So...What's Next?!?

The Possibilities of Mass Collaboration

I attended the Georgia Technology Summit today. So far I found a few blogs, some tweets, and Amani Channels video from the session. I am sure there are more to come. I will be saving the reactions here.

The keynote Speaker was Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics - the 2007 management book of the year.

I was very excited that this group would be introduced to his message, but I am a little concerned that it did not resonate with many.

Just follow some of the tweets;

StephenFleming:                

#gts2008 Seeing a lot of eyes glazed over here. I hope it's soaking in to some people.                  

jhaynie:                

#gts2008 -  *more people need* to read wikinomics in this room                

I actually saw someone dozing off!

Tapscott started with the 2007 Time Magazine person of the year as being “You.”

He discussed the growth of Facebook and MySpace that is happening all over the world and that there is a new blog created every second of everyday…

And then he dropped the "All this news is so 2006."

Today it is about a new way of productions. How we create goods and services and how companies communicate all over the world.

What was so timely about this message was the post on BusinessWeek

Social Media Will Change Your Business
Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up…or catch you later

I would like to repeat...I saw people falling asleep this morning!!!

Tapscott also discussed how the new web is accessed throughout various “things” from chips in the door key for his hotel to smart houses.

He talked about how the physical world is becoming smart and interconnected bringing up;

Broadband Mobility

Geo-Spatiality (GPS Tour Guide)  and IntelliOne

He also discussed the idea of True Multimedia – You get to have a movie and be in the movie as well. Think of the next generation of game play with cinema.

I would say it is practically here with machinima.

Tapscott discussed the rise of web services and how the new web is based on XML – computation…..where every time you interact with the computer you are programming the global platform and the need to integrate internal systems to the global platform (AJAX)

He announced that people who keep thinking about the Internet as it used to be are making a big mistake.

Our kids, the ones coming into the workforce, known as the net generation, have no “fear” of technology because it is like air to them.

I hated computers in the 10th grade. Todays 10th graders do not know a world without computers.

How much of an accelerated change is this?...Tapscott showed the growth trend of this generation in regards to the population growth

Generations – Boom, Bust (Gen X) and then the  Echo (net gen) which is louder than the original boom.

For this generation time online is taking away from television. These kids watch less TV and they are multi-taking while interacting with all their digital devices.

62% of the time heavy Internet users bleep out TV ads. That means when they are watching television, they are watching it on their own terms.

Tapscott noted that this is the first time in history when children are the authority on something really important.

Tapscott highlighted the attitudes of the net gen based on  a panel with some kids awhile back.

"Why would I read a newspaper no links and only comes out once a day…"

"News is called an RSS feed and I can start my own newspaper."

"The Daily Show is not funny unless you know the news."

Kids expect to be engaged. As Tapscott pointed out;

Self organization has been around for the ages. Language is a function of self organization. But what used to take place over a millennia or centuries now can happen in a week or even a single day.

Tapscott noted that the average age of people who watch the nightly news is 62!

He also made a good case that the Internet is a platform for collaborations and that companies should not have websites anymore, they should be building communities.

Best question of the day...If you have employees wasting time on social networks…..is that a technology problem?

Sharing is Capitalism at it’s best because it is collaboration for innovation.

My Question – First I noted that there is a generation gap - from my spot in the room I thought I was the only one with a laptop trying to live blog (the wireless was not accessible) as opposed to all the bloggers we have at the SoCon events. But as you see a few others blogged the event -some of the "usual suspects" :)

Then I asked how the participants  of today's summit can find the balance of responding and managing these shifts as well as strategies to embrace and take advantage of these trends. Tapscott nailed the answer - just start contributing.

Overall it was a great event and I got to see a lot of people I know and meet a few new people.

Tonights closing quote;

We could go over the cliff. You would hope not. You would hope that people see what needs to be done. It's not rocket science. It's not difficult. It's not even all that costly. It's actually about the way you think about the world.

Tim Flannery

We Already Have Enough Technology

I was at a coffee meeting today presenting the services of What a Concept! to someone who was not real familiar with social software. She understood technology, in fact sold SW development services.

In the middle of the conversation it dawned on me that we have had enough technology to solve all the communication issues we have had for years. So what makes social software different?

