uploaded Lotusphere Comes To You presentation [Dutch]

Great Lotuspehere Comes To You today with Keynote speaker Brian Cheng showing the IBM roadmap and doing demo's and sessions on TDI, Sametime Unified Telephony, Document Management (Docova) and of course IBM Connections & Social Business.

For those interested I'm attaching my presentation (in Dutch) on Social Business & IBM Connections below.

"Social Business - Vele ogen..." [DUTCH]

View more PowerPoint from Femke Goedhart

Lotusphere Comes To You - February 22nd Silverside

It's time for the annual Lotusphere Comes to You events! This year Silverside will be hosting one in Houten, The Netherlands on the 22nd of February. KeyNote speakers include Brian Cheng from IBM and Daan Quakernaat who will be speaking on building cathedrals.How that relates to Social Business? Come find out!

To see the program or to register visit our site at: http://silverside.nl/lotusphere/

Lotusphere.... what Social is about!

Just home after a very long day/night of traveling it's finally time to do some reflecting on the past week. It's hard to put into words what it is I've been experiencing this week and while writing this blog post thousands of images, experiences and faces shoot through my head that made this week so special. It was only my second Lotusphere but I felt at home there as if I had been there for at least 20 years. And most of that is due to the incredible community.

How strong that community is was probably best shown in the "NERD101 Spark ideas" session. A very a-typical session as it wasn't about software or business, it was about life and life's lessons. With 6 speakers chosen from the community talking about items that inspired them hoping to inspire others. The room was packed and it was a fantastic session. With some very personal stories.

Now what made it extra special to me was that on Wednesday I happened to find myself in the elevator with one of the outside press analysts specially invited. He was on his way out and we got talking (shortly). When I asked him how he'd found the Lotusphere experience and what had surprised him most he mentioned the Sparks session. He'd seen it in the schedule and visited it, not knowing what to expect. He loved the topics and the fact that there was a group of NerdGirls organizing it. But most importantly he was surprised to see how close a community we really are.

@CuriousMitch talking about 'Get cancer, get social'

So although I'm sure that didn't make it into his article I can't help but feel proud of this. Social business is about getting people to work together and connecting in ways they haven't tried before. Sometimes that means going off the beaten track and exploring new grounds. Having an purely inspirational session at a Tech conference, lead by the community and presented by the community is, in my eyes, definitely going off the beaten track. And I couldn't think of a better community then the Lotus community to embrace it!

Lotusphere 2012 wasn't just Social, it showed what Social is about!

Video's!

Just two of dozens of video's popping up around the web that really caught my eye. Love how they give a sense of the great atmosphere around Lotusphere!

Lotusphere Arrivals


Lotusphere Closer


ps. Still searching for a video of the 'PretzelCookie'  incident at CGS so if you got some video....post it!

UX Labs

I spent a good hour yesterday in the User Experience lab. Talking to UX specialists about Social Software and how I think it could improve. Now why is that important? Well it's not and it is... My opinion on it's own isn't important at all but by being one of those thousands that is actually sharing it I might be able to make a tiny difference in how the products I work with, and my customers work with are build. And isn't that what 'being social' is all about? Making a difference together...?

Now apart from it being good it's also a lot of fun. People who know me know that I can be a very opinionated person who will not shy away from speaking her mind. And if there's one thing that is really.... correction: REALLY close to my heart it is usability and UI logic. So being able to sit there and just tell about all the pet peeves, ideas and possible improvements I've got swimming around in my head with someone who is not just politely nodding but actually taking notes is just fantastic. Ofcourse there is no guarantee that any of it will be used but at least you get a chance to talk to the people who do have the ability to make a difference.

So if you haven't done so yet get your butt down there and start talking! They will ask you questions if you don't have any direct ideas and you'll be surprised how much you actually have to add!

Confumbled - Social Media breaking down language borders

So I'm Dutch and I'm in no way a native English speaker. I do ok, blog in English, get myself understood and can even be relatively 'witty' in my Social Media responses. It has allowed me to interact and connect to numerous people around the world and it has even given me some new friends. Ok, yes, I know. How can you call them friends without ever meeting them?!? But with some of them they really do feel like friends.

