, but read the more important books that give a pragmatic approach. To summarize, I give this book a grade of a “B” or “Four out of Five Stars”. If anything, this book is calling for a sequel to answer these questions.
That’s just my take, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on this book, or your comments on similar titles.
Your Company May Own Your Tweets, Pokes, and YouTube Videos
Categories: Legal, Social MediaPosted on October 28th, 2009Your Boss May Own Your Facebook Wall Posts
Both employers and employees may be surprised to find that employee created blog posts, YouTube, LinkedIn profiles, Facebook profiles, and even tweets may be owned by companies. Yes, even those personal pictures you took last Friday with your loved ones, or direct messages in Twitter could belong to your employer. Why is this? Employees sign employment contracts that may indicate that all intellectual property created during employment may be owned by the company, let’s dive into what you should know:
Work, Online, and Life Mix
As employees check personal websites at work (and likely on work computers) they are indeed using corporate infrastructure. Similarly, as employees do work from home in the evening on personal or work computers the lines continue to blur. It can become even more blurry, as the work and lifestyle content share on social networks becomes one in the same. For example, a LinkedIn account that describes an individual’s career goals which she uses to network with prospects is both personal and work related. Secondly, a product manager who announces new features using his Twitter account is discussing work-related content.
Social Accounts Created At Work, Who Owns Them?
What becomes even more dizzying is the thousands of professionals that have career-related blogs that attract companies in the first place. Who owns their blog posts during their tenure at a company? If an employee generated revenue from those blog posts should the revenue go back to the employer? What if a career blog is launched during employment at a company and discusses information related to the company, or a LinkedIn profile during employment, who owns them?
Case Example: Cisco’s CTO on Twitter and Her Million+ Followers
The real question is: Would a company even want this information? I discussed this on Twitter and many scoffed at the ideas that a company would want bits of 140 characters at a time. Take for example the Twitter account of Padmasree of Cisco. She created this account during her employment at Cisco, and talks about both personal and Cisco related content. Her Twitter account, as the CTO of Cisco is on the suggested users list by Twitter and she has over 1,200,000 followers. This is clearly an asset to her and Cisco, and if she leaves would be a loss to Cisco. I’ve spoken in public with Jeanette Gibson of Cisco communications, and they make it clear it is an account owned by Padmasree, she owns it if she decides to leave Cisco.
Guest Post: Perspective From A Lawyer
I’m not a lawyer, so I’ve asked one to comment on this topic. I recently moderated a panel at Blog World Expo on the topic of sponsored conversations, and I was delighted to meet Attorney Lisa J Borodkin, (her blog, Twitter) who specializes in federal court litigation and the resolution of complex commercial disputes. Her substantive expertise is copyright, trademark and new media law. She commented on this post draft post, and gave me permission to publish the following, which are completely in Lisa’s words, she writes:
“There are several dimensions to this issue.
First, the contract law aspect.
It’s important in the age of the blog and Twitter that people understand that a clause claiming all “intellectual property” created during the term of employment would be property of the company would cover tweets and blog posts. This provision would also cover anything else creative the person did on the side, as a hobby, such as writing a screenplay, or creating a comic strip, even purely for fun.
For this reason, when I represent entertainment executives who are presented with this type of clause in an employment contract, I ask that it be restricted only to intellectual property created within the scope of their job duties under the agreement. The rationale is that if you are not being paid to create something, then the company shouldn’t own your output simply because it is created during the term of employment. That would be a windfall for the company. So it’s a new twist on an issue that has been around for a while. The twist is that when these provisions were first written, I doubt anyone ever thought of blogging or Twitter. So this ownership should be only tied if possible to the type of job the person is hired for.
Second, the copyright law aspect.
Most terms of service for blog hosting sites and Twitter provide that the user is the author and owns the copyright in the blog post or Tweets. (Here’s a link to a blog post I wrote on the subject: http://lisaborodkin.com/ip-protection-for-blog-posts/ ) They also provide that, by using the blog hosting provided by the site, the user grants a perpetual free license to the blog host for using the content. This is a pretty fair distribution of rights. Everyone wins.
The point here is that company “ownership” of the blog or tweet content is not the only option. For most company purposes, a shared license or joint copyright would probably also be just as beneficial. For the blogger, ensuring that the blogger is always credited as the author of the work with a credit and trackback or link is probably the key condition.
