1. Introduction to On-lineNetworking Chris Gopsill Prague6th November 2007

2. Topics Introduction Why? Individuals Organisations How? Platforms Best practiceFuture trends & opportunitiesAppendix: Support material & references gopsill@bluewin.ch2 3. My experiences in Czech Republic - Why I said its good to be back+/-gopsill@bluewin.ch 3 4. Know your audience Quick poll Quick-poll Show of hands as to whether you: 1. Know of2. Use3. Are power user Of the following platforms: LinkedIn Lotus Connections XING Facebook NING Second Life gopsill@bluewin.ch4 5. Know your audience Quick poll results PowerKnow ofUseruser40% 15% 3 people 95% 75% 20 people 25% 10% 2 people5 people 2 people2 people1 person - - 35% 5 people- Note: this was an informal show of hands poll gopsill@bluewin.ch5 6. Topics Introduction What and Why? Individuals Organisations How? Platforms Best practiceFuture trends & opportunitiesAppendix: Support material & references gopsill@bluewin.ch6 7. Social networking plain English An excellent combination of old and new technologies quickly and simply explaining social networking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc (also social Bookmarking, WIKIs etc) gopsill@bluewin.ch7 8. What are Networks? What are Communities? Networks and Communities are groups of individuals. A social network is a social structure made of nodes, which are generally individuals or organizations that are tied by one or more specific types of relations.** Source: WikipediaWhy?How? FocusWhere?Membership On a person Platform Open On an organisation Real World / Person Closed only eligible On an event to personindividuals can join Digital World /Duration AffinityOnline Finite Shared location Virtual Worlds Open-ended Shared language Blended Shared interest (food, wine) Frequency (combinations of the Shared enterprise (employer, Continual above) supplier, service) Periodic Shared education (university) Random Shared time (class of 92) Structure Shared profession (accountant, Formal lawyer) InformalThe power of the social graphgopsill@bluewin.ch 8 9. Why now? Business Environment Globalisation / outsourcing / disruptiveforces / complexity Competition for talent / competencies Deeper understanding of Conflicts ofinterest in networks Techosystem Innovation & Knowledge Pervasive, ubiquitous, rich tech Innovation will be the ultimate will be the evolving realitydriver of sustainable growth Networks thrive in this Networks drive the diversity and environment virtual and realcollaboration which underpin effective innovationWork & Lifestyle shifts Trust & Teamwork Increasing job turnover Trust is the glue that empowers the Aging workforce and changingpost command control world values Networks are the organizational Portfolio of paid engagements structure most strengthened, and most vulnerable, to trust gopsill@bluewin.ch 9 10. What is Hype gopsill@bluewin.ch 10 11. Gartner Group: Emerging Technologies HypeCurve 2006VisibilityWeb 2.0Less than 2 years FolksonomiesMashup 2 to 5 yearsSocial NetworkAnalysis 5 to 10 yearsCollective IntelligenceAJAXWIKIs Corporate Location-Aware bloggingApplications Offline AJAX Location-AwareTechnologyMaturity Technology Peak of Trough of Slope ofPlateau ofInflated Disillusionment Enlightenment ProductivityTriggerExpectations Source: Gartnergopsill@bluewin.ch 11Source: Gartner Group, Analysis First Tuesday AG 12. Why individuals Search Business Initiate Self-Job International Marketing Market contactsBusinessResearch Enable FindBusinessPeopleSocial Networking for Business Professionals Build and keep User-generated Bring PeopleContact Relationships content TogetherCommunityManagementManagementComplexFacilitate EventOnlineCommuni-CalendarOn- and Offline Events DatabasecationCommunityTool Personal Information Management (PIM) CommunitySecond degree contactsgopsill@bluewin.ch12 13. Why organisations 1: Knowledge driven organisations are facing many challenges Globalisation War for talent Pressures for work-life balance Commoditisation Increasing availability of information contrastedby demand for filtering out real knowledge andinsight Technology reducing economies of scale Increasing ease of switching / churn Change from customer to member mentality Changing business models Major growth from SMEs Adaptive enterprises / Networked value chains Shift to independent professionals Increasing financial pressures Personalisation Increasing pressures on speed of response gopsill@bluewin.ch 13 14. Why organisations 2: Crowd sourcing: Innovation: InnocentiveIn our Open Innovation Marketplace, Seekers- commercial,academic, and non-profit organizations - draw on a globalnetwork of Solvers - more than 125,000 engineers, scientists,inventors, and business people - to meet challenging needsand move their organizations