On 4 April 2012 I tweeted:

People == Product. PeopleGen < x. AudienceGen ≥ y. TechDelta ≥ 100%. Competition horizon == Tech adoption battleground

This excellent article by @briansolis states:  "…the gap between how Gen Y communicates and connects and how businesses, educators, governments, et al. approach them is only widening."

It also links to this great infographic. I hope these articles help explain my tweet. Appealing to Millennials involves speaking their language. And in this case, the medium is a very large part of the message.

Note: GenY — born '75-'92. GenX — born '65-'74. Baby boomers born before '64

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WCM (web content management) is a growing market. Implementing a new content management system goes far further than just selecting a content management system, designing and applying templates and then populating the shiny new system with content. Yet new systems are being sort because newer, deeper more meaningful transactions are happening at a place some call *The Engagement Layer*. 

This excellent document from Gartner will help you understand why organisations are swapping old for new. If your organisation is planning a change, the quadrants will guide your implementation process.

Knowledge Quadrants

The purpose of this discussion is to apply a Donald Rumsfeld approach to understanding the complexities of quoting for the integrating a WCM System into your business. The web content management system will need to deliver an environment where audiences can transact with your organisation. And to do this in a useful and cost effective manner (one where a measurable ROI can be established) it needs to integrate with many other systems, especially the CRM.

Rumsfeld described four quadrants of consciousness (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiPe1OiKQuk): known knowns | known unknowns | unknown unknowns and, by implication, unknown knowns.

These four quadrants define four areas that apply to costing most WCM projects I've worked on; when viewed from the supplier/integrator point-of-view.

Quadrant 1, THE TASK — Known-knowns

The RFP and ITT hits the desk. Pre-sales guys-and-gals get busy digesting and process the requirements. They issue stock answers to stock questions. The commercial boys work with pre-sales and other business-aware propeller-heads to estimate costs. These are hurredly applied to the spreadsheet  the ground covered quickly because confidence is high — *we've done this before*.

Quadrant 2, THE OPPORTUNITY, Unknown-knowns

The supplier has capabilities that have not been formally requested – it's an area of competance and is confident to estimate at a later stage. For example; supplier-x has an experienced UX team. They've not been asked to quote for the service, perhaps because design will be placed with a different organisation and the delineating line of responsibility fell at UX? It's therefore an opportunity.

Quadrant 3, UNPREDICTABLE ISSUES, Unknown-unknowns

Example: CRM integration with some an unspecified CRM to provide a single sign-on capability. You submit questions and discover which CRM it is and are a little more confident that the required development can be coded and tested without interrupting the existing system. However, what you don't know is the infrastructure limitation and security policy that prohibits connection to the CRM. You don't know this because the project initiator, a.k.a. The Client, doesn't know this.

Quadrant 4, THE HIDDEN AGENDA, Known-unknowns

All WCM projects I've worked on come with a bunch of hidden agendas. These have built-up over months in the form of promises. It seems that almost every organisation's issues are reputedly solved with the implementation of a new content management system. Traditional political battles will be settled. I know this to be true because I've heard it said *don't worry — that'll be fixed with the new system….*

No it won't. Now if I had slighly more sales genes in my body I'd see these as "secondary opportunites". Well I don't, so I don't! I just see supplier and client divide-off into their respective tribal groups. 

Conclusion

In my scenario above, quadrant 3 is an issue that with additional funds and co-operation will be resolved. In most cases work arounds are agreed upon and ways forward are found.

Quadrant 4 is orange not red and yet it's the hidden agenda and associated tribal behaviour that derails projects of this nature.

Successfully quoting a WCM project Requires Knowledge of all Quandrants.

RKQ.

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A new type of Chilli Jam

Please excuse a deviation from the normal purpose of my blog which is to write about WCMS, Social Media, software development and the endless issues that surround the management of these activities. This post is another personal disclosure from my blog: I like cooking, but, I'm not keen on recipes.

Those that know me know it's a Goode thing. (Jippo sighs)

I recently decided to make a chilli jam, not one of those vinegar based affairs but rather; fruit-jelly based. It's sweet and hot! And I'm not talking *English Man's Version of Hot* either.

