Stardust Global Ventures

Lots of speculation this morning about impending layoffs at Google. This article gives the most substance to reality behind it that I’ve seen so far.

I know I’ve written a lot about Yahoo’s slide and the devastating impact of Jerry Yang’s legacy there. And I’ve watched Nortel slide over nearly ten years now in a slow downward spiral. I hope both companies pull out. Yahoo’s likely to be acquired as a life-saving effort, and I expect that will work. This time around they’ll be much more receptive to doing something smart. Nortel keep reorganizing trying to find their identity. It’s a shame that so many people outside Nortel see the strength and power that they seem to struggle embracing and making part of their corporate culture.

Google’s another story entirely. Tons of talent. More smart people than you can shake a stick at. But some really deplorable integration of acquistions that could have kept them growing. I see Google as growing staff faster than growin real business – revenue generating business. Success so wild it hurt. Anyone who’s been around the tech sector for any length of time has seen small startups implode through their own success. Google’s big enouhg to survive that, but I expect it’s going to be painful for some folks over there who survive the cuts too. They’re going to be expected to produce far more than a pretty holiday logo.

A word of advice to Google – Don’t pull Jerry Yang in to help. He’s available, but he can’t pull you through this situation.

Google Layoffs – 10,000 Workers Affected
By Daya Baran
Google has been quietly laying off staff and up to 10,000 jobs could be on the chopping block according to sources. Since August, hundreds of employees have been laid off and there are reports that about 500 of them were recruiters for Google.

By law, Google is required to report layoffs publicly and with the SEC however, Google has managed to get around the legal requirement. In fact, one of the ways Google was able to meet Wall Street’s Q3 earnings expectations was by trimming “operational” expenses.

Google reports to the SEC that it has 20,123 employees but in reality it has 30,000. Why the discrepancy? Google classifies 10,000 of the employees as temporary operational expenses or “workers”. Google co-founder Sergey Brin said, “There is no question that the number (of workers) is too high”.
[Read full post]

Technorati Tags: Google, layoffs, Yahoo, Nortel, Jerry Yang

Lately there’s been an overwhelming deluge of messages from people who want to be friends and want VC funding. We are not venture capitalists, and while we chose the name Startdust Global Ventures, that doesn’t mean we’re interested or able to invest in your nifty new whizbang startup idea. We will however, be pleased to talk to you about investing in our ventures. We’re always open to receiving money.

As a side note, in addition to knowing what a venture might be (click the link for help from dictionary.com), you might actually want to look up a venture capitalist and know a little about who they are and what sorts of things they invest in rather than taking the approaches we’ve been seeing. I don’t believe any VC would respond any differently that we have – mostly simply deleting the messages and not bothering to respond.

We just watched this video from Keith Olbermann on MSNBC thanks to one of Sheryl’s friends on Facebook. It’s important to us both that we help share words of love and acceptance. There are far too many closed and intolerant minds in the world today. This message needs to go out and be heard. Unfortunately the people who need to hear it will likely give a bazillion reasons why they have the right to make a choice for someone else.

Why can’t the people in opposition just simply abstain and let the rest of the country have their say based on some reason. If it was going to change the life for a ’straight’ person in some way that was tangible or would impact anyone at all in any negative way there would be good reason to have a debate. In our minds there is no reason to debate this. We should not be having a discussion about this at all. We do not understand the need of people like Bush or Christian conservatives, to take away the value in loving relationships. We think they are wrong to do this.

Obviously we have an opinion, but though we are a heterosexual couple, we see so much value in allowing the rights of all people to be honored. We are not doing that in this country. Shame on us!

Loving another person crosses all barriers – age, race and gender. It’s time we in the US, and the world as a whole, embrace reality.

Technorati Tags: Gay Marriage, Keith Olbermann, Prop 8, human rights, freedom

We both consider Jeff Pulver among our closest friends. For much of the year Jeff has been investigating what his next big effort would be and working closely with a number of high tech startups in Israel.

Jeff’s breakfasts around the world have become the stuff of legend. Our Seattle to Vancouver adventure with him in June was just fabulous. Jeff’s keen interest in social media is very well known, and was a high point of his keynote address at VON last March. Recently he pulled off an event called the Social Media Jungle. We’re in regular contact with him as he builds momentum toward the next cycle of conference events ahead.

The Social Communications Summit will encompass a number of concepts and ideas that have been rising in importance, not the least of which is that presences is the new dial tone. In the world of communications today, presence information is every bit as vital as connectivity.

