The title of my blog was inspired by a Twitter exchange between Chris Brogan and I. Although I had no intentions of using it and the mention was purely in jest, I thought about the validity of it today driving into the office. It makes sense because well, aren't we all really somewhat 'naked' in this world of social media, hence, creating a community (or a colony) of nudists?

Social media allows for a 'rawness' that previously hasn't been available in the world of how we communicate. It's now acceptable to befriend your CEO, colleagues and acquaintances on Facebook, and the like, allowing them insight into your personal life, your personality, those that you choose to surround yourself with and what you find interesting. It's a world in which diversity is celebrated and promoted. The geeks, the intellects, the witty and so on. We're all here, dancing around somewhat naked letting others peek through the window and be voyeurs into our lives.

Why? How is this effective? It's simple; it's a lot easier to listen and to exchange when there is humanity. When interaction is brought to a more personal level we tend to find commonalities. For some, that's easy, for others, not so much. Personally, I'm an open book. What you see is what you get and if you can't see it, I'm more than happy to share with you anything that you'd like to know. I am sure there are some secrets and skeletons but I don't exactly have bones falling out of my mouth every time I open it. I'm not actually yellow as my picture might suggest, but that's just me having fun with my Mac. Befriend me on Facebook and you can see me in full color.

We're continually reading all of the recent studies regarding how companies are adopting Web 2.0 and social media. Within these metrics exist a variety of companies that still haven't. My only conclusion is that they are afraid to take their clothes off. When we stand raw and naked we open ourselves up to not just approval but criticism as well. That frightful moment of wondering, what do they think of me? Perhaps executives and employees alike have yet to find their voice or have no interest in hearing what others have to say - but they should, it's truly inspiring. By allowing people to network, connect and communicate your only increasing their abilities and tools to learn from one other. When has knowledge ever been a bad thing?

I'm having a blast hearing what others have to say, more importantly, I'm learning things that I otherwise may not have known. I also am utilizing this avenue as a means to have a voice for Awareness and myself. I have no problem being naked with ya'll. Flaws and all.

Cheers!



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How about these apples?  McKinsey just released the results of their global survey: Building the Web 2.0 Enterprise.  The findings are simply:

* Companies have adopted more Web 2.0 tools this year than in 2007 and are using them for higher-value purposes, according to McKinsey's second annual survey on the business use of Web 2.0 technologies.

* Some 21 percent of the respondents are very satisfied with the way their companies use Web 2.0 tools, which are changing management practices and even organizational structures.

* Other companies report that the barriers to adopting Web 2.0 tools include management's inability to grasp their potential financial returns, unresponsive corporate cultures, and less-than-enthusiastic leadership.

My thoughts on the bucket of 'other companies' is that it's probably high time management gets over its inability to grasp the concept of social media. I would wager a guess that it's not going anywhere anytime soon and you don't want to be the last one at the party - - so throw on your party shoes and join the fun already! 

Anyone out there having difficulty getting management to adopt Web 2.0?  If so, let's get a discussion going about stats, tips, benefits and tricks to promote the adoption of social media for the enterprise. 

Cheers!

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Last week Bill Marriott was featured in an MSNBC interview discussing the prevalence of corporate blogging and the new found role of 'blogger-in-chief'. It's always exciting for us to hear about our customers - even more so when we can share the statement from Bill that his blog has generated over 4M in bookings since he began blogging only 18 months ago - now that's a pretty good return on investment and hopefully a statistic that resonates with executives contemplating the value of communicating with their customers via social media avenues.

Kodak was also mentioned in this feature (to read more about Kodak's award winning blog and their Stevie award, check out Eric's blog here).

It's great to see some of our customers at the forefront of the groundswell - setting trends and opening the doors for other corporations to learn from the benefits of enterprise social media. That being said, check out the clip for yourself - enjoy!




