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Blogs are a great tool to publish your thoughts to a wider audience. But what you write is also publicly available information!

What you say on your blog may impact you other places! Take Mike Klander, the executive vice-president of the federal Liberal party’s Ontario wing, that thought his blog was only read by a few friends! Well, Mr. Klander has now resigned!

According to wolfvillewatch there are now a cloned site available.

As wolfevillewatch said: “It just goes to show you that in webdom once it is out there, it is out there, and you can’t really take it back.”

Bottom line? Think twice, post once! And when that fails, edit as fast as you can!!!

roar at roarweb dot com

Vision is critical when you try to manage the Customer Experience. Good research tools are critical to enable proper Customer Experience Management (CEM).

Over at Vision Critical, the latest Angus Reid project, they have been busy building new market research tools. According to a quote from Dr. Angus Reid, CEO of Vision Critical (and “Industry Icon” according to their web site), they have “..squeezed the functionality of a large research enterprise into a software system..”.

Vision Critical’s products include:

Panel+ , an Internet based panel management system that will take care of everything, from profiling to surveys to reporting.

Fusion, a complementary suite of rich media applications that include interactive visuals, streaming video and 3D virtual environments.

FasTrac, a service for those who want to outsource the development, programming, and hosting of their online surveys.

Their efforts are starting to pay off, and Much Music, one of their clients, was recently named “Brand Of The Year” by Strategy Magazine.

I have tried Vision Critical’s demo of Fusion Online Shelfset. I like the idea, but not the interface. Instead of requiring an user to click on arrows to navigate around, I’d prefer an Ajax[Wiki] like application interface where you can move around using your mouse pointer. Google Maps is a good example of such an application.

Unfortunately I don’t think Ajax would be able to provide the needed data for proper analysis of what takes place during a session. [Please let me know if such tools are available!]. And without data your research results aren’t that good.

For those interested in Ajax Applications and the customer buying process: In New Zealand Tim Haines has invited to a “blogversation“ to see “…how AJAX could be used to improve one part of the shopper’s buying process”. Elsewhere, Dan Grossman [A Venture Forth] has a list of “Top 10 Ajax Applications“

Good research information and analysis is important for proper management of the customer experience So is the usability[wiki] of interface (tool) facing the customer.

Bernd H. Schmitt, in his book about Customer Experience Management (CEM), suggests there is a five step process to connect with your customers at every touch-point.

· Gain original insight into the customer’s world
· Develop an experiential strategy platform
· Create a unique and vivid brand experience
· Provide dynamic interactions at the customer interface
· Innovate continuously to improve customers’ lives

The tools from Vision Critical will be helpful for those trying to develop a successful CEM strategy. A note of caution though, to all those trying to develop better relationships with their customers: Not all customers are equal! Some will be profitable, many not. Do your research and then develop your initiatives focused on those that will help grow and sustain your business.

roar at roarweb dot com

Last night Seattle Times posted an article on Wikipedia prankster confesses. It was picked up by Google and caught my attention when scanning the news.

It’s a story about Brian Chase from Nashville, Tenn. who put false information about John Seigenthaler Sr. in a Wikipedia entry. Wikipedia has its own entry on the controversy.

In short, the false entry was made in May, taken off in September. Unable to track down the person responsible, Mr. Seigenthaler wrote about the issue in an article on USA Today on November 29th. By December 11, 2005 Mr. Chase admitted he was responsible.

It’s not the first time misleading information has been found on Wikipedia. In November, Norwegian newspapers reported that, Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway, was descibed as as a pedofile on the Norwegian version of Wikipedia.

In response to the Seigenthaler incident Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales instituted a new policy preventing unregistered users from creating new articles on the English Wikipedia.

On December 7th I wrote about trusting what you find on the Internet. Wikipedia is probably of the more trustworthy sources and this underlines the importance of “User Beware”. There are many blogs, forums and websites out there where misinformation is spread on a regular basis.

I wrote that products like Sxore may be a part of the solution. I support Wikipedia’s new policy and hope that others will follow. While most of us still want free speech we also want some kind of accountability.