We’re having dinner with Jeff in Minneapolis on Wednesday, and we’ll be talking to him about our role in presenting that this conference in February. (Note: We also have a little something special planned.) Mark your calendars and plan on being there. This is going to be a major conference to reshpae much of the industry thinking about the impact of social tools on communications.

Here’s the latest post from Jeff –

Call for Speakers: SocComm / The Social Communications Summit – February 10-11 2009 in New York City

Today I am announcing a new event I’m calling SocComm, an event which will explore the state of “Social Communications”, where things are headed in the future and where the money is today and will be tomorrow.

The success of VocalTec’s iPhone in 1995 opened up my eyes to a future where individuals will one day be self empowered to communicate with whomever and whenever they want to, in a world where “Voice” is just an application and not a service.

In 2008 Apple proved it is possible to redefine what was a mature marketplace and introduce innovation and opportunity. And I believe we are only at the beginning of a revolution in the future of communications.

When I think of Social Communications, there are many ways to define this. And I’m looking at the universe of ways – everything from the way some people express themselves in: blogs, YouTube, Flickr, Seesmic and others in their Facebook status messages and their updates on Twitter.

Billions of minutes of Social Communications will be generated in 2009 by people playing in a variety of online games – including: Call of Duty, Guitar Hero World Tour to MMOGs such as EVE Online and those hanging out in Second Life. Over time, billions will become tens of billions, to hundreds of billions and more.

[Read Jeff's full post]

Technorati Tags: SocComm, Social Communications Summit, Jeff Pulver, Ken Camp, Sheryl Breuker, conference, presence, social networking

Have you ever wondered why you have to combine so many applications when you want to collaborate on something via conference call and the Web? There are apps for scheduling the meeting, and others for desktop sharing and then you have to pull in conferencing component. Now, the days of using disparate tools to collaborate are over thanks to the latest version of iotum’s Calliflower Web-based conferencing platform. Calliflower lets you plan and participate in conference calls and now enables file sharing. In addition, iotum has developed a version of Calliflower that is compatible with the iPhone so you can collaborate while on the go.

IOTUM BRINGS CALLIFLOWER CONFERENCING TO iPHONE™
AND UNVEILS PREMIUM SERVICE FOR BUSINESS USERS
Powerful and easy-to-use conferencing solution now mobile

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Nov. 12, 2008) — iotum™ today announced that its Calliflower conference-calling service, which makes it easy to plan and participate in highly interactive conference calls that bridge business and social networks, is now mobile and available for users of the Apple® iPhone™.

“Now iPhone users can easily participate in and manage Calliflower conference calls wherever they are and have the full richness of the Calliflower experience in a mobile environment,” said iotum CEO Alec Saunders, who unveiled the new iPhone application at the Under the Radar event.

iotum also announced Calliflower Premium, which introduces document sharing and other new features for business users.

“Users have told us what they like most about Calliflower is that it brings together all the key elements they need for meaningful collaboration into an easy-to-use interactive dashboard,” said Saunders. “Now we’re liberating Calliflower conference calling from the desktop and extending all its features to the world’s most powerful mobile device.”

Calliflower on iPhone
Calliflower on iPhone makes organizing and participating in multi-party calls simple and engaging by allowing participants to see the status of other callers, along with features such as interactive chat, intuitive conference controls, call archives, invitations and reminders, integration with calendars, and more.

Calliflower on iPhone will be free until Jan. 1, 2009, after which it will be a one-time download charge of $9.99. The application will be available shortly in Apple’s iPhone App Store.

Calliflower Premium
Calliflower Premium adds a new dimension to the Calliflower dashboard – the ability to share the contents of documents among all participants in a Calliflower conference call, which can enhance team productivity by reaching closure on points of discussion more quickly. Calliflower’s document sharing is entirely web based, and requires no client download, which makes it easy to use.

Calliflower Premium will also support multiple organizers under a single account, and delegate access to allow executives’ assistants to organize conference calls.

In addition, for Calliflower Premium users, Calliflower is being expanded globally via local-dial numbers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and Singapore, as well as via Voxbone’s newly announced iNum ‘883’ global toll-free country code.

Calliflower Premium is designed to help business users of Web conference-calling facilitate active participation in calls, share agendas and documents, coordinate participants’ schedules, capture and share information discussed during conferences, and manage agreements, action items and follow-ups to keep projects moving.

