Boston KM Forum

Boston Knowledge Management Forum at Bentley University
A Symposium on Leveraging Knowledge, Tuesday March 31, 2009, Bentley University,
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM

Adamian Campus Center, Commons Room, Waltham, MA (Bldg. B56 on Map) Directions

$50 Pre-Registration Deadline March 26 [click here to register and pay online OR bring cash/check; $60 for walk-ins with no pre-registration] The fee, includes a light breakfast and full lunch.

Moderator, Larry Chait, Managing Director of Chait and Associates, Inc., and former Chief Knowledge Officer of Arthur D. Little

We’re all aware of the explosion in the use of social tools—teenagers embrace them, our new President used them extensively in his recent campaign, and the press is full of hype about their potential.  And books and articles on virtual teaming abound.

But what value have they had for business enterprises?  Who is really getting value from them?

In this symposium, we will explore virtual teams and social tools—and their value in leveraging knowledge.  We will discuss tools and techniques, share learnings, and hear case examples. Our speakers will be: Jessica Lipnack, CEO of NetAge and co-author of Virtual Teams, and Suzanne O. Minassian, Lotus Connections Product Manager, IBM,  Ken George, New Media Manager at WBUR,  Sadalit Van Buren of Knowledge Management Associates and David Wallace, Principal of GameChange LLC.

Readings for Virtual Teams and Social Tools: bibliography-kmf-03312009

8:00- 8:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 Begin Program

Presentations

Soaring with Virtual Teams: How Working At-A-Distance and Across Boundaries Can Outperform Face-to-Face - Jessica Lipnack, CEO and Jeffrey Stamps, Ph.D., Chief Scientist - NetAge and co-authors of Virtual Teams

In a very short time, virtual teams have gone from being an optional way to work to being mandatory. Budget cuts, downsizing, globalization, and radical improvements in technology have literally changed the way we work–and with whom. Drawing on 25 years of research and work (conducted with her business partner, Jeff Stamps) for global organizations, Jessica will offer a simple model for leading collaboration when people are not in the same place or from the same organization; review the “three rules for high-performing virtual teams,” as published in her co-authored Harvard Business Review article; and point to the key behaviors for productive conference calls that turn them from multi-tasking time-outs to can’t-miss critical meetings. [PRESENTATION]

IBM’s Grounds-Up Social Software Transformation, Suzanne Minassian - Lotus Connections Product Manager, IBM [SLIDES SHARED for VIEWING]

IBM has added a dimension of imagination and innovation to the way its employees, customers, and partners work together. They aren’t alone. Organizations of all sizes have been focused on encouraging innovation, tightening customer relationships, and uncovering employee talent and expertise. See how IBM transformed the challenges of its own organization into opportunities for itself and its customers. What was once the experiment of researchers and innovators is now the fastest-growing product in IBM software history.

Vital Catalyst: Social Media is Holding and Growing Audiences, Ken George, New Media Manager,  WBUR

Local public radio stations face the same challenges that remade network television, brought us downloadable music AND are killing daily newspapers. There is fierce competition for ears and eyeballs and ever-accelerating pursuit of new, laser-focused distribution channels. And then radio stations need to find underwriters to support them.

So what’s the answer? For WBUR-FM, social media is proving to be a vital catalyst for holding onto – and growing – its listeners, web visitors, and other communities. WBUR has moved aggressively in the past year using Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and “in-person meetups.” But this is just the start. Ken George will share his experience, with advice for other industries. He will even tackle prickly, nagging issue of return-on-investment and practical ways of using social media to foster closer connections with current audiences while pursuing new ones.  [PRESENTATION]

Give to Get:  Real-World Dividends from Social Networking, Sadalit Van Buren, Knowledge Management Associates

As a mobile knowledge worker who’s at a different client site nearly every day of the week, I have come to rely on the social media in many aspects of my work.  I use social tools to connect with my project teams, with  clients, and with the larger community of newcomers and experts who are engaged in the same kind of work I do.  Through a mix of getting and giving content via web 2.0 technologies, I build my knowledge, improve what I’m able to deliver to my customers, and strive to help others do the same. [PRESENTATION]

Panel on “Teams and Tools” - What They Heard and What They Think, David Wallace, Principal, Gamechange LLC, Moderator

