I heard a word on TV last night that I don't think I have ever heard on TV before. "LAYAWAY." It's certainly not a new concept -- I've just never heard it on a TV ad. K-Mart is advertising to "start your holiday shopping early, put it on layaway and you'll have it in time for Christmas."
My husband's parents amassed a small fortune despite having a modest income and raising 9 children. Whenever I asked Dave how they did it, he said "they grew up during the Great Depression." For the first time in my life I actually understand this mentality. I am very fortunate I don't have to make any tough choices (yet) but I chat with the security guard at our office who had to stop taking his law school night classes because the cost of gas.
Younger Americans are going to be affected by the economy. The cost of college is skyrocketing, and recent Business School grads will find that there are no jobs available.
I was planning to vote for McCain until about a month ago. The choice of Sarah Palin as running mate was disappointing, but I am strongly opposed to big government because I have had experience working with unmotivated, uninspired Federal workers. They are not rewarded for taking risks, only punished when things go wrong. I worked for a Federal contractor and I saw how they stretch out a project -- the longer it takes, the more money they get. This is why I want my tax dollars to stay local; I am suspicious of "big government."
But I was swayed by the passion and enthusiasm I see in the user-generated content on YouTube -- GenY LOVES Obama. I also saw the fanatical support on my Facebook network (Gen X), and through the people I follow on Twitter. Several of my good friends (Fay Mark, Karen Henke and Mary-Dixie Carter) were rabid Obama supporters from the start. The social network "My.BarackObama.com" helped them reach out to people like me.
Times are tough, and we're probably only seeing the beginning. When people are losing their homes, their savings, and the promise of a prosperous future, the only thing that is going to keep them going is hope. This is why I voted for Obama. But I might not have really seen the passion people have for Obama if it weren't for my online social networks.
I got inspired to write this blog post when I read this article from Wired: Propelled by Internet, Barack Obama Wins Presidency
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Help create believers in Social Media!
Help me show how effective social media can be as a recruiting tool! I've already spammed my networks on LinkedIn, but now I'm casting a wider net by posting this on my blog. I'd love to raise some eyebrows and impress my colleagues here at VeriSign with the effectiveness of online social networks.
Help me find qualified candidates for these jobs which are in Dulles, VA; Mountain View, CA and New York, NY. I figure that at this point all of us know *someone* who is looking for a job. And, as the self-crowned "social media queen" of VeriSign it behooves me to create a real-world case study for Twitter and Blogging. (full disclosure: I'll get a referral bonus if someone gets hired - but that's not what is motivating me here, ok? REALLY!)
Jobs in Mountain View, CA and New York City
Jobs in Dulles, VA
Help me find qualified candidates for these jobs which are in Dulles, VA; Mountain View, CA and New York, NY. I figure that at this point all of us know *someone* who is looking for a job. And, as the self-crowned "social media queen" of VeriSign it behooves me to create a real-world case study for Twitter and Blogging. (full disclosure: I'll get a referral bonus if someone gets hired - but that's not what is motivating me here, ok? REALLY!)
Jobs in Mountain View, CA and New York City
Jobs in Dulles, VA
Thursday, October 30, 2008
A Social Media Case Study from Radian6
Since June I've been bugging social media experts like Amy Paquette of Cisco, Gia Lyons of Jive Software, Steve Mann of SAP, Tac Anderson of HP, and Jeff Moriarty and Kelly Feller of Intel. I've been looking for the "Holy Grail of Social Media" - namely, case studies and ROI. So I'm pleased to tell you that VeriSign is now featured in a new case study from the brilliant Social Media Monitoring company, Radian6. Now I finally have something to give back to all of these folks who have been so generous with their time.
What Radian6 does is amazing. With all those "Google Alerts" and other info available, it can get tough to figure out what's worth paying attention to. Radian6 is a blogosphere monitoring tool that helps cut through the noise and understand:
-- Who is talking about your brand?
-- What's the level of engagement around any particular post?
-- What's the overall influence of the blogger?