Calliflower Premium is priced at the special introductory price of $50 per month, for two organizers, with a no-risk 30-day free trial period, until Jan. 1, 2009. Additional organizers cost $25 per month each.

iotum is a Voice 2.0 company that aims to reinvent business conversations and shape a world of relevant communications where devices, social networks and Web services work seamlessly together to let people communicate with whom they want, when they want and on the device they want.

# # #

Technorati Tags: iotum, Calliflower, Alec Saunders, conferencing, collaboration

Ken is taking me to San Francisco. It’s an early birthday present and I’m thrilled. You see, I have spent most of my life on the west coast but never been to San Francisco, other than a stopover in the airport. I have been to the area, but not San Francisco proper. I’m about to be a tourist!

Part of the draw, part of what made this a timely trip for us is we have been traveling a great deal for work. It’s not the same as a trip just because. Don’t let anyone tell you it is. Oh sure you might get to see neat things or even connect up with old friends, possibly even make new friends, but work is work.

The other thing that makes this so timely is my birthday is next week. I am not going to share with anyone my age so don’t bother asking. Isn’t it enough to know that my kids are 26 and 17? A birthday trip definitely makes sense, but that isn’t all.

A friend of ours, actually a couple friends of ours Thomas Howe and Lee Dryburgh are hosting a dinner for eComm. Now, eComm isn’t until March so this is really just a pre eComm dinner for people who will be at eComm or are involved in some way. Also people interested in it. Ken and I fall in the latter category. We are definitely interested, We both wish we could gauge our schedules enough to commit to a speaking engagement there, but Ken is in a new position at a new company. Time isn’t always something we can count on.

Tom Howe has a special place in my thoughts because he was part of the big surprise at VONx for me. He helped Ken plot the great engagement adventure that the tech world all seems to have been privy to. All except me, anyway. Still, Tom was a gentleman and he is very, very NICE!

Lee Dryburgh is a horse of a different color. He is a sweet man with gorgeous blue eyes. Very SMART, red hair with curls. Love the curls. He is also a nice European greeter. I will never forget the traditional kiss on both cheeks I received the first time I met him. Gosh he makes you long for that sort of life. Alas, I am rather fond of Ken, and Lee is almost young enough to be one of my kids. Lee is single, though ladies!

Now, Lee sent out an open invitation to all the eComm facebook group followers asking them to join a dinner that was happening in San Francisco. About that same time he came to my facebook wall and asked something rather cute, like if I was bringing my other half to the dinner. I told him we were just leaving for Minnesota and when we returned I would let him know.

We came home but had not really had time to consider a trip to San Francisco. Especially when we knew we had another trip to Minnesota coming immediately following when the dinner in SF was to be. Plus, let’s be real, flying to San Francisco for dinner seemed a little out of our range of acceptable behavior. That’s for jet setters, not simple people from Washington state!

So, what changed? We started talking about what I want for a birthday present. There are many gadgets I covet. I immediately said ipod touch. Why? I guess because Ken and I aren’t in need of yet another phone plan. To make an iPhone a viable thing we would need to get rid of one of our Blackberry’s. I don’t like that idea. I’ve grown very accustomed to my Blackberry. We also talked about upgrading to the Blackberry Bold. Yet another gadget I would LOVE to have. According to my contract, which I had to get, I am not eligible for upgrade until June, which meant I would have to buy it and drop my sim in.

Ok, to make a long story even longer, Ken asked again what I wanted and my response probably caught him off guard. Out of the blue I suggested a trip to San Francisco in lieu of a gadget. As we talked about it, it started making more sense. There was the eComm dinner we wanted to go to that we KNEW many of our friends would be attending. The fact that I had never seen the Goldengate Bridge, China Town, Ghiradelli Square, Alcatraz…. all of those were HUGE factors. I would LOVE to see and experience those things.

As this trip has evolved, we have made plans to do many things. Obviously dinner with the gang Wednesday evening. Business will happen, but friends will be visited with and enjoyed. We are meeting another friend for dinner on Thursday evening, after what I’m sure will be a long full day of sight seeing. Friday we are having lunch with someone Ken has done some work with, someone we both value as a friend, a talented musician, a really smart man, not to mention a snazzy dresser, I privately call him Mister GQ because he always looks so PERFECT. (I hope he doesn’t read this!)