It comes in three varieties: 

Berry Chilli, Volcan Grande and Medio Rouge

Labels, names and packaging are all important. The labels are hand-burnt with minimalist typography, the jars are recycled and the contents to be used sparingly. Everyone that's had a sample comes back for another, I'm wondering whether to take it somewhere like Fortnum & Mason?

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My blog post of February 6, 2011 entitled The fuel of change provoked an interesting debate on social media and it's significant role in precipitating major change. It's now October 2011, the Arab Spring has *sprung*, Muamma Gaddafi has been shot dead and the whole region is at best described as *unstable*.

So far Saudi Arabia has remained unaffected by the uprising. But all that could be about to change. On October 22, 2011, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud died in America — he lost his fight against cancer. He was next in line to the throne and one of the old-guard. The next inline are younger, they are of a different mold and will likely introduce further instabilities when they come to power. In the meantime, their contemporaries are reported to be impatient for change. And they *do* social media.

The fuel of change = problem + idea (possible solution) + social media + will

Take a listen to this report from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9620000/9620144.stm. Social media has a significant impact on the ability of common people to bring about change to governmental powers.

I remain convinced that social media is a significant and powerful factor in the rate of change being seen in various global theaters.

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In his inaugural address, 4 March 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt said: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". I've heard this quote repeated a number of times in the past weeks.

What is the source of people's fear this time around?

Here are some contributing factors: Joe Average was directly affected by the Credit crisis of 2007: Northern_Rock.

This has been followed by an endless stream of issues leading to systemic mis-trust in modern capitalism and it's ability to care for or even care about Joe Average.

Banking crisis 2008

Banking crisis 2009

Icelandic financial crisis 2008–2011

European sovereign debt crisis

Currency War of 2009–2011

What some commentators say

Alessio Rastani says Eurozone Market will crash

David Harvey knows the questions that need to be answered

23 of the 29 cabinet members are millionaires

And here's what happens when people are paid too much

Comparing then and now

This crisis is different to that of the 1930's, it has added complexities: The Entitlement Generation whose anger is fueled by resentment over the widening gulf between rich and poor. Another significant difference is that of extended bureaucratic process. Most governments operate in such a way as to frustrate rapid decision making, quick decisive action is no longer possible at state level or higher — happy contemplation!

I have highlighted some salient points made in FDR's speech.

I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.

More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.

Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.

Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people’s money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.

There are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States.

Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.

The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States—a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.

In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.

If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.

Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.

It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.

I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.

But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.

For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.

We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.

We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.

In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.

Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933, as published in Samuel Rosenman, ed., The Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Volume Two: The Year of Crisis, 1933 (New York: Random House, 1938), 11–16.

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Immediacy CMS got lost in an alphabet soup of A's, C's, M's, and P's. Someone must have decided it would be a cool idea to give 2 different products similar, all most identical names: CMC & CMP. In 2007 you would have known these products as Immediacy and Morello.

CM7 recipe

Take 1 Immediacy and add to marketing mix
Gently pour 1 Morello
Continue stirring until one marketing story has been created
Allow to rise in a warm market
Bake till nicely brown

Discard Immediacy residue which should compost quite nicely.

Can 2 go into 1?

If Immediacy were a car I reckon it would be a faithful old Morris Minor. Uncomplicated, trusted by many, some learnt to drive CMS software starting here. Basic. reliable. Typically British!

Morello on the other-hand has some deeply technical under-pinnings. But hey! It's powerful and it's sophisticated and therefore fundamentally different to Immediacy.

If you're used to utilitarian convenience perhaps Immediacy (CMC) was a comfortable option. If the upgrade offer is just too tempting — you might want to consider my thoughts about migrating content: http://johngoode.com/content-confusion. Can 2 go into 1? In a few circumstances the upgrade will mean a welcome addition to the drive-way.

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{EAV_BLOG_VER:240e177885d33bbf}

Approximately 2 years ago I designed and built an alternative energy system for my folks. They live in a large Victorian house; 6 bedrooms, 3 floors. The gas bill for the past 12 months which includes the coldest winter for 100 years was £3.60. Needless to say the gas supplier has inspected the meter, no doubt checking for foul play!

