Live Blogging from OGS (Opening General Session) at #IBMConnect

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!!!

#IBMConnect – Begging for your help!

I have to admit… I love playing games, but I love to WIN games even more! This year at #IBMConnect 2014, there’s a new way for all of us here to share information… #IBMConnect – The Game!

IBM Connect 2014 Game Console

#IBMConnect – The Game
It’s time to join in on #IBMConnect – The Game. In this fun event, you will be rewarded points for participating in online activities, like posting pictures with an IBM Champion on Twitter and Instagram and using the #IBMChamp hashtag, or joining your team for a LEGO building challenge in the Social Café.
When you sign up at the registration desk, you will find which team you are on—red, yellow, blue or green. Your mission is to rally your team members and jointly gather as many points as possible. Watch around the conference for physical game stations you can visit to earn more points for yourself and your team. You can also earn points by going to one of the Mad hatters and asking for a ‘minute to win it’ challenge.

Here in Connect Online, click on the Social tab, click the Get In the Game ‘Start now’ widget to associate your Twitter and Instagram handles to your conference ID.

Highlights:

  • There will be individual play and team play
  • There is a team reward: The winning team will have offerings donated in their name to Vital Voices, an internationally respected nonprofit that empowers women making meaningful changes in their communities.
  • There are daily individual prizes:
    • Four GoPro cameras will be awarded – one a day – to the individual with the highest point total for that day or time period.
    • The first 100 players to reach a point plateau (total to be revealed during game play) win a prize to be picked up in the Social Cafe.

Earning Points:
Once you are set up, there are many ways to earn points, including:

  • Tweet using the #IBMConnect hashtag
  • Get retweeted. For each retweet of your #IBMConnect Tweet, you will receive points
  • Post pictures on Instagram using the #IBMConnect hashtag
  • Receive “likes” on that Instagram photo

To learn more, go to ibm.co/thegame, read the Frequently Asked Questions, or look for @Brenny online or at the conference. He’ll be wearing a stove-top hat and wandering around issuing challenges and giving away points.

I REALLY WANT TO WIN, so I need your help! Follow me on Instagram and Twitter, and please like and retweet my posts! The more that help, the better chance I have of winning! There are a lot of people here with more followers than me, but I’m hoping that with your help, I can push up the leaderboard! Thanks in advance for your help!

Live blogging at IBM Connect 2014

I’m going to attempt to live blog the Opening General Session at IBM Connect 2014 (#IBMConnect).
I’ll do my best to keep all of you up to date with what is happening during the main events.
I will also try to get my colleague, Jessica Daniels, to blog about #IBMConnect on her blog, Domino Dev with JD.

Heads up if you used the #IBMConnect ‘My Schedule’ iCal export

IBMConnect2014This was announced a couple of hours ago on the #IBMConnect site:

Please be advised that if you used the My Schedule page and have already setup your schedule, downloaded the iCal and imported into your calendar, you will want to do that again to get your timezone information correctly imported.
We have made an improvement to the iCal download that we have tested with many calendaring clients that will correctly import the timezone information. When you get to Orlando your devices and normal calendar will adjust properly and have sessions at the correct times!

So if you used the iCal export, looks like you might want to do it again… You don’t want to end up at the wrong session…

See you all in Florida!

Resolutions are DUMB… here are my GOALS for 2014! (Thanks Brian Brushwood!)

HAPPY 2014 EVERYONE! This is the time of year when people come out with their annual resolutions, and in the past, I was one of them. This year, I’m thinking more realistic… I’m setting GOALS! Brian Brushwood (website, Twitter, Facebook, Google+) has helped me see the light! Because of his guidance, I’ve decided to set GOALS for 2014, so without further delay, here are my GOALS for 2014:

Exercise 4 times a week
Brew a batch of beer every 2 weeks
Lose 50 pounds by 31 December 2014
Have a ‘date night’ with Jennifer every two weeks
Have 1 family activity every month
Write down my angry feelings (including date/time) in Evernote AND LET IT GO!
Create a respectable bar, including the correct liquors and glasses
Plan a family trip to another state by 31 October 2014
Learn Domino application development and create an application
Set up my man cave

By placing them out in the open, I’m now held accountable, and I hope YOU will help me with this. Feel free to ping me, call me, text me, call me out… I promise to work hard on making these real and measurable.

