Stardust Global Ventures

When I started pondering this post, I began with something I wrote so long ago it’s mostly vanished into the Wayback Machine. It was sometime in early 2006 I wrote a post entitled Death by Powerpoint on my old Digital Common Sense blog. While I still own that domain, and there’s some backup somewhere, I blew the content offline long ago. I’m not at all convinced I have any responsibility to maintain old links and content like that. It was mine to kill. And it’s still in the Wayback Machine somewhere because I found this excerpt, which I share to set the foundation for my initial thinking:

PowerPoint as a tool has destroyed much of our critical thinking process. We have become a society of bullet points (3 per slide) that’s increasingly incapable of completing the thought process. And it isn’t because the tool is bad. It’s all in how we use or abuse it. PowerPoint has made it too easy for people to project slide after slide and bullet after bullet of boredom ad nauseam . . . Critical thinking and analysis is being pushed into the background.

Slides should be simple. To paraphrase Einstein, make your slides as simple as possible, but no simpler. Don’t read them. If your audience can read you’re not doing them any favors by reading the slide. And you’re boring the hell out of them. The value a speaker brings is that penchant for speaking extemporaneously about the topic on the slide. To add value. Yes, if you’re presenting material, you need to add value to the material. If all you’re doing is blasting slides and reading them, you are wasting your audience’s precious time. I can tell within 3 slides if I’m going to be engaged or bored in a presentation and I’m rarely wrong.

Elaborate
Elucidate
Engage
Elegant

Elaborate on details not in the slide. A PowerPoint slide is a skeleton. It’s a framework for discussion. It’s the means, not the end. Your role as the presenter is to put meat on the bones and flesh things out. You provide the context and weight that can’t be conveyed in a slide with three bullets. If you don’t, you’re wasting your audience’s valuable time. Elucidate to trigger thinking. Slides that are effective are those that raise questions. A slide with three boring, obvious points says nothing. A slide that triggers a “WTF” reaction from the audience, followed by clarification has impact. It makes people think. You are the catalyst to trigger neurons firing across synaptic gaps. Don’t state the obvious over and over and bore your audience into a comatose stupor. Engage the audience. Get active participation. In large groups, find engagement
behind the eyes. Tickle and tease. Tell a story. Lead the audience down a path. Make them think…. If
your audience can’t read your slides, you’re wasting their valuable time.

This was written from lessons learned teaching very technical courses for a number of years. You don’t teach a week long class on Frame Relay at the bit level and read slides. In fact, when you teach like I did, you run 165 slides a day and never look at them when you teach. The value lies in the presenter, not the handout, but I digress.

PowerPoint has in so many ways dumbed down business in the US. We have become a business community of three bullet slides, with one goofy picture. It’s the core of almost every presentation. Continue reading “Simplicity and the Power of 140 Characters” »

Our long time friend Euan Semple (@euan) wrote a piece the other day that I asked to quote in its entirety. But after rereading his post several times, I’ve taken a different approach. I want to excerpt some portions of Euans excellent Social Business and elaborate some thoughts here. But really do go read his post. You can go read it now. It will open another window and you can come back here to catch my commentary afterward. It will be time well spent.

Pretty outstanding, isn’t it. And if you aren’t familiar with Euan, you can also listen to Sheryl’s Incidental Interview with him here. We’ve been involved in what we all refer to as social media for quite some time, and put simply, Euan is one of the sharpest knives in our arsenal of solid thinking and right-minded insight into the tools of emerging media.

I’ve read his post through several times and it’s brought many thoughts to mind. As Sheryl and I work building new ways of incorporating technology into business tools with the companies we’re working to build nww relationships and clients here in Walla Walla. We’re also working, like many, to explain the power and value of Internet communications tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. Finding the value and power of these tools doesn’t come through the same type of metrics analysis we used with earlier media.

Here are some of Euan’s thoughts and my reactions to them.

During a recent series of events for the Telegraph Business Club I felt mild disappointment when an economist claimed the recession was about to end. I explained this feeling to the audience in terms of regretting that too many people will assume that this means a return business as usual. Too many will simply carry on as they did before with the same attitudes that got us into a mess in the first place. Not enough people have felt uncomfortable for long enough to bring about real change.

Why do I believe this? Because I believe there is a fundamental change in how we do business heading our way. Driven by the networked communication tools flourishing on the web, tools like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, not only how we communicate with those who benefit from our services but also how we organise ourselves to produce them will be changed forever.

