Friday, August 13, 2004

Business Week withHoward Rheingold's Latest Connection

Howard Rheingold's Latest Connection

OK, so I'm a Howard fan. There are many interesting questions and answers in this article, but lets pick one for fun.

Q: Does the pushback by companies threatened by these trends, such as the record and movie companies, threaten innovation?
A: Yes. Never before in history have we been able to see incumbent businesses protect business models based on old technology against creative destruction by new technologies. And they're doing it by manipulating the political process. The telegraph didn't prevent the telephone, the railroad didn't prevent the automobile. But now, because of the immense amounts of money that they're spending on lobbying and the need for immense amounts of money for media, the political process is being manipulated by incumbents.
I'm picking up more and more the meme of "destruction by new technologies" along with "disruptive" and "destructive" technologies. It is interesting how we use language. The implication for me is that we have to tear down before we create. But is that true? Why are we using terms that generally have a negative connotation for something we find generative and positive? Is it part of the war or sports talk that drives the business world? Is it our fear or anger of that which we want to replace?

No answers. I just find it very interesting. As I read this particular answer from Howard, I realize I do have fear of how money is controlling things now -- and it feels like this is happening more than ever. Can I, by working via the net and creating and sustaining connections outside of a more traditional business model (as a small business owner) contribute to this change? Am I doing it now? More personally, I don't feel like I'm fighting the old powers, but inventing new. That gives me more juice. While others feel stronger with the idea of fighting a foe.

Language is very interesting. And I'm repeating myself. It must be Friday. I'm cooked! Blogging can offer one the opportunity to really send out half baked, if well intentioned, messages. So consider this a half baked cookie offering. Chocolate, of course!

 

I Am an Idiot - Online Reputation

I had a wonderful moment the other day when a person cared enough to let me know that someone had classified me as an idiot. I can't thank the person directly as they emailed me anonymously. I'm hoping they see my thanks here. I appreciate that they cared enough to take the time to contact me. Here is the email.

TO: nancyw-at-fullcirc.com
SUBJECT: Website Inquiry
VISITOR_NAME: anonymous tipster
VISITOR_EMAIL_ADDRESS:
MESSAGE: Thought you should know that http://del.icio.us/maciej/idiot is actively spreading negative gossip about you and your company -- you can look at the link above. He has published a link to your company under the topic "idiot" which is read by hundreds if not thousands of people. His name is Maciej Ceglowski and he should know better than to behave this way! You should contact mailto:joshua-delicious@burri.to who is the admin of the del.icio.us site to complain about this person's slandering of your company and your professional reputation.
Of course I went to look at the link. My blog had been tagged with the label "idiot." I noticed that I was in good company. I knew and respected some of the other "idiots." Hm, maybe being an idiot is good in this strange cyberworld we live in.

I quickly decided that not only was I not going to complain to the website owner, but that I wasn't worried about it at all. Maciej is free to classify me as an idiot. That's one of the risks of blogging and having some sort of public online identity. So be it.

I thought a bit more an wondered, what made this person think I was an idiot and would he be interested in a dialog about it -- maybe there is something here to learn?

I recounted the story to a few other friends who offered to classify themselves as idiots as well, to keep me company and show solidarity. (I am blessed with wonderful friends.)

Thank you anonymous tipster, for caring enough to write. There will be people who agree with us, appreciate us, and others who will disagree. All I can say is it is simple to slap on a label. It is much harder to really find out if I am an idiot after all.

Welcome to the world of online reputations!

 

Swiss Public Health Advertising

Ah, they say an image is worth a thousand words. From my friends in Switzerland here is a great example.
The full post here.

 

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Stephen Powell: NAVCON Blogathon

Stephen Powell is evangelizing! Here are his plans for a NAVCON Blogathon.

At the NAVCON2K4 conference we are going to explore the use of Blog technology as a means of increasing the impact of the conference. To this end we are developing the conference website around the Interact community software technology that also has a Blog built in.

We hope to do three things:
- introduce Blogging to those of the 1800 delegates who haven’t yet encountered Blogs (they all get a Blog!)
- pull together conference keynotes, speakers, delegates, and presenters who already have Blogs before, during, and after the conference
- perhaps most importantly, we hope delegates will individually or as groups Blog their critical learning incidents from the conference and then review these in PD sessions when they get back to their school.