Third, the policy aspect.
The larger question is whether the job or industry the person is in is of the type that a company would find it beneficial for the person to be blogging during work hours or using work equipment. There is a good online database of social media policies from a variety of companies at http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php They vary wildly, from PR firm Porter Novelli’s “Never comment anonymously” rule, to the EFF’s detailed advice on “How to blog anonymously.” As you state, the reality is that people will blog, Tweet and use social networks, and it is healthier for companies to embrace that and recognize the value in such individual activities, where it is beneficial to the company’s mission.
By now I hope everyone realizes that thousands of lawyers every day are fully employed in reviewing millions of company emails that have been subpoenaed in lawsuits all over the world. As long as a company reminds everyone that they have no right of privacy in anything that goes through the company’s computer systems, and that this extends beyond email to social networks, then employers and employees can undertake these activities mutually aware of the risks and rewards. The hope is that both will find shared value in mixing social media with work and allocate the potential economic rewards in an equitable manner.”
Jeremiah: Thanks Lisa for your insight, it’s interesting that many employees probably don’t realize that content that goes through the company’s systems is owned by the employer –even their personal Facebook messages.
Key Takeaways
- Companies are attracted to potential employees with the ability to communicate online, and those that have a built-in following, yet the rights over the content created aren’t entirely clear.
- Both personal and work lives are mixing online and off, creating blurry lines between ownership of content. In many cases, legacy employment contracts give ownership to the company –even personal created content on company systems.
- Employees are creating social content that relates to work often on company-owned property, or during work hours.
Recommendations:
- Employees should get educated on this topic and find out what it means in your existing employment contract. Get a lawyer that understands the language of the contract, and can advise and protect you.
- Employees should carefully review their existing employee contract to know the boundaries, risks, and liability for their online activity.
- Employees should understand how to create a “carve out” in the employment contract for personal created media.
- Companies should understand benefits and risks, then evaluate their social media policy and update it to reflect the changing world of social as personal and work lives collide.
- Companies and employees should setup training, policies, and a dedicated group within a company to help employees to understand best practices in the new world where personal and work content collide in the workplace and at home.
Updated: Someone tweeted this related cartoon out.
How Local Businesses Can Benefit From Mobile Social Networks
Categories: Mobile, Social Media, Web StrategyPosted on October 19th, 2009Local Businesses Can Benefit From Mobile Social Networks
The nearly mainstream social web is now evolving and graduating to mobile devices. This emerging space of mobile-based social networks are empowering customers to find the best venues and prices, and offering savvy companies unique ways to cater to this new medium. Yet, despite the emergence of applications like FourSquare, Yelp, and recently launched GoWalla, there are risks as customers talk directly to each other and opportunities for businesses who harness the tools. Local businesses should approach the mobile social networking space by first listening to their customers, responding to commenters, provide special offers to advocates, and prepare for pricing to be impacted.
Mobile Social Network Offers Discounts Based On Location
Using FourSquare, a location based social network, I ‘checked in’ to the movie theatre indicator to my friends my location. Immediately after the application identified my approximate location it offered a ’special nearby’ which I clicked. The Savvy Cellar Wine Bar offered me 50% off a wine flight to a store 2 blocks away. Using both my general location using 3GS on the iPhone and my explicit checkin to the location, it was able to serve up advertisements based on my physical location. We should expect FourSquare to evolve and eventually offer advertisements based on your friends interests “John, Amy, and Allen all like Los Taqaritors, invite them now for a 20% off discount”. Location based ads will soon connect with social information.
Catering To “Top” Customers Spur Word Of Mouth
The opportunities aren’t just focused on location based, but also provide opportunity for developing an unpaid army of advocates. Take for example Foursquare’s point system, those who ‘check in’ the most to a location can become the ‘mayor’ of their particular store, indicating they’re the top customer. Some savvy restaurants provide free drinks or other services to the mayor, who will continue to spread their affinity for a restaurant using social networks. A few weeks ago, I spent time with Yelp’s marketing team and their community manager Connie who oversees many of the community facing events. I learned that many local restaurants cater to Yelp Elite, and will likely provide them with quality service above and beyond, in fact, Yelp has launched a program for restaurants to offer a prix fixe menus for Yelp users. Expect to see Yelp’s mobile application advertise these special deals for Yelpers as they search for restaurants online using mobile devices.
