ForbesOnTech

Farewell Fake Steve-- Thanks for the Laughs

I guess it’s true; all good things sometimes come to an end. And it seems that the often-hilarious blog “The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs” has reached that point, according to its author, Daniel Lyons most recently of Forbes and now in the process of moving over to Newsweek.

            In his most recent post here, Lyons announced he was shutting down the Fake Steve Blog, but planned to replace it with one under his own name in the coming weeks.

            For it’s much of its life, the identity of Fake Steve was the subject of a grail-like quest for many of Silicon Valley’s hoi polloi A-list editors. Most of which incorrectly assumed that the author had to be an Apple insider or most likely one of the several editors who have long-standing relationships with the Cupertino, CA, electronics manufacturer.

            The quest took a turn for the bizarre when Forbes’ publisher, Richard Karlgaard, offered a reward for Fake Steve’s identity. Karlgaard apparently couldn’t imagine that the blog’s author was one of his own staffers, which elicited gales of laughter from the small handful of people --mostly former co-workers who recognized his writing style-- who had correctly guessed Lyons as its writer.

            While the Secret Diary of Steve Jobs may be gone, Lyons did a blog to book move, and is offering a bound collection of “best of” posts for $25. The smallish book is being produced by Blurb inc. and can be ordered through Lyon’s Fake Steve blog.

            So long Fake Steve.  I’ll miss the stories of you and Larry rocketing up to San Francisco to go paint balling. I honor the place where your humor and the milk shooting out my nose are one.

            And, Lyons you are one of the funniest reporters I ever worked with. You made trekking overnight from the Foster City PCWeek Bureau to the Prudential Building on Boylston in Boston bearable. Namaste, Dude—Jim Forbes, 07/10/2008

 

Corporate Social Media Mointoring-- Chapter Two from Dave Churbuck

Over at Churbuck.com is an excellent post here on monitoring blogs and how this process need not be based on paid applications that generate maps or Marshal McLuhan like colored Media Hot or Media Cold colored displays. Dave’s riff is suitable classroom material and goes well beyond the intro to corporate social media drek I’ve seen on the web for the last several years.

A statement Dave posted last night grabbed me: ”Sentiment metrics are particularly vexing, volume sentiments are crap. Be wary of tools that purport to deliver metrics. I subscribe to the manual scoring method of sentiment. If it really matters then the only viable way to tell whether a post is positive or negative is to read it and make the call. Doing so will entail enlisting the support of a team of monitors or moderators, or, if you are a sole operator, doing it yourself.

I suspect that very few corporations have “teams” assigned to monitoring blogs or, more importantly, have the bandwidth and authority to take action on problems as they appear in blogs.

In the end when it comes to Social Media and corporations the winners will have teams or one inspired individual that can drive solutions to problems or troublesome perceptions as they appear.

Reading Churbuck’s riff on advanced social media makes me wish I weren’t retired.  Well almost.—Jim Forbes 04/22.2008

{Mandatory Disclosure: Dave Churbuck and I were coworkers in the last century at PCWeek and are  friends.}

Twitter:Strangling the Bird,Or Not?

There are applications that come along and automatically generate buzz and applications that come and go very quickly.

            And this brings me to the social media phenomena Twitter. This 145-word cap limited application is quite the rage among A list bloggers. Contrarian that I am, I have a quite different view of it.  I’m not really very interested in whether or not some one is going to get a cup of coffee at Pete’s in Menlo Park, and I’m even less interested in the fact that they found a parking space right across the street from Pete’s on Santa Cruz Avenue. Twitter might as well be a grill- mounted loudspeaker hoi polloi use to broadcast their regal presence and progression to we lesser mortals, so that we can avert our eyes and bow in time.

            But I can see some uses for Twitter: A.) The best use of it so far was by Dan Lyons, writing from audience at Steve Jobs’ MacWorld opening speech in San Francisco, earlier this year. Lyon’s twitter feeds may have been the funniest things ever posted on the Internet. B.) If I were an executive at a hardware maker or software developer, I can see where my job would be made easier by Twitter, since it gives me a chance to have conversations about product performance, reliability and usability in real time with select customers. C.) The same argument holds true right now, moving into National elections. If I were on a campaign management staff, Twitter could be an important tool in gauging the effectiveness of a dynamic campaign, in real time;D) as someone who was searching for topical local news in the middle of a community-wide conflgration last Fall, I think a dedicated twitter channel could have be equally important to both citizens and first responders.

            I have seen Twitter put to effective use by two good friends who hold high-level marketing positions with PC manufacturing companies. Both use it to stay abreast of customer support issues—which may be one of the most important applications of this mini-Instant Messaging format.

