Have you made your favorite IT colleagues famous yet ?! #ITSuperstar

Do you have an unsung hero in your company/network that *really* deserves a gong ?!

http://bit.ly/OObdY

#ITsuperstar

 

Viva Las Vegas ! #IOD2009 – Social Media Marketing campaign

Viva Las Vegas and   IBM Information on Demand Conference !

Wondering how you can follow  the conference remotely?

You can by tuning in to   Todd Watson’s blog. Also,  Todd is recording videos throughout his experience at the conference.

You can also read Adam Gartenberg’s blog.

And of course, tune in to :

• IOD Poll
• IOD on YouTube
• IOD 2009 on Twitter
• IOD 2009 on Facebook
• IOD Virtual Spaces website
• Real-time results of #iod2009 on Twazzup (follow lots of interesting people such as @agberg, @turbotodd, @mauricioswg, @ranjun_chauhan)
• Photos on Flickr: Information on Demand Conference Group Pool
• Blog entries tagged with iod2009 on ibm.com
• Blog entries tagged with iod2009 on developerWorks
• Bookmarks tagged with iod2009 on ibm.com

Don’t forget to use the # iod2009 tag !

Make your favorite IT colleagues famous…. delivered by IBM Software Group !

“IT Superstar of the Year”

We’re sure you know lots of IT professionals whose great work goes unrecognized. It’s time every one of them knows they’re appreciated !

Imagine your friend or colleague opening their morning email today and finding out that they are the “IT Superstar of the Year”.

Fill in the form below and we’ll send a fun, personalized video to each email address you enter. We’ll also send a copy of the video to you, so you can share it with friends and colleagues.

Go here to start the recognition :

It’s time to call IT pros up from the basement, and give them the credit they deserve !

FTC has updated endorsement and testimonial rules since 1980

This is serious…. Bloggers who refuse to reveal disclosure of gifts or payments from companies reviewing their products/services moving forward will be subject to $11,000 fines per instance. This is part of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s revised guidelines entitled FTC Guide Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

My guidance to my IBM colleagues remains, and as per our IBM Social Computing Guidelines : We are encouraging  a genuine word of mouth campaign vs a sponsored conversation approach.

The two most important conditions that I would recommend to follow   when using sponsored conversation are

1) sponsorship transparency
and
2) blogger authenticity

Sponsorship transparency means that both the marketer and the blogger must make it absolutely clear to the reader community that they are reading paid content – such as  Google Adwords “Sponsored Links.” Blogger authenticity means that the blogger should have complete freedom to write in their own voice. As long as those conditions of transparency and authenticity are met then sponsored conversation can be a powerful tool  right alongside our PR  efforts. However, blogger outreach with genuine word of mouth is far more impactful  than sponsored conversation. We still need to creatively activate the conversation. Blogging is not a chore that we must / can  lead or direct. Teaming up with the PR team on our blogging outreach programme  is a must, and this more than ever.

Some key points of this announcement :

New guidelines argues that any post of a blogger who receives “cash or in-kind payment to review a product” should be considered an endorsement
·    Because these posts are now officially considered endorsements, bloggers who receive freebies must now disclose this fact on their site.
·    Bloggers who fail to disclose they have received freebies when they write about a product can now be fined up to $11,000 per post.
·    While the FTC will obviously have a hard time enforcing these regulations, there can be no doubt that marketers regularly approach independent bloggers (and especially mommy bloggers) with freebies.
·    While bloggers who are involved in these schemes often tend to say that they would have reviewed the product anyway or that their reviews are often critical, there can be little doubt that payments and freebies influence these stories.
·    These new rules and rather large fines should bring some bloggers and marketers into line, though others will surely continue to push the ethical boundaries.
·    And blogging Payola is unlikely to go away completely because of these new rules.
·    The new rules also take on celebrity endorsements. If celebrities endorse a product and make false or unsubstantiated claims, or don’t disclose ‘material connections’ between themselves and the advertisers in ads and outside the context of the ads (talk shows, social media, etc.), these celebrities can be held liable under the FTC Act.

#full disclosure #blogging #ftc

Breaking the wave…

According to the official Google blog, 100,000 invitations to Google’s most hotly-anticipated new service, Google Wave, went out yesterday. Wave is being touted as a communication tool that reimagines the way email should work.

So, who’s getting invited to use this next-generation communication tool? Well, it helps if you signed up early for an invitation and wrote the Wave team a message offering to give feedback. If you’re a developer who’s been using the developer preview of Wave, you might also get an invitation, and some are going out to paying customers of Google Apps.

Meanwhile, and as turbotodd explained in his blog, IBM Lotus has been gaining ground on the collaboration front through the delivery and adoption of real products our customers can use today

I love the waves … but from the sea, don’t you ?! #lotusknows

Do you know Lotus ?