The challenges

1. Reduce heating bills
2. Overcome the issue of poor hot water supply to top floor
3. Introduce the possibility of cooking on solid fuel

Reducing the bills

Owing to a plentiful supply of free wood the aspiration to reduce heating bills was more than a theoretical possibility.

Increasing hot water supply pressure

The old hot water tank was replaced with a Gledhill 400 litre Thermal Store (TS). And this cunning plan enabled mains pressure hot water in one easy step.

No longer cooking on gas

Compared to the cost of heating a large home, cooking on gas is not a large consideration — even at today's gas prices it's still cheap. However, it's no bad thing to have the option of cooking on solid fuel or gas and if the solid fuel range is used for cooking it's heating the water and the house too. We installed one of these: http://www.fireplaceproducts.co.uk/Stoves-Cookers/Sideros-Desiree-860-Idro-Wo... (Not the same name but it is the same unit).

My design

It's a bit too complex to explain in detail, I'll let the drawing do that. Suffice to say, the domestic hot water and central heating are supplied by any combination of 3 heat sources.

1. Evacuated tubes on a south facing roof
2. Solid fuel
3. Gas

If the sun shines the tubes get busy and preheat the water but, to be honest, I don't think they've been worth the investment.

The gas boiler is hydraulically common with the TS and heating system but heats the TS by means of an indirect coil. The boiler will not fire if there's no load i.e. if the water temperature is above a preset TS temperature.

The solid fuel boiler heats the 400L TS to a maximum of 85ºC. Above this temperature an overheat condition triggered and hot water is pumped to the radiators to bring the operating temperature back to safe levels.

Schematic

Net result

I have just completed a version 2 redesign followed by a system rebuild and reprogramming of the Siemens LOGO! PLC. All seems to be working well so far.

If the wind will not serve, take to the oars — Latin proverb

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The title implies to groups, I'm not sure which category you're in, I have spent time in both camps: WCM vendor and Digital Agency. Inextricably linked and yet, entirely different.

WCM Vendor

While working at Immediacy I'd often hear this type of conversation.

Commercial: Client X wants us to do the implementation, it's worth Y, let's get our PS team on it.

Delivery team: There's a UX component — don't have the skills in-house, there's an integration piece — don't have the skills or development environment. This project is way outside our comfort-zone.

The commercial team and client both rationalise: Vendor built the product, vendor knows best how to implement and deliver our project.

That's a bit like concluding the best concert pianist has to be someone called Steinway.

Digital Agency

Not all agencies make great pianists! Seriously though, a digital agency is a very different animal to a WCM vendor, the 2 parties should not be confused. When selecting your agency to deliver a WCM project, you'll want to be sure they have the technical depth; accredited developers with experience that stretches beyond one implementation would be a good place to start. Your chosen agency will also have UX and design skills and experienced project managers. They will have a number of disciplines onboard that a vendor does not pretend to understand. Ask a vendor to define what a planner does — it's like asking a northener where Windsor Castle is!

Conclusion

Adrian Newey would not drive his formula 1 racing car and expect to win.

Henry Engelhard Steinway, if he was alive, would not be found playing his beloved instrument in public — for money!

Doctors do not have the time or skill to run the NHS.

Agencies and vendors happily co-exist in the WCM eco-system. Happy providing they know and value their respective roles.

/discuss

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Real life scenario: I'm moving home and I wish to transfer my home telephone and internet services to my new abode, a couple of weeks ago I placed an order with BT. However, the new place may not be my permanent base, 1 week later I change my mind and call again to cancel. Sadly, I cannot perform any of these operations using my bt.com account.

The telephone call

Call 0800 800150, select option 1 — it is about the number I'm calling from, select option 2 — it's not about my last bill, select option 3 — I'm moving home, select option 2 — I really am moving home. And then, having navigated this far: "we need your 8 digit account number". I end the call, go in search of my account number and then repeat the process.

Finally I speak to a customer service advisor — apparently, despite my careful selection of options, she has to put me through to a different department! I wait…for quite a long time…and then hear: "…we've been told to put these calls through…." There was clearly a heated exchange with a colleague. The colleague abruptly ended the call leaving me to hear get the tail-end of this frustrated conversation.

"Ahem". I make my presence known: "Oh sorry about that" came the embarrassed reply.