            If I were still working as a producer on Demo Shows, I could see using a Twitter channel for communicating with my audience and for strategic market research, in real time.

            But do I care when someone is jumping into his or her car for a trip across SF Bay to go see a movie? Hell No! I don’t.

            None of this should be interpreted as dismissing the hard work developers have put into Twitter and Twitter applications.  I appreciate good softwaremuch more than most people.

            And I’ve been wrong about things before.  Just last week I was dismissive about my daughter’s chance to win a new car in a lottery. But,  early this morning I got an email from The Lovely Miss Amanda telling me how utterly surprised she was to find out she had just won a brand new 2008 Volkswagen Beetle.—Jim Forbes, 04/07/2008

Advanced Social Media and How to Do It-- a Real World Decision Tree Explained

Preparing to talk to students about going beyond the basics of social media in a corporate setting, you quickly discover there are almost not only are specifics about social media programs hard to find, but getting working pros to talk about what they’re actually doing can be like pulling abscessed teeth in a Great White Shark.

            I understand the reason for this: Individual social media programs are most often tightly linked to strategic marketing efforts and few companies really want to share inside information.

Or,so I thought until this morning when I read Dave Churbuck’s blog here and stumbled on a social media plan tailored for the ThinkPad maker Lenovo and its pavilion at the forthcoming Olympic games in Beijing.

Churbuck’s post  is the best example I’ve ever seen on planning and initially executing social media programs. Mr. Churbuck knows of what he speaks. He's Lenovo's vicce president of global web marketing. He patiently takes the reader through a specific campaign's decision tree, quickly stating why he chose one path or tactic over another. I’m sure Churbuck read his post very carefully before putting it up. It doesn’t contain proprietary information; it’s just the sort of thing a working professional thinks about when they get beyond basics. What I also liked about this particulr post was its presentation, which is like a well thought out text book chapter.

I’m a big believer in the “learn by doing” education model and this post is good enough for two days worth of lectures at any college teaching osocial media and contemporary or future marketing.—Jim Forbes 03/19/2008

{Mandatory disclosure: Dave Churbuck and I were coworkers at PCWeek in the Eighties and remain friends}

News.com's M. Reardon Blog on the Wireless Networks Future -- A Must Read

A blog entry By News.com’s Marguerite Reardon that appeared this morning here begs reading by anyone who’s interested in the future of cellular networks. Ms Reardon uses a filing by Verizon signaling its intent to open its network to unlocked devices as the basis for a well thought out riff on open wireless networks. I like it that she took the time to put two and two together in this entry to get to an important, but very obvious conclusion; open networks will foster creativity and the development of next generation devices and services. MsReardon’s blogs are one of a small handful of reporter social media essays I try to read. If you’re interested in the present and future status of wireless, I recommend her posts.

Those Who Can, Do...Those Who Can Not, Sell Basics; Social Media Today

There’s something of a disconnect in corporate social media between experienced practitioners and consultants hoping to sell their expertise to potential clients. Working practitioners are critical of some because the latter still emphasizing basics while the pros are searching for help in untying some of the knots that bind the adoption and implementation of corporate social media programs.

I understand the positions of both groups: those who are implementing social media programs don’t want to pay for knowledge and services that they have outgrown or developed originally themselves; and consultants make money by selling basic knowledge and capitalizing on subsequent expertise.

The pros know about word press and are looking for insight into some very complex organizational issues: How does n organization Measuring the effectiveness of corporate social media; How do you decide who’s allowed to become the voice of a company; what internal organization do they come from and what department and to whom do they report?

I have immense respect for the tiny group of working executives who have found ways to incorporate social media as a public corporate face. Today, every member of this new category of communicator is hard at work trying to make social media an effective corporate tool. What most of the pros don’t have time for are consultants with old, basic “how-to“, information.

I don’t have a lot of sympathy for third-party consultants trying to peddle social media technology that never gets much deeper than an overview book that incorporates the word “Dummies” in its title.

The chasm between those who have “done it” and those who want to sell or promote services that tell corporations “where to, and how to” begin is immense. The bridges that cross the unconnected walls appear to be being built by early corporate implementers, not many of today’s consultants.

While social media is important, some of the companies that could benefit the most from it are also the least likely to implement it. Take for example the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, each of which have multiple layers of hyper protective managers whose job is to make sure that a public comment doesn’t incur the formidable wrath of a governmental agency, citizen watchdog group, medical professional association or “college.”

Having worked for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the US as a communicator, I vividly remember writing as many as 15 drafts of a statement about how a new drug could benefit certain types of patients ands having to justify every implied statement in a press release to a very senior executive whose job was to shepherd the new drug through a large national clinical trial. But looking back across th e years I believe that the pharmaceutical and related industries may be the best example of a category that needs to jump into social media.