The tool takes a little training, since it is a bit complex. You create your own customized "River of News" which is an apt analogy, because without this tool you're drowning in data. Radian6 (and Mike Manuel and Ryan Lack of Voce) have helped VeriSign stay on top of current trends, and much more...read the case study!
VeriSign and Voce Communications: A Radian6 Case Study
What Radian6 does is amazing. With all those "Google Alerts" and other info available, it can get tough to figure out what's worth paying attention to. Radian6 is a blogosphere monitoring tool that helps cut through the noise and understand:
-- Who is talking about your brand?
-- What's the level of engagement around any particular post?
-- What's the overall influence of the blogger?
The tool takes a little training, since it is a bit complex. You create your own customized "River of News" which is an apt analogy, because without this tool you're drowning in data. Radian6 (and Mike Manuel and Ryan Lack of Voce) have helped VeriSign stay on top of current trends, and much more...read the case study!
VeriSign and Voce Communications: A Radian6 Case Study
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Dear Pepsi: Stop Anointing and Start Listening
WHEREAS
I don't really give a rat's a** what your logo looks like, as long as you don't change the taste of Diet Pepsi (by the way, I preferred the way it tasted last year, when the cans were light blue. It tastes funny now.) However, I would appreciate it if I could get Diet Pepsi at every fast food joint, restaurant and Movie Theater. My preferred soda is notably absent at AMC Theaters and Chik Fil-A.
It's clear that you are not asking your customers what they want. If you had asked for MY feedback, instead of rebranding, I would have suggested you focus on improving your distribution.
FURTHERMORE
Stop anointing people as "top 25" influencers. The other hundreds of top influencers are probably peeved that they weren't chosen in your top 25. Remember that they all got to be "influencers" because, much like entertainers, they seek the approval and attention of the outside world (no offense to anyone, I'm in that category too.) This reminds me of Intel's stunt with their "insiders" campaign. I'm sure those chosen ones are enjoying their new Macbook Airs. At least Intel used the pretense of asking social media experts for guidance. But YOUR lucky top 25 are getting packages full of old cans and bottles. Where's the fun in that? I'd rather be an "Intel Insider" than a Pepsi "top 25-er"
IN SUMMARY
Here is my "Pepsi Challenge." If just ONE Pepsi employee responds to this post, I'll be thrilled and will tell MY huge following of 200+ Twitterati that Pepsi "gets it." If not, well then Pepsi will just join my list here on my blog of the companies that DON'T. But yeah, I'll still drink Diet Pepsi anyway.
I don't really give a rat's a** what your logo looks like, as long as you don't change the taste of Diet Pepsi (by the way, I preferred the way it tasted last year, when the cans were light blue. It tastes funny now.) However, I would appreciate it if I could get Diet Pepsi at every fast food joint, restaurant and Movie Theater. My preferred soda is notably absent at AMC Theaters and Chik Fil-A.
It's clear that you are not asking your customers what they want. If you had asked for MY feedback, instead of rebranding, I would have suggested you focus on improving your distribution.
FURTHERMORE
Stop anointing people as "top 25" influencers. The other hundreds of top influencers are probably peeved that they weren't chosen in your top 25. Remember that they all got to be "influencers" because, much like entertainers, they seek the approval and attention of the outside world (no offense to anyone, I'm in that category too.) This reminds me of Intel's stunt with their "insiders" campaign. I'm sure those chosen ones are enjoying their new Macbook Airs. At least Intel used the pretense of asking social media experts for guidance. But YOUR lucky top 25 are getting packages full of old cans and bottles. Where's the fun in that? I'd rather be an "Intel Insider" than a Pepsi "top 25-er"
IN SUMMARY
Here is my "Pepsi Challenge." If just ONE Pepsi employee responds to this post, I'll be thrilled and will tell MY huge following of 200+ Twitterati that Pepsi "gets it." If not, well then Pepsi will just join my list here on my blog of the companies that DON'T. But yeah, I'll still drink Diet Pepsi anyway.