I'm then put on hold again. For an extra-longer discussion. No doubt my case and company politics and processes being sorted while I wait, and wait, and wait.

Some observations

1. If I select option 1 at the start of the call why do you need me to enter my account number? This must surely be a lack of joined-up thinking or is it a result of disconnected business systems?
2. I have no interest in internal struggles. The call maybe free but my time isn't. Please don't waste it by arguing with colleagues. And, please don't expose me to these arguments.
3. Customer Service should be the first duty of everyone in an organisation, not just those poor souls in call centres with scripts.

More than a script or charter

I quite like this Customer Charter from NatWest Bank. But there's nothing in there that asures me I won't get a grumpy experience next time I call or visit a branch. And this is the point. Organisations say great things about what they'll do for customers: extend opening times, help in the community, provide clear to understand literature — that's all good. However, for customer service to be good there's an additional ingredient needed. It's an all pervasive service-oriented bearing, frame-of-mind, or mind-set. It needs to permeate between departments, between colleagues from senior managers to junior team members. You cannot script this stuff. Oh, and if you keep adding and adding to your automated telephone service, you might undo all your good work. Convoluted telephone navigation systems may reduce costs but they can be quite agitating for the consumer.

Postscript: there's one organisation that really does get it right and no this is not a paid-for ad, it's a genuine observation: Co-operative Bank.

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Who do you trust? If you're a parent, who would you entrust your children to for the afternoon or evening? And how does all this relate to social media and the Royal Wedding?

Bottom of the pile — The Establishment

The establishment category includes heads-of-state, politicians and the clergy. They move in a world of *the well connected* and enjoy VIP status due to who rather than what they know. The Establishment is not at all squeamish about having more than the commoner. They move in "high places" and almost seem to operate above the law.

Cases to consider: middle east, MP expenses and child abuse.

Observation: as trust and respect for The Establishment reduces, common people are less squeamish about calling it to account for greedy and inhumane actions.

Trust factor: untrusted by the majority, particularly Generations X and Y. Would you entrust your children to this category. No!

Next-up — Big Business

This category needs no introduction. It reluctantly plays by the rules and spends its huge resources to mitigate the effects of those rules on its liberty. Tax avoidance, sweat-shops and low pay are all more than nodding acquaintances of this category.

Cases to consider: HSBC Infrastructure Company Limited, minimum wage set at £6.08/hour

Observation: as trust and respect for Big Business reduces, common people quickly make their feelings of disgust known about inequality. Instruments such as off-shoring, futures and spread-betting are not understood, they are mysteries that generate huge profits and are seen as evil.

Trust factor: eroded to near zero. Would you entrust your children to this category? Don't be ridiculous!

Next — Celebrity

Celeb's gain wealth by being popular and for now commoners are happy to watch them rise to fame and enjoy the trappings that come with the territory. To the commoner the celebrity is a hero(in), someone that flies the flag of hope while sharing a common set of values and opinions. Gucci, cool cribbs and fake tans are all in. However celebs are given their ephemeral positions in a chart like manner, they come and go according to the whim Joe and Joanna commoner — they either sell copies of OK magazine or they don't!

Cases to consider: Katie Price, Julia Roberts.

Observation: trust in this case is an alignment of values and opinions. If the lifestyle choices of the celebrity resonate with that of the commoner and the celeb' hasn't out-stayed her or his A-list position, they're remain revered or atleast admired and trusted.

Trust factor: is a bit like share values which go down as well as up. Would you entrust your children to this category? Some might for an afternoon BBQ but not if there's an unattended pool.

Penultimate — Education

Education has transitioned from benevolent-giver seeking to improve man's lot in life to a culture of *bums on seats*. The prospectus has become less about appealing to academic research aspirations and more about a *sign here for a prestigious title* sales pitch.

Cases to consider: Pay £9,000 a year and join one of the above categories.

Observation: Education joins the ranks of Big Business by churning out degree qualified students that find themselves competing among the masses with a commodity qualification.

Trust factor: some predict the current degrees-for-jobs culture will implode and that Education is no longer trusted as the benevolent giver in society. Would you entrust your children to this category? We do, everyday, but we don't consider the education system to be entirely *safe*.

