A weblog by Christopher Carfi, since 2004.
Headed down to Mountain View for the Internet Identity Workshop, which starts today. Looking forward to both catching up with a number of old friends, as well as having some great conversation with a number of new ones.
I’ll be doing a quick overview of VRM this afternoon. Click either on the thumbnail over on the right or the embedded slides below to see my slides.
Seeya soon.
I have a strong positive predisposition to rational contrarians, and generally like those who use a combination of fact and story to challenge the current status quo. So, I was very much taken with Alec Muffet’s most recent post regarding how we handle the concept of "identity" as is spans both the offline and online worlds. Alec self-describes his work thusly:
"This is not a white paper. This is an opinion-piece, possibly a
polemic. In it I expound what I believe rather than making an argument
for you to believe it too."
I’ll do the 100-word version here, but you really, really need to read the original source piece, entitled "Hankering for a World Without ‘Identity’ or ‘Federation.’"
Alec makes the following key points:
While there is quite a bit of valid side-bar conversation regarding whether Alec perhaps erroneously lumps some current technical identity efforts with historical lead zeppelins such as Microsoft Passport, the whole piece is worth a thoughtful read, as it challenges some very fundamental human/Western processes on how, and perhaps more importantly when, we prove someone has the credentials they require.
photo credit: CaptPiper
A couple of years ago, Jerry Michalski introduced a number of people to the concept of "Red:Green Cards," which are described thusly:
Ever wish you could talk back
to the speaker at a conference?
To offer approval
or register dismay?Use RedGreen feedback cards.
I found the concept to be absolutely fantastic. It was a clear, yet unobtrusive, way to bring the audience into a conversation, without having to disrupt the flow of a thought and without having to deal with those little voting clicker boxes or microphones. It was possible to achieve this goal without any kind of intrusive hardware at all, actually.
Red:Green cards are a wonderfully elegant way for an audience to give respectful feedback in real time.
At the iPhoneDevCamp last year, Biggu built a prototype of the Red:Green voting concept for iPhone. However, it appears that their implementation has been taken down or is no longer working. (The site was throwing errors the last I checked.)
So, we (re)built the Red:Green iPhone app from scratch. You can find it here:
It
uses the Mobile Safari orientation hacks from the Apple code samples,
so it only works on the iPhone. If you go there from a desktop
browser, it’ll just show a blank page.
Of course…
– Concept inspiration from Jerry Michalski.
– Code inspiration from Nicole Lazzaro and the TILT iPhone game.
– Implementation adapted from the Apple iPhoneOrientation sample.
– Address bar hiding hack from Christopher Allen.
Enjoy!
Related: By the way…the other fun iPhone-related thing we just did was to create an
iPhone-friendly network/directory of female political bloggers. Currently,
there are over 100 bloggers listed from all sides of the aisle. Here
are the coordinates if you are so inclined:
iPhone-based directory of political bloggers: http://blogher.com/politics/
Back story: http://tinyurl.com/5hob7wHer
Here’s a link to a video of the Red:Green iPhone app in action.
Cerado got some coverage on CNN yesterday, in a segment about how fast-moving companies are using outsourcing. Check it out.
Michael Rindley is building his own “people keeper” because he says “social networking applications are handy, but what I’d really rather have is a personal CRM system.”
What would your people keep(e)r do?
"Evaluating New Social Technologies" – Some key tidbits from Groundswell (thanks to Steve G. at PrimeRevenue for the tip)Just back from a great time at the Dream Machines confab at the Half Moon Bay Airport. Hundreds of vehicles, dozens of planes, stellar weather. A great way to spend a Sunday.
Link to full Dream Machines photoset here
Embracing blogs to connect with a company’s network of customers is fait accompli for the tech industry, but what about the rest of the planet that doesn’t put its every movement up on Twitter?
Here are four retailers that are using blogs and social media in an attempt to better connect with customers.
WalMart
Revenue: $375 Billion
# Locations: 6,800
Notable URL: http://www.checkoutblog.com/
Notable post: “Great News About WalMart’s Milk” (over 230 comments)
After several failed attempts at blogging, most notably the reviled “WalMarting Across America” shill blog, the planet’s largest retailer might be starting to get its act together. In 2007, the Bentonville, Arkansas company launched the “Checkout Blog,” a group blog penned by nine of its corporate buyers that covers topics from the garden to video games to sustainability. A definite step in the right direction for the company, with actual employees communicating about their individual areas of interest, with minimal company shilling taking place.