I realized the biggest shift is that social software is adaptable to the person or people using it. We can customize our pages, select the information we want to receive and share and interact on our own terms in our own way. It is becoming less about the technology and more about integrating ways we communicate or express ourselves naturally.

Later I was on a call for a campaign project and the question was should budget go toward online efforts or an offline party. Knowing that a vote for the party would not include me in the scope of work, I voted for the party...because what that project has been missing is the human interaction.

Social media consultants/enthusiasts will all tell you that social media is simply an extension of our offline relationships. We still need to see each other, shake hands, look into each other's eyes, feel their energy, or what the heck...give each other hugs.

Once we do that then we are more likely to care more about what our online friends had for dinner or are listening to on their iPod because they are more than data on the world wide web, they are our "friends."

Social media has never been about the technology. We did not need more technology. Social media is about staying connected to the ones we care about.

For when two beings who are not friends are near each other there is no meeting, and when friends are far apart there is no separation.
Simone Weil

In the Spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci

This was one of my early posts - thankfully I had emailed it to someone, so I did not lose this one...Tim is going to see how many posts we can find - sort of an experiment of if someone could really delete their "digital footprint."

I was once asked if I could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be. I did not even have to consider the question for a moment, Leonardo Da Vinci.

He understood that possibilities were limitless and was driven to make others realize, through his personal example, the incredible possibilities that existed. He knew these things because he had the ability to look at things from a different perspective, of being able to make unusual connections and see things holistically.

Who was Leonardo Da Vinci? I am not concerned with his biography, but his approach to looking at situations and finding solutions to problems that others did not know existed. I want to tap into his zealous love of the quest and determination to interact with life and its events.

I want to apply the spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci to the enormous amount of possibilities that exist today, if we choose to look at things from a different perspective, make unusual connections and see things holistically.

Technology has made tapping into the spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci possible for anyone who has the desire to do so. Leonardo said that "the desire to know is natural to good men," and "the knowledge of all things is possible."

Assuming these comments are true, what made Leonardo different was the application of that knowledge. He was not a "specialist," he did not have a job title, he did not sit in a cubicle with a job description - he was an explorer, an inventor, an artist.

I am amazed how companies segment their business into sales, marketing, PR, customer service, executives and so forth.

If the marketing department is not aware of the information that the salespeople are receiving, how do they know how to target their campaign? If salespeople do not get to experience the issues coming through customer service, how do they know what problems to solve? How can PR respond to the public without being in the trenches with the public? How do executives keep fresh and innovative ideas without a constant interaction with the the new hires that are coming in, full of hope, enthusiasm and innovative ideas?

The knowledge of all things is possible if you find how and why each part is connected. With that knowledge you can create masterpieces and uncover the boundlessness of what is possible.

I was once asked if I could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be. I did not even have to consider the question for a moment, Leonardo Da Vinci.

He understood that possibilities were limitless and was driven to make others realize, through his personal example, the incredible possibilities that existed. He knew these things because he had the ability to look at things from a different perspective, of being able to make unusual connections and see things holistically.

Who was Leonardo Da Vinci? I am not concerned with his biography, but his approach to looking at situations and finding solutions to problems that others did not know existed. I want to tap into his zealous love of the quest and determination to interact with life and its events.

I want to apply the spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci to the enormous amount of possibilities that exist today, if we choose to look at things from a different perspective, make unusual connections and see things holistically.

Technology has made tapping into the spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci possible for anyone who has the desire to do so. Leonardo said that "the desire to know is natural to good men," and "the knowledge of all things is possible."

Assuming these comments are true, what made Leonardo different was the application of that knowledge. He was not a "specialist," he did not have a job title, he did not sit in a cubicle with a job description - he was an explorer, an inventor, an artist.

I am amazed how companies segment their business into sales, marketing, PR, customer service, executives and so forth.

If the marketing department is not aware of the information that the salespeople are receiving, how do they know how to target their campaign? If salespeople do not get to experience the issues coming through customer service, how do they know what problems to solve? How can PR respond to the public without being in the trenches with the public? How do executives keep fresh and innovative ideas without a constant interaction with the the new hires that are coming in, full of hope, enthusiasm and innovative ideas?

The knowledge of all things is possible if you find how and why each part is connected. With that knowledge you can create masterpieces and uncover the boundlessness of what is possible.