Top Trump — People Power

Common people are clumping together, joining voices of dissent and aiming their killer-blows at all the above. People trust their peers, especially relatives and people that live in the same vacinity; people with similar values and opinions to themselves.

Cases to consider: Lady Di. Who does your baby sitting?

Observation: like likes like. People power is now frequently brought to bear via social media where collective voices join to shout their collective likes and dislikes.

Trust factor: higher than all the above

One further thing to consider. Will Kate Middleton be more admired by remaining a so called commoner in attitudes, values and opinons? Or by becoming a Royal in both title and deed?

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According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwriter insurance underwriters evaluate the risk and exposures of potential clients. They decide how much coverage the client should receive, how much they should pay for it, or whether even to accept the risk and insure them. Underwriting involves measuring risk exposure and determining the premium that needs to be charged to insure that risk.

About a 6 months ago I decided to insure my income because I saw an ad offering something I didn't know I wanted. It seemed prudent and not too costly! I submitted my application, which was followed by a meeting with Carl from Compass Underwriting. Contracts were signed and I felt jolly sensible! In the past month something has changed about my risk profile or about the industry I work in or about the country I live in or perhaps it's about the currency I earn in or perhaps it's thanks to Fukushima? Anyway, something has changed; I got this letter:

The letter

Dear Mr Goode,

Re: IMPORTANT — SafetyNet Income Protection Insurance
Policy Number: SF------162
Arranged by: Berkeley Alexander Insurance Services 8565

We are writing to inform you that, with effect from 1st May 2011, the insurer for this policy will change from Red Sands Insurance Company (Europe) Limited to Jubilee Insurance, Lloyds Syndicate 5820. In accordance with your policy terms and conditions we are giving you 30 days notice of a replacement insurer.

Yadda yadda, you get the idea….

Premiums up, benefits down, risks managed

Here's a summary of the change in benefits between old and new policies.

Old policy monthly premium: £47.85
New policy £110.40

Old policy benefit period: 24 months
New policy benefit period 12 months

Old policy benefit amount (monthly) £1,850
New policy benefit amount (monthly) £1,500

Old policy looks quite favourable compared to new policy me thinks.

2011 will be an interesting year

I shall be declining the new policy offer from Jubilee. I guess they've reciprocated by gently encouraging me to vacate their risk register. The point is this, underwriters know stuff. They know what makes good business sense and what doesn't. I have to assume current economic conditions, unprecedented uncertainty and perhaps a couple factors I'm not aware of were fed into spreadsheet-x and I got pivoted to the touchline!

Curriously this letter arrived the day I made a rather big decision. Lot's of changes in my life for sure — I will say more when it's appropriate to do so.

It's going to be an interesting year.

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How many times have I sat in a meeting discussing a web development project and someone — usually a commercial someone — says "let's do an agile project"?

I get a sinking feeling.

When the term Agile is used as short hand for: no requirements, no docs, no plans, just start coding, I get a bit *itchy and scratchy*. However, when Agile is understood by all parties, it's a wonderful place to be.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

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Be smart, do more with less

The objectives for Marketers have, in recent years, become more closely aligned to those of Sales and curiously IT. Get these roles together in a room and you might not experience a single-minded concordance or world-view but the underlying goals could be boiled down to:

1. Reduce the cost of sale
2. Webify and automate sales of commodity items
3. Build, measure, monitor and grow the sales pipeline i.e. be competitive, find-nurture-close
4. Do more with less
5. Win by means of energy, skill and intelligence
6. Provide world class service
7. Only spend where return on investment (ROI) will be derived

Pressure's on

The pressure for marketing to deliver is immense. Long gone are the days of website *brand experience centres*, where brand managers could luxuriate in seemingly endless web development budgets to produce beautiful but shamelessly pointless sites to support offline-centric propositions. Today, the role of brand manager may no longer exist and the CMO will likely see no need to differentiate between online and offline, above the line or below it — it all has to directly contribute to the numbers! And this is reflected across the board: it's all about getting the sale and measuring ROI. Marketing frou-frou is long dead.

