First two videos of my presentation at Digital Pharma

Found myself some time to make my ‘SteveNote’ way of my presentation given at Digital Pharma in Barcelona last month. For a detailed report on the event, see here.

I have split my presentation (Best Practices for the Use of Web 2.0 and Social Media Tools for Internal Collaboration) in three parts:

Part 1: The Need for Innovation in Pharma
Part 2: Social Media and Internal Collaboration
Part 3: Best Practices Using Web 2.0 and Internal Collaboration

In this blogpost the first two episodes (it was late, so the third one coming up asap).

New Media Expo takes off like a rocket with Gary Vaynerchuk

The New Media Expo 2008 took off like a rocket. First keynote of Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV. Gary, a first generation Russian immigrant who loves the NY Jets and dreams of buying the tam one day, just gave a very energetic presentation. He produces and hosts a very successful podcast show on one of his biggest passions, wine. His key to success:

• Know your DNA, and do what you want to do
• Know the 2 C’s: Community and Content
• We all know it, Content is King, but don’t forget that Marketing is Queen and the Queen runs the household.
• Be everywhere, on every platform available
• Love your fans, and answer all their e-mail
• Patience, patience, patience and you will get there

His biggest mistake: his twitter name, garyvee. Why? Nobody can find him, it’s damaging his brand.

This kick-start sets the tone for the rest of the coming three days.

Networking, networking, networking

A good candidate to become buzz-word of the year 2008: networking. Social networking to be exact. The ‘Digikring Groot Amsterdam‘, a society that tries to create an environment for entrepreneurs in the IT and multimedia sector to exchange knowledge, stimulate cooperation and networking between its members, organized a meeting around social communities last Thursday evening (June 19). Three speakers were invited:

- Lode Broekman (Broekman Marketing Advies), who gave a good overview of the principles and mechanisms of social networks and what they mean for us, now and in the future. (Click here for Lode’s presentation)

- Carla Brinkman (founder Moonfield) on the critical success factors, pitfalls and perspectives for the future of corporate networks. Unfortunately her presentation was not too inspiring, which to me was a missed opportunity on this very exiting subject. (Click here for Carla’s presentation)

- Pascal Spelier (director Flametree), who enthusiastically introduced Flametree, a recently started corporate network for entrepreneurs. Flametree is powered by ABN AMRO and used by The Bank as a service to support entrepreneurs in building their business network. (Click here for Pascal’s presentation)

We had an interview with Pascal:

An interesting evening, where we made some potentially valuable contacts. We seriously are considering becoming a member of this Digikring.

Amazing Moments 4: OSCAR workshop, the sky is the limit

Earlier this week it was OSCAR time again…

We developed OSCAR is a training tool where digital storytelling is used as an instrument for project management, team building, leadership development, strategy development and change management. The purpose of OSCAR is to produce a film around a certain subject within 1 day. The trainees produce the entire film, from script to final edit. In addition people learn about the power of rich media. While working on their production, they are tested on their skills such as communication, planning, organizing and co-operation.

Together with one of our partners, Insights International (a well-known training company specialized in Project- and program management), we organized an OSCAR workshop for a real estate company as a kick-off event for a training on Communication and co-operation. Location: Castle Sterkenburg (website is in Dutch) in Driebergen, The Netherlands. A very inspiring environment.

Two groups of 6 people enthusiastically managed to produce a short clip of three minutes. The assignment was to give their view on the identity of the company. Although I cannot reveal the final videos, I can tell you it was hilarious, entertaining and educational. Not only did everyone enjoy the experience, it also gave an insight in how they work with each other. Which form the basis for the rest of the training. And the winners were pleased with the mostly desirable OSCAR Award!

It is amazing how people use their creative skills and ‘living’ the roles they have been assigned to. An impression:

Professional equipment ensures a smooth production phase – and it impresses people too

The postproduction is the part where the people see the pieces falling together

Or have to decide to shoot scenes again

OSCAR has winners, but no losers

But the best was saved for last. As a surprise, the managers of the company organised a balloon trip. The circumstances were perfect: clear sky, not too cold and not too much wind. And what they say is true, once your in the air, there is no wind! (makes sense, doesn’t it?)

