I am painfully aware that I have not posted to this blog in two weeks. I apologize, but I have been heads down on several major projects including: completing the Market IQ on Findability (register for the associated webinar now), completing development of teh AIIM training course on Enterprise 2.0, and preparing for two presentations that I am giving this week at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference here in Boston.
Well, I just completed the first of those presentations, a keynote in which my colleague Dan Keldsen and I discussed the state of the E20 market, based on our Enterprise 2.0 Market IQ report. (If you would like a copy of the slide deck, see the related post on Dan Keldsen's blog.) With that presentation behind me now I can come up for a bit of air. So let me share with you some feedback on the Enterprise 2.0 show. In a word - WOW. In a few more words:
Enterprise 2.0 is still hot. There were over 1200 in attendance today, and the hallways were buzzing. I had a chance to meet many people, some old friends, some new faces. I was impressed with the international composition of the audience. And this crowd practices what we preach - by the time I got back to my office (just minutes away from the venue), there were multiple online postings and discussions regarding the presentation Dan and I had just made. Viral, quick, connected and collaborative.
There were a few recurring themes in my conversations today that I would like to share:
While Enterprise 2.0 is all about facilitated collaboration (through technology), many hurdles still exist. One key one is language or the need for translation. The folks at CoreMedia have published a book on Enterprise 2.0 (link forthcoming). Problem is, its in German. - Well I guess that is not a problem for those who speak German - but that rules me out. Anyway, that led to discussion on this issue of collaboration and language. The folks from Google talked about the very very same issue in their keynote. I missed their presentation, but was told they were demoing an instant messaging (IM) session in which the message translated itself into the native language of the recipients - dynamically. Very cool - but calm down - it is still just "demoware" - but stay tuned. I cannot help think about the phrase "every solution breeds new problems" when I observe these pending solutions. We are all familiar with the "lost in translation" effect when communicating asynchronously though IM and e-mail. All too often the true meaning or intent of the author is misread by the recipient. Now imaging the situation when that communication includes a software-based translation - literally from one language to another. I cannot help but recall the anti-automatic translation demo that circulated around in the early days of international approaches to search and retrieval in which the phrase "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak", was translated into Russian as "The vodka is good but the meat is rotten."This is some powerful stuff, but the future should be ripe with misappropriated anger and laughter.
The GREEN topic raised its head a few times. I sometimes laugh when I think about how virtually every industry/practice is getting on the green band wagon now. But I would be remiss if I did not point out that there was some legitimate discussion about the value of Enterprise 2.0 to the green cause. In a nut shell, the more we can collaborate and cooperate online the less need for travel - from plane trips to customers partners and corporate branch offices, to daily car trips to "the office". Stay at home and save the earth, but remain as productive as ever. Yeah I get it, but often worry that too many lose site of the many cultural issues that need to be cooperatively handled for this to work. (Corporate and community culture was a major part of what Dan and I talked about today.)
Lastly - among the seasoned professionals in the crowd, there was agreement that too many embark on Enterprise 2.0 projects, (e.g.a wiki or blog) without clear appreciation for the role of leadership, strategy and ongoing management. These tools/platforms can be viral, but even a virus needs a ripe culture in which to take hold and grow. We cannot/should not lose sight of this, else we add to the 1000+ reported abandoned wikis. One consultant shared with me a new phrase (at least to me), "intensional network". I love it. Networks do not just necessarily happen - there needs to be some intent behind them - read strategy, leadership and management. But, this is obviously a play on words, for it is more than "intentional" - it is also "intensional", meaning that the environment will/should thrive on intensity - a state of fervid debate and discussion, not milk toast discussion and agreement.
OK - I gotta run. More show activity, and then I have to start preparing my talk for the show tomorrow - "Is Enterprise 2.0 Knowledge Management 2.0?".
Stay tuned - more on that and the show tomorrow.