Monday, October 27, 2008
What Roswell Taught Me about Social media
As we walked through the Best Western in Roswell, I noticed that people sat in their rooms with their doors wide open. I thought, "Are they waiting for a pizza delivery? Why else would they just leave their doors open?" My husband, said "They are waiting for their friends to stop by." I have never seen people do that. It turned out that the reason for the crowds was the Eastern New Mexico State Fair. I begged my husband to take me to the fair. He did not understand the fascination, but he indulged me.
I saw pretty much everything you'd expect to see at a state fair, but since I'd never been to one, the whole experience was pretty exciting for me.I saw a bunch of shorn sheep who were mournfully saying "baaaa." I got to pet a cow, who tried to eat my belt. I was thinking I could put this image on some Moo cards...
I saw a New Mexican delicacy called "Frito Pie."
Every time I visit this small town , I am struck by the friendliness and openness of the people. You sense it everywhere you go, just listening to conversations. People spend more time actually talking to each other. My father-in-law was an extraordinary man, and it seemed like half the town came to his funeral. Most of us don't experience this type of strong family and community. Especially those of us who grew up in urban and suburban settings or come from fragmented families.
Human beings are social animals. We run in packs, like dogs (which is probably why we like them so much.) It's that craving for human contact that compels me to get sucked into Facebook for hours, just to find out what acquaintances ate for dinner last night, or to dwell on random twitter posts and blogs. But I don't consider social media a substitute for a "real" social life, probably because most of my friends are not "users." They are starting to catch on, though, and when they do, the applications will become even more relevant to my life.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Steal This Social Media Plan!
I recently put together a Social Media Program plan for 2009. My hope was to expand our existing blog program into a larger entity that would coordinate and oversee the social media efforts of our disparate business units. There is a need for proper processes and policies, and especially for education around the "dos and dont's" of social media. I caught wind of some rogue marketers who plan to spam the blogosphere with their messages. I quickly pinged Amy Paquette of Cisco, who has been a great source of knowledge and advice. She advised that training and education should be a primary focus of any social media program. Well, here is my proposed plan. I'm not sure how well it has served my purposes, so I encourage everyone else to see if there is any value in it for them. Then at least I won't feel like I have wasted my time.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Social Network Analysis: The Power of Informal Networks
I attended the "Network Roundtable" conference here in Virginia.
Social Network Analysis ("SNA"), also known as Organizational Analysis "ONA" is an established field with many professionals who make their living doing this (who knew?) It was not a large conference but people came from across the country and around the globe to attend. This was an introduction to the concepts for me but I found it very interesting, as sort of the "real-world basis" for online Social Media. It provides the foundation and background I have been seeking for why Social Media is so compelling...because it's based in basic human interactions.
Rob Cross is a professor of management at UVA. He is an excellent presenter with a great sense of humor and great energy. Everyone laughed when he described how the more scientific approach to Organizational Network Analysis can (and should) replace the "kumbaya off-sites with executives falling into each other's arms."
The conference offered a very academic approach. The goal is to diagnose issues within an organization, and the tactics are through surveys and interviews. What you usually see is a diagram that looks like a constellation, identifying the connections and relationships between individuals. You can see which individuals are highly connected or integrated, as well as those that are on the periphery.
SNA can be useful for onboarding new employees, as well as helping existing employees with their transitions. It can be used to identify "bottlenecks" such as an executive who does not have the time to approve all the requests that come their way. It helps with Operational efficiency. For me, the most compelling use of it is to find out who in your organization is most connected, and is adding value by acting as a "bridge" between disparate groups. Once these valuable people are identified, they can be rewarded / motivated to stay with the company. It is fairly scientific in that it is based on data gathering and I saw a lot of these types of "constellation" charts.
There were a lot of case studies presented, including Microsoft, 3M, IBM and Raytheon. But I'm still somehow at a loss for how this methodology might be applied to my own company. Maybe that is because I'm still new to the concepts, and I have no background in Organizational Development or HR. One strong message that was communicated is "forget about the tools." That's funny because I ended up at the conference because I was brought into an evaluation of Internal Collaboration Software because of my expertise in Social Media. I became involved in the issue of building internal community.