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Hi all, last week we announced the release and availability of the Aberdeen Group report (which we sponsored)
titled "Customer 2.0 - The Business Implications of Social Media." The report can be downloaded for free here.

The report details how companies are successfully using social media to
improve customer satisfaction and retention, and derive actionable
marketing insights. "Customer 2.0" outlines the organizational
processes and technology needed to generate meaningful
consumer-generated insights that can be used to fuel product
development and marketing decisions.

It's insightful and informative.  Have yourself a read - you'll find it valuable. 

Cheers. 

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In December 2007 we sponsored a study on Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise.  We are continuing a study of the market and for Stage 2 we are now sponsoring a survey to be completed by Equation Research reviewing best practices in creating online communities. This will allow us the ability to measure trends and patterns by comparing data to our first study.

If you have any experience with social media, and/or online communities, your participation in this study is in incredibly valuable.  We would like to get your views surrounding best practices for building and implementing an online community. Your opinion, experience and best practice techniques are important to us as we create substantial content for those researching enterprise social media.

We released this survey on Tuesday and have had a tremendous response.  Most research companies tend to 'cap' data at certain numbers.  We hit ours but I have pressed them to keep the survey open because I want as much contribution in this study as possible.  It's important to track and measure trends and best practices in this ever- evolving world of Web 2.0.  So, if you haven't yet viewed the survey and would like to participate, it's still open so please do so by clicking here.  Anyone who participates will receive a free copy of the whitepaper to be completed, which will summarize the findings of the study. 

Thanks for participating!
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Yesterday I spent my day on Digg, Friendfeed, Twitter, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Facebook (both my personal page and the Awareness page), Google Analytics, Skype, on two calls (one on my Blackberry and one from my office line) and researching various microblogging sites to make sure that we were everywhere that we should be.  I was also perusing numerous articles and sites that analysts and those 'in the know' of the Web 2.0 space were saying I (or the masses) should check out.  All of this while actually working and getting things done.  
Suffice to say, end of day, my brain hurt. 

As I sat there in a social media overload coma last night at dinner with friends this lead to the discussion, (as I tried to explain what it is that I do and why it is that I need to be everywhere that I am) how much is just too much?  But, I was also trying to explain this universe to folks that don't have much of a need for social media and most likely peruse their email about once a day, don't own Blackberry's or the like and dare I say it, are not on Facebook *gasp*.  However it reminded me of life before Web 2.0 (I believe there actually was one) and is it really possible to live in a consistent viral state.  Yes, it is.  You just need to consolidate your efforts but to get to that point, you have create a following to direct to that one place (i.e. Friendfeed etc.) which is where the effort and mass purging/consumption can at times be consuming. 

At the end of the day, all of the social media purging efforts don't mean much if you don't have a product to stand behind, which we do, so at some point, before you tip the scale of Web 2.0 gluttony, you need to rest a few of your laurels on that. 

So, short of explaining in detail what I had for dinner last night (which by the way was delicious) I'll get to my point - yes, there is one.  Yesterday Amin Marts wrote a blog about Awareness.  He said great things about our platform but was also quick to point out that our website (in particular our home page was just T.M.I. (too much information)).  I agree with him.  Which is hard for me to admit seeing as I lead the redesign of the site.  However, it's been a topic here as of late - are we just sharing too much?  In this world of Web 2.0 it's a constant state of information overload and the line tends to grey between 'here's everything that you can know' and 'here's everything that you need to know'.  My goal over the next month or so is to lean our site more into the realm of the latter.

That being said, as I take on the task of busting out my broom and doing a sweep of the site feel free to share your insight into what you feel is critical information vs. just too much.  Trust me, there will still be a great deal of content - we just might streamline it a bit and give you stronger calls to action so you can spend less time thinking about where you need to go to find what you need.  After all, you'll need all the time you can to Twitter that you're on our site anyway! 

Cheers.

p.s. - please note, above links are to my sites...so uh...you know....follow me so that I can get some rest!  (-:


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