So, literally, for this OSCAR, the sky was the limit.

The Afya adventure – part one

Just landed in Nairobi, after spending 4 days and 4 nights in and around the Serengeti. Tomorrow morning I fly back to Holland. Since there was no internet available in the places where we stayed, I was not able to give an update earlier than today. But apart from that, the trip was unique, amazing and breathtaking. I realize I have had one of the best experiences in my life. Let me share these with you in the following days, step by step…

I arrive in the Serengeti on Wednesday, May 28. A small propeller plane takes me into the park, taking off with a delay of 1.5 hours. From the air I can get a taste from what is waiting for me down there. Large herds of wildebeest and zebra’s are visible from the sky. The plains are drying up and the wildebeest are migrating north of where there is more food and water available. This has started already a few weeks ago and the herds I am looking at are only a fraction of the number of animals that have already moved over the plains of the Serengeti. Although I find these (give or take a few) 3,000 animals, running in a large stream of an amazing size, compared to the 50,000 that are seen at the start of the migration it is peanuts. Current estimations of the wildebeest population range from 1.1-1.2 million animals. That’s 4 times the size compared to 45 years ago, clearly showing the benefits of this protected area of 14.500 square kilometers, roughly the size of Northern Ireland.

Sarah Cleaveland, leader of the rabies control project has been waiting for me for more than 2 hours at the Seronera airstrip. Not only did the plane took off too late, it also has flown a different route, leading to a much longer route than intially planned. No reason for me to complain, referring to the earlier described sights, but the downside is that we will be too late to join the team that is vaccinating the dogs in Rung’abure, a small village west of the Serengeti. Later I hear from the team that this was a crazy day, with over 400 dogs vaccinated, hundreds of people surrounding the team, laughing and cheering children and a dog giving birth to three puppies…

We have lunch at the residential place of the Frankfurter Zoological Society, close the airstrip. Here the research team resides when they operate in the field. It is an amazing place. While sitting on the porch, we see grazing zebra’s, a family of water-buffalo’s, two warthogs and a baboon passing by. I can hardly believe my eyes, wildlife in your backyard…

After lunch we have to move. Paolo Charles, the vehicle manager of the team, will take Sarah and me to Mugumu, a village west of the park. Here we will stay two nights as the vaccinations take place in villages in the surrounding of Mugumu. We have 4 hours of travel ahead of us. In about 2 hours we will reach the border of the park and Sarah assures me that I will see tons of wildlife in this period. Within 15 minutes, we encounter a herd of zebra’s, drinking at a small pond. We decide to wait and observe them for a moment. I take my camera and start filming them. Suddenly the zebra’s seem to be alerted by something and leave the water. We think to see the outline of a crocodile in the water…or not? The zebra’s aren’t sure either and return to continue to lessen their thirst. Again, a sudden move and the huge reptile raises from the water in an attempt to grab a small foal, but misses. Nonetheless, I caught it on tape and Sarah ascertains me this being a rare sight, as she has been waiting for hours next to similar sites where nothing happened. (In a few days I will publish this scene as I currently do not have a high-speed connection to upload the video).

We continue and after watching wildebeest, more zebra’s, giraffes, hippo’s, ostriches, Thompson gazelle’s, eland and more we arrive in the town of Mugumu. We stay at ‘Anita’s place’, a nice hostel, far less primitive than I expected. Although there is no running water, it is clean. I have a large two size room, even including TV. Shortly after we’ve arrived, the team returns, tired from, as said earlier, a crazy and hectic day. I meet the remaining members of he team; Idi Lipende, a veteriarian and coordinator of the campaign, Israel Silaa, the driver, and Kaneja Ibrahim, the field assistant. With the team is also Tendeka Matatu, our cameraman, Suzanne McNabb, a researcher, who is working on her PhD and James Desmond, a recently graduated veterinarian from the USA.

Tendeka tells me that he has found in Kaneja the host for our podcast show as he is a charismatic guy with no fear for the camera and someone who has a talent for improvisation. And that’s not his only talent, as I will find out in the next days. Although they have spectacular stories of which many is caught on tape, I am not allowed to see it yet. “No, you have to experience it yourself first, before we can show you the footage, for that it is too special”, Tendeka promises me, with a smile on is face.

