The circus known as Dreamforce and the company behind it: A 2014 Retrospective
Over 150,000 registrants, 5,000,000 online streaming views, and well over 1,000,000 meals to help feed the hungry. The stage(s) featured execs from some of the most recognized organizations in the world, a former US Vice President (Al Gore) and Secretary of State (Hillary Rodham Clinton), the poster … Read More»
Five Important Microsoft Dynamics Themes From Convergence 2014
Spread out across downtown Atlanta, in the blustery shadows of CNN World Headquarters, Microsoft Convergence 2104 took place last week. For those unaware, Convergence is the conference where the Microsoft Dynamics customer and partner communities get together to learn, share, and network. This … Read More»
The Most Innovative Tech Companies in Orange County
Earlier this week, Tech America hosted the 19th annual Orange County High Tech Innovation Awards. The High-Tech Innovation Awards "recognizes outstanding achievements and innovation by Orange County and Inland Empire’s technology leaders". Orange County has one of the most diverse technology … Read More»
Customer Relationship Innovation for the Emergent Social Business
Speaking at an event hosted by SugarCRM and IBM Social Business this week, I informally polled the audience. "How many of you are NOT on facebook?" No hands were raised. "How many of you have a twitter account?" Most of the room raised their hands. "LinkedIn?" Most of the room again raised … Read More»
In an era of crisis & revolution, is your company the next target?
We are living in interesting times indeed. Geo-political revolutions, financial crises, economic uncertainty. Try as we might to ignore them, the fact is that the very fabric of capitalism is being re-evaluated, and perhaps even rewoven. What we have assumed and known for at least 150 years is at … Read More»
The frog who noticed the boiling water…
There were once a bunch of frogs. They all jumped into a pot of water. You know how the story goes. Except... in this case, it ends differently. As the heat is slowly turned up, something happens. One of the frogs looks around, and actually notices the heat. He begins analyzing and forecasting … Read More»
The Future of Customer Relationships: Where is all this heading?
Shifts in technology and human behavior are rapidly changing customer's expectations of companies. Things are moving so fast, that most executives are not only trying to catch up with the changes, but identify what some of the changes are. Understanding what those changes mean to each business is a … Read More»
Social Media, Collaboration, and Customer Insights with an elite group of experts: April 4-6, 2011
When SugarCRM asked me to assemble the social track for SugarCon, the first thing that impressed me was the "spirit" of the track, and conference for that matter. It had little to do with touting Sugar; the company, or the products they make. Rather, it was all about creating a gathering of thought … Read More»
It’s a 2.0 World – Part One: A recap of the Sales 2.0 conference
It's a 2.0 world. Everywhere I look, there's either a 2.0 on the end of a word, or social at the start of it. Hype and hyperbole bombard us with new shiny toys, and snake oil to cure what ails us. However, beyond the rah-rah and kumbaya, there IS INDEED a shift going on around us. The shift is … Read More»