Here is Brian Brushwood’s video that inspired me to write this post. Hopefully it will inspire you as well:

Have a Happy and Successful 2014!

Error with Notes Traveler To Do app on iOS – Fix coming, but workaround available

There was a issue reported to me by a very important colleague related to the To Do app running on his iPhone. When he tried to sync between the Traveler server and his device, he got this error:

ErrorOniOSToDoApp

After a quick call to IBM Support, I was given my answer:

There is a recently discovered problem in the ToDo app that causes HTTP requests to be malformed when the server redirects the requests.  A fix will be published to the App Store, however, it may take 1-2 weeks to appear.  In the meantime, the customer can avoid the issue by instructing the affected users to modify their account settings in the ToDo app.  In the space reserved for the server
name, please use company.com/traveler instead of company.com, for example.  This will avoid the HTTP redirects which trigger the problem and should allow the device to sync normally.

A quick fix, with a more permanent one coming… Well done, IBM!!!

 

Social Media Trends in 2014 #GetRealChat December 10th at 9PM ET w/ #IBMConnect

getrealchatJoin the #GetRealChat on Tuesday, December 10 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 7pm MT / 6pm PT

Join Pam Moore, host of the weekly Twitter chat, #GetRealChat on Tuesday, December 10 at 9pm ET as she talks with experts about Social Trends in 2014 in HR, digital experiences, social business, mobile, analytics and cloud.

IBM is joining as a special guest on #GetRealChat 12/10/13 at 9:00 pm ET. Below you will find more information and details for how you can join the conversation.

Topic is Social Trends in 2014

Conversation will include

  • Building a smarter workforce,
  • Creating exceptional customer and digital experiences
  • Mobile, analytics, cloud & social business trends

Guests: Mark Fidelman, Forbes @MarkFidelman, Beverly Macy, Huffington Post @BeverlyMacy, Jeanne Meister, CoFounder Future Workplace @jcmeister

Join Conversation: twubs.com/getrealchat

I’ll be there… hope to see you there!

————————

You can also follow & engage in the conversation real time via the following hashtags!

#GetRealChat

#IBMConnect

#DigitalExp

#IBMSocialBiz

Announcing the 2014 IBM Champions – I’m honored to be selected!

IBMchampion

They announced the 2014 IBM Champions for ICS this morning, but I wasn’t in my email yet when a colleague came by and congratulated me. Sure enough, as I looked at the list, I could not believe it… I WAS CHOSEN AS AN IBM CHAMPION!

Never in my wildest dreams would I think I would be on the same list as many of those that have been and currently are IBM Champions! I consider all of them as legends and heroes in this space.

I was honored to be nominated, and even more honored to be selected. Thank you to those of you that nominated me, and I hope to live up to the honor. Congratulations to to all of you (past and present) who have been selected.

I hope to see you all at IBM Connect 2014!

My new post on the Detroit Notes Professionals User Group blog – ‘IBM Connect 2014 – Here it comes!’

I’ve posted a little something about my feeling on IBM Connect 2014 on the Detroit Notes Professionals user group site, which is found at SocialBizUG.org. The post includes why you should go, some tips and an invitation to meet up. Check it out here:

IBM Connect 2014 – Here it comes!

Open Mic Webcast: All-in-one Admin Tool for agent-based troubleshooting & problem solving – 13 November 2013

Join IBM’s Rene Jenkins, along with several other members of the IBM Notes & Domino teams as they discuss the All-in-one Admin Tool for agent-based troubleshooting & problem solving.

Topic: All-in-one Admin Tool for agent-based troubleshooting & problem solving
Day: Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Time: 11:00 AM EST (16:00 UTC/GMT, UTC-5 hours) for 60 minutes

This presentation and discussion will cover the following topics:

  • Education & inspiration to use the tool to automate diagnostic processing
  • Problem solving for common tasks such removing a profile document
  • Analyzing searches for duplicate templates or “Out of Office” configuration analysis
  • Guided options to perform required tasks, eliminating the need for multiple resources

Get more info here.