News

Latest news from the Let’sConnect user group

01/092014

Social Connections VII: Calling for abstracts – last call!

News abstracts, deadline, soccnx, stockholm, submit, vii by Lars Samuelsson

Hey everyone!

We’ve reached September! Where did the summer go? (Or indeed, the winter for those from the Southern Hemisphere).

What we’ve also reached is the final stretch for submitting your abstract for Social Connections VII!

We know that we said that the deadline was last week, and we got a lot of great ones in, to make that date (great job by the way!)

However, we do realize that when we started planning and announcing this, most of you were on vacation, hopefully enjoying life! Therefore we have decided to give you all a few extra days to top it off.

Now we hope that you who barely got your head out of your inbox for the first weeks of work will sit down and think “Hmmm, I really would like to go to Stockholm and share my wisdom on how to avoid getting stuck in the inbox by using social software, in the middle of November”.

We can’t wait to see what kind of stories you want to share with the rest of us, but whatever it is, please observe the new deadline of September 7th. Come on and hit us with your best shot! And yes, the fact that Pat Benatar started playing in your head right about now is a gift from us. 😉

Are you up for it? We sure are!

Tick…tock…tick…tock

It’s the final countdown! To use a quote from a famous swedish band. Musical references all around!

Have a nice one, and see you all in Stockholm in November!

21/082014

Social Connections VII: Looking for speakers, submit your abstracts now!!

News abstracts, sessions, soccnx, Speakers, stockholm by Wannes Rams

Do you want to speak at the number one European (and soon US) social conference? I know I want to, let me give you some reasons to submit an abstract…

We have 5 different tracks to make sure everyone can find sessions that fit their interest.
- We are looking for some high technical sessions in our Development and Infrastructure tracks to make sure all geeks (like me) get their subscribed dose.
- In our Case study track we are looking for some real world stories that show the true value of the products
- We are also looking for sessions that can convince CIOs, CEOs, … to actually invest in the products we all love in our Management track
- And last but not least, we would like some of our sponsors to showcase the real value of their products in the Sponsors track
I have been told Stockholm is an amazing city. So if you are tired of the hot weather in the region you live in, join us to experience some real wintertimes! 🙂 You can find an introduction to Stockholm here.
It is a great conference to speak at and of course you can watch all the other great sessions. I have spoken at two Social Connections in the past and it was a great experience.
Join the exclusive VIP reception on Friday evening

So are you up for it yet? Of course we are looking for some experienced speakers, but we are also looking for some hidden gems. People that have an interesting story to tell, but might not realise this yet themselves. so if you haven’t spoken at a conference yet, but you feel like this is your moment, go for it. All sessions will be 30 minutes, so you only really need 20 or so slides, plus a story to tell!

To get an idea of sessions at our past conference, have a look at the Prague agenda and the recorded sessions.

We are expecting your abstracts before 31/8 via this link. We can’t wait to hear from you!

20/082014

Have you registered for Social Connections VII yet?

News soccnx by Lars Samuelsson

Welcome back!

We hope that you have had a wonderful summer and that you feel energized to continue your social journey!

Our big question now is of course – Have you registered yet? We want to see you in Stockholm in november for Social Connections VII.

Why, you ask?

Well, it’s the event to brighten you up when the darkness of autumn is encapsulating everything else. You get to meet the best people when it comes to social business adaption, in a warm and friendly environment.

But Stockholm? In november? That doesn’t sound very warm!

Sure, you might need to bring a warm coat for the trips outside, but it’s what happens at 7A Odenplan that will keep your mind heated for a long time to come.

There will be speakers to entertain your every need, from a management view to tell you how you should do to actually evolve your business. Down to the technical level with development and config files and everything in between. Just look at some of the videos from our previous events and the lineups we’ve had!

Still not convinced?

Think about the other attendees, they might be or have been in the same place on the social business journey as you are right now. They might be on the verge of jumping into SmartCloud or are seasoned veterans who have been using Connections since before it was cool!

But previous events have been free? Now you’re charging a fee!

Yes, it’s true that the previous events have been free. However, we saw in Prague that people reserved tickets and didn’t show. That is the downside of giving away free tickets. And it makes us a little bit sad when we know that others would have wanted those seats instead! That’s why we’re asking for a comittment from you, to help us continue in creating this great event for us all!

One thing you can be certain of is that you will go home with a lot of ideas, information and a big smile on your face, after a productive and hopefully enjoyable two days in what the local government dubs “The capital of Scandinavia” (Sorry Oslo and Copenhagen)

So what on earth are you waiting for? Register now!

