Year: 2009

There's historically been a separation between businesses that sell directly to end customers ("business to consumer," or B2C) like Best Buy or Wal*Mart, and businesses that sell primarily to other businesses ("business to business," or B2B) like IBM or a large automotive component supplier.

The question:  with social media, where people deal with other people and not an abstract "organization," does this change?  (Chris Brogan has some thoughts here.) 

What do you think?  Are B2B and B2C outmoded terms as we all start to interact as "people?"

My April article is now up at Mobile Marketer: Mobile Marketing, From The Customer's Point of View.

Brian Roger over at The Customer Collective and I had a nice chat on the topic of listening to one's customers.  You can eavesdrop here.

This one's important, and a worthy read.

"The idea of you 'owning' the data about yourself is both emotionally and intellectually appealing. This data, which ranges from the critical (your medical and financial records) to the theoretically trivial (what you buy and search for, and which Web sites you visit) defines, quantifies and describes your preferences, resources, habits and health. It is a proxy for you. It is also what every marketer in the entire commercial universe wants to get their hands on."

Middlesex Emergence
Originally uploaded by christophercarfi.

A number of us went out for snacks and such at the Middlesex Lounge when I was in Cambridge this week for the Business of Community Networking conference. The food was tasty, the beverages were great, and the DJ was (how-do-you-say) "interestingly experimental," but the thing that really caught my eye was the furniture.

Check it out. All the tables were easily movable, and all of the seats were on casters. The room was designed to be reconfigured on the fly. More folks in your party? No problem. Impromptu dance party? No problem.

Although we talk a lot about modularity in software design, this was one of the few times I'd encountered it in the world of atoms.

What else works better when it can be reconfigured at will?

I am staying with some friends near Boston, MA (on my way to the Business of Community Networking conference where I'll be speaking on Wednesday and Thursday). 

And the network is REALLY, REALLY fast here. 

Wow.

There is a great event happening tomorrow evening (this Tuesday) in Berkeley; a session with the Learning Irregulars on the future of learning in organizations. Discussion will revolve around the marvels that networks have wrought and how organizations can improve the way they approach learning. 

Here's the list.