Empowered Customers Check Prices In Real Time –Impacting Buying Behavior
Even if you don’t have a physical store, but offer a consumer good, consider RedLaser, which is a real-time bar code scanner that allows any phone to scan UPC codes and find them cheaper online. This means that retailers with higher priced products may miss out as consumers can quickly buy it from a competitive store down the street or find it online. If this trend continues, manufactures may shift their supply away from high-priced retailers to compensate for the change in demand. (Thanks Andrew Hyde for the tip)
Innovative Market Dependent On Adoption
Despite the innovation, location based marketing and advertising has its limitations as it’s dependent on: total number of consumers with mobile devices, adoption of mobile social networks, and their desire to find location-based offers.
Key Takeaways For Local Businesses:
Local businesses should approach these mobile social networks in a four part strategy –not simply reacting without a plan. Companies should approach this space by:
- Listening In For Free Research. Local businesses should immediatly montior their brands on mobile social networks like Yelp and FourSquare. Use this information as free research: find out the perception of customers opinions both good –and bad to learn about their market.
- Responding To Reviewers. Use negative information as a way to improve products and services and let your community know you’re listening to their feedback. Although there are always two-sides to any complaint use these same tools to respond to customers in public, but be sure to abide by the terms of service.
- Rewarding Top Customers. Customers that frequently patron your store and tell others on these mobile social networks should be rewarded. Build both in person and online relationships with them so they’ll continue to advertise and market on your behalf. Free drinks anyone?
- Preparing for pricing impacts and positioning. With disruptive tools like RedLaser appearing, customers can quickly find pricing of products and find them at nearby retailers. Retailers like CVS, Walmart, Target, BestBuy, Safeway should take heed as consumers continue to become empowered through instant information. Companies will need to respond by: making product pricing more competitive, or offering other deals such as bundling, speed, time, or other value-based offerings.
Update: Here’s some screenshots, I learned how to take screenshots with your iPhone by holding the main button and power button.
People on the Move in the Social Media Industry: Oct 15, 2009
Categories: Career, On the movePosted on October 15th, 2009
Despite a downturn in the economy, we continue to recognize those moving in the social media space. I’ve started this post series (see archives) to both track and congratulate folks who get promoted, move, or accept new exciting positions. Please help me congratulate the following folks:
- MySpace is finally filling its executive board after ushering out nearly the entire leadership team at troubled social network. They’ve recruited an experienced team to turn the ship around starting with Nada Stirratt has joined MySpace in the role of Chief Revenue Officer, Dustin Finer has come on board as MySpace’s Chief People Officer, Ali Partovi, former CEO of iLike, will serve as Senior Vice President of Business Development based in San Francisco, Hadi Partovi, former president of iLike, will serve as Senior Vice President of Technology based in Seattle. More information can be found on CEO Owen Van Natta’s Blog.
- Adam Nash, has been internally promoted at LinkedIn as the Vice President, Search & Platform Products at LinkedIn. We recently spoke, and he emphasized LinkedIn’s commitment to his space, hence crafting his role. I’ll be watching this area of opportunity closely, congrats Adam.
- Vanina Delobelle left Monster and is now working for Sears Holdings Corporation in Chicago. As I a manager of e-commerce Product Management, Vanina will build a social commerce solution.
- Microsoft gets serious about Social Computing and launches the Future Social Experiences (FUSE) Labs, a new group led by general manager Lili Cheng that will focus on software and services that are centered on social connectivity, real-time experiences, and rich media.
- Sheila Scarborough launches new social venture in her role with a focus on social and tourism, her blog captures her hard work, get some sleep already!
- James Whatley @whatleydude left his role as Head of Digital, Social Media for SpinVox at the end of August and has taken up a position as Director of Engagement Strategy at WOM Agency, 1000heads.
- Bob Bahramipour joins InXpo a virtual events company, as CMO to oversee all aspects of marketing, including advertising, brand awareness and product marketing, to further drive adoption for the company’s virtual solutions. This also includes social media and how to incorporate this further into our platform. I’ve met Bob in person, and recognize his talents, I expect to see good things spring from his fresh perspective.
- John Hegstrom is a new VP of Client Services also at InXpo a virtual events company. His goal is to ensure that customers successfully reach their target audiences, deliver their messages effectively, and build engaging and collaborative virtual environments.
