This is my workspace for a developing presentation.
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Free Communication & Collaboration Tools for Business
How business can quickly and easily deploy Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) solutions to enhance their internal and external communications, collaboration and marketing efforts.
The recent explosion of content authoring tools such as blogs, wikis, and Google Office have created an untapped opportunity for businesses to improve their ability to communicate and collaborate internally, within the organization, but also externally, in working with partner organizations and development teams outside of the traditional business model. The simplicity and availability of these tools outside of the physical office environment have led to unprecedented gains in productivity, as well as some unique partnerships. This session will serve to introduce participants to the wide variety of tools available and discuss how they might be quickly integrated into their business practice.
Speaker Biography
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Guiding Points
FOSS
Communication
Collaboration
Marketing
Networking (cultivating communities of practice)
Dialogue not monologue
A few questions to set the stage for our conversation today
- How many of you have a web presence?
- How many of you hire out to maintain your web presence?
- How dynamic and engaging is your web presence?
- How social is it?
Segue into discuss on Web 2.0 - but more the Read/Write Web (r)evolution - how not only sites but how surfers have evolved over time
Notes
From Guerrilla Marketing
* Virtual Office (p.19) - what is it, why is it important
* Valuable attitudes/qualities
- Planning: Development, Adherence, Looking ahead
- Flexibility
- Be a giver
- Cultivate credibility - have substance even in a virtual world
- Revel in spirit of competition
- Look for "fusion" opportunities - build relationships - add value
- Develop an ease with tech - not an expert but an experimenter
- Power of play
- Cultivate relationships (follow-up)
- Passionate
Use technology, don't let it use you
Make comparison/corollary to edtech - identify need and select appropriate tech. Don't select tech and try to build around it.
Cultivate your focus
Research using RSS
Network - leverage your connections (p.87) both human and tech oriented
If your Content is king, Responsiveness is queen
Materials
- IBM Avatar advertisement to open (http://youtube.com/watch?v=v373r0to8Pk)
- Metrics: SeaWorld's Use of Social Software to drive interest (http://www.profit.ca/how-seaworld-used-social-network-to-drum-up-interest-for-their-new-roller-coaster-018468.php)
- OXFAM v. Starbucks fought on YouTube:
Politics and personal preferences aside, it seems as if Starbucks gets it. A recent Slashdot post talks about Starbucks’ response to an Oxfam allegation of unfair trade practices with the corporation’s coffee growers in Ethiopia. It seems that Oxfam posted a video to YouTube which spoke about their “day of action.” In essence this video attests that Ethiopian farmers receive only 3 cents per cup of coffee sold by Starbucks and that Starbucks is not paying a fair price for the coffee beans. Starbucks response was not to launch an ad campaign in USA Today or go on TV, no, instead they created their own video and posted that on YouTube as well. The video spoke to their negotiation efforts with the Ethiopian government and some of the additional things that the corporation does to serve the locales in which their products are grown.
I can’t speak to the veracity of the claims of either side but that isn’t really the point. The point is that a large corporation has recognized and then utilized a powerful social tool to convey their message and in doing so serve to further legitimize this communications medium. The power of the read/write web is enormous and holds the potential for incredible good or incredible evil. Makes it almost sound human, doesn’t it?
- Guerilla Marketing reference (Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Marketing-4th-Inexpensive-SmallBusiness/dp/0618785914/ )
- Wikinomics Audiobook Clips (in iTunes playlist)
- ReadWriteWeb: A Guide to Business Development 2.0
OXFAM's Objection
Starbucks' Reply
Communication Resources
Tools
- Blogs - Communication/dialogue
- WordPress.com / WordPress / WordPress MU
- Blogger
- Other?
- Wikis - Communication/collaboration
- PBwiki
- Wikispaces
- Mediawiki
- Other?
- Portals - Communication/collaboration/marketing
- Instant Messaging/Message Casting
- Twitter - Communication/marketing
Books
- Blog Rules - A Business Guide to Managing Policy, Public Relations, and Legal Issues by Nancy Flynn, 2006
- The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil, 2006
Collaboration Resources
Tools
- Google Docs - Collaboration
- Wikis - Communication/collaboration
- Twitter - Communication/marketing
Marketing Resources
Tools
Networking Resources
Tools
Other Ideas
If you have ideas for things to be included in this type of presentation, please feel free to leave a comment by clicking the Comment button at the top of this page.
Speaker Resources
5-Step Method to Handle Tough Questions (http://blog.pbwiki.com/2008/03/28/the-foolproof-5-step-way-to-answer-tough-questions/)