I’m sure we’ll have a load of pictures, a load of new connections and a bigger bunch of memories. Ultimately, aren’t the memories a lot nicer than a phone or gadget that in 10 years I won’t even remember I had? I think so. You can all see the fabulous time we had when we post after getting back. This trip, we’re taking the Nikon and no computer. As for me, I won’t bore you talking about all the people I know are attending this dinner, suffice to say I’m really pleased to once again see people I talk to on a fairly regular basis, people who have gained my respect and admiration. Truthfully some of the smartest people I have ever known.

I really am a lucky woman. Dinner in San Francisco, am I a jet setter now? According to Stuart Henshall of phweet, I’m expected to be the life of the party!

Technorati Tags: Lee Dryburgh, Thomas McCarthy-Howe, eComm, Stuart Henshall, phweet,

I wrote about a blogpost yesterday about a site I found that stated Ken was one of the most important people to follow on Twitter. You can read that post here.

My rant was because it had a well respected man who hasn’t been with us for almost a year listed as someone to follow. The good news is I checked today and the offending blog has been removed. Yay!!!

I just wanted to share.

Sheryl and I have been at the vortex of where communications technologies and social media come together for quite some time now. But we’re keenly interested in a number of other areas around the information age and economy. The Internet, and technology in general, has changed the face of business and society globally.

If we give just a moments thought to the evolution of mankind, we’ve gone through a number if different ages that I’ll simplify and leave at a very high level -

• The Agricultural Age – We lived off the land. It doesn’t matter whether mankind was living in small communities of hunter-gatherers, or tilling the land as serfs around a noble’s castle, our society was based around agricultural activity.
• The Industrial Age – Machinery came into play and changed how we live and work. I’d argue that tne industrila age began with Gutenberg’s mechanical printing press, but took many years to come to fruition. The industrial age gave us incandescent lighting (eliminating the need for daylight savings time) which changed the work day. We could now work around the clock. Machnery led to Henry Ford’s assembly lines. Our lives were changed by machinery.
• The Pre-Information Age (I’d call this The Communications Age) – Overlapping with the Industrial Age, there were multiple evolutions progressing in parallel. In this area we saw radio and television explode as communications media. And we saw the rise of telecommunications. Voice calls at first, then long distance, but let’s not overlook data, and the changes that came later.

The Information Age was never, for me, fully or even adequately defined. Some would say we’ve been in it for 30-40 years. Some would say we’re entering it now. Maybe we’re in the middle of it. It’s a metaphysical question that I can’t answer. But the impact of information technology and communications tools cannot be denied. We’re at an evolutionary point in the information age timeline that puts us at the cusp of what I’ll call The Knowledge Age for sake of argument.

I’ve struggled with this for a number of different reasons, not the least of which is the entire industry called Knowledge Management (KM) that’s sprung up and pervaded so many business thought processes for the past couple of decades.

Here’s an example of one simple KM theory that I call the DIKW Model-

I’m not going to elaborate in depth on the model here. I’ve done that before and will be happy to give a talk on the subject at any event. It’s one you’ll hear me speak passionately about as data, information and even knowledge are all attainable within the confines of information systems. Computers can do most of the work.

Wisdom on the other hand, is the human element. ASICs and ICs can’t create wisdom. Humans do. Knowledge and wisdom are separated by very blurry lines and the distinction is subtle.

Knowledge can’t be managed. It can be organized, compartmentalized, shared and absorbed. It can be processed.

In a recent series of conversations with friend Jerry Ash, currently the editor of Inside Knowledge Magazine, I found a set of views that mirror ours closely. We found a kindred spirit in Jerry.

Knowledge is about knowledge workers. US. People working in the information age who share knowledge about the information we’ve seen. One of the strongest knowledge management systems on the planet isn’t a software application you can go by. It’s free. Free. It’s the people we know and interact with.

Twitter is one of the many social applications we use on a daily basis. It’s our network. Our chat room. It’s where many of our conversations take place. I recall my good friend Dan York’s busness trip when he forgot his cowboy boots. You have to understand that Dan’s boots are a signature note of his appearance anywhere. He posted a Twitter asking where he could buy some new boots, and within moments had the information – not from a programmatic system, but from people. People with information that came filtered with knowledge and a bit of wisdom about where the best selection and price might be had.

I’ve read many books that speak to how technology dehumanizes us. One that I like a great deal is Prometheus Wired: The Hope for Democracy in the Age of Network Technology by Darin Barney. But I don’t agree with the premise.

The value of technology, the value in the Internet, the value in information isn’t about hardware or software or databases. It’s about connecting people. It’s about the knowledge and wisdom we as people add to the information that crosses our radar screen in an endless flow 24 hours a day.

