Category Archives: Collaboration

IBM Social Business User Community – Where all the Cool Kids are going

Well that didn’t take long…

After my previous post about SocialBiz User Group’s site getting retired, I received a couple of responses on my Facebook page from Wannes Rams and Oliver Busse about the launch of the IBM Social Business User Community, the NEW and IMPROVED place for the IBM Social Business (and user group) community to go. It’s slick, and IBM will be giving it the continuing love and attention sites like this need!

Because it’s part of the whole DeveloperWorks environment (which is based on IBM Connections), that gives all of you ANOTHER reason to join us over there if you’re not already a member! Once you are a member, head over to the IBM Social Business User Community and become a member!

SBUC-SocialTile

I’ll see you all there! #IBMSocialUG

Goodbye and Thank YOU SocialBiz User Group

Received this sad news this morning:

SocialBizUGorgLogoDear Community Members,

It’s with great sadness that we announce the closure of the SocialBiz User Group. As a member, you’ll have access to the community through February 22, 2016.

User Group Leaders: Please make sure to download any files or resources you may have added to your user group community page.

Newsletter subscribers: Chris Miller will continue to write a newsletter for Notes/Domino administrators and host his archived Admin Edition Newsletter contributions.  You can sign up for his ongoing Sys Admin Tips Newsletter to stay on top of the latest Notes/Domino news for admins.

It has been a pleasure serving this community and the user groups for over 10 years! Hopefully our paths will cross again in the future. Until next time…

Best wishes,

The SocialBiz User Group Management Team

It’s sad to see this site go away, but it’s understandable. I want to thank them for providing so much useful information to the community at large, and for allowing me to appear on the site a couple of times. I also want to thank them for giving the Detroit Notes Professionals User Group a ‘holding spot’ for all this time until I can figure out the best way to revive it. YOU WILL BE MISSED!

IBM Champion Program – Honor to be included again

IBMChampion_Define

Yesterday, IBM announced the 2016 IBM Champions for IBM Social Business. I was honored to be included in that list again. It’s very humbling to be included in a list of such talented people that I admire and who I consider friends. It’s great to see the 63 other returning Champions, plus 39 new IBM Champions! I’m especially proud to see my brothers Devin Olson (aka Spanky) and Steve McDonagh included in that list! (I’m predicting an ‘IBM Champion’ Collaboration Beer in our future.)

Congratulations to all of my fellow Champions! To see the list, click here:
Announcing the IBM Champion Class of 2016 for IBM Social Business!

 

2015 Class of IBM Champions for ICS have been announced… so humbled and honored!

IBMchampion-250x65

After the evening, night and morning that I had, I was surprised by a text message by my brother, Devin Olson:

Congratulations Champ!
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/ibmchampion/entry/announcing_the_2015_class_of_ibm_champions_for_ics?lang=en

Needless to say (but saying anyway), I am SO HUMBLED and HONORED to have been selected as a 2015 IBM Champion for ICS! Last year was a complete whirlwind of energy, excitement, and knowledge sharing. I thought that I would be ‘one and done’, and I was okay with that! With this honor, I will not only continue to ‘learn and share’, ‘collaborate and teach’ and ‘exchange knowledge and ideas’ to the community at large.

One way I’m hoping to do this is by bringing back and enhancing a user group here in Michigan! There have been a couple of them over the years, including my ‘home’ UG, Detroit Notes Professionals, but they have really been in need of some attention. In 2015, they will get that attention… at least from me!

Congratulations also go out to my friends and fellow IBM Champions, and welcome to the new IBM Champions selected for 2015!!! See you all at IBM ConnectED 2015! (The rest of you are coming, right? If not, you should… register HERE!)

Thank you to Amanda Bauman (IBM Champion Program Manager) and Oliver Heinz (ICS Community Manager) for all of their hard work in 2014. Let the fun (and hard work) continue in 2015!

Reminder: Nominations for the 2015 IBM Champions for ICS are due by 17 September at 5PM EST (Tomorrow)

IBMchampion-250x65

Just a quick reminder to everyone that the nominations (and self-nominations) are all due by 5PM EST tomorrow, September 17th, 2014. You were going to nomination someone, right? Of course you were, so go do it NOW!

Get more details in my earlier blog post: Nominations for the 2015 IBM Champions for ICS are now open!

Nominations for the 2015 IBM Champions for ICS are now open!