Through doing the above, we are trying to increase the impact of the conference where it matters in the classrooms by easily enabling teachers to review and reflect upon their learning individually and as groups.
Learn by doing. Evangelize by doing. Show, then tell. Bravo!

 

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Unbound Spiral: CEOblogs.com

Stuart Henshall throws down an interesting gauntlet: CEOblogs.com.

"Business blogging hits the headlines in this week's Business Week. It's a nice article and suggests a new opportunity. To my knowledge no one is yet syndicating top CEO blogs. The url www.ceoblogs.com is available! So here it is. Create a syndicated blog forum that captures Fortune 500 CEO blogs. By aggregating CEO blogs you get some unique opportunities. Afterall all you are doing is aggregating their blogs. They don't like it... they can stop blogging. Centralizing the most important ones will add new perspective to the investment community, corporate direction etc. The Fortune 500 is just one slice of this. CEOBlogs can be sliced by country, industry, turnover etc.

The criteria is they must be written or audioblogged by the individual. No ghostwriting. They must have a bi-weekly average frequency to stay on the list. When the list volume needs managing readers will become involved Slashdot style. There will be a special section for 'registered analysts' comments. Blogs will be assigned industry categories etc. The site may also provide some interesting traffic data. Additionally most commented on... most trusted etc could emerge. "
I can imagine this for many domains and roles. Non profit executives? Top sales folks? What are the risks? The benefits?

 

Weblogsky: Extreme Democracy

My online colleague and pal Jon Lebkowsky has long been interested and active in the intersection between civil engagement in democratic processes and online interaction technology. His book, Extreme Democracy is going online.

Mitch Ratcliffe and I have been editing a book called Extreme Democracy, and now we're putting the book online. We've put the Preface, Foreword, and first 8 chapters online today, with more to follow. (The version of the book that's published will be different, partly owing to comments we get from the online verison.) Joi Ito posted a pointer today. Without Joi, the book would never have some to be (long story)."

 

iPlan - Community engagement techniques and tools

iPlan - Community engagement techniques and tools.

You will find suggestions in Opportunities for engagement in the planning system on clusters of techniques that best suit each phase of plan making and development assessment processes. The same categories are used here, together with a long form description of a selection of techniques available in each category.
Take a click to this site from New South Wales to see the table of community engagement. I was really taken by their use of the concept of "promise to the public." What I have seen lacking in most public consultation is clarity on the promise. Why should I spend my time giving you input, Mr or Ms. Government, if I have no idea what you plan to do with it beyond claiming you provided a chance for public input. Look too at the link to tools. This is worth more time in my book! Also see their Strengthening Rural Communities kit.

 

Wikifying the Blog?

Ton, thoughtful as always, share some thoughts on Wikifying the Blog?

Having a chat with Elmine, discussing creating links between blogs and wiki's, I came up with the idea of replacing the comment-function in a blog with a link to the edit-mode of a wikipage, that also contains the blogpost.

If you would hack the postingscript of your blog in such a manner that it would create a wiki-page with the same content (or if you'd hack the wiki-scripts to post an entry to a blog, if provided with the right credentials), then the comment function would become an invitation to either add to or alter the original post. Thus opening up a wider range of possible responces. Categories could serve to annotate/search the wiki as well. ...

What thoughts do you have if you play around with this idea? How would it alter your experience or behaviour, if at all? Let me know!"
Currently I'm playing around with a few pals with blending blogs, discussions and wikis. Each can bring a strenght to the online interactions we are working with, but I keep feeling reluctant to put them together because they are NOT blending. There are awkward jumps between interfaces which require separate learning curves. Not good for introducing people in a positive way to new tools. So I am intrigued by the ways we can imagine using these tools across, between, layered and every which way!

 

Story Collectors

Gabriel Shirley of Big Mind Media pointed me to this example of a "story collector" - ways to easily electronically capture people's stories. Take a peek:

Giving Back to the Open Space Commons: Stories of people who have used Open Space in their work. If you use OS, add your story!!
I like the simplicty. In my work in other places in the world, there is often a shyness in sharing successes and a reluctance to share failures. But we can learn from both. Maybe by seeing others' stories and haveing an easy tool, more might be inclined to share.

 

Every Single Vote Counts

Judith points to a great movement for those of us in the USA - Every Single Vote Counts via her Social Software Weblog. I do care who you vote for, but I care more that if you are a US citizen, you REGISTER and VOTE.