And in about 48 hours I'm flying out to Lotusphere to actually meet them....

I can't wait! I look forward to really meeting these people but at the same time I'm a bit apprehensive too. Truth is that connecting over the internet really isn't the same as connecting in real life. Apart from the obvious facts that Social Media allows you to filter out the less attractive and boring elements of your personality it also helps eliminate language borders.

Again, as a non-native English speaker I think I do pretty well, but I do mess up.... regularly.... This has lead to several funny (and embarrassing) instances and confusions where I tried to express something which actually came out as something totally different.

My Dutch colleagues would now argue I don't just do that in English, bytheway...

Saving factor here though is that as Social Media is mostly a 'written' form of communication it has something of a grace period. Allowing you to at least think for two seconds and read back that post, tweet or chat message (as well as having a spelling control) before clicking the 'send' button. Believe me, I've become a regular speed-Googler over the last few months and have Urban Dictionary bookmarked as a favorite.  Problem is though, these don't yet come as build in options for my mind and so I will have to do without my regular safety nets next week...

....So that's why, even with all my enthusiasm about going to Lotusphere I'm also still feeling a bit apprehensive about talking to all of you with whom I've been chatting, Tweeting and Facebooking. Not knowing, whether I will be able to actually have the same kind of spontaneous interaction without having Google & spell checker at my fingertips is daunting....It almost feels like sitting my high school exams again.

Luckily for me I'm also pretty sure most of you guys will forgive me for my little language-mishaps. And if I do 'confumble' my English big time and mess up I can only hope you guys will look through it and have a laugh with me about it. It's all in good spirit!

Instagram - Let's capture the LS12 mood!

I stumbled upon Instagram a while back. A nifty little iPhone app (I don't have an iPhone but use it on my iPad) that lets you quickly share photo's that portray your mood of the moment to the world. Not whole series but snapshots that really give others a quick glimpse of what you're up to. The simple interface and the nice filters let you enhance the pictures before posting them and make it a joy to work with.

I love it! It's just another form of social Media but in some cases a picture says more then a 1000 words and as it allows you to post the pictures to Twitter and Facebook as well it's a great alternative if words fall short (or inspiration is lacking).

Last Week, after posting an Instagram picture, Bruce Elgort DM'ed me a link with the text "Working on this....".
On opening the link I got a collection of Instagram pictures for Lotusphere and IBM Connect..... Now I didn't realize immediately what I was looking at and as the pictures were from previous Lotusphere's it took me a while to realize what he and Serdar Besegmez had been working on. A site that collects all the Instagram pictures (regardless of who's posting it) that contain the #ls12 tag and shows them in one big photo album overview. Of course the current selection is very limited but come Jan 15.....

So I love this initiative. We're all going to follow what is going on around Lotusphere on Twitter, on Facebook, on the communities but what better way to portray the mood and excitement of the community coming together then pictures!
So if you've got an iPhone or iPad then download instagram and start posting. And while at Lotusphere take a picture of what Lotusphere is to you and post it to Instagram with the #LS12 tag. It'll be a great way of looking back on the event of the year!

Serdar & Bruce thanks for coming up with this!

Lotusphere-less... NOW WHAT?!?

If you are anything like me you probably had the dates for Lotusphere 2012 inscribed and blocked in your calendar as soon as they were announced last year and spend the last 11 months bugging your boss about letting you go (yes, I did). Still, not everyone gets to go..... 

DISASTER!, now what?!? How can you NOT be there where it is all happening!?!

Breath in.....ok, relax. I know it's a disaster and I feel for you but in the incredible situation you're actually not going, there are still ways to participate. So, to help you overcome this horrible scenario, some tips from someone who lived through it last year (and yes, that was hard!). Because you might not be able to be there physically, you can still be there online:

• Keep an eye on central sites like the Lotusphereblog and official IBM Lotusphere site for relevant links, news and updates. 

• Try and find a Live feed that allows you to follow what's going on. Last year I ended up watching the whole OGS through a LotusLive web meeting feed. With running commentary and a very active comments section with like minded people who weren't there. It gave me the comfort of knowing I was not alone, pining behind my desk in a cold & rainy place far, far from sunny Orlando...