The bottom line? As a user - always double-check your sources! As a publisher - demand accountability from your editors or risk loosing accountability as a service.

roar at roarweb dot com

Sometimes you wonder about the results you get back when performing a web search.

Some search engines are better than others in finding relevant content. Even so, most people accepts the results that Google returns as the ultimate answers. I use Google as my home page, but still like to double-check their results with other search engines. And I do find additional information other places.

Tonight I’ve come across two situations where Search (in an expanded way) did not return the expected results.

Troy Angrignon describes some of the “long tail [wiki]” of search phrases used to guide readers to his site. Troy, who describes himself as an Adventure Capitalist, has had search phrases like “ some photos for hairy females armpit“ lead searchers to his site.

For those that wonder, Troy’s site is not about the female armpit. A more typical post would be Web 2.0: When do you use a forum, a blog, Jotspot, Writely, a wiki, or a full web 2.0 platform. My guess is the searcher did not find what he or she was looking for.

The second result was my own profile on zoominfo.com. In the right column ZoomInfo lists what they call “Colleague & Associates” This service is currently in a Beta. On the expanded “Colleagues” page it reads:

Colleagues lists are compiled automatically by ZoomInfo using natural language processing technology to determine relationships. For example, individuals we have found on the public Web who have served on the same management team can be labeled as colleagues by ZoomInfo.

Additionally, Colleagues are marked with icons as either “verified” or “unverified”. By default, all colleagues that ZoomInfo creates are unverified.

It’s Beta allright. Just as a poorly designed search phrase in Google is unlikely to return what was really searched for, so has the rule of “same management team” resulted in ZoomInfo filling my list with people I do not know. While they may have been with the same organizations(s), they were not there at the same time as me and thus I would not label them Colleagues.

While I understand that Beta stage services often have “room for improvement”, companies like ZoomInfo must consider how using such services on a “major page” (my profile!) impacts the customer experience. Now that I know some of their search results is gar… let’s say not that good, I have to take this into consideration when looking at their service in general.

To me, any customer interface must be seen as a part of the customer experience. In ZoomInfo’s case the result is a lowering of my trust in their results.

For many companies the problem with search engines are that they actually work, that they allow people to find their company site. It’s a problem if your site is not up to date, or the information found is incorrect. A company web site is, at least for me, an image of the company. I once suggested to a software developer that a few linking errors on their otherwise nicely done web site should be fixed. A few days later I was told off by a senior manager from the company - my unsolicited comments had upset his development team. I learned something about giving advice that day, but I still think that a software developer that does not care about easy to fix coding errors on their web site may be a developer to leave off your list of potential suppliers.

The bottom line is that Search returns results. These results are often not be what we expected. And this impacts the Customer Experience.

• It impacts the experience of using the search tool, often leading to a reduced trust in the results (which may be good as we should judge what we find).
• It also impacts the customer experience when a company cannot be found (either because they do not have a web site or because other companies has done a better job in content development and in search listing under specific keywords).

Even what we find impacts our experience. A web site is a part of the customer experience that helps us develop an image of a company and what to expect in “real, off-line life”. What do people find when they search for your company?

roar at roarweb dot com

Do you trust everything you see on the Internet? I hope not!

The University of New Brunsvik (UNB) library offers some suggestions on “Judging What You Find”.

UNB suggest you look at Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency and Use.

Being careful is always a good idea when judging what you find. But what if you are the publisher? How do you develop your reputation?

In the Internet 2.0 world there will be thousands of small web sites, the “long tail” of sites. This blog is one of them. How do we, as publishers, develop our reputation?

Dick Hardt has suggested that Sxip’s Sxore product may be a part of the solution. By using a common login ID on many sites you can develop a reputation that follows your ID. As they say it on their site: Get a reputable peer-generated digital identity. By the way, for each of your personalities you can have a different Sxore ID.

Sxore is currently holding a private alpha test of a WordPress plugin. It’s by invitation only. For those interested, they will soon expand their alpha program.

Sxore is a two-in-one solution. While allowing you to build your reputation when you comment on others work, it can also be used to moderate comments to your own blog,

So, are we all going to end up with a digital reputation, maybe something similar to ebay’s “member reputation“?