My knowledge management system is my knowledge network. My knowledge network is my social and business network. My knowledge library is influenced by people I know, respect and listen to. And that system is glued together with mobile and fixed, wired and wireless unified communications technologies. They’re one and and same. Without one, the other doesn’t hold much value.

Where’s your knowledge management system? Are you living and working your daily life in the Knowledge Age? or are you still trapped in the quagmire of the Pre-Information Age chasing bits and bytes around the Internet?

Technorati Tags: knowledge management, KM, unified communications, networking, social media

Ken’s annoyed. We were out running a couple of errands and Ken got notification that someone was following him on twitter. We both always click through to see if a person is real, someone we know with an odd name, or someone we want to block. Ken blocked this person. This person linked to a post on blogspot that talks about important twitter people. Ken was listed as one of the ‘important people’.

As Ken’s partner in both business and life, I was quite pleased for him making a list like that. Really excited because I see him as important and interesting, certainly it’s one of the reasons we became friends initially, and he is certainly guilty of undervaluing himself, at least some of the time. Also the list was not huge. I’ve seen lists before of things like this. Typically there are a ton of people and neither of us make those lists. Those are lists for Scoble or Brogan.

So, really, why is Ken annoyed? Well, we started looking the list over and it became quite evident that people we KNOW are important and who spend a great deal of time twittering with something to say, and more to the point, with a great number of followers and followees, weren’t on the list. Worse than those who were missed was one stand out for BOTH of us. Someone we both followed, had had actual conversations with, someone we both admired and respected, and someone who died almost a year ago.

I will not mention names. I think it serves no purpose. It could hurt someone, and I suppose it could actually make someone feel good that all this time later he is still listed as important, but what is the VALUE in telling people he is an important person to follow on twitter when he can no longer actually add you back, can no longer interact, can no longer engage? Further, how in the world did a list like that get made with someone who is no longer living listed on it?

In thinking about this list, my hackles were raised. You see, Ken and I really think social media is important. We truly see the value both in personal and business relationships. we not only see value, we promote it. We absolutely love the way social media has interrupted the status quo and brought about a globalization of people. A coming together of new ideas and the opportunity to connect on so many different levels, engaging in a way that 20 years ago was simply not possible.

What a list like this does is denigrate the truly great strides in social technology we have made and puts a dark cloud on it’s value in our society. For instance, how do you think a person who knows little about a little social app, little about the players in the tech space, will feel when he/she discovers that one of the people they have chosen to follow on a list created only today passed away almost a year ago? For all intents and purposes a whole segment of society, newbies, certainly, are being made fun of. That’s not only foolish but disrespectful.

Ken’s words are, “This is a clueless newbie. A cluetard. Somebody trying to gain notoriety by scavenging.” “This devalues the information out there on the ‘net.” I agree.

To those of you trying to gain a foothold, let me offer a piece of advice. Know your facts. Don’t make arbitrary lists. Ask questions. And for those of you using software to ante up numbers or figures, you still have to do some research. Statistics can be skewed to say anything.

It’s not ok what you just did. It’s not ok to intentionally put something out there that has potential to cause such harm. I think your list is pathetic. It’s useless crap. It didn’t, however, take away my pride in my Partner. I know what matters and who. Your list doesn’t make MY list.

Technorati Tags: ken camp, sheryl breuker,

Here’s a post for the sideline value of unified communcations from a broad view. Wireless industry veteran Vern Fotheringham has just published a new book today called “Wireless Broadband – Conflict and Convergence” under Wiley Publishing and the IEEE.

A mutual friend pointed this out and I really want to mention it for interested readers. Wireless broadband has become an integral part of the unified communications foundation technology. Our dependency on wireless solutions for working anywhere have made it impossible to exclude this technolgoy from the UC landscape.

Fotheringham and Sarma both have impeccable reputations in the industry, and are highly sough after leaders in thinking about stratgies for technology evolution. This book is an absolute must read for anyone interested in where wireless broadband is going.

WIRELESS BROADBAND – CONFLICT AND CONVERGENCE A New Book Exploring the Boundaries and Issues Related to the Future Market for Wireless Services

November 6, 2008 – Seattle, WA – As the thirst for bandwidth continues to explode, the traditional service deployment landscape will be reshaped around the globe by new entrants, market forces, and regulatory challenges. In this environment, one thing is clear: ubiquitous wireless broadband internet will reach into every corner of global society.

