MWLUG Report

It has been 2 years since I attended and presented at MWLUG and I have missed it. The core group of about 200 customers that can just drive over for the event and the vendors and partners and IBMers that fly in all come for the same reason, the community and knowledge.

And beer.

Beer is a big part of MWLUG and always has been, probably because the idea was hatched while the founders were having one. Isn't that when the best ideas are devised?

The event location was the old Union Station filled with beautiful architectural reminders of an era long gone. The stained glass window is from the North facing window of the main room which used to be the entrance to the station.

Sadly, I missed the opportunity to go to the Indianapolis Speedway tour but waved to everyone from my flight above the track.

Saw friends, both near and far, and even some customers who knew me when they were business partners and consultants.

The first day I got in late and missed the classes going on but did pop in to fellow IBM Champion  Bill Malchilsky's session on Linux enablement which if you want Linux or need it or are thinking about it, Bill is your man.

We made our way to the first evening event, the microbrew tasting. Which knowing some of the people involved would produce some interesting ideas. You can see the mix of offerrings from this picture I took.

The winner turned out to be a distributor of someone else's finest but that did not stop everyone from having a great time.

We then moved to the main room where we had the event sponsors peddling their wares and we had time to chat up customers and friends.

Thursday morning found us eagerly awaiting the OGS where we heard from Josh Bleill, the Indianapolis Colts Community Spokesperson. Josh just wowed everyone with his determination and positive outlook on life. Nothing is insurmountable.

After Josh, Scott Souder, Program Director, Messaging and Collaboration Solutions for IBM provided some sneak peaks at what is coming in the future. Notes/Domino 9.0.1 due out late October. Scott talked about how at this point of the year IBM already has more renewals from customers that have not renewed in prior years than they did last year. In other words, customers are upgrading again and there is business for all of us Business Partners!

Scott also brought some secret things to share like Project Hawthorn, more on this in a different post, and a new unnamed product which will knock the socks off you when it comes out. Come to Connect 2014 for more details is all he said we could say about it. Scott also introduced everyone to Kramer Reeves who is his boss. Kramer is Director of Product Management, ICS and has plans to help not just customers but business partners as well to sell and support everyone the way they need it.

After the morning sessions off to lunch and then the daily sessions.

I was working on my own demo and session but sat in on Chris Miller's excellent session on the web, social life and privacy. Get his slides and think about it, hopefully he posted them someplace. Of the people in the room only a few do everything and there is much to think about. Save your wallet and headache and go get his session.

My session, The Boss is Anti-Social ..HELP! which I already posted the slides here, had at the core of it people who work in a non-social atmosphere or have managers that do not understand them. The session was a mix of older thoughts and information coupled with literally the night before ROI cases that I received via email that highlight the sales benefits of being more social in business. All links are included in the slides so enjoy. No matter what your industry is, you can be social on the outside and interactive with your customers and vendors. Yes, some will complain, but they just want your love otherwise they will just leave and you will never hear from them again.

The evening event was spent in a brewery and billiard hall where everyone could focus their time and get to know each other better. Questions about certification, Sametime, Connections, Notes and Domino, competitive information and more all took place.

Friday saw Karl Lawall, an IBM Program Director for Collaboration Solutions, Social Communications and Sametime Worldwide Sales showing off Sametime 9 which will be coming out shortly. The video integration and revised mobile clients and device functionality will make life so much better for the A/V jet setting people. 

And then I had to go home which was an all day journey it seemed, sorry I had to leave early on Friday.

Thanks to Richard Moy, Sam Bridegroom, Gregg Eldred (sadly was held back from attending),  and Ray Bilyk for a great event and I hope everyone returns for next year when it is in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For all my friends and customers always nice to see you and let's meet up again in Orlando in January 26-30 at Connect 2014 if not sooner.

Hyper Smash

White Papers Suck but They Don't Have To

Write your white papers, make them worth reading, not boring old professor articles.

Have fun in them, make them topically relevant if product specific or connect them to a long standing service or profession. They should be like reading the best album inserts, sorry, CD covers, that bring out the personality of the band or their music.

Perhaps stop making white papers and start producing videos of real people discussing your product. Wait, you probably do that.

Blog the white paper information over the course of a few days or weeks to grow some interest. You probably do that too.(Bet most of you do not)

Do a podcast about your company or solution that people can listen to and hear your excitement come alive. You probably do this too.

So why do you insist on writing white papers no one reads?

Because either you were told to and could not argue yourself out of a paper bag or are an old time marketer or company that just knows executives love to read these. I admit, I have been asked at times about a white paper or details from a vendor but I have never given them to a client. Sales people who have worked with me know I am against white papers on many levels.

Why would a perfectly sane and capable person want to have me go and find something they could do? Because they want you or me out of the way. No sale until you bring me proof in a white paper. No, bad salesman, no cookie.

What will an executive glean from the document that will sway them to buy from you over the other people who sent him their white papers? Nothing, bingo.

Maybe there is something to these documents that really speaks to executives. This is what you and I are for, we present information tailored to you, our clients, in a way that no white paper will ever do. When was the last time you read a white paper that explained social media using golf analogies? (If you know of any, please comment with links)

Stop wasting your time, please, I beseech you, put your excellent editing to usage and write more blog posts. Transform your glossies and pdf files into working, active living documents. You have the power, it was just sucked out of you to write that last 35 page white paper.

Someone has a course on writing White Papers called "No More Boring White Papers" really, here is the link. I found this link because a few days ago, this blog post was published by Rachel Foster. I do not know Rachel but hope she appreciates me sending her some link love.

In a similar vein but possibly where all of this leads, I found this old posting.Written in 2003, with the title, oddly enough, How Win an Award for Your White Paper. Yes, you can not make this up, that is the real title. One of the three criteria is editorial quality, not sure you want them as judges.

What if you do write such an awesome paper that people actually read it and recommend it to other people? Congratulations and please let me get a link to it.

At the end of this blog post, White Paper Worst Practices by  Lauren Moody and Randall Cronk they state:

A great white paper can be a powerful tool in your campaign, while a terrible one will do a lot of damage to both your brand and your online social presence. And while the shock treatment can be an effective writing strategy, writing badly is not the best way to implement it. That is, of course, unless you don’t want to be a writer in the first place, and would rather someone else take that role. If that’s the case, please try our free marketing copy edit before you hurt yourself!

Need help, and who doesn't these days, give them a try but read their blog post, it was well done.