Probably not. We already have services helping you bypass registration on sites, bugmenot.com being one of them. Privacy issues, real or perceived, will probably stop many from adopting an online identity.

Applications like Sxore will help building a reputation based on comments left on other blogs. Maybe what Sxore does is to make it easier to build a reputation. Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency and Use, the UNB’s “tags”, are still needed - with or without Sxore. If you keep these “commandments” in mind, and add consistent use of login names and e-mail addresses or web site URLs, then, when you publish anything, you’ll should be well on the way to develop a digital reputation.

I guess it boils down to being relevant, honest and consistent - in addition to present. ebay members do not earn a powerseller reputation by good products and fast shipping alone. They also need to provide a high volume of interesting items to sell.

This brings me to a side of your “online identity” that you might not think about that often - your “offline world”. To be able to develop a good online reputation you need to be able to organize your offline life such that you are able to live up to the promises , and hopefully a positive image, you have given/developed online.

roar at roarweb dot com

liveplasma music, movies, search engine and discovery engine

While I was touching on music I thought I would mention liveplasma.

What a great site. Type in the name of a band and you’ll get to see similar bands and “how popular they are”. Great transitions from search to search too.

Their database still has lots of room for improvement though. Many of the artists I search on could not be found. And some of the “popularity” results was a bit surprising to me. As a follow up to an earlier posting I decided to search on Rolling Stones. I was surprised to see Neil Young [wiki] being so much more popular. Maybe he is or maybe it reflects a North-American view of the world? Something to think about anyway if you’re not from this part of the world.

roar at roarweb dot com

Note: This post moved from Blogger on December 6, 2005

What a busy week on the Blogging event front. Monday there was Blogging 101 at the International Internet Marketing Association (IIMA). Wednesday the IIMA hosted “Advanced Blogging”, where Arieanna Foley and Tris Hussey continued to teach a group of Vancouver marketers about blogging and blogging teqniques.

Yesterday (Thursday), the BC Association of Integrated Marketers (BCAIM) hosted its Christmas Luncheon with Darren Barefoot. Darren “demystified blogging” and gave the audience some good insight in the power blogs are starting to have in many fields. Especially interesting was his examples which showed how important it has become for organizations to be a part of the conversation, to monitor what is said about them before they have a major public relations disaster at hand.

roar at roarweb dot com

Note: This post moved from Blogger on December 6, 2005

This post moved from Blogger on December 6, 2005

Business Week wrote, under the heading “The Business Of Blogging” (Dec 2004): “A new medium, though still a work in progress, is coming into being.“

When I wrote my first blog post (note: different domain than my current blog) - September 2, 2004 - a bit earlier than the Business Week article was published, blogging was still something “new” to many in the Vancouver business community. Now it seems to be gaining respect as a valuable tool.

Not that we have not had people around blogging for some time (Wikipedia suggest we go back to 1994) - I’m still a newbie in that sense - but the exposure blogging is currently getting in our local marketplace seem to me to indicate we are now past the early Introduction Life Cycle stage and are moving into Growth.

For example, Technorati’s Dave Sifry wrote in an October 17th post that Technorati is now tracking nearly 20 million weblogs and that this number seems to double every 5 months. He goes so far as to indicate they see 33,000 new posts every hour! Growth allright.

What do I mean when I say blogging is gaining respect in Vancouver? I’m suggesting this based on the number of events local marketing related organizations are doing on this subject at the moment.

I currently serve on the Board of Directors for the IIMA and left the Board of BCAIM earlier this summer. The frequency of blogging related events is higher than I’ve ever seen before and thus I conclude we’re at a new stage for blogging.

Instead of proving my point by showing both 2004 and 2005 data on blogging events, I’ll just show some of the events I have noticed over the last few weeks:

-BCAMA, October 12: Hyperfragmentation: The Rise of Personalized Media, presented by Rick Sanderson and Barbara Davidson of OMD Vancouver.