Today, wireless and telecommunications industry leaders Vern Fotheringham and Chetan Sharma, announced the release of their new book, Wireless Broadband: Conflict and Convergence (November 2008, Wiley-IEEE Press, ISBN: 978-0-470-22762-6, US$85.00, 254 pages), explores the role of wireless technologies in delivering broadband services to users, as well as the regulatory and competitive inhibitors these networks face.

“Our inspiration for this project grew from a general frustration with a growing gap between supportable and factual information in the general telecommunications industry, and the wireless industry in particular,” said Vern Fotheringham, co-author of Wireless Broadband: Conflict and Convergence, and Managing Director, IP Broadband, Ltd. “This book attempts to counter the industry noise with technological, regulatory, and market realities facing the global growth and adoption of wireless broadband,” he said.

Using a reader-friendly approach that minimizes industry jargon wherever possible, Wireless Broadband: Conflict and Convergence clearly explains the business, regulatory, and technology issues of the future market for wireless services, covering:

• Broadband and the information society
• Drivers of broadband consumption
• Global wireless market analysis
• Broadband IP core networks
• Convergence finally arrives
• Contention and conflict: regulatory, political, financial, and standards

“This is as comprehensive a book on Wireless Broadband as I have seen,” said Steve Elfman, President of Sprint/Nextel. ‘The authors of this book address the most important issues facing the players in the wireless ecosystem in great detail and provide a very thoughtful analysis,” he said.

The book was co-authored by two industry veterans and thought leaders, Vern Fotheringham and Chetan Sharma. Mr. Fotheringham, Managing Director of IP Broadband, Ltd., has been a catalyst for innovation and change in the competitive telecommunications field through direct entrepreneurial activities, as an advisor or influencer on many successful projects, a public policy and regulatory advocate for new telecommunications service rules and standards, and as an inventor and creator of new and innovative services.

Chetan Sharma, President, Chetan Sharma Consulting, is one of the leading strategists in the mobile industry. He has served as an advisor to senior executive management of several Fortune 100 companies in the wireless space. He is the author of five books on the subject of wireless technology and mobile advertising.

More information about the book can be found at www.wirelessbroadbandbook.com. In addition, the book can be purchased online through Amazon.com (www.amazon.com), Barnes & Noble (www.bn.com), and John Wiley (www.wiley.com).

About IP Broadband, Ltd.
IP Broadband Ltd. is developing converged IP services targeted on the Asian and North American markets for next generation access and application services.

About Chetan Sharma Consulting
Chetan Sharma Consulting is a consulting and advisory firm helping companies in the mobile and voice communications sector with expertise in developing innovation-driven product, marketing, and IP strategy. Clients include companies like NTT DoCoMo, KTF, Sprint Nextel, Reuters, Disney, Qualcomm, Infospace, Reliance, BEA, HP, Merrill Lynch, Cincinnati Bell, Bain, SAP, Vulcan, American Express, and many others.

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Technorati Tags: Vern Fotheringham, Chetan Sharma, wireless broadband, mobility, unified communications

Tomorrow a new book hits Amazon in the UK. Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom is a fascinating book about how social networking online is changing things, not only in our daily lives, but also in the work world. Matthew Fraser and Soumitra Dutta are the authors.

Co-author, Matthew Fraser, shared with me this morning that while this book is not available in the U.S. or Canada until after the first of the year, according to their publisher if you order through amazon.co.uk, for just a few dollars more it will be shipped immediately to you.

About the Book

Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom is the first comprehensive book written for a wide audience about the powerful trend that is reshaping your life: the Web 2.0 social networking revolution.

Social networking sites are a global phenomenon. Sites like MySpace and Facebook now boast hundreds of millions of members. Online social interaction has become an indispensible part of their daily lives. This book examines the powerful forces driving this social e-revolution. It also describes the equally powerful reactions to it, and makes predictions about its far-reaching consequences. As the book’s subtitle states, Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom is about how the Web 2.0 revolution is transforming your life, your work, and your world.

Endorsements

“ If you want to understand why Wikipedia is changing the world, this book is a must read ”
- Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia.

“ This book is a must read for all – social activists, politicians or managers – who have an interest in understanding how our society is morphing”
- C.K.Prahalad, Ranked world’s No.1 most influential business thinker and author of Competing for the Future.

Ken and I have talked endlessly about how we believe the world is being impacted with social trends and media. We live it. Hyperconnectivity is what we’re all about.