An unwelcome distraction

Given the imperative to turn dimes-into-dollars, to take expense out of the business, to be more competitive, its quite natural to focus on the here and now. In terms of hierarchy of needs, when under pressure, we tend to gravitate towards the bottom of the triangle. Colliding with this characterisation of modern marketing is the arrival of social media. It's entirely possible to spend your precious marketing dollar on listening and at the end of the quarter have absolutely nothing to show for your money apart from a list of positive or negative comments "people said about stuff" and to realise that machine driven sentiment analysis *ain't that clever*. The demo looked so promising!

Forensic marketing

You have a pipeline right? Seek to answer these questions and you'll get an understanding of what to do and why you're doing it:

1. What is the social footprint of this person?
2. Who are they influenced by?
3. Who are they connected to?
4. What are their interests, values and opinions?

It is amazing how much information exists about people online. Where they live, what car they drive, where they holiday, it's all out there, it just needs piecing together.

Social marketing may have started with listening and may talk endlessly about engagement but ultimately it's about understanding wants, wishes, desires and propensities of people in ways that have not been possible till now. I have also come to realise that every type of media is, or can be, social media. Gathering the information to answer questions 1 to 4 above is possible though one could feel it's a stretch target at present. Organisations with forensic marketing skill will gain competitive advantage.

The race is on to work out how to automate this stuff and make it work for a variety of business types and contexts.

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We [ www.auros.co.uk ] were exhibiting at stand D6 TFM&A, Earls Court, London. It was the first outing for our new stand — the counter-intuitive design worked well. And it gave us quiet space to introduce a new idea to marketers eager to learn and explore. This was the first show in our history (that I know of) that we signed a deal at the show — significant and definitely not a black swan event.

Tipping point

For me this show marked a tipping point for social media. Oh sure, it's been around for a while (some might say decades) but the tipping point is about how it features in marketer's minds and hence budgets, it is a transition from *ad-hoc dabble* to *consciously adopt and strategically implement*. Marketers have been presented with a rather negative scare tactic to date: "you need to listen to what people are saying about your brands!" I reckon some have reacted anywhere from negatively-followed-by-obstinacy through to *OK, I'm doing the listening, now what?*

Listening is important

In most control systems, feedback is important. The thermostat on the wall tells *the heating system* it's time to make some warmth. The feedback information in that example is a simple binary on/off, it's easy monitor and make decisions based on simple information. Sentiment analysis is tricky however. There's lots of chatter to listen to online — that's OK, the tech can handle that. There's the problems inherent in language and the way it's used by humans and analysed by machines: "that's wicked" get's a negative sentiment score. Even so, to not listen is to miss some useful feedback.

From listening to dialogue

You own your website, you control its content, you execute email campaigns and you track who looks at what. You know your stats and KPI's. Then social media arrived along with the millenials — the audience that doesn't email or tweet come to that. In addition, social media introduces its own tipping point: people control is greater than brand control. You may not be marketing to millenials yet — you will be soon. What do you do? Take your content to where the people are and figure out how to move from broadcast-and-hope to listening-with-intent. This is the social media world of many-to-many communication. Marketers with a mental model that can be summarised as communication-entitlement or *I talk, you listen* will have to re-learn their craft.

It's no longer enough to recognise your buyers in the market place. You need to recognise the mavens, the influencers, the individuals that endorse your brand/s but may not be a customer. In Facebook terms this could be the positive comments and Likes in the *earned* space. Dialogue with coolhunters or mavens is therefore important but traditional targeting methods won't get your message to them — in a traditional marketing sense influencers are invisible.

Unexpected consequences

Don't confuse social media monitoring tools like Alterian's SM2 with social media management. The two are complimentary but the latter goes beyond monitoring-only to solve problems associated with managing and maintaining many channels: scaling, security and control, and reporting. The unexpected consequences come in the form of insight. Web analytics could tell you how many visitors came to your site but not who they are, who they influence or who influences them.

Conclusion

Wikipedia defines a Black Swan Event this way [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swan_theory ]:

1. The event is a surprise (to the observer).
2. The event has a major impact.
3. After its first recording, the event is rationalized by hindsight, as if it could have been expected (e.g., the relevant data were available but not accounted for).

So what was the black swan event of TFMA? That the vast majority of the people wanted to talk about social media and didn't particularly want to talk about WCMS. Oh sure, it's important but it's a bit like air: we all need it but no one talks about it!