McDonald’s
Revenue: $23 Billion
# Locations: 30,000+
Notable URL: http://csr.blogs.mcdonalds.com/
Notable post: “A Trip Down Memory Lane” (Good handling of a troll in the comments)
WalMart wasn’t the only retailing behemoth to receive derision for its initial forays into blogging. McDonald’s, too, had its challenges. (Hopefully, you missed the fake “Lincoln Fry” blog, about a french fry shaped like the 16th President of the United States. Yes, it was as abysmal as it sounds.)
The company behind the golden arches now has a “Open for Discussion” blog with weekly postings on topics regarding “Corporate Social Responsibility.” While certainly better than the LIncoln Fry, there are still some challenges here:
1) It looks to me like someone at McDonald’s headquarters has committed to some sort of MBO of “one blog post per week.” As such, the posts are infrequent and not heavily trafficked.
2) While it’s great to spread the wealth, all the most recent posts on the site (March-April 2008) are from different authors. Accordingly, each post is starting with a “who I am and what my role is” statement. This also means that the revolving cast of characters hasn’t a chance to connect with readers. It’s drive-by blogging.
3) To their credit, comments on the blog are open. However, the paucity of comments makes me think that either (a) the blog is receiving almost no traffic or (b) the comments are being heavily moderated. The bold TERMS AND CONDITIONS of the blog also state: “McDonald’s owns any comments or other content that you post on this
site. That means that McDonald’s has the right to make, have made,
offer for sale, use, sell, copy, distribute, perform, transmit,
display, modify, adapt and otherwise use your submission(s) throughout
the world in perpetuity in any manner that it sees fit without
compensation to you. McDonald’s also has the right to use your name in
connection with any use of your submissions.” This is not the best method to develop trust and a long-term relationship with a customer.
Starbucks
Revenue: $9 Billion
# Locations: 15,000+
Notable URL: http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/
Notable post: “Vote For All Day Bold” (Giving contrarian viewpoints their due)
Of the four retailers profiled here, Starbucks has gone the furthest with respect to using social media to not only connect the organization to its customers, but to enable customers to rally around ideas as a community. Their “My Starbucks Idea” site is a venue where customers can submit suggestions to the organization, vote on the suggestions of other individuals, and see which ideas are going to actually be implemented by the organization.
The best part of the site is not the technical implementation but, rather, the cultural one. Starbucks does not seem to be censoring comments about their organization in any way, even when the feedback is less-than-stellar. For example, one representative comment on the site states:
“Decaf drinkers want strong coffee also. I go (or used to go) to
Starbucks because of the decaf Sumatra, Verona etc. I can get Pikes
Piss coffee from Tim Horton’s or McDonald’s. My grandmother makes
stronger coffee. Starting today I am no longer a customer of Starbuck’s
coffee except for whole beans. I urge everyone reading this to follow
my lead and make Starbuck’s understand that the reason we (used to)
spend our money on their overpriced coffe is because it is the best and
no one else offers a strong decaf. There is strength in numbers – walk
away today!”
The key thing that Starbucks realizes is that these conversations are taking place anyway. If this site didn’t exist, customers such as the individual above would be making these comments in other forums that were removed from the organization, or on his or her own blog. With My Starbucks Idea, the organization is getting the feedback in realtime, and has the opportunity to address issues in a rational and constructive way.
Whole Foods Market
Revenue: $4 Billion
# Locations: 270+
Notable URL: http://wholefoodsmarket.com/socialmedia/blogs/
Notable post: “Slow Down and Green Up” (Rich conversation)
Although their CEO got himself and the company in some hot water by commenting negatively about a competitor using a pseudonym (n.b. the investigation into his actions has now been concluded), Whole Foods has a farmer’s market full of blogs, podcasts and videos they are using to give customers a variety of methods to learn more about the organization. Retailers such as Whole Foods are a great way for suppliers to have their products reach the masses, with some suppliers using a whole foods vendor portal from companies similar to RangeMe to get their products on the shelf of one of the biggest retailers in the world.
In Philadelphia today and tomorrow, co-hosting a two-day social media and CRM 2.0 workshop for a customer with my good friend Paul Greenberg. Other things going on today: the Pennsylvania Primary and Earth Day. It’s a busy one!
All sorts of good things going on this week. Here we go!
1) The "networks don’t have people…people have networks" concept floated here has become a full-fledged snowball.
2) A point of caution on the "social media divide" from Francine Hardaway (with more here) – "Fellow geeks, we live in a dream world — a world of Twitter – Twhirl – Friendfeed – AlertThingy – Seesmic. And if you think most people reading this can identify any of those things, think again. Moreover, if you think there’s a chance of any of those crossing the real chasm in the next ten years, think again."
