755am – Getting ready to start… I’m basically front and center, about 6 rows from the front… Being an #IBMChamp has its benefits!
758am – Devin Olson (@Spanky762) stopped by and took my picture… probably for the Post Office wall.
801am – almost starting – lots of great pics on Instagram from here… go check them out (later)…
803am – we’re told it will start in 2 minutes
803am – Veronica Belmont (@Veronica) is our Social Host – she’s really one of us… She’s been joking with a few of us… Cool Nerd Girls
805am – starts off with the band The America Authors… Cool!
807am – posted a pic of the band on Instagram (and everywhere else)
810am – Theres something great about good rock music at 8am!!! BTW, Stuart McIntyre is multitasking like a NINJA!!!
812am – One of the guitarists looks like he’s playing a banjo…
813am – some are chanting for an encore… Now the band equipment is being moved offstage.
814am – The host for the day, Jay Baer, comes out. (OH: Who?) This guy is sort of funny… but we got a commerical for the American Authors new album (coming out March 4th).
816am – This guy is doing some monologue. OK, he’s someone… Social media guy, author, etc.
8:17am – Engergizing Live’s Work is not just a slogan… OK, this guy’s pretty good. “We must do this together!”
8:19am – This year’s special guest (OH: Justin Beber) is Seth Meyers!!!
820am – I lost the OGS Guest Speaker contest… I’m not going to say much because I love this guy so much! Sorry…
822am – Comedy writers are checked against their Twitter accounts now… I guess I’ll never get hired…
825am – Back in the day, Facebook was a book with a bunch of faces, but the data was safe.
826am – I just realized I still look at the video screen of Seth Meyers instead of him, and he’s really right in front of me… Some habits never die I guess.
828am – As soon as you say, be cool, be cool, you won’t be cool…
831am – Seth Meyers is the reason that Osama Bin Ladin is dead… per Seth! He finished right now and KILLED IT!
832am – Jay Baer is back to introduce GM of Industry and Cloud Solutions, Craig Hayman
832am – He’s talking about Rhythm… a RHYTHM OF SUCCESS!
835am – The Customer-activated Enterprise – Treat EVERYONE as an individual
837am – Mobile, Big Data & Analytics, Cloud and Social – This is what IBM is investing a lot in right now
839am – I just realized how warm it is up here… I’m sweating… making it hard to concentrate
840am – The Internet of People and the devices that connect us together
841am – Going to hear talks from 3 customers on how they’re making a SMARTER Workforce (Pepsico is one of them…)
842am – Performance Bicycle is mention how they are providing an exceptional client experience
843am – Cloud!!
844am – Jay is back! We’re connected like never before, and we need to collaborate like never before!
845am – Introduce Pepsico , but first a video about all the ways Pepsico affects our lives… AKA COMMERCIALS!
846am – I’m hungry and thirsty now… thanks Pepsico!
847am – The commericals ended with PIPED APPLAUSE and an introduction Fern Johnson from Pepsico
848am – She’s speaking a little fast, and really working the cue cards… Looks like they’re using Websphere Portal or Connections (they call it PEPnet). They’re also using CRM and Entrprise Search and Analytics
8:51am – 25K users using PEPnet now, 100K in the future
852am – Crucial is the Mobile Worker “On the go and always on”
855am – JAY! He called out #IBMChamp Brad – He’s almost got IBM Champion Bingo according to his Twitter feed – Jay gave him BONUS!
8:57am – Someone from Performance Bicycles (Sorry, didn’t get her name because the Bingo thing distracted me)
858am – Sounds like performance Bicycles wants to go toe to toe with small bike shops…
859am – They want to be known as The Authority on Cycling – using their colleagues as experts. Theyre using WCM and other IBM commerce tools. Customers like being able to get the latest info, and their associates like helping by creating over 400 videos and over 200 articles on cycling. Knowledge scores up 22% in the last 7 months.