So, I just need one more night of patience. And I can tell you, he was right…

To be continued

Consumer 2.0

Sometimes you run into a white paper which is hitting the nail on the head. We have been talking about the new consumer. The consumer who doesn’t belief advertisement anymore, who is mashing-up elements of his/her favorite brand and is blogging away his highs and lows in brand experience.

We found a white paper describing just this. And more importantly, how to engage with the Consumer 2.0. You might be in an industry where there are no Consumers 2.0 yet. But eventually they will come. Whether they are plain consumers, patients or even your employees. You better start thinking about it.

Check out the white paper from RepNation here.

What’s important anyway?

You might wonder why it has been a bit quite lately. Well, for one is that René is currently having a holiday in Colombia and I have been engaged with some other activities, as you can see in the picture below.

Her name is Yara and she was born on April 30. Isn’t she pretty?

It’s true, for men the concept of ‘having a kid’ starts really to kick in only after birth. The 9 months prior to this remain a bit vague for us. There’s nothing growing inside of us, we don’t have morning sickness (apart from Sunday mornings) and have no bad days (well, not an awful lot). Now you really start to think and prioroitize your responsibilities. Will I be a good father? What will I do different than my parents? What will I do the same?

Of course, the single most important thing is that she is and remains healthy. Full stop. But also, what kind of world will she grow up? We do know a few things however:

• Her life expectancy is about 81 years
• World population at age 50 will be around 9 billion
• Fossil fuel will be replaced by other energy sources
• An average iPod on her 16th birthday will have a capacity of 800 GB and can hold 200,000 songs
• The average computer will have a speed of 12 THz (12,000 GHz) by the time she finishes university

Interesting times. Now back to the diapers…

How does the internet look like?

Most of us have seen it before, pictures showing lines across the screen which should visualize the internet. I was never really impressed with these pictures. Until I saw the latest pictures from the Dimes Project on Chris Harrison’s blog.

Quote from his entry: “The Dimes Project provides several excellent data sets that describe the structure of the Internet. Using their most recent city edges data (Feb 2007), I created a set of visualizations that display how cities across the globe are interconnected (by router configuration and not physical backbone). In total, there are 89,344 connections.

The first rendering displays the relative densities of Internet connectivity across the globe. The stronger the contrast, the more connectivity there is. It is immediately obvious, for example, that North America and Europe are considerably more connected than Africa or South America. However, it is important to note that this only reflect density of connections, and not usage. Hundreds of people may utilize a single connection in an internet cafe, often the only form of connectivity people have access to in developing nations.

Additionally, three graphs showing network connections were created. I should note this is not the first time graphs like this have been created – I’ve seen dozens of variations, most being practical in nature (e.g. cable locations, bandwidth). I decided to pursue an aesthetic approach – one more visually intriguing and interesting to explore than useful. The intensity of edge contrast reflects the number of connections between the two points. No country borders or geographic features are shown. However, it should be fairly easy to orient yourself.

See for yourself.

DigiRedo does USA – Nirvana in Ontario, CA

So here we are, in front of the convention center, just after Day 1 of the Podast and New Media Expo. And remarkebly, without really feeling the 9 time zones we crossed less than 24 hours ago. We’re so excited that I am afraid we can’t even sleep tonight! Like sponges we absorb the content that is shared here, which makes sense as we are in the Nirvana of New Media… meeting nice people, all soul mates, and some even come over to us to ask for advice. So far a thrilling experience.

Keep following us, as we will continue sharing our experiences these coming days…

Corporate podcasting example

Meet Annemieke. Annemieke is the host of one of our major podcast projects. In this corporate podcast project the company is using this tool to improve communication internally, in order to implement a new strategy. All 40 employees will get an iPod (touch!) – OK, it remains property of the company but you can put on it whatever you like.

Each week we produce together with Annemieke an audio podcast, covering the latest and the greatest on the developments within this company, of course with a strong link to the new strategy. Each month we make a video podcast.

Tomorrow is the kick-off of this major project, and Annemieke is a bit nervous. So am I…