Neo.org: Declare Yourself

I love when I find new sites that are doing good things. I was introduced to neo.org today and feel the need to shout out. Much like a reminder to stay authentic, this site is a simple concept of declaring your intentions and passing them on to be inspire others into doing the same. The act of declaring gives cause for reflection. Beautiful. Thank you and kudos to Bill Liau for another great work.

Social Media in Plain English

A great simplified explanation of social media. I thought I would share it, as many ask me what it is all about. Thanks to CommonCraft for producing this great short clip.

Professional Network Used Wisely

"Thank you for the invitation, but who are you?" Unfortunately this is becoming more common. Now, the tools to help us connect with the people we do know are great. Thank goodness they are there, they help us keep up to date, as well as to learn more about potential partners and associates. A credible network based on real relationships is of far greater value than one that is purely numbers.

In the past month I have been asked to write a recommendation for someone that I am in the same network (of 6000+ members), but have not met personally. I have been asked to connect to individuals that like my profile, but have no direct relationship with. Today I got invited to attend a seminar on how to maximise presence on social networks by someone boasting 2000+ LinkedIn contacts. Now, some people are social butterflies and maybe this person has an incredible memory for the people he speaks with at conferences. But if someone was to ask him for a reference about each of those people, could he honestly provide an accurate account of what they are like as a professional peer, potential employee or partner?

Maintain a quality network. Do not degrade the value of your network simply for looking connected. Instead, Link when you meet people and feel that you have made a connection. Link while the connection is fresh. Nurture that connection by building it into a relationship beyond the link. E-mail to follow-up your conversation, and keep them in mind as you continue your paths. Something that you discussed in that first interaction might come up along the way and be worth sharing. Take the two minutes to pass it on. When someone contacts them down the line asking about you, they will certainly have a better recall than digging for your LinkedIn page to see who you are. You never know, they might even become both a friend and business partner in the process.

Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurs, as defined by Ashoka, are "individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change." Let us encourage this behavior, as it is the individuals with the vision and willingness to take the risk that have the ability to create change. Kudos to those who are innovative enough to have discovered ways to create sustainable and profitable enterprises. They deserve our encouragement for providing a positive example for us.

Simple knowledge sharing

We often take for granted the things that are most simple and common parts of our days. Providing the quick directions to the lost traveler, recommending a favourite article or book that provided a moment of inspirational thought, Finding a quick conversation table for the recipe passed on by a friend, discovering a new culinary delight from a passing dish and an appreciative "mmmm", can all provide a moment of quality that enriches our lives and others. Understanding that it is nearly universal that adjusting spectacles is a complementary service, has never ceased to amaze me. In this day of commercialism and rushed lives, I am thankful for these little moments that make me appreciate both my own and others knowledge and specialisations.

Women Speaking their Peace

Coming across an Iraqi Women oral history project by Laura Hamblin today got me thinking of all the wonderful tales that never get told, or only in limited circulation. Thank you for your efforts Laura. If you know of any other such oral history projects, please let us know about them. I found her interviews interesting and inspiring and gives a human perspective.

Ariadne Capital's Investors Forum

It is an exciting time to be involved in the development of social media. I have just returned from Ariadne Capital's Investor Forum in London. The presentations were very thought provoking and well presented. It was encouraging to see an organization like Ariadne and Julie Meyer pulling together the strengths of such an interesting mix of entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. After working in the solitary isolation of start up phase living in a culture that loves the idea of entrepreneurial success and ingenuity but frowns deeply on failure (even if it is learned from). I found the forum refreshing in content and atmosphere. So, thank you Julie for pulling that together and inviting me to take part.

As social entrepreneur in "isolation" I found it refreshing to get feedback on the financial side and monitising of the business from straight talk. I realised from the feedback that I had steered away from our original model for 2BalanceU in order to appease our network members. But in the process we had given away some of our most critical features that support the members, who essentially the site is for and remove our critical revenue streams. Frustrated at first, I am delighted to see that the insight has brought us back to the core of what we started out to do and believe in. So thank you, Dr.-Ing. Jörg Sievert (SAP Ventures), Thomas Schulz (Ariadne Capital), and Candace Johnson (Johnson Paradigm Ventures) for your straight talk and insight. Thank you also to Arjo Ghosh (SpannerWorks) and Carl Uminski (trutap) for your inspiring entrepreneurial spirit and great ideas.

The past month has been a true test of my own entrepreneurial spirit and willpower (yes, stubbornness, diplomatically put). We closed down our US operations and moved everything to Sweden. We are reviewing the next steps to get us back on track. Thanks to the forum, I am renewed with new ideas to get back to the old. Always good to go back to the original model for vision and what it will take to get there. There has been a lot of learning along the way, and I am sure there will be more. But each in turn makes us stronger. Out of the ashes rises a phoenix. So that is how we shall commence 2008, rising to flight when we can expand our full wing span and follow where the wind currents take us.