• Check out the #ls12 hashtag. Anything going on at or around Lotusphere will in general be tweeted with this hashtag. Even better, check out the IBM Social Aggregator for Lotusphere site that lists tweets & blog posts about Lotusphere all in one convenient web page with link backs to authors profiles and other blogs.

• Listen to the podcasts that are around. There are several out there like Taking Notes and This Week in Lotus for instance that are really worth listening to if you want to know what's going on in the Lotus Community. Leading up to and during Lotusphere they tend to do lots of interviews and even live recordings from the conference itself.

• Check out PlanetLotus. The place to go for all blog's Lotus and during Lotusphere the place to get the latest scoops. 

• Check out the Greenhouse Lotusphere Community (register for free with Greenhouse if you haven't done so yet to get access). An online Connections community where people can connect, post pictures, links and video's, search for information, post questions and get involved while at Lotusphere. But also open to anyone not there.

• Follow and connect with people on twitter that are there. This is the best way of getting to know what's going on. Who to follow? Well there are lot's and finding the right ones can be difficult if you're new to this. A good basic set of active Lotus community tweeps is to simply follow the IBM Champions twitter list. These are some of the most active members in the community and it's an easy starting point to broaden your network. Don't be afraid to interact with them either. These are people that were recognized by IBM for their active role in the Community so in general they are really open and willing to engage with you.

So although none of the above really replaces the actual 'Lotusphere experience' itself these could be tips to get a little bit of the feeling of being there. And, if you're smart, you can use it to get the arguments to convince your boss why he should let you go next year.... :)

This list is far from complete. Any more tips I might have forgotten? Add them to the comments!

Lotusphere Sparks session!

It's getting close to Lotusphere. The excitement is building up with the session overview being announced today and less then a month to go till OGS! Busy times especially for the speakers who's slides are due any day now.  

Not selected as a speaker? There is still a chance for you too. The "NERD101: Spark Ideas, featured by the Nerd Girls" gives everyone that has an inspiring story to tell a chance to be on that Lotusphere stage!


Courtesy of  NerdGirls: 

There is a new type of session at Lotusphere this year and the speaker is..... you!

Spark Ideas is session in which we bring together a group of people to discuss what inspires us. Lead by Kristen Lauria, Vice President Marketing for IBM Social Business, a group of speakers will share their experiences, inspiration, challenges, etc., during a compilation of five minute talks.

Want to participate?  There’s still time to submit your abstract!  The topic can be anything that you feel is relevant from how you were inspired by your math teacher to go into computing, a unique personal experience or story, how you juggle your busy job and coaching little league soccer, or describing your hobby or family project.  Whatever you think would inspire your colleagues and friends in the room!

So don’t hesitate if you feel you’ve got something to contribute.

How?? To sign up, simply send your abstract (maximum 500 words) to info@nerdgirlgroup.com with a short bio telling us who you are.

But be quick because time is running out!  Submit your abstract by December 19, 2011.  Final selection of abstracts will be made public in the beginning of January.  

We hope to see you in January in Orlando, let's Spark!

This Week in Lotus 81 - yep I can't spell my own name

Ok, so there's a first time for everything and this week it was being a guest on the This Week In Lotus podcast discussing the Redbook Residency, abstracts and NerdGirl activities at Lotusphere 2012. It was nervewracking.... Lets say that some great editing by @StuartMcIntyre and @DarrenDuke eventually saved the day.  

Still, had lot's of fun doing it and it accounted for some great bloopers (included in the last 3 minutes of the podcast).

and for those who wonder... Yes, in normal live I'm perfectly able to spell my own name :-)

Spark Ideas - Brought to you by Nerd Girls

Do you know how some stories can be really inspiring? Stories and ideas that you never heard or thought of before and that really hit you right in the heart? Ideas that spark…..

Can you tell such a story?

Then we are looking for you. We are proud to present the Sparks session. A Lotusphere session brought to you by Nerd Girls where up to 6 people will have a chance to share their awesome experience with the crowd in a short 5-6 min presentation.