- HTCE/STC, October 15: Online Influence: What Blogs Mean to Your Business, presented by Susannah Gardner

- IIMA, November 28: Blogging 101 and November 30: Advanced Blogging, presented by Arieanna Foley and Tris Hussey

- BCAIM, December 1: Blogging Demystified, presented by Darren Barefoot.

- Banf New Media Institute, December 4-8: Blogs and Dogs

- Northern Voice, Feb 10-11 2006: Moose Camp and Blogging Conference

I’m sure there are others. In any case, it looks like growth and respect to me.

roar at roarweb dot com

Note: This post moved from Blogger December 6, 2005

Yesterday I took some time to attend the Transend Security and Privacy Symposium 2005. Transend is using this symposium as an opportunity to present itself to the local (Westcoast) IT community. I’m not sure if they felt the event was a success - the number of empty seats seemed very high to me.

Anyway, the symposium had some interesting speakers. Bob Hansmann of Trend Micro told us how it now takes less than 4 days from a patch is released until a new virus attacking the specific security issue can be found. That is less time than it takes most companies to install a new patch. He also mentioned that the challenge is one of security vs. productivity. Speaking to secuirt practitioners he said: “Your job is not to keep a virus from spreading, but to keep productivity up”.

Dick Hardt of Vancouver based Sxip Identity Corporation presented his Identity 2.0 presentation. Well worth a look if you have not seen it already. If you are a blogger, check out their Sxore product.

Dina Palozzi of Bank Of Montreal discussed the importance of the KISS principle when it comes to collecting data. She suggested that understanding the information is critical from a privacy and security perspective. She felt we needed to look at:
- What is collected?
- How is it used?
- Who is responsible
- Where is the information stored

She also said that information must be managed according to business objectives, customer expectations and legal requirements. She furthermore pointed out that accountability for protecting information cannot be outsourced.

Micael Milligan of Kasten Chase brought us from the information itself to the business consequences of poor information management. He suggested 20% of customers has terminated relations with a company with security breaches.

Representatives from the BC and Alberta Privacy Commissioners/Offices mentioned that 95% of all security breaches are due to human breaches. The Albertans also name names when it comes to judgements and orders from the commissioner.

There was other interesting presenters as well. For me, with a background in financial services marketing, it was interesting to note the Risk definition from Paul Wing of Great-West Life: “Risk is … not consistently meeting business objectives and there being an adverse impact“. Thus risk is more than IT/S risk - we also need to take into account all processes that are impacting how we perform compared to our business objectives.

roar at roarweb dot com

Note: This pos moved from Blogger December 6, 2005

CEOs and Technology : “Why CEOs Shouldn’t Blog” by Joe Queenan.

I enjoy reading the Chief Executive Magazine, but I don’t always agree with their viewpoint.
Joe Queenan’s article has some good points, and also describes the reality of the problems many CEOs face when considering blogging - especially legal issues. Even so,I think he’s [partially] wrong.

The CEO’s primary role is to make sure a company is profitable to the shareholders, and thus the CEO must look at how he best can spend his time to achieve this goal. It can be a difficult task as short-term and long-term objectives will impact the CEO’s actions. My suggestion: Writing a blog MAY be good use of his/her time.

While much of the Internet still is in a 1.0 state, Internet 2.0 requires a different relationship between a company, it’s employees and the general public. A blog is a great way to build such a relationship with a larger audience. Through a blog a CEO can inspire and show leadership on important issues. Corporate Social Responsibility must be taken seriously, and a blog is a possible way to show that a company really care. Of course, it’s also a way to very quickly show they do not care.

Does this mean that very CEO should blog? Absolutely not! If blogging has no value to the shareholders it may not be a priority at all.

Mr. Queenan writes: “Stripped to the core, blogging is a charitable hobbyist’s activity, a public service offered to the public pro bono. But as Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Donald Trump and even Matt Drudge will tell you, if you’re not getting paid for it, it’s probably not worth a whole lot.”

hmmm … maybe he is right - but, for those interested, check out The Trump Blog and Donald J. Trump’s comments like: “Someone just wrote a book about me. It’s the biggest pile of garbage I’ve ever seen”

roar at roarweb dot com

Note: This post moved from Blogger to WordPress December 6, 2005