forward in the following areas:Physical SciencesEngineering and DesignChemistryMath and Computer ScienceLife SciencesBusiness and Entrepreneurship. gopsill@bluewin.ch 14 15. Why organisations 3: Alumni ProgramsA people powered network for business collaboration A people powered network forbusiness collaboration A social networking program to enablecurrent and former IBM'ers toreconnect, collaborate and generatenew innovations and businessopportunities Over 18,000 members registered inpilot program: global long-term targetis 1.3 million Global platform, available to any IBMcountry IBM Germany is lead country pilotroll out in 2007 to assist withrecruitment and business leads IBM Home page: February 2007 In-depth White Paper http://www.ibm.com/ibm/greateribmon Corporate AlumniManagement :download at: gopsill@bluewin.ch 15 http://www.firsttuesday.ch/Corporate_Alumni_Networks_FULL.pdf 16. Topics Introduction What and Why? Individuals Organisations How? Platforms Best practiceFuture trends & opportunitiesAppendix: Support material & references gopsill@bluewin.ch16 17. The power of blended networksAddedValue creation of onlineAdded Value systems lose momentumValue Half-life of stand-alone events lead over time to limited sustainable impact Online NetworksLive EventsTime Time AddedValueValue of offline eventsleveraged by effective combination of best in Value addedclass real and virtualby effectivelyplatforms: for networkcombining on-support, online and offlineadvertising, preparation, approachesand updating (e.g. onlinedatabase, forums,newsletter)Blended Networks Timegopsill@bluewin.ch17 18. On-line networking should be an integral part of blended networkingBlended Networking Virtual On-line Live gopsill@bluewin.ch 18 19. Platforms and providers Social NetworkingFree / Open Bespoke / ClosedGroups focus gopsill@bluewin.ch 19 20. LinkedIn Business Social Networking US based, 100% business focus Very strong US and UK presence 16 million members Strong focus on jobs and personal recommendations Only English Just starting with events and member pictures Free basic membership Three levels of enhanced features - *See Appendix for details up to $200 / month * gopsill@bluewin.ch20 21. XING Business Social NetworkingGerman based, 100% business focus Very strong in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain (China) Thousands of live events Hundreds of active forums 16 languages Comparatively limited in US, UK Smaller than LinkedIn, Facebook Free basic service Premium membership (5.95) offers *See Appendix for details advanced features* gopsill@bluewin.ch 21 22. Live events gopsill@bluewin.ch 22 23. Facebook (Business) Social NetworkingUS based, started as University networks Open API* numerous 3rd partyapplicationsAddictive interaction thanks to newapplications and news feed50 million membersValued at $10 billion Need to re-position from studentfocus to business?Cluttered interface and significantadvertising *API: Application programming interfaceFreegopsill@bluewin.ch 23 24. Lotus Connections Business Social Networking Powerful, integrated functionality (Sametime, Dogear..) IBM: reputation, resources See separate presentation from Tomas Vavra Ability to reach secondary contacts (internal + partner focus) Licence costs ? gopsill@bluewin.ch 24 25. NING Community PlatformCommunity building platform Easy, free way to build your owncommunityIntegrates into an existingwebsite easily together withmany widgets and linksFounded by Marc Andreessen(Netscape)Thousands of communities Mixture of business and personalOnly available as hosted version Free basic serviceDifferent options for business networksgopsill@bluewin.ch25 26. Second Life Virtual worldGives much richer interaction thanother remote interactions hencepromotes additional interactionsSee separate presentation fromMartin Dvorak Fairly step learning curvePossibly over-hyped and perceivedas game-playing The Alpine Executive Center which is an in- Free basic membership world centre for running and hosting ThinkVery extensive in-world finances Tanks and events ($Linden) people are earning aliving in worldgopsill@bluewin.ch26 27. Best practice for Members online 1. Upload a photo of yourself that reflects the impression you want to create 2. Check your privacy settings: Go to the 'My Profile' tab and then 'Change my privacy settings' in the bottom of the box on the left. The most important ones are the two at the bottom in respect to who can send you private messages and who can view your contacts 3. Set your info box options. Again, go to your 'My profile' tab and select from the left hand box 'change info box settings'. My personal options include upcoming birthdays, quick search, group articles and events. 