902am – Keys to Success – Establish a brand voice, Develop specific goals – now commercial for their session (to learn more about them and how they did it)
903am – JAY! Who’s ready for some DEMOS??? Cool.. he’s giving a backstory to the demo scenario! Bank (sounds like [REDACTED] where I used to work, but they didn’t do this…)
906am – They are really working on the backstory… Nice touch! They keep talking about being a small business. I hope this means that this is a market that they want to work on getting.
907am – Greenwell Bank is the demo business… Looks like the bank site is a portal. Creating Contextual Experiences.
909am – Hmmm. I’m not sure if the tablet being used is live… no, I don’t think it is… Demo looks like they’re allowing small businesses to create their own sites. (showing the different IBM pieces and parts including Business Partner brightcove and IBM’s Rich Media support). Also mentioned IBM Worklight. IBM looks like they’re doing geofencing (like Groupon). IBM Interact allows them to target offers to customers.
915am – I’m really freaking hot! Ugh!
916am – Tealeaf, an IBM Company, allows a business to analyze why and how customers have problems with parts of their websites. Exceptional Digital Experience… this is a great story, but it’s just a story right now… I hope that IBM (and IBM Business Partners) go out and sell it…
918am – Two more people come up to continue the story… Now we hear the story from the HR perspective.
921am – IBM Kenexa stuff now… this is really cool stuff actually… ow, awkward comedy moment…
924am – RON!!!! New CEO of Greenwell Bank!!!!! (RON is Ron Sebastian, who is a Connect/Lotusphere legend. I would love to have a drink with him some day…) He was part of the IBM Social Education video demo.
926am – IBM Kenexa Survey… ooh, a mobile feedback app! All this stuff is nice, but how much is it? Can a small business afford it?
928am – IBM Watson Foundations – He combines human insight with analytics
930am – Luis Benitez is pretending to be from Greenwell. He’s with IBM’s Jeff Schick
932am – Mail Next – definitely looks Next Gen
934am – Browser based and has offline access
935am – Luis really looks comfortable up there! “Why does Mat Newman wear yellow?” – Luis types that during the demo! POWERFUL, POWERFUL STUFF!
938am – So we’re seeing IBM Connections in the Cloud! Now, a fake alarm goes off, and Mitch Cohen get’s his acting debut. (Don’t quit your day job!)
940am – Connections Next will be Cloud and On Premises. Now they are talking File Sync and Mobile app. Wow! Great stuff!
942am – Analytics and Personalized Portal pages
944am – Luis just placed on sunglasses and rocked it! Great job!
944am – Announced available beta of exceptional digital experience next
947am – They mentioned SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS stuff!!!! Woo hoo!
948am – IBM MAIL NEXT is part of IBM Connections??? Hmm…
Sametime is IBM Connections Chat and IBM Connections Meetings
IBM Softlayer – Bring your IBM Domino Applications to the Cloud!
949am CEO of Actiance is introduced Kailash Ambwani – talking about compliance!
950am – I think the name change announcements were a shock to the audience. Message will need to be sold this week!
951am – Alcatraz – the first context-aware archive (single repository for all types of communications). Looks like it includes external social media as well (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), plus Sametime, mail, Dropbox, etc.
953am – Commericals for sessions and Actiance booth in Product Showcase
954am – JAY is BACK! “No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz!” (Sounds like a challenge… gulp!)
954am – Intro video for BR Petrobras – Oil
955am – Intro to their ‘Conecte Project Manager’ – 3rd company with a woman presenting – I don’t care, but I just noticed…
1000am – Honestly, I didn’t pay attention right now… but JAY IS BACK!
1000am – Christian Frey from Sika Services AG is introduced. [I’m sure a few people hit Buzzword Bingo by now… sigh!]
1003am – He’s talking about his SmartCloud Engage project, GECO, a portal.
1005am – He’s talking in monotone, so with the heat and his soothing voice, I’m getting sleepy.
1006am – JAY! Wrapping it up, and introducing Craig Heyman – Craig heard people saying that there wasn’t enough demos… #Truth
1010am – Best of Show and CTO Award = Teamstudio wins!
1012am – That’s the news and WE ARE OUTTA HERE!!!