I can’t help but agree with Euan’s thinking here. Far too many people think we’re escaping the current economic downturn with some sort of recovery. There’s an almost palpable sigh of relief as folks wipe their brow thinking “whew, we just did escape that one.” The bitter truth is that they couldn’t be more wrong. We escaped nothing.

The networked communications tools of the web like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have irrevocably reshaped our world. How we communicate…even how we organize our thoughts has changed forever. Continue reading “Social Media/Marketing For the Win Requires Equality and Reciprocity” »

Ken has had the pleasure of writing several pieces for TheNextWeb in the past and we both follow Zee and Boris’ work there. For those of us engaged in consulting work, freelancing, and perhaps most importantly social media (or social marketing) the idea of a code of conduct gets circulated in conversation pretty regularly. It gets a lot of discussion, but often seems to just be so much banter and noise.

As Boris pointed out in his recent post Entrepreneurial Code of Conduct: Take the Oath… , “Doctors have the Hippocratic Oath. It is an ethical framework on which they can fall back when they have doubts about the right course of action.”

Many professional groups other than doctors hold themselves to a standard of conduct among peers. Lawyers, professional engineers, accountants and other professions have long held to acceptable norms of conduct that are frequently documented and shared. In the Internet world, not so much.

Boris said in his post, “Today I would like to make a start with an Entrepreneurial Code of Conduct. We might call it Schumpeter’s Oath, after Joseph Schumpeter, the economist credited with introducing the concept of the Entrepreneur. Or simply the Entrepreneurs Oath.”

We like what this embodies and appreciate that it mirrors many of the values we hold up as standards. As we entrench ourselves in work efforts here in Walla Walla, this seems a good time and place to share those values with the business community here so they know what they can expect from us.

The Entrepreneurial Code of Conduct
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

• I will respect the hard-won experience of those entrepreneurs in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
• I will apply, for the benefit of my customers, shareholders and partners all measures [that] are required, avoiding self enrichment
• I will remember that there is art to entrepreneurial activities as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the managers skills or the businessman’s experience
• I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a company or project success.
• I will respect the privacy of my customers, partners and shareholders, for their information is not to be disclosed to the world. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of profit and loss. If it is given me to make profit, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to lose my shareholders money; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
• I will remember that I do not serve an anonymous person, but a human being, whose needs may affect the person’s family, business and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the customer and everybody affected by my actions as an entrepreneur.
• I will prevent problems caused by my business whenever I can, for the social impact of my company is as important as its goal of turning a profit.
• I will remember that I and my company remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body and well as rich and poor.
• If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life, friendship, revenues and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of serving those who seek to acquire my products, services or company.

Technorati Tags: code of conduct, consultants, entrepreneurs, advisors, Sheryl Breuker Media, Ken Camp Consulting

I hear all the time how it’s not only big business using social media, that small and medium business, SMB, is using it to better their position. But I disagree, though not across the board. Let me explain.

SMB may be using Social Media, or as I call it, Social Marketing. But not in my town and not in many towns across the US. Do some of them have a presence? Yes. Are some of them avid twitterers or on FB? Yes. But they aren’t using it. They are simply providing a placeholder most of the time, and if they’re doing more than that it’s for their own personal use not because they see any benefit or reason whatsoever.

Something we seem to forget as early adopters is that small towns are slower on the uptake. Not because they aren’t interested, but because change takes longer in a smaller community. The largest of the companies in small communities may not even have a web presence at all, and if they do, most of you reading this would be appalled at the low level, web minus dot 1 they employ. They simply don’t need more than that.

It’s not enough for the local smb’s to say ‘I want to be a part of the revolution that’s taking place’ because for them, if they don’t have a wide audience of viewers who will provide business to them via web tools etc. there is no added value, no reason for them to step up and be more current. How difficult do you think it would be to get a community of people to get behind web changes and really start doing the majority of their life on their phone or laptop? People in rural America are not doing that, and it’s not because they aren’t smart enough, maybe they’re smarter.

One example I have is our local newspaper, the Walla Walla UB (Union Bulletin). They are smart people backing smart people. They’ve been in business in one name or another since 1869. That’s a long history of providing a community links to it’s own world. The irony of this, they don’t have a need to upgrade much. They have a website and it provides what this community needs…for now. They aren’t in dire straights, ready to close their doors, in financial trouble of any sort and yet, anyone who visits their site and has been on the web for any length of time can easily see how far behind our times they are. It has nothing to do with how savvy they are. Nothing to do with how capable their employees are or even that they’re dragging their feet. They do not need to provide more. Their revenue isn’t tied so closely to how their website looks. They still have a print paper, still make money selling ads the traditional old media way.