IBMchampion-250x65As usual, I’m late to post this (seriously, do some of you people work?), but IBM has opened nominations for the 2015 IBM Champions for IBM Collaboration Solutions. What is the IBM Champions program? Per the IBM Champion homepage,

The IBM Champion program recognizes innovative thought leaders in the technical community — and rewards these contributors by amplifying their voice and increasing their sphere of influence. An IBM Champion is an IT professional, business leader, developer, or educator who influences and mentors others to help them make best use of IBM software, solutions, and services.

IBM Champions are not employees of IBM.

I have been HONORED to be an IBM Champion for ICS for this past year. The things that I do for the ICS community are the same things I would have done if I had not been an IBM Champion, and I tried to the best of my ability to live up to the designation.

Current IBM Champions have to be nominated again each year… we are not ‘grandfathered’ in. If you think someone should continue to be an IBM Champion, you have to nominate them again! Don’t assume someone else is going to do it.

If you feel like you have been helped by someone in the ICS community, honor them by nominating them! Just click here to get started: https://ibm.biz/NominateChamps – You do not have to fill in every field. Just fill in what you can and hit submit. It may not seem like much, but to those of us that get nominated, it means a lot! (By the way, you can also nominate yourself!)

Click here and here for more information.  Again, click here to nominate someone: https://ibm.biz/NominateChamps

Nominations for the 2015 IBM Champion program will be accepted through 5 PM Eastern on Wednesday, September 17th, 2014. Go nominate someone TODAY!!!

Only 3 weeks left until MWLUG 2014 – Hotel Discount Expiring!

mwlug2014_banner

There’s only 3 weeks left until MWLUG 2014 in beautiful Grand Rapids, Michigan at the even more beautiful Amway Grand Plaza Hotel from August 27-29, 2014!

I have some simple questions for you:

  1. Why haven’t you registered yet?
  2. Why haven’t you booked your room yet? (Hotel discount is expiring)
  3. Why don’t you want to be cool like the rest of us that are attending? (Yes, you can be cool simply by attending)
  4. Why don’t you like beer? (See Thursday Social Event at Founders Brewing Company)
  5. Why don’t you like Kramer Reeves? (He’s got the OGS presentation)
  6. Why don’t you support our veterans? (World War II veteran, author and inventor Virgil Westdale is giving a talk also)
  7. Why don’t you like culture? (See Wednesday Tour of Gerald R. Ford Museum)
  8. Why don’t you want to learn and be social, thereby helping your employer and you? (43 sessions and workshops plus 3 BOF user group meetings can’t be wrong)

Go register (http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Register.xsp) and book your room (http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Hotel.xsp) NOW, then when you get there, you can buy me a beverage as thanks for reminding you! See you in GR!

MWLUG 2014 Sessions and Workshops announced – What’s in it for you?

mwlug2014_banner As Richard Moy posted yesterday on his blog, the sessions and workshops for MWLUG 2014 have been announced. I am fortunate to speak with my manager, Dr. Tom Bilan, at this year’s event. This is our session:

Homebrew your own Metrics: An IBM Domino Administrator’s Guide to SNMP It’s important as an IBM Domino administrator to get metrics on your servers so that you know what’s going on in your “Brewhouse”. There are also many ways to obtain this very valuable information, like 3rd party tools and even the IBM Domino Administrator client. What many don’t know is that there is also another way to capture this very valuable information. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is an Internet-standard protocol for managing devices on IP networks. In this session, you will learn more about it, what it can give you, how to set it up, and ways to ‘drink in’ or monitor the information. With proper configuration, administrators not familiar with IBM Domino can obtain and use key IBM Domino server metrics. Homebrew your own metrics by attending this session!

If you haven’t registered to attend this event in beautiful Grand Rapids, Michigan (selected for two years as Beer City USA and recent city to host the National Homebrewers Conference), you need to stop reading this and go register! For only $50, you get over 47 hours of technical and business training, plus the chance to network (collaborate) with some of the best and brightest in our industry!

Have you registered yet? No? Here… let me give you the link: http://www.mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Register.xsp

Did you know that Kramer Reeves, the Director of Product Management for Collaboration Solutions at IBM, is the MWLUG 2014 Opening General Session Speaker? There also going to be some GREAT sponsors there, anxiously waiting to tell you about there products (and maybe give away an item or two).

NOW you want to attend, right? SO GO REGISTER!

Done? Good! Don’t forget to get yourself a place to stay, because you’re not staying with me!

Did I mention that there might be a beer or two there?

Looking forward to see you all there!!!