Beyond all the hyperconnectivity, our social lives have been impacted, sure, but so have our business lives. Both of us have made a number of business connections through both facebook and linkedin. It’s become a truly international world where connecting with someone in another country, on another continent is as likely as connecting with someone down the street. Our street just grew exponentially.

Next week we are going to San Francisco, purportedly for an early birthday present for me. It just so happens it coincides with several industry events and we will be connecting with many of our Global friends and colleagues. I’d say this is clear support of Matthew and Soumitra’s idea of how our lives are being impacted by all the social networking.

I highly suggest you get a copy of this book. Our world is changing, and in my opinion we owe it to ourselves to understand as much as we can about what’s going on.

Technorati Tags: Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom, Matthew Fraser, Soumitra Dutta, Jimmy Wales, C.K. Prahalad

Our friend Garrett Smith over at VoIP Supply sent us a press release this morning that I want to point out. Sheryl and I don’t always post notes from Garrett, but we both appreciate the thoughtful commentary he includes. I’m going to take the liberty of enclosing an excerpt before I comment –

I know that the two of you have been focusing on bringing bleeding edge technologies to those who, well, aren’t so bleeding edge. So while I am not going to tell you that we are releasing the next killer app, social network or oddly named service without a business model, I think that this announcement has some great themes that you could speak to and that would resonate with your readers; mainly the shift in what types of small businesses are now getting interested in VoIP (the less savvy) and how these small businesses are not the DIY/roll your own types like their predecessors, but those who simply want an affordable solution that works.

Attached (and below) you will find a press release that isn’t just about announcing the availability of the complete line of Microsoft® Response Point™ small business phone systems from Aastra, D-Link and Quanta through VoIP Supply, it is about the evolution of the small business customer and their needs. As you may know from following many of the things I have personally written about small business VoIP, there is a definitive shift in the type of small business customer (call it 50 seats and under) that is now pursuing a VoIP solution. Gone are the days of DIY as too are many of the brave souls who want to “roll their own” and if you sprinkle in a sagging economy, there is an increasing demand for simple, easy to use, small business VoIP phone systems from someone small businesses know and trust – something the Response Point™ line of products and VoIP Supply are well positioned to meet.

This sort of keen thinking and recognition of what really matters to businesses and appreciate the finer points of why DIY approaches fail is one of the reasons Sheryl and I think so highly of Garrett and VoIP Supply. He’s a blogger who really gets it in so many ways, he’s outspoken about what he likes and doesn’t (something I really appreciate), and he’s part of a company that’s always on the forefront of some really smart thinking about delivering real industry leading solutions to real problems.

If you aren’t familiar with VoIP Supply, I’d really encourage you to check them out in detail. You don’t get much more reputable than these folks

VoIP Supply Adds Microsoft® Response Point™ Phone Systems
VoIP Supply Continues to Expand Small Business VoIP Offerings with Addition of Response Point™

BUFFALO, N.Y. November 5, 2008—VoIP Supply, LLC (www.voipsupply.com), a division of Sayers Technology Holdings and a leading VoIP solutions provider, announced today the addition of the Microsoft® Response Point™ family of small business VoIP phone systems to its product catalog. Starting today, VoIP Supply will offer the complete line of Microsoft® Response Point™ small business VoIP phone systems from Microsoft’s OEM partners, Aastra, D-Link and Quanta. The addition of the Response Point™ product lines will allow VoIP Supply to continue to exceed the expectations of what small businesses are looking for in a VoIP phone system.

“As VoIP continues to gain traction amongst small businesses, thanks to the cost savings and productivity enhancements associated with implementing the technology, there has been an increase in demand for simple, easy to use, VoIP phone systems, ” said Garrett Smith, Director of Marketing and Business Development at VoIP Supply. “With Response Point™, Microsoft® and their OEM partners, have done an outstanding job designing a small business VoIP phone system that meets the demands of today’s small business. VoIP Supply is excited to be working with the entire Microsoft™ ecosystem to deliver these offerings to the small business marketplace.”

“Many customers who are attracted to VoIP understand the power of IP Telephony, and recognize VoIP Supply as a leading e-tailer in this space,” said Richard Sprague, senior director, Microsoft® Response Point™. “With the exceptional ease-of-setup and deployment made possible with Response Point, VoIP Supply will be able to offer a solution to customers who have until now been unsure of how to easily and effectively take advantage of the power of VoIP.”