Another example is a local tech company. A fabulous business that actually has a presence in other communities like Denver, which is certainly a more connected community, isn’t sure how to use social media/marketing, and wonder how to gain value from the current web 2.0 tools we all take for granted. Click through marketing shouldn’t cost $400 a lead because they’re used to getting it for $15. They have to find value and see the potential but it must be pertinent. What works for cities doesn’t always work so well in smaller communities. When the total potential customer base is only a few thousand, and they aren’t using web tools to find you, and will at best be intermittent, there aren’t a lot of reasons to really do more than dabble.

Small and medium business may be using social marketing tools and media in the city or places where it makes sense, but in a small community they’re not there yet. They don’t have a reason to be and until they see a reason, they will continue to do business the old fashioned way. And what’s wrong with that? As they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I hear that a lot, here. Still, I always thought Walla Walla innovative. A small city can move much faster, be a leading example of how to move into the next generation, than can larger, urban environments. I wouldn’t count these small thriving little communities out of the game. After all, a community that doesn’t rely on one industry is a self-sustaining climate. And haven’t they shown sustainability? They’ve been here a long time and not collapsed during the hard times they’ve seen affect the global community. They’re doing something right. 

Now, about the lack of 3G when 4G is already being implemented….

We just got word this evening that our good friend Alec Saunders, iotum CEO, is seeing more uptake of Calliflower, the interactive conferencing service, among organizations that hold events. This ranges from webinars and training at corporations to church services and political gatherings. The conferencing needs for these types of conference calls requires heightened interactivity among participants. Three new features, Simple Sign-in, Co-Moderator and Recurring Call Scheduling, have been developed as a result of user feedback.

That announcement is coming next week. In the meantime, there’s a link over on our sidebar so you can click through and check out Calliflowerr for yourself. It’s our first choice for conference calling and collaboration work. These new features make it even more valuable. It’s already widely used for multifaceted, meetings that can include document sharing, text chat and more with far-flung employees and customers. Mobile users can join using their iPhones.

Many businesses, small and large are using Calliflower for internal, media and client calls. Calliflower has flourished uner the watchful care of our friends and colleagues who brought it to market. It’s powerful, easy-to-use and extremely cost effective.

Technorati Tags: Calliflower, iotum, conferencing, conference calling. collaboration, Alec Saunders

Gartner released their Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications report the other day. Here’s a snip, with some comments below:

Unified communications (UC) offers the
ability to significantly improve how individuals, groups and companies
interact and perform. UC also enables multiple communication channels
to be coordinated. In some cases, separate servers may be consolidated,
but, more frequently, UC adds functionality to existing communication
applications. Key technologies include Internet Protocol (IP)-PBX,
voice over IP (VoIP), presence, e-mail, audioconferencing and Web
conferencing, videoconferencing, voice mail, unified messaging (UM),
instant messaging (IM), and various forms of mobility. Another key
capability of UC is that it offers a method to integrate communication
functions directly with business applications; Gartner calls this
capability “communication-enabled business process” (CEBP).

Although there is significant interest in
UC from many enterprises, it remains a daunting and confusing topic. As
a result, many enterprises find it difficult knowing where and how to
start. One approach is outlined in “Developing an Enterprise Unified
Communications Road Map.” This research advises enterprises to review
their inventories of communication equipment and business partners,
then develop a vision for where their communication could be in five
years. This plan can be accompanied by developing a UC center of
excellence; this group brings individuals together from multiple areas,
including IT operations, business applications and the line of
business. This group then provides broad guidance and direction for the
plans.

No vendor product adequately addresses all
of an enterprise’s UC needs. As a result, planners should not expect
their UC requirements to be met by one vendor’s products: UC solutions
require vendors’ products to be interoperable. This evaluation focuses
on enterprise premises solutions, and considers how well vendors can
work with other vendors and with hosted solutions. Enterprises should
consider interoperability as an important criterion. Gartner publishes
separate research that reviews UC-as-a-service (UCaaS) solutions.

The term “unified communications”
sometimes is misused. This results in confusion. Users should be aware
that some products that are labeled as “unified” cannot be integrated
with other vendor products into a full portfolio. These mislabeled
products are capable of being used only in a stand-alone and
nonintegrated manner.

I’ve often called Gartner’s reports the Magic Quadrant of Mediocrity and for me, this one is no different. First they point out in the report that:

The term “unified communications” sometimes is misused. This results in
confusion. Users should be aware that some products that are labeled as
“unified” cannot be integrated with other vendor products into a full
portfolio. These mislabeled products are capable of being used only in
a stand-alone and nonintegrated manner.