The topic? Anything you think is relevant, from how to inspire kids to go into ICT to how you managed to incorporate your cart racing addiction into your work. Anything goes as long as you can tell it in under 5-6 minutes and feel it could inspire the rest of us!

But… You have to sell it in a short abstract to us.  Based on these abstracts a panel will decide which speakers will be allowed to tell their awesome story.  Do you need to be a NerdGirl?? No! This is open to everyone, both men and women. It’s not about gender it’s about inspiring your fellow Lotuspherians and Sparking your idea in their mind. Will it get me something? It isn’t a contest so there won’t be any prizes but it will give you the opportunity to climb on an official Lotusphere stage and tell your story to a captivated audience.

So don’t hesitate if you feel you’ve got something to contribute. I’m sure there are more than enough people out there that have some story worth sharing. Spark your idea and sign up!

How?? To sign up send your abstract (max 500 words) to info@nerdgirlgroup.com with a short bio telling us who you are. Final selection of abstracts will be made public in the beginning of January.
And don't hesitate to alert others to this if you know of people that have something worth telling.

Let's spark some ideas!

LotusLive & Lotusphere

So today was D-day. The Lotusphere 2012 abstract acceptation/rejection messages were being send out which meant lot's of people (including me) got disappointed. At the same time it means others that really deserved it got really happy so I'm not to bummed out about it. I know I'll be seeing lots of great sessions and I'm really looking forward to that. It also means I have more time to concentrate on all the good stuff Lotusphere has to offer so I'm just going to sit back and enjoy it!

One of the session that I submitted with my co-worker Roland Driesen was on LotusLive. More specifically on how we, for the last year, have been actively using it at Silverside. Not just to collaborate internally but more importantly externally. Silverside really put the pedal to the metal by not just trying to get our customers to engage in LotusLive by using Guest accounts but by doing an experiment where we gave a large group of them (payed) accounts & training so they could fully collaborate with us in projects using activities, file sharing and IM. Not only did this allow for better project collaboration, it also allowed these customers to have the full LotusLive experience for themselves.

The results were mixed. Some really got the idea and used it actively, others looked at it and dismissed it more or less right away.  


The one thing that was really loved and turned out to have most ROI effect was the fact they now had Sametime access to us directly. The people we gave the accounts to in general were project owners, decision makers and IT managers. In stead of having to rely on mail or phone calls they could now easily and quickly connect to us..... and not just during office hours!
Yes, it may sound weird but most revenue was gotten from informal Sametime chats outside of office hours, sometimes late at night or in the weekend where an IT Manager needed to know something quickly and used LotusLive Sametime. In more then one case those informal chats resulted in concrete projects or opportunities.

So was it a successful project? Yes and No... It did help us connect better to our customers but there is still a lot to improve on LotusLive. For instance try explaining to a user that when he uses the search box in the right upper corner to search for a document he first has to switch to the Files section to actually find anything relevant.... If I get a search box, I expect it to be able to search through all of the content within my system (LotusLive), not just in the section I'm stuck in at that moment.
On the up side the project certainly helped us connect more to an important group of our customers, becoming a better integrated partner to their organization.

For now I'm just looking forward to announcements for LotusLive at Lotusphere. The one I really hope for is the addition of Sametime to the guest accounts as I really think IM/chats is what can open lot's of organizations to the idea of Collaboration. So that could really be a big benefit when getting external partners on LotusLive..... and of course that search option, simply because it bugs the hell out of me!

Nerdgirl Geekiness

So I'm going to Lotusphere 2012...Yeah!!! Ok, I understand probably not very exciting to you but for me it is. And I'm looking forward to it!!!

One of the things I'm particulary looking forward to is the Nerd Girls "Great Geek Challenge". A battle of the Geeks and THE moment for the community to glorify it's geekiness and have some fun.  Ok, yes, overdoing it a bit here but just love the geeky thing.


Check out Gabriella Davis blog on Turleweb or the Great Geek Challenge site for more details. This is one 'session' you shouldn't miss!

LCTY 2011 March 29th in Houten - Be Social, be there!

Didn't have a change to go to Lotusphere this year?