11/082014

Watch Colleen Burns at Social Connections VI: ‘Who Gives a Clout? Three Reasons Social Eminence is Critical to Your Business’

News adoption, clout, community, connections, event, ibmcnx, ics, influencer, prague, soccnx, vi, video by Wannes Rams

For the first time at Social Connections VI, we recorded every single session in glorious HD video – opening and closing sessions, keynotes, breakouts and even our ‘Pardon the Interruption’ panel. This was a huge (and expensive) undertaking but one that we think will be massively valuable in terms of increasing the volume of IBM Connections information and education available to the community.

Next to be highlighted is a session from our Management track delivered by Colleen Burns. Colleen is Influencer Engagement Program Manager at IBM.

Her session brief was as follows:

Your mom may have been wrong – in the right crowd, popularity IS everything. Well, popularity combined with expertise and influence. Increasing your social eminence can mean the difference between successful selling and missed opportunities. Is your company tapping into this valuable resource? Learn how companies like IBM are measuring social eminence and using it to influence buyers, customers and industry thinking – PLUS learn tips on how to increase your own.

Here’s the session – it’s in full HD and clocks in at 21 minutes, so make it full screen and enjoy!

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/102960939[/vimeo]

Who Gives a Clout? Three Reasons Social Eminence is Critical to Your Business, Colleen Burns from the Social Connections VI channel, by Social Connections.

All the main stage sessions from the both days of Social Connections VI are now available on the event channel, and the remainder of the sessions will be published over the next few weeks (that’s the downside of HD-quality recordings – they take a while to upload!).

08/082014

Watch Simon Vaughan at Social Connections VI: ‘Social Software adoption – Moving from ROI to ROB (Reworking of Behaviour!)’

News adoption, community, connections, event, ibmcnx, ics, oic, prague, soccnx, vi, video by Wannes Rams

Next to be highlighted is a session from our Case Study track delivered by Simon Vaughan. Simon consults for OiC, is a founder member of Social Connections and is an IBM Champion.

His session brief was as follows:

So you have spent time evaluating a Social platform for your organisation, the final phase is to get business sign off to proceed. In order to get sign off, you are asked to show what ROI your company will achieve from implementing a Social platform…

This session will give you some real life examples that have been used to help get final sign off for proposals. Once over the line, this session will also be of value to organisations who have adopted IBM Connections and want to hear about some innovative use cases they could utilise in their environment. Based on the highly successful ‘Social patterns / Use cases’, Business Value Assessment models used by IBM and the ‘Social Software adoption wheel’, you will be provided with some real life examples of why ROI is important BUT why the real benefit from your Connections implementation will be to helping drive cultural change within the organisation and implementing ROB (Reworking of Behaviour!).

Here’s the session – it’s in full HD and clocks in at 29 minutes, so make it full screen and enjoy!

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/102907776[/vimeo]

Social Software adoption – Moving from ROI to ROB (Reworking of Behaviour!), Simon Vaughan from the Social Connections VI channel, by Social Connections.

All the main tent sessions from the first day of Social Connections VI are now available on the event channel, and the remainder of the sessions will be published over the next few weeks (that’s the downside of HD-quality recordings – they take a while to upload!).

07/082014

Watch Chris Crummey at Social Connections VI: ‘Understanding the journey of becoming a Social Business’

News community, connections, event, ibmchampions, ibmcnx, ics, inotes, oliheinz, prague, soccnx, vi, video by Lars Samuelsson

Next to be highlighted is a session from our Management track delivered by Chris Crummey of IBM. Chris is the Executive Director of Sales For Social Business at IBM. With 25 years as an IBMer, he will be able to provide a LOB perspective on the value of a culture of a “Social Business”.

His session brief was as follows:

This session will focus on the the major milestones and journey of IBM as a “Social Business. We will present a combination of “Day in the Life” examples followed by an overview of the major milestones achieved by IBM. This session will focus on the process, culture, and IT programs designed to successfully deploy an “Social Business.”

Here’s the session – it’s in full HD and clocking in at over 45 minutes, so make it full screen and enjoy!

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/102117447[/vimeo]

Understanding the journey of becoming a Social Business, Chris Crummey from the Social Connections VI channel, by Social Connections.

07/082014

First two Social Connections VII sponsors announced

News soccnx, soccnxvii, sponsors, stockholm by Wannes Rams

If you have ever attended a Social Connections event, you are sure to know how we feel about our sponsors. We love them. And not only because they make the whole event possible but because of the great solutions they provide to the community.

So, what’s better than a sponsor who supports an event? It must be a sponsor that supports two events! Or, in the case of the first sponsors announced for Social Connections VII, make it THREE events in a row!