They follow this by highlighting several companies that snip describes perfectly. Plenty of representation of companies that deliver solutions that integrate seamlessly with their own products, but not universally.

But that’s not my biggest beef with Gartner. It never is. Look at the companies listed. Gartner calls out the need for solutions that integrate with the full portfolio, but consider the size of the companies and the real impact on unified communications they’re having.

The only companies there I’d call real innovators are Shoretel And Mitel. For at least three years I’d have included Siemens in that list, but I feel like their leadership and innovation has slipped. I haven’t seen anything exciting from Siemens in over a year now, but maybe they’re just not getting their message where I see it. They’re a question mark.

Unified communications as an industry is fueled by, driven by, and revenue generated by a set of companies Gartner just never sees. Just as small and mid-sized business drive much (I believe most) of our economy, they drive much (or most) of this industry.

Where’s Truphone? MaxROAM? Calliflower? Tungle? IfbyPhone? Junction Networks? Voxeo? Jaduka?

For me, this is another example of Gartner hitting 30% of the mark. Their assessment of the industry is reasonably 30% on target for the fairly obvious players. Yet they completely miss the more important 70% of the industry. Fortunately Nortel, while listed as a leader under visionary, didn’t score above the line on ability to execute. Then again, why is a company in the throes of dismemberment listed here at all? Visonaries who cannot execute are not leaders.

It begs the question, what’s the value in pointing out the 30% obvious in any industry segment really? I’ve grown very skeptical of Gartner’s value to the tech sector, and reports that miss the mark like this one does don’t help Gartner or the industry as a whole. I see it as noise myself/

I’ve been thinking a bit lately about some hot industry buzz words and phrases that simply don’t excite businesses or motivate people to invest time, money or effort. First there is that tired old standby “convergence” that’s been with us for over ten years. And, for the most part, it means nothing to anyone. We can leapfrog forward in time to “mashups” which is a more trendy and timely term. It means I’ll do some magic to impress you and you’ll go ooooh and ahhhh.

We could shift to the more conservative and traditional language of business. When we do that we speak of Communications Enhanced Business Process (CEBP). If that doesn’t blow your skirt up, we’ll throw in Software as a Service (using the trendy SaaS acronym) or Software Oriented Architecture (SOA). One of these is sure to arouse a fiery lust in even the most staid and conservative business person, right? Nope.

They’re all terms that play into the whole Internet technologies mystique of specialized jargon, and that don’t carry any weight of value to the vast majority of those hearing the message. It’s noise. Sometimes it’s nice and flowery sounding noise, filled with phrases of added value, increased revenue and greater efficiency. But that noise, those words, are mostly fluff and feathers. And I’ll confess why I know this. I’ve written thousands of those words.

They sound nice, they can be fun to read. They do indeed sell services and products, but where the rubber meets the road, they bring little actual knowledge. They are finely crafted to feed the mystique of network technologies. They amaze and astound far more than they demystify. They extend the conversation without getting to the point. They point us down the long and winding road to finding value. I think it’s time we start thinking about shortcuts and getting to the point.

Thinking about that, a word stuck in my craw yesterday that led me to this post. Well, that and some conversation about the very broad industry of tourism in this post. Continue reading “Fusion Power: Tourism Infused with Technology” »

Since moving to Walla Walla, I’ve been revamping some of the consulting work I’ve done in the past and spending time with businesses here in town discussing some of the core principles of networking, communications and social media technologies. I’ve always focused on demystifying some of the more arcane technology principles for business people. We in the tech sector often get so hung up in our own jargon and our love of technologies that basic principles come across as mumbo jumbo that really seems to add little value to business people.

As technologists, most of us aren’t really in the technology business. We’re in the problem solving business. Sure new technologies can be wonderful and exciting. But the real value of any technology is either in creating some new way of doing business more effectively or in solving a business problem. For most businesses, the value they find in technology is based on how well we articulate it.

There’s another value in technology that gets less hype and glory. It isn’t as sexy. But it’s a foundation any business person really appreciates – getting the most possible value from your investment. Continue reading “Re-emphasizing Network Performance – Pushing the Envelope: Maximizing What You Have” »

The story of The Whitman Mission is much more than captured here, but the highlights I’ve tried to capture via current online works, biographies of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, as well as some of the local lore.

There are many places to look for information in this digital age, and no end of available links. Simply google Whitman Mission and page after page of history erupts.

I did not dwell on the massacre of the Whitman’s, but it is what brought about so many changes to history and why the Whitman Mission exists today.

I hope this brief travel through time will encourage you to look at your own communities, and of course, entice you to mine.