4:30 - Meeting Concludes

Registration

Speaker Biographies

Ken George is New Production Manager at WBUR-FM, Boston’s NPR station. From the studio on the BU campus he is exploring new media participatory ventures that span audio, online, photos and other media interactions. News reporting, community messages and interest group gatherings are some models WBUR is testing using Twitter, Flickr, Utterli and other tools, Ken has created online and in-person events for digital and in-person interactions that encourage sharing news, opinions, and knowledge. This also promotes creation of new relationships among listeners, the local radio station and the programs and personalities of National Public Radio. Ken began his new media career as a Web production assistant for the Christian Science Monitor and then moved to western Massachusetts as production editor for Masslive.com. You can Twitter Ken @kengeorge and read his blog at http://Theconverstation.org, which chronicles some of 90.9’s “Web 2.0″ initiatives such as The Public Radio Kitchen.

Jessica Lipnack is CEO of NetAge, which she co-founded with Jeff Stamps. NetAge’s pioneering initiatives are in use in companies, public sector organizations, non-profits, and religious denominations around the world. Together, they are authors of VIRTUAL TEAMS, along with five other books, including THE AGE OF THE NETWORK and THE TEAMNET FACTOR, that have been translated into many languages. Frequently interviewed by the press, Jessica started her career as a newspaper reporter. She maintains the blog, Endless Knots, and, since 2008, has been teaching blogging in an MFA program, a writers’ conference, and to the leadership of the US Army’s Command and General Staff College. She has written for The Industry Standard, New York Times, and the Boston Globe, as well as for literary journals and other print and online publications. When not writing, she’s gardening, knitting, and wasting time online, including @jlipnack on Twitter. Jessica will be joined by Jeffrey Stamps, Ph.D. More information on Lipnack and Stamps.

Suzanne Minassian is currently the lead product manager for Lotus Connections, a social software suite for businesses and organizations. In the role of product manager, she works to define the overall product strategy, develop and drive the product requirements with engineering and design, work with customers and partners to shape the product, and publicize the product through demonstrations and presentations at numerous industry events.  Suzanne came into IBM through IBM Research Collaborative User Experience group as a user researcher and a developer. She hold an MBA with a concentration in Human Factors in Information Design, and has a strong interest in collaboration technologies and personal and business productivity tools.  Links: Synch.rono.us (external blog) | External landing page

Sadie Van Buren is a Manager at Knowledge Management Associates, a Gold-Certified Microsoft Partner based in Waltham. Her main area of focus is in architecting and customizing SharePoint deployments, specifically from a usability and design perspective.  Sadie has a Bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, having majored in English Literature and French Literature.  She received a Certification in Project Management from Boston University, and is a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist.  Sadie blogs at http://amatterofdegree.typepad.com/.

David Wallace started Gamechange LLC to consult on innovation and marketing/communications after 20 years as a business writer reporting on creative companies and people for newspapers, magazines and websites. He helps organizations to find the right message and medium for collaborating with internal and external audiences. He has worked with ZoomInfo, Verizon, FLIR Systems and other clients on competitive intelligence, marketing campaigns and other projects. The name Gamechange  refers to ways that companies and industries tip the scales through new designs, better execution or creative thinking. Often, these innovations require teams inside, and outside to fully develop new ideas and move them to implementation. He is an adjunct professor at Emerson College on multimedia journalism, where he was introduced to Facebook. He’s also @gamechange and @deedubya on Twitter.

EXHIBITORS

INTERESTED in being a Tabletop Exhibit Sponsor? Use the registration form and express interest in “Comments” field. You will be contacted

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Advance registration is required to be eligible for the $50 for the full-day rate. Registration includes continental breakfast and lunch. After filling out the registration form, you may elect to pay using PayPal or you can mail your check to the address provided. Make the check payable to Boston KM Forum. We would appreciate prepayment to speed the on-site registration process. Note that this event is heavily subsidized by The Boston KM Forum to keep the cost within the reach of all KM practitioners. For walk-ins, $60 at the door, cash or check only. Click here to register.

Boston KM Forum wishes to thank the Bentley University
Elkin B. McCallum Graduate School of Business
for its continued support of the KM series.

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