Branding, creativity and the importance of a good story. The Servant of Chaos blog covers social media marketing, digital and brand strategy and the art of storytelling for brand engagement.
At some events, all eyes are turned towards the shining stars on the stage, but at Connected Enterprise, Constellation Research’s annual conference, the lines are blurred. This weekend long conference is an intimate innovation event for senior business leaders who not only have an interest in disruptive technology – they’re putting it to work within their businesses.
Keynotes and sessions centered around the Constellation business themes:
Future of work
Next generation customer experience
Data to decisions (big data and analytics)
Matrix commerce
The new C-suite and consumerization of IT
The keynotes and panels ran from the high energy of Endeavor Global’s Linda Rottenberg to the explosive quirkiness of IDEO’s Tom Kelley. Private equity investor, Love Goel set forth a digital vision for emerging and established companies.The Gabriel Institute’s Dr Janice Presser challenged business leaders to understand the nature of teaming and its link to high performance, sharing frameworks and practical examples of her Teamability process in action.
Anne Lise Kjaer provided a glimpse into the near future through the Kjaer Global trend atlas – calling out a new vision of the 4 Ps of marketing – people, planet, pleasure and profit. SAP’s Vishal Sikka revealed the human creativity behind the global company’s technology success. And R “Ray” Wang fired some hard questions at Microsoft’s Mike Ehrenberg provoking a great fireside discussion.
Box.com’s Aaron Levie sparked some controversy with his comments about the ugliness of enterprise software and Adam Pisoni from Microsoft’s newly acquired Yammer suggested that the enterprise was ripe for disruption.
Interspersed across the jam packed weekend were one-on-one discussions between attendees and Constellation’s team of analysts. This allowed for focused discussion around particular business challenges – with a great deal of passion and insight often exploding from one table or another and rolling, contagiously across the room.
Live Quarks – short case studies from FanAppz and Metaio’s Trak Lord - kept the audience engaged and interacting not just with ideas but with live demonstrations of technology “in the wild”.
But it wasn’t all work and ideas. There were social events like golf, cooking and a spot of geo-caching designed to take the conference in a different direction – deeper, more personal, interactive.
The panel sessions provided case studies and deep dives into emerging technology and business impact. Talking with GetSatisfaction’s Jeff Nolan, Informatica’s Dennis Moore and Badgeville’s Kevin Akeroyd, we touched on the changing shape of customer experience and the power of big data to transform marketing and our customer relationships.
Fellow Aussie, Ben Haines, CIO with Pabst Brewing joined Leerom Segal from Klick Health, Ben Doyle from Enterasys and Lawrence Housel from Industrial Mold and Machine to discuss the changing nature of the C-suite and the impact of the consumerization of IT. Already many businesses are seeing clear value from this global trend – with panelists able to free up resources to deliver more strategic capability across their companies.
Shellie Molina from First Solar, Richie Etwaru from UBS and Meagen Eisenberg from DocuSign explained how their organizations were transforming business process through technology – linking demand and supply chains with matrix commerce strategies. It’s still early days for many companies, but these disruptive leaders were providing hard facts and figures to back their initiatives and drive further innovation.
A culmination of the event was the announcement of the 2012 SuperNova Award winners. Drawn from literally hundreds of entries entered into the business themed categories, a wide swathe of businesses competed to showcase their use of disruptive technology in a business context. The winners were:
Consumerization of IT and the New C-Suite – Cari Cook, Delta Delta Delta
Next Generation Customer Experience – Jason Williams, Ipswitch AND Lynn Hemans, Taco Bell
The tight focus on topics and the restricted audience created a pressure cooker of ideas and innovation in a very short time. Those in the audience could easily have been featured on stage – and this made the non-conference program particularly valuable. Constellation’s Connected Enterprise 2013 promises more of the same – and will be a must-attend event for disruptive business leaders everywhere.
Almost every day we are reminded of the constant onslaught of change. Our customers are outflanking our businesses – challenging us to be more connected, transparent in our dealings and impact not only shareholder value but the world at large. These expectations have permeated our employee cultures, partner ecosystems and business networks. Taken together, they represent a complex problem that many organisations are unable to address.
What we need is to re-invent the organisation. And to do this, we need creative innovation.
