Posts from — September 2008

Crowdsourcing was best described in Wired Magazine in 2006.  Centralization is out.  Decentralizing is in.  In the past, complex problems often were solved using a focused team using a very linear process.  Now because of better and faster communications and the ability to cheaply capture and distribute data, problems can be solved.  And, if they aren’t solved completely, an adequate solution will certainly present itself where no solution existed before.  It is all about scale.  If you have a problem you haven’t been able to devote resources to in the past because of the cost, perhaps you can find a 90% solution using lots of empirical data, cheap recorders, cheap communications, and software tools. 

Here is a recent example validating the crowdsourcing approach:  TomTom’s GPS navigation data services will start selling their driving condition information to other GPS navigation device manufactures.  By recording, communicating, and aggragating navigation data, TomTom has gleaned valuable information and knowledge it can now sell.   

At great expense, TomTom could have gathered its own data, using its own resources, and developed a pretty good way of getting from A to B.  Using the data from huge numbers if users, TomTom captured the “best” route from A to B as travelled by the locals who know it best.   The crowds of local experts are providing the information to TomTom.  This is a validation of crowdsourcing process. 

 How can you use crowdsourcing to solve a long standing business problem?  Think:

• Lots of data points
• Cheap capture methods,
• Cheap communication tools
• Distilling data into information for 90% solution

Let me know your example.  And, don’t remind me that I used a crowdsourced tool,  Wikipedia, to define crowdsourcing…

This Technorati Report is a must read if you are in the new media space.  Or, even if you aren’t, yet.  In the business environment, blogs are not to be overlooked.  This report makes that clear.  It focuses on blogging, but podcasting and videocasting will certainly follow a similar trajectory.  The report is broken down into five sections

1.  Who are the Bloggers
2.  What and Why of Blogging
3.  How of Blogging
4.  Blogging for Profit
5.  Brands and Blogging

This report validates what many of us have been saying about the new media space.  Blogs are not only growing in numbers, but also in validity.  Ninety-five percent of the top 100 US newspapers now have reporter blogs. Bloggers are regularly quoted by mainstream media.  Rick Sanchez at CNN regularly fields questions and comments through Twitter and Facebook.  The main source for the Natalie Holloway story was a blogger.  Pay attention.  Blogs are here.  If you aren’t leveraging a blog for business, you will be left behind. 

I had the opportunity at the New Media Expo to record a conversation with a long time podcaster – Andrew McCaskey of SDRnews.com.  I have always enjoyed my conversations with Andy.  I’m glad I was able to record one for you to listen to.  We talk about the the current state of new media and some ways podcasting can be used within an organization.

 

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I will be at Podcamp Pittsburgh on Saturday, 18 Oct to talk about Internal Enterprise Podcasting. If you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover, add them in the comments below.

At the Expo, I met an increasing number of people interested in the Enterprise/Corporate use of podcasting and videocasting. Rene van den Bos, Erik van der Zijden, and Anne Mieke of DigiRedo are an example. The have formed a company that focuses solely on the corporate podcast. I was impressed with their energy, focus, and committment to enterprise podcasting. Here is their interview of me.

New Media Expo 2008 Interview: Robin Maiden (Delta Airlines) from DigiRedo on Vimeo.

Don’t miss MY interview with Rene below.  I mentioned awarded the “Lever Award” for his efforts in leveraging the capabilites of new media in the corporate world. More on that later…

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

One of the biggest questions for me has been “How do I change peoples’ behavior?” and more recently “How do I change people’s opinion?” The first is concrete and measureable. The second is softer and for more difficult to measure.

In a recent article in Forbes online about transforming your company for growth I found some help. One of the quotable quotes:

”Prioritize Tangible Projects Over Intangible ‘Cultural Change’ Efforts – Remember, culture is a lagging, not a leading, variable. Culture changes when people change what they do and how they interact. Working on tangible projects first can be a way to encourage these changes.”

As a manager, lead with the behaviors and those projects that will change behaviors. The opinions and culture will follow.