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

The Journal of Educators Online Premiers

the JEO - haven't read it yet but here's the blurb:

The Journal of Educators Online (JEO) is an online, double-blind, refereed journal by and for instructors, administrators, policy-makers, staff, students, and those interested in the development, delivery, and management of online courses in the Arts, Business, Education, Engineering, Medicine, and Sciences. Welcome to the first issue!


 

Looking at Blog Posts Linked to My Blog Posts

I was on hold with a bank today and started searching for links to my weblog. It was fun to see which posts prompted links in the past 10 days or so. I have not really mastered Technoratic, pings and trackbacks, so this is still a primitive part of my practice.

At Only Connect by Stephen Harlow did a masterful job weaving links to a number of blogs while cogitating between the difference between knowledge and information. (He also has a cool post on Narrative Therapy - which I should blog separately.)

My post on falling behind on blogging really had some great connections.

Blogging: No Point in Catching Up: Contentious Weblog by Amy Gahran, CONIECTO from Gabriela Avram recounting how attending conferences can interfere with blogging (I'm glad my post made you feel a bit better!), and Azzari Jarrett at hardscrabble offers some wishes on how to focus on WHAT to read when you are behind (yes yes!). It was a delightful little moment of kindred spirits in some way. Made my being on hold a much happier experience as well.

 

Monday, August 09, 2004

Ambrozek and Cothrel Report! Online Communities in Business Report

I'm excited to share that Jenny and Joe's report on the survey they conducted about Online Communities in Business is now on the web. I was thrilled to be able to spend time with them in June to talk about the report and really anxious to share it out to my network. The full pdf report is here. Jenny and Joe are also hosting a wiki for reader feedback and to gather more insights and information. I encourage you to chime in. Instructions on how to participate on the wiki are on the report website!

Here is the intro:


It has been 25 years since online community found its humble beginnings via the first computer bulletin board. Since then, much attention has focused on the impact on society. But how have online communities affected business?

From February to May 2004, we conducted an online survey of people involved in, or deeply knowledgeable about, online community efforts in large organizations around the world. This survey was conducted in concert with the 7th International Conference on Virtual Communities, the largest and oldest annual gathering of its kind.
I have had some time to chew on the initial data and am now savoring the full report. It had both many things I expected as a practitioner, and a few surprises. The optimism of the value of online interaction (I tend to use the word community a little more sparingly!) is validated in what I see in my practice, and the familiar problems are VERY familiar: challenges with effectively measuring ROI and still a limited or non-existant understanding of online groups and communities.

I'll post a fuller review tomorrow (work calls!) but I really wanted to get the news out and spreading - so I'm blogging to do my part! But there is one piece I want to dangle out front.

The challenge the report delivers me is around the final issue noted by Joe and Jenny on page 4: "The discipline of creating and managing communities is poorly defined." That is something I, and WE can do something about. How can we contribute?


(Also posted on Many2Many)

 

Sunday, August 08, 2004

Googling choconancy

I have a "handle" or name that is really an essential part of my online identity: choconancy. There have been variants: choco, choconan, but choconancy is a part of me that came to life when I joined my first online community, Electric Minds. I started out as Nancy White. Quite original. Then one of my mentors, a man named Michael (handle: bodhi) from Chicago said "I know too many Nancys. From now on you are choconancy to me." He died suddenly in that first year. My first experience of losing someone online too. (For more see this thread at the new Electric Minds.)

It stuck, like a fine dark chocolate glaze on a brownie. I shed my common Nancy White for something different. I liked it.

As I began to move professionally into the online world, I reverted more often to the "Nancy White" login. After all, who would take choconancy seriously. Yet the name came up again and again.

Today, in a continuing fit of work avoidance (that will soon have consequences crashing down upon me) I Google Searched: choconancy.1200 results.

A little perspective. There are 3,670,000 Google hits for Nancy White. But there are a lot of Nancy Whites. There is the fabulous folk singer, Nancy White, Queen of the Topical Song. The illustrator, Nancy White Cassidy. There's Nancy White Carlstrom, the children's author. And for some reason, there are a lot of references to geneological searches for Nancy White. Doubtfully my ancestor, since I married into this name (from of all names, Wright!) So yeah, I show up amongst those other 3+ million hits, but as a sliver.

Interestingly all of the references I found for choconancy had some direct relevance to me. Many were the result of using choconancy as a handle in an online interaction space (many were repeats or variants at a single site - that accounts for the volume). But it was still me.

I am choconancy.