While most competent third-party marketing consultancies are capable of launching social media campaigns there are a handful that may be much more capable than run of the mill agencies. The ones that stand out away above the crowd are those who specialize in “public affairs.” and which have the requisite experience in identifying, motivating and assisting internal corporate “champions,” and not just middle of the litter VPs or directors of marketing.

In the Darwinist world of husbandry, “champions” often go on to become very profitable “sires.” I believe this will carry through into social media, where senior and vetted managers who have established social media campaigns and who understand how to thread their way through the sometimes Byzantine world of corporate politics will go on to run successful consultancy practices and head new corporate departments that ease access to customer and the providers of goods and services. Whatever their path, they will most likely be able to write their own compensation packages, and be able to work where they want.

And that’s my screed for this week.--Jim Forbes 03/05/2008.

Don't Look to Me For Long Lat Coordinates to East Fork Gold--A Warning

Of all the things I blog about, the reaction to my posts that makes me smile a lot are the hits i get when writing about my occassional bouts with Gold fever. I"ve occassionally mentioned the approximate areas on the East Fork of the San Gabriels where I've washed tiny nuggets from a pan. But what really cracks me up is when some poor soul sends me a blistering emal for not being specific enough.

As if I'm going to post a sixteen digit lat long coordinate of where I froze to death washing scores of pans in order to get a few flakes of gold? I don't think so. But there are people out there who want shortcuts to riches lying on the surface. And there is gold in Los Angeles County, up on the East Fork.

So where does a latter day argonaut find gold in the San Gabriels?  The simplest place is down stream of 19th and 20th Century abandoned claims where storm after storm has washed old mine tailings. Restated, you find gold in gold mines, my friends.

But what you don't do, ever, is enter and begin exploring old mines that were not built with box frames. That is unless you have a serious death wish. Old mines are dangerous places and the San Gabriels are geologically active. They are also near fault lines.

I remember reading an article several years ago about the state of California's efforts locating and closing the entrance to old mines. The intent of the program was to reduce the safety hazards such shafts create.  Initially, the state thought there were about 1,400 old shafts.  The actual number turned out to be much higher, more than 20,000 (most of which were abandoned unproductive claims.)

So shoot nuggets is you wish, or freeze to death washing pan after pan of imagined pay dirt in an icy stream, but take my word for it, even at $900 an ounce hanging out in old gold mines isn't worth it. Besides, skeletons in old gold mines don't dream or have access to broadband internetconnections.--  a cautious Jim Forbes on 01/29/2008.

A Professional's Observation on Social Media Marketing--And Some Student's Observations

Dave Churbuck on the state of Social Media Marketing here

If one were to chart the arc of corporate blogging – aka Social Media Marketing, aka SMM – overthe past three years, I suppose some consistent milestones could be identified, something like Erikson’s Eight Stages of PsychoSocial Development. Right now I’d say SMM has reached its majority among technology companies within the early adopters like Microsoft, Sun, IBM, Dell and Lenovo. And elsewhere, probably is entering puberty, cracked voice and zits included.

When Lenovo's master of Web marketing and social media riffs on interactive media marketing (SMM) I listen.  In this case Dave's message is particularly relevant to me as I go over my notes from college student plans for web-based businesses. Churbuck is dead on when he says that technology companies are right at the forefront of SMM. The reason they are leading the parade, however , is because they are letting pros do the baking with fresh ingredients and not relying on Johnny Come Lately third-party marketing consultancies to provide canned solutions derived from fetid smoke stack marketing/technological buzzword casseroles.

Over the last year It's been my good luck to watch a couple of groups of college students grapple with the concepts of Social Media Marketing. Mostly, I think they're on track, they fundamentally understand several key concepts: Interactive marketing is by definition a multi-path communications channel; It can't be adopted or used effectively when management insulates itself from consumers; Best practices in this emerging category are emerging but require two-key traits--ideological flexibility and the ability of an SMM-oriented organization to bind consumers to a brand.

After discussing the student business plans with teams of authors, a couple of SMM issues quickly surfaced:  What internal organization would drive the adoption of SMM; And, what metrics can be used to measure the ROI.

Complex questions indeed. They are also some of the key issues Churbuck identifies in his post over the weekend.

My first reaction to reading several student business plans was their instinctive ability to pick up on the potential success for products aimed at enthusiasts.  One of the ones that stood out was for a SMM attempt aimed at owners of a brand of decades out of cars that can still be found in large numbers putting about Southern California's labyrinth freeway system. The assumptions for this business plan were so well grounded that I believe it to be on a par with the best of companies ever picked for shows such as Demo. First and foremost, the team assumed that its audience wanted information on life-extending and performance enhancing technologies and parts that would help an investment that sometimes verge on  lifestyle choices. In case you haven't figured out what the student business plan was about, I'll open the kimono a bit: it was aimed at the large community of 60's Volkswagen owner/drivers residing in California. What made this plan unique was it's point of view-- that of an parts supplier and manufacturer, not that of a user club.

