Dear Worker Bees,
I’ve been hearing these words waaay to much lately. Let’s all try to eradicate them from our vocabulary:
- Robust; as in “This platform is incredibly robust.”
- Bullish; as in “We’re really bullish about this market.”
- Leverage; everyone is leveraging everything right now.
- Socialize; as in “I need to socialize this idea amongst my team members.”
- Offline; as in “Let’s take this offline” when you’re just sitting in a meeting, talking to someone in person. Grrr.
Cool? Thanks.
Paige
Sometimes I really dig my job.
A couple weeks back at Enterprise 2.0 Boston, I chaired the Launch Pad program. This was my third time coordinating this contest and the process is getting a little smoother and I’m feeling more confident each time I have another experience under my belt.
Regardless of any on-stage brain farts I exhibit or how many times I say “um,” the satisfaction gleamed from seeing this contest from start to finish always comes down to the people I have the opportunity to work with.
This year the Final Four came from across the globe. Alex Moore of Baydin came from Melrose, MA. Tilman Eberle flew in from Zurich. Leonardo Varella-Cid joined us from Lisbon. And lastly, Daniel Kim from MindQuilt hopped a plane from Germany into Boston. These four gentleman were incredibly enthusiastic about their 5 minute keynote demo, and it was great to see them form bonds over the shared Launch Pad experience from the moment we did our first sound check walk through.
Weeks later there are still emails flying back and forth with invitations extended to host their fellow finalists in their native country. It feels awesome to play a role in uniting them. And a big thank you to these four for making my job way more fun.
I’m reposting this piece I wrote from the Enterprise 2.0 blog yesterday…
Just a mere weekend away from Enterprise 2.0 Boston 2010, the E2 team is heads down, focused on last minute details, and very excited about the show next week. It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work and we can’t wait to see the finished product in action.
Believe it or not, we’re now in our 6th year in Boston. The event has made significant strides and we expect Boston 2010 to seriously rock – some highlights include:
- a stellar keynote lineup
- tons of exhibitors on the show floor
- 100 members of the media ready to cover the event
- deep dive workshops on Monday
- and don’t forget, our Attendee Party, sponsored by IBM, is on aBOAT
Despite all of these awesome highlights, the thing I’m most excited about this year is our involvement with NSTAR’s Walk for Children’s Hospital Boston.
Enterprise 2.0 Boston has chosen Children’s Hospital Boston as the event’s official nonprofit beneficiary for 2010. Children’s Hospital Boston, an internationally renowned center for medical research and treatment, is one of the only pediatric hospitals nationwide that focuses on pairing world-class research with clinical resources to treat and cure children. UBM TechWeb, Enterprise 2.0 and its parent company United Business Media, are exceptionally proud to support this organization and the wonderful work it is doing in and around the Boston area.
Myself and a few colleagues will be walking and we encourage you to contribute; you can sponsor us or make an in-kind donation onsite at the event. Each donation makes a difference as every small action compounds to create a significant impact.
More info on the charity and Children’s Hospital can be found here. See you next week!
‘Tis the season. For conferences.
Flowers are in bloom, winter feels like a distant memory, and suddenly my calendar looks like a bad game of Tetris (must add though that I really love Tetris).
I’m going for 3 in 3 consecutive weeks – having attended Cloud Computing Expo in New York at the Javits, Interop Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay, and last but not least – Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco at the Moscone. Phew. Just typing this list exhausts me.
Having attended many conferences in my life, here is a list of items I’ve come to realize are essential in making a conference successful / bearable / enjoyable for yourself:
- Breath Mints: better than gum, because no one likes talking to someone that looks like they are chewing a cud.
- Comfortable Shoes: no they are not the sexiest, but even your comfortable shoes will cause your dogs to bark if you’re on your feet for 16 hours.
- Hydrate: two parts hyrdogen, one part oxygen.
- Charge Your Devices at Night: there’s nothing worse than running out of juice when you need your phone / machine / pager to work for you
- Business Cards: lots of ‘em. You think you have enough? Throw in 50 more. Seriously.
Fun Fact: Xena was played by Lucy Lawless in the Xena TV series. I want my last name to be Lawless.
I served as the Chairperson for the Launch Pad contest at Cloud Connect back in March 2010 in Santa Clara. Our Final Four had a chance to demo live on the keynote – check the vid!
Ellen – I’m soooo sorry I called you Gary. I really have no excuse – please accept my apology?
Also fun to note that apparently my favorite word is “um.” Really need to get that Toastmasters class on the calendar.
I had a strategy meeting earlier this week to discuss Evening in the Cloud – a program at Enterprise 2.0 Boston on June 14, 2010. My colleague’s 9 and 10 year old sons joined us for the meeting as they’re out of school on spring break. We asked them to take notes from the meeting and I have to share….
I love seeing this because it makes me take my job less seriously. I talk about Sass all day!
I’m the Cloud Connect Launch Pad Chairperson, and the competition is coming to a head quite soon. I have multiple competing emotions when it comes down to the main event. Working towards a moment in time – only to have that time arrive upon you rather suddenly – has a way of snapping you into focus and scaring the crap out of you.
That being said, I’m really looking forward to presenting this contest on Wednesday. March 17, 2010 on the keynote stage at Cloud Connect down at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
The contest began on Twitter. All developers, large and small, were invited to enter their application. There was no entry fee. We opened our doors with a simple bar for entry – Tweeting to the Cloud Connect Launch Pad Twitter handle #cc_lp.
With the help of my Jurors, we vetted the submissions and narrowed them down to our favorite 8. We then asked the Cloud Connect community to vote on their favorite tool, and the Final Four earned their right to present on the main stage, as well as earn other cool prizes.
The last Launch Pad contest I chaired was at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in San Francisco in November 2009. To prepare before getting up to present, I did push ups backstage with my buddy Justin to relieve some of the nervous tension that built up in my body. Hopefully it won’t come down to that this time…
And I’m bring the dino back.
I’m usually pretty on the ball when it comes to other peoples’ birthdays. It’s a time to celebrate the day that someone you care about entered the world. I’m big on birthdays – I like to spoil the people I love. It’s almost as much for them as it is for me. I’m grateful to have them in my life as a positive influence.
While I do know my own birthday (October 5th for any of you who care to take note) I did miss my blog’s 2 year birthday. Happy Birthday Torn Paige!
My first post was written on February 11, 2008 – over two years ago now. Time has an eerie way of startling you. When you measure a child’s age, how long you’ve been in a relationship or had that same job — that thing that is always just there suddenly has a metric that can feel right on or completely disproportionate. 2 years has flown by.
To commemorate Torn Paige’s birthday, I want to celebrate my first post by reposting it here – the post is called Watch This Space:
I’m crumbling under the pressure of the first post. This is the big one. Where the stage is set. I need to define my voice and purpose so you’ll either read on or move on. *Gulp* Here goes:
In an effort to capture the technological evolution we are in the midst of, I want to document the surfacing trends that appear where business and technology collide. This change is crashing rather loudly into the enterprise from various angles. As the next generation of the workforce — my generation — begins to permeate the market, my older colleagues must rise to the occasion and evolve with them.
As a 25 year old woman in the web 2.0 space, I bridge the gap between the old and new ways business is conducted. I am part of the community building the next generation of the Internet. And I hope we don’t screw it up. I’m a witness to the socialization and democratization of the web. This cultural phenomenon is pretty exciting stuff, as it changes the way we interface, work and play.
The implications of a social web are left to be discovered, but as the enterprise strives towards agility, transparency and increased collaboration, my bet is that the early adopters will surge forward. Watch this space.
Happy birthday to meee (screeching, off-key voice)!