How to connect with others (or get a job):
Several people have been hired because of this blog post series, here’s how you can too:
Submit an announcement
If you know folks that are moving up in the social media industry, fill out this form.
Seeking Social Media Professionals?
If you’re seeking to connect with community advocates and community managers there are few resources
List of Enterprise Social Media Professionals
This list, which started with just 8 names continues to grow as folks submit to it. List of Social Computing Strategists and Community Managers for Enterprise Corporations 2008 –Social Media Professionals. Other job resources include:
Web Strategy Jobs powered by Job o Matic (Post a job there and be seen by these blog readers, these affiliate fees pay for my hosting) Read Write Web keeps announcements flowing at Jobwire, although is broader than just social media jobs Facebook group for community manager group in Facebook Jake McKee’s community portal for jobs Chris Heuer’s Social Media Jobs SimplyHired aggregates job listings, as does Indeed ForumOne Jobs for Social Media and Community Teresa has a few jobs, some around community New Media hire has an extensive job database Social Media Headhunter Social media jobs Jobs in social media Altimeter Group’s list of social media consultants and agencies
Hiring? Leave a comment
If you’re seeking candidates in the social media industry, many of them are within arms reach, feel free to leave a link to a job description (but not the whole job description, please)
Video: Access Internet Content in Physical Context Using Augmented Reality
Categories: Augmented RealityPosted on October 13th, 2009I recently spoke with Dave Elchoness of GoWeb3D who’s one of the early pioneers in the Augmented Reality (AR, but not to be confused with Analyst Relations) industry. In this above video he gives a demonstration of how information (often from the web) can be over layed on top of physical locations. Unlike Virtual Reality (like the now obscure Second Life) the barriers to entry are mobile devices, internet access, and utility can make this a reality.
Dave’s business GoWeb3D provides a data layer on top of the Dutch Layar browser (update: also see Wikitude “World Browser) which is available for some mobile platforms –iPhone is coming. This browser will allow developers to create data layers what will provide AR experiences. Users of this application can “drop” digital content such as blog posts, photos, videos, for their friends or customers who visit a specific location in real life.
[The promise of Augmented Reality is to provide existing internet content in physical context]
What types of business can benefit from Augmented Reality? Any retail or commercial entity with a physical space, any company that sells physical products, any company that does advertising in real life. Despite the promises the biggest challenges will be creating useful applications beyond the ‘cool’ factor. I’ve been using the Yelp “Monacle” feature, which is an interesting first generation –yet the data isn’t always accurate.
I’m still chalking this space as “to watch” as we should first expect growth to happen in the mobile social web first, let’s keep an eye on promising emerging technology as it quickly comes around.
Altimeter Report: Customer Bill of Rights – Software-as-a Service
Categories: AltimeterPosted on October 12th, 2009If you’re in the market to buy web based collaboration tools, community platforms, CRM, or any software as a service application, know your rights before you buy.
A few months ago Charlene Li, founder of the Altimeter Group launched her Engagement Database report, which showed which brands were most active with their customers in social sites. Today, we’re proud that partner Ray Wang launches the Software as a Service Bill of Rights for customers, you can view, download, or share the document from his blog.
Our research wasn’t created in a hole, we want to help the community that we serve and involved 57 ecosystem partners for their feedback, input and guidance. We’ve also made the research available using Creative Commons–meaning we encourage it to be shared with others.
How to use the Software As A Service Bill of Rights
- If you’re a buyer of any of these markets, use this document as a checklist to ensure your rights are being met.
- Have a dialog with your vendors, asking them where they fall within these bill of rights and where they differentiate.
- Encourage your existing vendors to follow these rights as you negotiate your next renewal.
People on the Move in the Social Media Industry: Oct 6, 2009
Categories: Career, On the movePosted on October 6th, 2009
Despite a downturn in the economy, we continue to recognize those moving in the social media space. I’ve started this post series (see archives) to both track and congratulate folks who get promoted, move, or accept new exciting positions. Please help me congratulate the following folks:
- Sony Electronics just hired Sukhjit Ghag as theSocial Networking manager. Sukhjit will be responsible for generating content for the Sony Electronics community and will engage openly with consumers on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Sukhjit was a former producer at Tech TV and Seesmic and has a passionate following on her own site
- Randall S. Beard joins Nielsen IAG as Global EVP/GM for Nielsen IAG leaving Head of Global Marketing — Wealth Management at UBS.