Another stand out idea I saw approached from two different angles was an advertising driven site for retiring boomers listing events, classes, volunteer opportunities and other activities for people who suddenly find themselves with time on their hands. Again, the intended audience is bound by affinity and enthusiasm.

I was also particularly intrigued by a  SMM pitch aimed at ag-businesses. Among real life business professionals it's difficult to imagine a group of people with deeper roots in their chosen business than farmers and ranchers.  And the information they need to make educated decisions about crops, transportation and weather is pretty complex. Moreover. within each of those categories are big pools of potential advertisers and sponsors. Again, when  I read the plan I thought "students get your degress and get an appointment with Sunkist, Calavo, John Deere, or Archer Daniel Midlands now" If I were still working as a producer of Demo events this is exactly the sort of business technology I'd chose, providing they were able to show me partial commitment of a sponsor, a deep understanding of the demographics of the market and how such an operation could be integrated within the existing or chart of a company, trade group or other entity.

This brings me to a couple of other observations relative to finding SMM savvy future employees:

1.    SMM professionals need to recruit beyond brand name universities, some of the best talent I've seen is at the State College Level, where the emphasis is on learning by doing, not on learning old dusty theories from the previous eras.

2.     Students may need to be convinced that SMM-based programs have the full endorsement of senior management.

3.    Companies that are serious about recruiting SMM employees may want to provide appropriate executives for advisory panels.  Furthermore, why aren't nascent SMM trade groups boot strapping day pass scholarships for events like Demo or other shows so that students can have first hand experiences with the executives and entrepreneurs in this growing category?

Finally under the category of "out of the mouth of babes" this query about SMM: "If Apple is so close to its users Why isn't it active in social media marketing?" Dudette, like totally on track question!--Jim Forbes m01/20/2008

Chris Shipley's GuideWire Group Launches Blog--A Technology "Must Read"

     When veteran tech analyst and long time Demo producer Chris Shipley started her analyst company, the Guidewire Group, one of the products I really wanted to see her produce was a public blog. Chris has one of the busiest jobs in all of technology, so her blog was a project that had to set on the back burner until other, much more important tasks had been completed.

     Well, Chris and her staff are now blogging and the result is something very special here. What I've always loved about Ms Shipley's writing and most of all her editing, is its clarity and voice. While others in the technology blog space thunder on, Shipley's calm voice and clear explanations make her rise above the crowd.

     Guidewire's blog isn't just Shipley's work. it's other staffers as well. And among those, Karla Thompson is using the new blog to develop her own unique voice. Karla's musing on the semantic web here  caught me by surprise.  Her honesty is refreshing and the points she raises are things that need to be specifically resolved by any company in this category.

     I added Guidewire's feed to my list of "must reads" today. If you're a technology watcher, you should too.--Jim Forbes01/16/2008

(mandatory disclosure: I worked with and later for Chris Shipley at two points in my career, Immediately prior to my retirement, I produced Demo events with Chris and wrote the two printed versions of DemoLetter as well as the weekly online version of DemoLetter. I just wished that blogging had been around back then, life may have been less stressful. jmf)

Funniest Twitter Feed Ever--Fake Steve at Apple's Jobs Keynote

I recently told some friends that hell would freeze over before I used twitter.

Well, el Diablo has on his thermals because I spent most of this morning reading a twitter feed from a former co-worker whose nom de blog is Fake Steve Jobs.

            It was the funniest stream I’ve ever seen.  I could easily imagine myself back in the old days sitting in a meeting with fellow PCWeek staffer Dan Lyons quipping wise beside me.  And making me aspirate coffee and then having it come out all brimstone-like from my nose.

At one point today I was laughing so hard at FakeSteve’s twitter feed I almost had an incontinent moment.

Over the years, I’ve covered a lot of Apple announcements and sat in absolute amazement as the fanboys and girls cheered every scripted moment of Apple’s Dear Leader remarks.

Looking back over a lifetime covering technology I really wish the over the top satire of Fake Steve Jobs had appeared much sooner. But, through the fog of more than two decades I distinctly remember sitting in a cubicle in PCWeek’s home office on Boylston St. in Boston on my monthly trips in from the West Coast Bureau and laughing very hard at the high satire of two fellow staffers, Dan Lyons and Dave Churbuck.

For a good laugh, go here.

What makes Fake Steve Job’s blog even funnier is this: until today its author had never been to an Apple press conference.—Jim Forbes 01/15/2003.