The Creative Innovation Asia Pacific conference runs from 28 to 30 November in Melbourne, Australia. It brings together over 40 innovators, thinkers and business leaders who will present strategies, stories and insights to help you address “wicked problems”. Take a look at the full program here.
When you register for the event – use the code wicked to receive a 10% discount. It may be the best investment you make in your business’ future.
If marketing technology vendors had doubted Australian marketers’ hunger for innovation, then the recent turnout to the Marketo Rockstar Tour laid those doubts to rest.
Stretching out of the main bar at Sydney’s Establishment Hotel and down George Street, a queue of 300 or so patiently made their way to the upstairs ballroom to learn about Marketo’s software as a service based marketing automation platform. Punctuated with case studies, driving rock music, audience questions and a keynote from founder Phil Fernandez, it was a glitzy launch with plenty of substance. Follow along with the tweetstream below.
It was a welcome return and a good, vocal crowd at the Shelbourne Hotel, for the topic of Blog Monetisation at Sydney’s Social Media Club event. A panel comprising bloggers, agency folks, digital publishers, journalists, PR and digital strategists kept the conversation going and got the crowd tweeting.
I can remember seeing a friend after university holidays – and asking “how was your break?” It’s the natural conversation starter. But when he answered, it was not what I expected. Rather than the polite “great thanks … yours?” response, I was delivered a bombshell. There was no seaside holiday or relaxing overseas trip. There was only unspeakable loss and grief.
A single question had taken us both into an unexpected place. Even today I can still remember feeling my mouth opening and closing, grasping for words that would not come. I didn’t know what to do.
So we went, my friend and I, to site silently in the university cafe. Hours passed, and finally, buzzing from the caffeine, he said goodbye and left.
The following week he thanked me. I hadn’t rushed in to solve his problem. I hadn’t offered advice. I didn’t really DO anything.
This great presentation by Evgenia Grinblo on the practice of empathy reminded me of this story – and of the care that we should take when working with our clients. Don’t rush to conclusions. Don’t think solutions. Sit and figure it out.
With the World Public Relations Forum arriving in Melbourne 18-20 November 2012, there’s bound to be plenty of on and offline conversations around the changing role of communications. But with a theme of “Communication Without Borders” – it appears the organisers are setting a broad agenda.
One of the more interesting sessions scheduled for the three day event will be hosted by Michael Sheldrick, from the Global Poverty Project (GPP). His view is that the world of PR has plenty to learn from the practices of seasoned social campaign-focused organisations like the Global Poverty Project.
The GPP engages people in a new way that shows progress in the fight against global poverty. Through their work and directly via their communications at all levels, the GPP aims to “show people that movements can still change the world”. The key to this, Michael explains, is to “craft stories that captivate large numbers of people”.
He sees that there are four elements to a successful campaign:
Grassroots advocacy – tapping into the personal power and passions of your grassroots supporters
Media engagement – enlisting celebrities and activists with loyal followings provide a focus for media engagement and storytelling
Public engagement – extending the conversation on and offline (from YouTube and image sharing, petitions through to local activists making phone calls to local MPs)
Government relations – lobbying and working with political advisors, ministers to provide them with the “public ammunition” they can use to effect change
But how does this work in practice? Is there a measurable impact?
The GPP measure by outcomes – not likes, follows, impressions or even reach and frequency. By way of example, Michael shared details of the recent The End of Polio campaign.In Australia, there were two goals – to have Prime Minister, Julia Gillard raise this campaign at a regional summit – and for the Australian Government to contribute $50 million to polio vaccination programs. Both of these goals were achieved – and Prime Minister Gillard went a step further, urging other leaders to contribute – resulting in a total of $118 million being contributed.
But there is also plenty of experimentation in the GPP approach. They are hosting a “free ticketed” music festival in Central Park, NYC, featuring Neil Young, Foo Fighters and the Black Keys later this month. To attend, you have to download the app and then earn points by learning, sharing and taking action against extreme poverty. Concert goers go into the draw to win two tickets only AFTER earning “three points” on the Global Citizen App.
With over 50,000 downloads, over 30,000 people have already accrued enough points to go into the draw for tickets.
One of the things that I like most about this is the strategy. There is clear alignment between the brand, the vision, the action and the lifestyle of their social consumers. There is an experience on offer but there is also a social compact. This shifts the relationship from merely one of transaction (buying a ticket, watching a show) to engagement (make an impact, join a movement).