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It'll be interesting to see how different TFM will be this year. Shrunken budgets have given some marketers a stark new reality. This is the era of *do more with less*. In addition the game of marketing is changing. The game of 2 halves: online and offline is now more complex. Online marketing involves far more than just email and website; social media rolled into town and parked right across your plans in such a way that you either ignore it, or you add it to your mix. Not to be ignored too is the explosive arrival of mobile devices; smartphones and iPads have firmly placed their foot print on visitor stats.

Social, mobile and the combination of the two will form the lion's share of your organisation's connection with the online world in the near future. Your precious marketing dollars can only be stretched so far, you need to stick to what you know works but it's also time to innovate, to do more with less.

You, me, let's get a coffee, have a chat, most importantly, let's strategise.

See you there: http://www.t-f-m.co.uk/page.cfm/Action=Exhib/ExhibID=54

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My first "proper" bicycle was a Dawes Red Feather. It came complete with lights and a dynamo! The lamp was very effective at illuminating the road ahead  — all the time I was moving. A dynamo powered light goes out the moment you come to a halt. Fast forward 40 years and things are a little different. On any dark evening you'll notice cyclists, lit-up like proverbial mobile christmas trees with their flashing LED lights and high-power lamps. These ensure that not only can they see where they're going but that they're also seen and therefore safety is maximised. In other words, lights on a bicycle have two purposes: to see the way ahead and to be seen.

The Social Media parallel

When discussing Social Media activities with clients and prospects, they're understandable first concern is to gather some social media analytics. This information tells them what people say about their brands and associated services. Using the bicycle analogy this information is the "lights to see".

Be seen too!

It's one thing to see but that's only half of the social media story. Active participation is the other half — it the same as *being seen*. And it's really quite important. If you blog and wonder why you don't get comments it could well be because you don't comment on other blogs. Perhaps you don't yet blog at all? If you tweet and all your tweets are about you, your brand and your activities then your social media plan ain't that social! If you can never bring yourself to engage with your competitors or even, heaven forbid, congratulate them on their achievements, you haven't got it yet.

Single-dimensional social media doesn't work — you have to see and be seen. You have to participate as well as measure. Social media is a conversation and it involves expressing opinions, ideas and celebrating success even when it's not yours. Social media participation requires a healthy dose of altruism. If you think it's there simply to exploit — you haven't understood how to play nicely. It's as if you stopped peddling, your dynamo has stopped and ALL your lights have gone out. It's a social thing….

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As pay decreases, belt-tightening occurs and perhaps most unexpectedly good things happen. Drinking and smoking costs too much — that has to be a good thing, because some people quit. In the work place, tougher competition is faced head-on by people determined to keep their jobs. And this determination drives-up strategic intelligence.

I've often wondered why junior members of a team can often run rings around more experienced, better paid colleagues.

This video goes a long way to explaining why; when the going gets tough…you know the rest.

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Technology has continued to improve the Internet and the Internet continues to change us; the millions of people connected to it. Over the past 10 years we've seen huge improvements in web technology and I'd suggest this has resulted in the rise of people power.

Internet reach

As an early adopter, I had access to the Internet at home long before the work place. Since then, its reach has extended from home, to work (or in some cases the reverse) and now to smartphones and iPads. You can carry the Internet in your pocket! And many do: there's an estimated 1.5 billion 3G handsets out there.

Websites have changed beyond recognition

Ubiquitous broadband, mega-pixel screens, improved browser technologies and sophisticated software developments have all combined to change today's web experience beyond recognition. Here's a couple of examples:

1. Apple's homepage 10 years ago
2. BBC's homepage 10 years ago

The Internet delivers a richer visual environment but it's not a passive broadcast space like TV. Many Internet users expect some degree of 2-way interaction, especially the generation that grew-up with it — Generation-Y. The Internet didn't replace TV in the sense that it gave more of the same, but it has equaled if not replaced the TV as the medium by which Values and Opinions are transmitted. And because it's a 2-way medium, the bigger voice is the audience not the broadcaster. And this simple numerical superiority has led to the rise of People Power.

What fuels People Power?

In a word: ideas. You might have thought I would say: social media! No, it's ideas that resonate and reach millions of readers in near real-time that has promoted People Power to king of the hill. Social Media is the meeting space where ideas are shaped and formed, where they gain inertia and are given momentum. Social media is the catalyst of change.