We are proud to announce our Champagne level sponsor of Social Connections VII and sponsor of our gala reception in Stockholm:
Infoware Solutions

And we are also proud to announce our first Silver level sponsor:
Belsoft

We do have some other sponsors to announce in due time and if you are interested in sponsoring Social Connections VII, please contact us soon as the spaces are filling up quickly! Take a look at our Sponsorship Packages.

And if you are not a sponsor, you can still be part of the event! Register soon or even submit an abstract if you are interested in speaking.

06/082014

Watch Adam Brown at Social Connections VI: ‘Make your Connections Activities Rock!!! introducing Kudos Boards for IBM Connections’

News community, connections, event, ibmcnx, ics, isw, kudos, kudosbadges, prague, soccnx, vi, video by Wannes Rams

Next to be highlighted is a session from our Sponsors track delivered by Adam Brown. Adam is Senior Executive Director at ISW, one of the largest IBM business partners in Australia and developers of the award-winning Kudos portfolio of add-on solutions for IBM Connections.

His session brief was as follows:

We love Activities in Connections. They are awesome! Working together on projects and leveraging Social Tools is a very powerful way of working. However some Activities can get BIG and sometimes users need to look at their tasks or organise the Activity slightly differently. Sometimes users don’t need to see everything that is going on but just one part. Sometimes it would be easier if Activities was more VISUAL!
Come and see the awesomeness of Kudos Boards for IBM Connections! Imagine a visual way of viewing and managing your Connections Activities. Personalized, Visual, Productive, FAST – Kudos Boards has been designed to do this and a whole lot more, all seamlessly integrated into the IBM Connections interface. If you think that Kudos Badges was designed well, then Kudos Boards will rock your socks 🙂

Here’s the session – it’s in full HD and runs for 20 minutes, so make it full screen and enjoy!

Make your Connections Activities Rock!!! introducing Kudos Boards for IBM Connections, Adam Brown from the Social Connections VI channel, by Social Connections.

05/082014

Watch Oliver Heinz at Social Connections VI: ‘A day in the life of ICS Community Management’

News community, connections, event, ibmchampions, ibmcnx, ics, inotes, oliheinz, prague, soccnx, vi, video by Wannes Rams

Next to be highlighted is a session from our Management track delivered by Oliver Heinz of IBM. Oliver is the ICS Community Manager and is responsible for the IBM Champions for collaboration and social business.

His session brief was as follows:

Join Oliver for a day in the life of ICS Community Management, learning about different type of communities and stakeholders, different communication channels and the skills and tools that are helpful to get the job done.

We’ll talk about the many ways of how you can get involved in the vibrant ICS community via user groups, online communities and social media and how SocialBizUG.org can help you to get started.

You will also learn how you can apply best practices and lessons learned to get the most out of your existing or planned IBM Connections deployment and maximize participation and engagement of your own Community.

Here’s the session – it’s in full HD and runs for 29 minutes, so make it full screen and enjoy!

A day in the life of ICS Community Management, Oliver Heinz from the Social Connections VI channel, by Social Connections.

01/082014

Watch Luis Suarez at Social Connections VI: ‘From Adaptation to Engagement’

News connections, domino, elsua, event, future-of-work, ibmcnx, inotes, prague, soccnx, socialmail, vi, video by Wannes Rams

Next to be highlighted is our closing keynote delivered by Luis Suarez of Change Agents Worldwide. Luis Suarez is a Chief Emergineer and People Enabler.

Their session brief was as follows:

In a business world changing at a rampant pace, where both speed & innovation matter more than ever before, where complexity & uncertainty are now the new normal & where only 13% of today’s corporate workforce is engaged at work, one cannot but wonder what’s the future of work eventually.
The traditional hierarchical, top-down driven business world (rather strict, competitive, bureaucratic & political) keeps failing to meet up with today’s customers’ needs & expectations. Work is changing though & the new opportunity is how do we best cope, manage & facilitate that change. Key concepts like co-creation, transparency, open knowledge sharing, cooperation, collaboration, authenticity, trust. etc. are becoming the new postnormal of how work gets done. It’s no longer top down mandated, but networked inspired & distributed. It’s hyperconnected, smarter, more scalable, as powerful & influential networks become the new funnel of getting work done.

Here’s the session – it’s in full HD and runs for 52 minutes, so make it full screen and enjoy!

From Adaptation to Engagement, Luis Suarez from the Social Connections VI channel, by Social Connections.

All the main tent sessions from the first day of Social Connections VI are now available on the event channel, and the remainder of the sessions will be published over the next few weeks (thats the downside of HD-quality recordings – they take a while to upload!).