One favorite presentation was Larry Prusak, who drew upon historical and economic principles to make his point about the importance of knowledge and networks. He insists that online social networks can never replace those in the "real world." I think that the next generation of Internet users will prove him wrong!
Personally I really appreciated Ted Smith, a marketing guy who pointed out that marketing and PR pros tend to focus only on those individuals who are "Most connected" (e.g., the uber bloggers / influencers) while in fact, there are more individuals who are PRETTY well connected, and they appreciate the same messages as the "ultra connected" folks. I asked him to send me some more concrete examples.
I also really enjoyed the presentation by Margaret Schweer, who referenced a lot of the Web 2.0 technologies, and explained what ONA is REALLY good for. She provided a good summary of how HR might be able to use these techniques.
On the first day of the conference, Peter Gloor left everyone buzzing when he showed us how analysis of online info (blogs and online forums) can predict the real world interactions, including stock prices!
Grady Bryant has given me a copy of Rob Cross' book: "The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding how Work Really Gets Done in Organizations" so now I'll be able to brush up on some of the ideas that are new to me.
Social Network Analysis ("SNA"), also known as Organizational Analysis "ONA" is an established field with many professionals who make their living doing this (who knew?) It was not a large conference but people came from across the country and around the globe to attend. This was an introduction to the concepts for me but I found it very interesting, as sort of the "real-world basis" for online Social Media. It provides the foundation and background I have been seeking for why Social Media is so compelling...because it's based in basic human interactions.
Rob Cross is a professor of management at UVA. He is an excellent presenter with a great sense of humor and great energy. Everyone laughed when he described how the more scientific approach to Organizational Network Analysis can (and should) replace the "kumbaya off-sites with executives falling into each other's arms."
The conference offered a very academic approach. The goal is to diagnose issues within an organization, and the tactics are through surveys and interviews. What you usually see is a diagram that looks like a constellation, identifying the connections and relationships between individuals. You can see which individuals are highly connected or integrated, as well as those that are on the periphery.
SNA can be useful for onboarding new employees, as well as helping existing employees with their transitions. It can be used to identify "bottlenecks" such as an executive who does not have the time to approve all the requests that come their way. It helps with Operational efficiency. For me, the most compelling use of it is to find out who in your organization is most connected, and is adding value by acting as a "bridge" between disparate groups. Once these valuable people are identified, they can be rewarded / motivated to stay with the company. It is fairly scientific in that it is based on data gathering and I saw a lot of these types of "constellation" charts.
There were a lot of case studies presented, including Microsoft, 3M, IBM and Raytheon. But I'm still somehow at a loss for how this methodology might be applied to my own company. Maybe that is because I'm still new to the concepts, and I have no background in Organizational Development or HR. One strong message that was communicated is "forget about the tools." That's funny because I ended up at the conference because I was brought into an evaluation of Internal Collaboration Software because of my expertise in Social Media. I became involved in the issue of building internal community.
One favorite presentation was Larry Prusak, who drew upon historical and economic principles to make his point about the importance of knowledge and networks. He insists that online social networks can never replace those in the "real world." I think that the next generation of Internet users will prove him wrong!
Personally I really appreciated Ted Smith, a marketing guy who pointed out that marketing and PR pros tend to focus only on those individuals who are "Most connected" (e.g., the uber bloggers / influencers) while in fact, there are more individuals who are PRETTY well connected, and they appreciate the same messages as the "ultra connected" folks. I asked him to send me some more concrete examples.
I also really enjoyed the presentation by Margaret Schweer, who referenced a lot of the Web 2.0 technologies, and explained what ONA is REALLY good for. She provided a good summary of how HR might be able to use these techniques.
On the first day of the conference, Peter Gloor left everyone buzzing when he showed us how analysis of online info (blogs and online forums) can predict the real world interactions, including stock prices!
Grady Bryant has given me a copy of Rob Cross' book: "The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding how Work Really Gets Done in Organizations" so now I'll be able to brush up on some of the ideas that are new to me.
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