4. Contact information. Remember that you grant the level of access you are comfortable with to any member that wishes to connect to you or you to them. Unless you release your details, no member will be able to contact you. 5. Anti spam! One of the best experiences you have on this site is the lack of unwanted emails you get. Depending on your privacy settings you can choose who you want to be contacted by. If for some reason, you receive an email from an unwanted member, you can simply select 'Block Messages from User' in the left hand box featured when you view the message from the member. 6. Introduction tool. Introduce your contacts to other contacts using this cool feature. What's great is your contacts can view each other's profile including yours which enhances their initial experience. When you're viewing a member's profile or message select the 'introduce this person' tool. Be sure to include some positive remarks about each person. 7. Who's been looking at my page! This feature was created by a good friend of mine when XING first came to existence. It was inspired by the dating sites and has become the most used feature on XING. Go to the 'Search' tab and select 'Members who have visited my contact page recently'. You can also set up an RSS feed that will automatically inform you when somebody has been looking at your page. 8. Include your website URL's. Surfing through member's profiles is like sorting through resumes. People generally look at the photo to get a first impression, then who the person is connected to and then their company. Often the member will click on your website to get a feel for the company you are representing. 9. Pick and choose who you connect to! Your network becomes your most valued asset. Try to connect to members that are of genuine interest to you personally or professionally. Don't become a connection collector. It weakens your network. 10. Be found by the right people. Ensure your WANTS and HAVES reflect the type of people that you want to be contacted by. Members search for key words to lead them to the right person. Include all the key words that are relevant to you.gopsill@bluewin.ch 27 28. Paradox of networks and communities Robust Fragile Resilient Trust based Flexiblebut Communication driven Dynamic Difficult to rebuild and are always opt ingopsill@bluewin.ch 28 29. Building a sustainable networkSuccess factorsSuccess relies on combining people, process and technology, in alignment with a clear purpose and vision Purpose / VisionPeopleProcessTechnologyImplementation gopsill@bluewin.ch 29 30. Building on-line communities:Ensure a good first(3) experience(s)Where would you rather be ?? A warm, personalised, welcome Active but not over crowded Like minded people to interact with Something of interest to me: forum with active discussions, relevant white paper, jobs Motivation to return and participate / contributegopsill@bluewin.ch 30 31. Becoming an active group member Search for a group that is of interest to youRequest to join this group Reply to forums of interest Navigate around the group Post new article Reference all items on start pagePosting an article Go to forums Keep the article short, On the start page interesting, relevant to the groupmembers Items rarely change Provoke a discussion by asking Any events will be listed here questions See who is moderating this group Write catchy subject line Now go to the forums Monitor activity Familiarise yourself with all the Hits on articles in forums forum topics Number of responses Read all the subject lines New members joining Read subjects that are interesting gopsill@bluewin.ch 31 32. NetWeaving NetWeaving is a Pay It Forward form of networking based upon the Golden Rule and the belief that, what goes around. . ..DOES come back around!Pay It Forward is a book written by Catherine Ryan Hyde, but it's also an idea. It's an action plan within a work of fiction. But does it have to be fiction? We're hoping not. In fact, since the book was released in January of 2000, a real-life social movement has emerged, not just in the U.S. but worldwide. What began as a work of fiction has already become much more. Reuben St. Clair, the teacher and protagonist in the book Pay It Forward, starts a movement with this voluntary, extra-credit assignment: THINK OF AN IDEA FOR WORLD CHANGE, AND PUT IT gopsill@bluewin.ch INTO ACTION.32 33. Introduce function: Paying it forward gopsill@bluewin.ch33 34. Topics Introduction What and Why? Individuals Organisations How? Platforms Best practiceFuture trends & opportunitiesAppendix: Support material & references gopsill@bluewin.ch34 35. Future trendsExplosion in platforms, technologies, offerings VisibilityWeb 2.0FolksonomiesMashup Social Network Analysis Collective Intelligence AJAX WIKIsCorporate Location-AwarebloggingApplications