Now – if only more of our communications achieved this much – we’d all live in a much better world. Or at least a world without poverty.
Don’t forget you can catch Michael Sheldrick at the World PR Forum in November 2012.
For every wicked problem there’s a great opportunity. But it takes leadership and courage – and that’s the theme for the upcoming Creative Innovation Asia Pacific conference this November.
Held in Melbourne, Australia, November 28-30, 2012, is setting a transformational agenda for business and organisational leaders alike – how do we adapt flexibly and rapidly to a world that is constantly changing. To address these challenges, founder Tania de Jong has curated a program of international leaders such as Baroness Susan Greenfield and Wade Davis to business leaders like CSIRO’s Megan Clark and Telstra’s Steve Vamos, innovators such as Ruslan Kogan and a cast of creative connectors from Katie Noonan to Gavin Blake.
There are many more speakers worth seeing – far too many to list independently. I’d encourage you to take a look for yourself.
But more than this … I’d encourage you to book now using the code WICKED to receive a 10% discount. And if you do so before SEPTEMBER 16 you’ll be able to take advantage of the EARLY BIRD pricing for the conference AND workshop packages.
And if you need some help to justify your attendance – take a quick look at the reasons to attend. You’ll be glad you did.
Each month, Vibewire, in conjunction with the Powerhouse Museum, hosts a fascinating and always illuminating event that showcases innovators and the ideas, passions and personal motivations that inspire them. Each person is asked to share the personal story – the WHY, not the WHAT or the HOW. In a way – fastBREAK is like a TEDtalks for young people.
In July, the topic for the month was “lies”. Why do we lie and what does it say about us and our world. This topic was explored by
Hannah Law, social media director with Switched On Media
Tim Burrowes, journalist extraordinaire and driving force behind Mumbrella
Simon Cant, innovation consultant at CANTT
Jack Hilton, magician known as the Great Hiltini
Dev Singh, entrepreneur and marketing strategist at Sketchpad Ideas
As always, it was a brilliant morning, with Sydney’s art and business communities mingling in the Powerhouse Museum’s fantastic Boiler Room, nourished and inspired by the BlackStar Pastry’s inventive deliciousness.
fastBREAK happens on the lasts Friday of every month from 7:45am. Everyone is welcome – and if you’ve never come, we’d love to see you there in September. Put it into your diary today!
Over the last month or so I have done a lot of public speaking. It can be one of the most terrifying activities that you ever willingly put yourself through. Or you may find it exhilarating. But no matter whether you fall into one camp or another, you will quickly realise that you face a challenge – and that is to tell a story.
How do you do it? Where do you start?
Simple.
You start with you.
Samantha Starmer has created this great presentation on the nuts and bolts of presentations. She suggests you start with your own story – why are you speaking and what do you want people to remember. From there it’s about understanding the environment for your presentation and getting a feel for the space and the audience; structuring the presentation well and rehearsing.
Sounds simple, right?
The reality is much more challenging. But if you follow this approach, you’ll be well on your way.
At the Australian Business Chamber of Commerce conference in Melbourne this week, I have been fortunate to hear the ideas and insight of a number of overseas speakers, including Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Randi Zuckerberg. And while I have done my best to share this insight via Twitter using the hashtag #acbc12, the stream does not do justice to the energy, insight and passion of the speakers. For no matter how much we write, we are always caught in the trap of writing – it’s just words and doesn’t pack the punch of an on-stage, in-your-face presentation of ideas.
Before kicking into trends, Randi Suggested that there are some personas that we don’t want to adopt, including:
The crazy cat lady
Obsessive food blogger
The humble bragger
The depressed broadcaster
The old person who doesn't get it. The person who uses Facebook as Google
The fruitless celeb tweeter
The cheesy motivation tweeter
And while we may all wink knowingly at these, she also advised that there were TEN key trends that we needed to be aware of:
Luxury living without luxury spending
Loyalty program of the future - make your fans famous
Using platforms for customer service
Mobile first
People as curators - become the expert in your field
Have a sense of humour
Crowdsourcing
We are all media companies now
Video and livestreaming
Gamification
Now …. we may see these trends and behavioural manifestations in our audiences … but what does that mean for your business. Let’s think about that strategically. And let’s turn this into a social business. Together. I call it the Social Way – but you may call it the cost of doing business.
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