I am sitting in my office at home beavering away, and my wife is downstairs emailing me. Is the art of conversation disappearing? Dining room furniture sales are on the decline and technology has been blamed from some quarters, because we no longer eat together as families – everyone hunched over their laptops or mobile devices. Still, I can’t live without it, and I was amazed to see the first ever Apple fetch £130,000 at auction. I do love everything about Apple, plus bedtime reading has for now been replaced by good progess on Angry Birds! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11825954
Connecting Points
How many connectors/sneezers/influencers know about your product? These individuals act as hubs in successful networks and get the word out faster than any means. You are much wiser being connected to a handful of these people that hundreds of random individuals. Also, conventional hierarchies may begin to change and companies led or guided by these freelance influencers. Who can you “employ?”
CompTIA Member Conference
Strange feeling you get when an event is over for another year. All the build up and hard work, I didn’t want it to end. Our CompTIA Member Conference 2010 was a success. Great people, great exchange and great networking. To see 400 delegates work the floor, make new contacts and engage in conversation made me very proud. Our role at CompTIA is all about bringing the IT community together, to learn, network, engage and explore, and I felt we achieved that. Lots of focused roundtables and panel sessions with real quality and industry expertise. My personal highlight was the brilliant keynote presentation by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, peppered with humour, ace delivery and the very best in storytelling.
Crowdfunding – a great enabler
This is Tan Thi Nguyen. She lives in Vietman and runs a shop that sells the fresh meat of pigs. I am supporting her. Through Kiva (kiva.org) and their technology, I have become a lender to a number of small businesses around the world. Lending upwards of $25, it makes such a difference to people in Peru, Vietnam, Cambodia. So easy to do, so fulfilling so see the difference 3 computer-clicks can make. The Kiva record is impressive, over 220,000 loans valued at more than $163m and a repayment rate of 99%. As long as I am standing, I will be doing this.
King of the Techno-Jungle
I read that Tarzan is being relaunched as an eco-warrior and his companion Jane will be on Facebook and possess an iPod and mobile. Has the world gone completely mad? Are you trying to destroy the abiding memories of my youth? There is only one Tarzan and his name is Johnny Weissmuller. Who will Tarzan talk to in the jungle by mobile phone? Some things are best left as they are.
Backwards to go forwards
Followed an interesting series of articles/videos/conversations around networking and the “new” Twitter. In conclusion I agree with Seth Godin, who said there is little value in building large numbers of followers. It doesn’t benefit them and it certainly adds almost nothing to your objectives. What you need to do, and I agree, is find the 10, 20, 25 people who are key to your network; the influencers, the one-percenters, the sneezers, call them what you will, who have an impact in your career, decisions, network and future. The people that make things happen. Doesn’t that sound more managable?
Invisible Technology
I am just back from the CompTIA member conference in Johannesburg, and a good event it was too. As always on these monster flights, I read books, magazines, papers, anything I can learn something new. I believe technology will become the next utility, to the point where you can’t see it and this is a great step in that direction. Light Touch, developed in Cambridge, can turn any flat surface into a 10-inch touchscreen. As this evolves, has connectivity and is integrated into portable devices, will it be goodbye monitor, keyboard and laptop bag forever? I hope so.
Smarter City
Just back from Crete, a great week of sun, relaxation and table tennis, and a week out from information overload. I did sneak a peek at IBM’s Smarter City however; impressed both with the website itself and the information on it, particularly on education. Take a look at thesmartercity.com.
CompTIA Breakaway 2010
The 2010 Breakaway conference is almost at an end. What a great event. More than 1,000 participants, very good speakers, great entertainment (especially Tuesday-night rodeo) and a high-quality industry awards dinner. The theme of course was technology – trends, products, an emphasis on IT healthcare – but it was that old chestnut that won the day for me, people. When you get people face-to-face to talk, network and do business, the dynamic is incomparable.
TV debate
Twitter is adding a new dimension to television. Watching TV whilst tweeting is like listening to live commentary. It also turns a solitary pastime like watching TV into a communcal one, and you get to have your say. It is time Twitter was incorporated into plasma TVs for same-screen action and TV audiences for political debates include the Twitter brigade.