Featuring a combination of innovative phone system software, cutting edge hardware, ease of use and maintenance along with prices starting at less than $2,000 USD for a five user VoIP phone system, Microsoft® Response Point™ is the perfect solution for the small business with as many as 30 users. Starting today, small businesses will be able to purchase the following Microsoft® Response Point™ VoIP Phone Systems from VoIP Supply:

• Aastra Aastralink RP™
• D-Link VoiceCenter™
• Quanta Syspine®

For more information about VoIP Supply’s Microsoft® Response Point™ offerings, including lease options, please visit http://www.voipsupply.com/phone-systems/response-point.

About VoIP Supply

VoIP Supply, LLC (www.voipsupply.com), a division of Sayers Technology Holdings, is a leading VoIP solutions provider with offerings for businesses, service providers and resellers. In addition to a comprehensive product catalog, the company offers technical support, extended warranties, device configuration, installations and logistical services. VoIP Supply is a two-time INC 5,000 honoree and in 2007, was ranked number 45 on the Entrepreneur Magazine’s Hot 100 fastest growing companies in the U.S. VoIP Supply has also been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Western New York by Buffalo’s Business First Newspaper, one of the Top 100 privately held companies in WNY, as well as the sixth fastest growing company in WNY by the Business First Fast Track 50 Award.

Technorati Tags: VoIP Supply, Garrett Smith, Microsoft, Response Point

I just picked this up from Stowe Boyd and all I can say is it’s about time. I can’t count how many times I’ve said Yang needed to go. It started with his ludicrous “100 days” to bury Yahoo while he went in search of an identity.

Yang may be the worst thing to ever happen to Yahoo, and the company is still suffering from his leadership (or lack thereof).

Rumor Mill: Yang To Leave Today
by Stowe Boyd

The rumor is running around that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang might be stepping down:

[from Rumor: Internal Yahoo memo suggests CEO Jerry Yang may be out by Matt Marshall]

Here’s the big caveat. On the one hand, this rumor is entirely consistent with the latest developments: Jerry Yang has failed entirely in his effort to give direction to Yahoo, and is under increasing pressure from shareholders to either do something or leave, and it’s widely known that Microsoft continues to mull a possible acquistion of Yahoo. However, on the other, there is so much speculation about this company that it could be that traders are trying to manipulate the stock. We’re trying to get more details on this one, and will update when possible.

Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Jerry Yang, lack of leadership

Ken has said several times lately that during the tough economic times, all around there are companies making great strides, success and yes…profit. Business is booming for competitors who are putting it on the line to win and do smart things.

It’s a really exciting time and we’re thrilled to be part of it. Next week we’re going to a private dinner with about 50 unified communications thought leaders. Several of the people involved are close personal friends, so we not only get to meet with some of our friends, we get to spend personal time some of the sharpest minds in the industry.

It’s a huge week in the Bay area overall, with multiple events underway.

VoiceCon

We hadn’t planned on attending VoiceCon due to scheduling. It’s one of the best events during the course of any year, so making it to town unexpectedly is a real treat and a chance to catch up with another set of industry movers and shakers.

Under the Radar

400 Attendees. 32 Mobile Startups. 1 Day.

Under the Radar is simply one of the hottest peeks at 32 of the hottest mobility solutions anywhere. Here’s a blurb that’s accurate with no understatement involved –

Under the Radar: Mobility is a one-day conference uncovering 32 vetted, test-driven startups that have launched within the year in categories such as iPhone apps, location-based services, gaming, social networking, enabling technologies, and marketing/advertising.

Want to land deals with Verizon, T-Mobile, Comcast, Sprint, iFund, Nokia, Microsoft, Motorola, and more?

And we’ve already gotten some early scoop on some of the announcements coming. We can’t talk about them yet, but we’re getting some firsthand, up close and personal looks at some of the great stuff coming from this jam-packed day.

And no, that’s not all.

New TeeVee Live

For those of us who watch the broad set of video solutions, beyond collaboration and video conferencing, there’s the world of new media entertainment. On the 13th there’s also this event. Just take a look at the speakers list.

We’ve got a couple of meetings set that we can’t really talk about yet, but lots if stuff ahead. We’ll keep you posted. And, we’ll be taking some personal time for ourselves to relax and enjoy San Francisco!!

Technorati Tags: inified communications, video, VoIP, VoiceCon, Under the Radar, New TeeVee Live, Ken Camp, Sheryl Breuker, Stardust Global Ventures