OfflineConsolidation: AJAXLocation-Aware TechnologyIssues:over-hyped? some companies blocking some sitesWinners: Open large platforms Specialised, differentiated niche players Meta-social platforms: allows user to keep a few individual profiles, communities , and move seamlessly across betweenContextual networking: - easily suit our network to what we are doing(including location): yet leverage across all networks:OpenSocialThe ultimate goal is for any social website to be able to First Social Web Browserimplement the APIs and host 3rd party social applications.gopsill@bluewin.ch 35 36. Directories of communities / networks A very new and emerging phenomenon!!gopsill@bluewin.ch36 37. Yequi !!For those new to on-line businessnetworking. Please try (at least) one of the platformsand connect to those people you havemet tonightFor those experienced users Please start or develop a community youare passionate about, introduce peopleto each other and act as evangelists forNetWeavinggopsill@bluewin.ch 37 38. Contact Profileshttps://www.xing.com/profile/Chris_Gopsillhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgopsillhttp://profile.to/ChrisGopsill/Goppo Gough gopsill@bluewin.ch38 39. Topics Introduction What and Why? Individuals Organisations How? Platforms Best practiceFuture trends & opportunitiesAppendix: Support material & references gopsill@bluewin.ch39 40. Birthday exercise: Live networking compared with on-line We have 2 minutes to find the person in the room who has the nextbirthday the old fashioned live networking way: Select someone next to you who you dont know: Exchange 1 interesting fact with each other, and your business card. Determine which of you has the next birthday from today. The person whose birthday is sooner moves 2 stepstowards the front of the room The person whose birthday is later moves 2 steps towardsthe back of the room Repeat as many times as possible within the 2 minutes Keep the business cards for later gopsill@bluewin.ch 40 41. Learnings the wisdom of crowds Live networking can be very intense,interactive, spontaneous, serendipitousand funBut:On-line networking can be a lot moreefficient at achieving certain goals:Search the on-line data base for next birthday gopsill@bluewin.ch 41 42. User communities SNS users maintain a wider social network Source: longitudinal user research INO Source: Stefana Broadbent, Swisscom Innovations: Keynote at First Tuesday Zurich Thought Leadership Forum, Zurich, November 14th 2006. Data from a study on Social Network Site users in CH done by Swisscom Innovations in 2006 http://www.firsttuesdayzurich.com/TLF2006/ gopsill@bluewin.ch 42 43. Four approaches to Corporate Alumni NetworksCompanyCompanyCompany supported grassIndependentmanaged: managed: openroots grass roots closed Increasing number of very Large number of professional programmes A few interesting initiatives Expanding outside service programs Very mixed results sectorgopsill@bluewin.ch43 44. XING: advantages of Premium MembershipServiceBasic MembershipPremium Membership Search by...Name (first/last) Industry or Location (city state/province,By city onlyBy city, state/province, postal code, countrypostal code, country) Position, Interests , Knowledge,Organization (university, currentand former employer, clubs, etc) a)Power Searcheswho has viewed my contact page,homepage or About me page and seemy contacts contacts Bookmarking, Tagging & Skype Groups and Premium GroupsTo any member (depending on privacy Private MessagesReply to messages onlysettings)PremiumWorld Just read and respond to Marketplace offers Post, read and respond to offers1 per monthUp to 10 per month Events10 participants maximumUnlimited participants(a) Basic members will not be able to view names of search resultsgopsill@bluewin.ch44 45. LinkedIn: Account upgrades gopsill@bluewin.ch 45 46. Trust is critical in Networks Sweden: More trust in Ikea than in the Protestant Church.Many people inherently do not trust online networks, as they say it is easy to misrepresent yourself. However, this is also true in live networking you can easily produce a fake business cardsIn reality, on-line in Web 2.0, thanks to the potential to link through multiple channels it is very difficult to hide a false identity. gopsill@bluewin.ch 46 47. Multiple paths to connect gopsill@bluewin.ch47 48. Key success factors for online social networksExperience indicates that vibrant on-line social networks typically have the following characteristics:Regular moderationStrong value offeringFocused eventsMember lead eventsWell structured forumsHigh activity98% of content from group membersStarfish ideology: the community owns the communitygopsill@bluewin.ch 48 49. Full Gartner Hype Cycle: Emerging Technologies, 2006Source: Gartner gopsill@bluewin.ch49