First ever Lotus Knows IdeaJam  was held from August 19 to August 22. The jam was designed as a unique opportunity to hear the thoughts of Lotus users and learn from their experiences. The Jam had more than 4,700 unique visitors from 73 countries who contributed over 950 new ideas, 2,200 comments and 20,000 votes. They are keeping the Lotus Knows IdeaJam available until September 12 so you can read the comments from the community.

As the momentum around this continues to build, they are asking for contributions to the ‘Video Blitz’. The Blitz is designed to showcase the broad capabilities of Lotus technology in short, entertaining video clips, and you are invited to participate: “It’s an opportunity for you to create a video that visually demonstrates how end users know Lotus. Take any approach you think best conveys your message. Be as creative as you like, but you’ll need to do it all in 1 to 3 minutes and your submission must be in .WMV video format.

You can upload your submission to www.doyouknowlotus.com ” (more info there also).

There is also a new podcast in the Taking Notes series Lotus Knows Jamming with Industry Innovators. “Alistair Rennie and Kevin Cavanaugh discuss the IdeaJam, the Lotus Knows campaign, IBM’s Smarter Planet agenda and what’s on the horizon from Lotus. It is available on on iTunes or on the Taking Notes Podcast web site.”

IBM Social Media Marketing Summit 2009, June 17th

Following IBM’s  successful Social Media Marketing Summit held in 2008, where 600 IBM colleagues gathered to discuss social media marketing, this year’s conference will focus on sharing successful social media marketing implementation, integration and measurement insights that drive business value.
In a socially networked world, what is the new role corporations play, often via individual employees, with clients, potential customers, partners, and society? How can social media help make our planet smarter, our business more meaningful, and our colleagues more connected?  How can social media help us extract the most value from our marketing investments and accelerate business transformation? We invite you to join the global community of IBMers, clients, Business Partners and marketing peers from other firms who will attend the Summit, to discuss your ideas and thoughts about best practices.

Date & Time
Event takes place on Wednesday, June 17th. Registration is from 8:30-9:00 ET, event is from 9:00-5:00 ET
Registration
Register today: https://www-950.ibm.com/events/wwe/grp/grp009.nsf/v16_enrollall?openform&seminar=DA4SVUES&locale=en_US

Agenda
We will be posting a finalized agenda shortly here:
This year we’ll have peers from other companies present best practices, case studies and share how they’ve integrated social media into their marketing programs. Confirmed speakers include marketing staff from SAP, LinkedIn, and Text 100.
Logistics
You have three options:
Yorktown Heights
Event takes place in the main auditorium at IBM Research Yorktown Heights.
Travel and lodging information is available at the Watson Research Center Web page
Mass transportation info (train, cab, etc.) is here.
IBMers are encourage to car-pool from other locations. Driving directions: http://www.watson.ibm.com/general_info_ykt.shtml
Note: You must park in the REAR parking lot. Please enter at the aisle 16-1 overhang and go to the auditorium from there.

Local Video Conference Meetings
Local meetings will be held in RTP and in Atlanta.
If you would also like to organize videoconference at another IBM facility please contact me !
Online
Call-in and eMeeting information will be distributed to registered attendees before the event

Summit co-chairs: Pauline Ores and  Delphine Remy-Boutang
We look forward to seeing you on 17th !

PLM European call… What flavour will you make ?!

This morning at 9am UK Time, I presented to our SWG PLM European Team why is Social Media  important today and how to add it into our marketing mix. The call went well… lots of very interesting questions. And they get it, as their next step is that they are going to run a listening pilot… But that call makes me wonder… and wonder… and wonder… Why are we seeing so many people trying to resist it… trying to resist social media is like trying to resist to an italian ice cream… You are going to regret it when it melt …. So, here I saw this great video from my Commoncrafts friends and from now on…. I am thinking that I may just start any of my presentation with this video… I just love ice cream !

Stockolm, Milan… and social media marketing

Back from a trip to Stockholm and Milan… where we held some social media marketing workshop. The Teams are so keen to adopt social media into their marketing mix… Still they need some guidance, and this is why I am there for ! I also bumped into a good old friend of mine, Steve Smith who is now Head of IBM Italy… very impressive. I also met with my new Boss Ken Godfrey, who was part of the trip along with Gina’s gang ! I am really looking forward to work with Ken. We have so much to do in this area, this is really exciting. The Virtual Forbidden City SOA UK campaign went extremely well and for those who were unable to attend the event, tune in on Youtube where video of the recorded virtual tour has been posted:  -

Social media news release #ibmvfc

Before I go though, I wanted to quickly tell you that the social media news release for our upcoming Worldwide SOA Virtual Tour within the Virtual Forbidden City can be found  here - So you have no escuses to not blog, tweet, etc… about it ! #ibmsmm #ibmvfc