- Enterprise specialist Oliver Marks joins our friends at Austin based Dachis Group. Dachis continues to grow and launched a new website this week.
- Lindsay Lebresco joins Converseon as an Account Director leaving Newell Rubbermaid of the last 2 years working on the Graco brand as Social Media Manager/Corporate Blogger.
How to connect with others (or get a job):
Several people have been hired because of this blog post series, here’s how you can too:
Submit an announcement
If you know folks that are moving up in the social media industry, leave a comment below, or if you’re feeling shy (it’s cool to self-nominate) send me an email. Please include a link to your announcement, and ensure you’re really living and breathing in the social media world –this is not a small aspect of your role.
Seeking Social Media Professionals?
If you’re seeking to connect with community advocates and community managers there are few resources
List of Enterprise Social Media Professionals
This list, which started with just 8 names continues to grow as folks submit to it. List of Social Computing Strategists and Community Managers for Enterprise Corporations 2008 –Social Media Professionals. Other job resources include:
Web Strategy Jobs powered by Job o Matic (Post a job there and be seen by these blog readers, these affiliate fees pay for my hosting) Read Write Web keeps announcements flowing at Jobwire, although is broader than just social media jobs Facebook group for community manager group in Facebook Jake McKee’s community portal for jobs Chris Heuer’s Social Media Jobs SimplyHired aggregates job listings, as does Indeed ForumOne Jobs for Social Media and Community Teresa has a few jobs, some around community New Media hire has an extensive job database Social Media Headhunter Social media jobs Jobs in social media Altimeter Group’s list of social media consultants and agencies
Hiring? Leave a comment
If you’re seeking candidates in the social media industry, many of them are within arms reach, feel free to leave a link to a job description (but not the whole job description, please)
I’ve been invited back to Hawaii on Nov for [Re]Think Hawaii summit in Honolulu, Oahu, speaking on the panel for the Social Media Business Summit. If you want to attend, use the discount code “jeremiah” and receive 35% off the week pass. The focus of the summit is to focus a week is about “connecting entrepreneurs and investors during a series of panels, lunches, excursions, dinners, cocktails and aloha style exchange of ideas and relationship building in Hawaii.”
In particular, I’m interested in exploring how social impacts the tourism industry in Hawaii, both from tourists sharing, making decisions, to the actual experience using mobile devices and digital capture devices during and after their experience. You too are encouraged to come, this event hosted by Christine Lu and others, will feature a wide variety of business topics focused around Hawaii, entrepreneurism, sustainability, and island culture.
I’ve an incredible affection for Hawaii, and have recently set a personal goal (called Operation Bluewater) to spend at least one month per year in Hawaii in a net positive experience. Personal goals are important to me, I’ve set some for my health, for my blog, for my career and a few for personal lifestyle. Net positive indicates that the overall experience isn’t a financial loss, but instead I’ll figure out how to conduct business in a profitable manner in Hawaii –or work remote with my existing responsibilities. This event aligns with my goals, as the conference organizers are paying for my travel and hotel costs.
I’m open to suggestions, proposals, and other ideas on how to achieve my goals but also encourage you to spark up your own personal goals –regardless of how wild they may seem. How do you decide, plan, and achieve your personal goals?
Disclosure: As a professional courtesy, [Re]Think Hawaii has invited me as a speaker and is covering my travel and expenses.
Jobs for the Web Strategist- Social Media Online Community Manager at Bronx High School of Science Alumni Association (Bronx, New York)
- Community Manager at Warner Bros. Records (Burbank, California)
- Online Marketing Manager at InXpo (San Francisco, California)
- Director of Community at Answers.com (WikiAnswers) (New York, New York)
- Digial Influence Strategists at Ogilvy PR (San Francisco, California)
- Digital Influence Strategists - SEO Experts at Ogilvy PR (District of Columbia)
About
Jeremiah Owyang
SF, Silicon Valley
Partner, Customer Strategy
Altimeter Group
Regular Contributor to the Forbes CMO Network
Affiliations and Rankings
Connect with Jeremiah:- twitter
- friendfeed
- linkedin
- flickr
- technorati