Here's your chance to catch up on all the developments:
http://silverside.nl/lotusphere/



(To sign up go to the Silverside site)

Lotusphere 2011

I'm not there..... Unfortunately but that's live isn't it?!


Some of my colleagues are though and at the Business Development Day yesterday they got a really nice surprise when IBM used Forbo's (one of our customers) Connections cases as an example in their presentation.

Thanks to @marceldehoog for the picture!

DAOS checklist

Nice checklist for people planning a DAOS implementation with lots of further links for additional information.

Especially the one about Backup's. It's the one thing that sticked in my head from the 10 worst real live examples of 'how not to' given in the  "BP108 Worst Practices….Orlando we've got a problem" session by Paul Mooney and Bill Buchan at LS10. The story about a company implementing DAOS, suffering a major OS failure and then discovering that they didn't have backups of the DAOS directory because they forgot to include it in their backup scheme........Right, I'd call that a problem!

LCTY - Silverside

For everyone interested in knowing what was said at Lotusphere 2010: The date and location of our Silverside LCTY session is set!
 

Lotus Comes To You 
with special speaker Douglas Spencer - IBM USA

Date: 31 maart 2010
Location: Expo, Houten starting at 13:00
Sign in here


With sessions on Xpages, Social Internet, Security, Document Management and of course Project Vulcan it is going to be an interesting day.

Don't miss it!

Lotus Knows video

Ok, it's been a couple of weeks already but I still get the vibe when watching this video that was shown at the closing session of Lotusphere 2010...

Lotussphere 2010

So OK, I've already mentioned Lotusphere 2010 was the inspiration for this weblog so the logical first blog would of course be on..... Lotusphere 2010!

What can I tell you, my mind is still trying to find it's way back to earth after being in the 'cloud' for a week. As a complete Lotusphere newbie I didn't really know what to expect. Yes of course, I knew it was the greatest event out there when it comes to IBM's Lotus brand, and that there would be a lot of people there ..... but even then it was a completely new experience to me. The great atmosphere, the excitment and the effect of being with so many people who think alike (yellow!).

I had discussed going to Lotusphere the year before as part of my educational plan. Still, with the recession going on, falling profits and the fact that I had the unexpected but great opportunity to be on a Redbook team for three weeks out in Boston in March, meant I didn't really count on my company still allowing me to go.

Imagine my surprise, when late one night in November I received a confirmation email from IBM thanking me for entering a LS session proposal.... Wait a moment, I didn't send anything??? ….. I wasn't even aware I was going to Lotusphere, so I'm pretty sure I didn't send in any session proposal? …… What is going on here?!?!?

The clue followed 5 minutes later in a message from my manager: "Ehhh,.... you might receive a message from IBM, don't worry, I'll explain tomorrow". My dear collegue had send in a proposal for us to do a session on Document Management. A subject our company has been specializing in over the last few years and also the topic of the Redbook I worked on last March. Knowing I would never even think of proposing a session myself, he kind of ambushed me into it.
So, worried about the prospect of having to do a session at my first ever Lotusphere, but at the same time quite certain it would probably not be accepted anyway, the first thing that came to mind was: "I'm really going then!!".

That was all that mathered! After 10 years working as a Lotus Notes, Domino, Document Management and Workflow Consultant I was finally going to Lotusphere. A dream I'd had for years but something that just never materialized due to costs, projects that intervened and employers that just didn't see the necessity...... This time I was really going!

So, looking back, what was my biggest LS2010 moment?

No, not the session we did ourselves (yes, it did get accepted and it was a great experience!) and not the numerous interesting talks I had with people, or great sessions I followed. No, for me the best moment was walking up to that General opening session on Monday morning. Being swept up in the hallway in this enormous crowd of people all wearing the same Lotusphere badge and backpack, moving towards the big hall. Thousands of people full of anticipating and all with the same ideas and motivation......

Being a part of that crowd, that movement, that buzz: Feeling absolutely at home. That was my biggest LS2010 moment.  I will never forget this and whatever happens.... I’ve got the taste now, I'm definitely coming back next year!! ;-)

ps. for those that are interested: Our session was called "BP304-Can a Sheep with Five Legs Win the Race?: Looking For the Right Document Management Alternative" slideshow