The new dynamic

Governments and organisations are aware of the power social media can exert upon them. Unlike advertising campaigns which were carefully constructed, impeccably timed and designed to travel in the top-down direction, *ideas* are expressed in the reverse, bottom-up direction. They arrive without notice and packaged in a transparent container labeled *brutally honest*.

To play or not?

Some organisations worry about participating in social media. To not is no longer an option. It would be as absurd as not having a website or phone system but to play brings introduces its own issues. Direct and public feedback has a subtle way of enforcing quality of service and/or product — audiences trust the values and opinions of their peers. If your organisation is trustworthy, open and proudly stakes its reputation to all it says and does online it's likely to do well. If reputation is what you worry about and the idea of playing in the social media space keeps you up at night, your audiences will be talking about you anyway. Sooner or later, you'll have to join the party.

What is the fuel of change?

Ideas that resonate with people get carried on channels such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter. When there's a strong desire to change something, anything from a poor service that's affected thousands to an oppresive regime that's affected millions, these ideas gain momentum and are given velocity.

The fuel of change = problem + idea + social media + will

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In August 2009 I wrote Power to the People. And the trend continues: thanks to the power of social media, global power bases continue to slide from top-down to bottom-up. Any government or organisation that hasn't kept pace with popular sentiment, wants and wishes will find themselves on the wrong end of 140 characters and that's proving a dangerous place to be!

The current uprising in Egypt is further evidence: the threat to Mubarak and government being so great that Internet access and mobile networks has been shutdown for days. Social media power houses Google and Twitter have fought back. Protesters can now call these numbers: +16504194196 , +390662207294, +97316199855 and their voice messages can be found here: http://www.twitter.com/#/speak2tweet. All those naysayers that doubted power is shifting to the people may need to reconsider their views.

1. http://xjg.co/gR25Mk — the speak2tweet twitter feed
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12332850
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12331520
4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12341554

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Apparently here in the UK there are 1 million people between the age of 17 and 25 not in work or full-time education. Can you imagine the waste? 1 million people not developing and realising the promise of their future? Before I was a teenager I determined that I'd work for IBM when I left school. We'd often drive by Hursley Park near Winchester when I was a kid and I'd say to myself "I'll work there one day". I didn't know what happened the other side of *that sign*, I didn't know there were 2,000 people that worked there. I didn't know they were developing colour screens and disk drives. We're talking late 70's / early 80's.

School, College, Uni…

The point is this, I left school (1979) in an era when the only thing to do for a kid with a slew of 'O' Levels was to go to college and then on to university. But being a self-willed kind of person I told my careers adviser I was going to work for IBM! "Yeah right!" came the reply. Well any way, I did, I spent my first 4 years of employment at IBM. This was partly a function of determination (a story I'll tell another time) and mainly a function of era. A function of an older generation looking at a youngster and thinking: "let's knock him into shape". I cannot remember the guy's name that hired me, he was a kindly old gent, told me I was a rubbish communicator but not to worry, they'd teach me. That was a different era. An era where the older generation were benevolent, they cared, they handed down experience without counting the cost.

It's different now

Young people here in the UK leave school having been processed by a system that treats them collectively as a set of numerical possibilities, that could reflect well on their endless need for statistical improvement. I resent this system. My youngest son is 15 and the pressure he's under to do well is extreme. Why? Because the school he attends wants to maintain its statistical high-ground, their focus is on their needs, not the needs of their students. I resent the damage being done to my son.

No wonder we have a generation of disaffected youngsters. They're the result of a league-table oriented sausage machine. A system that pressures our children for better results than the preceding year for the sake of collective reputation, an ideal held superior to the needs of individual students. In addition, some young people have unrealistic expectations. They've been entertained by machines, difficulties in games are overcome with cheats or codes, boredom has been smoothed away by gadgets. Moving to the work place is going to be a shock: entitlement thinking simply won't work, new behaviours have to be learnt and quickly!

Who gets the best jobs?

Not necessarily those that went to Eaton or even those with degrees. You'll get a job in IT if you're highly motivated, determined to learn even if it means learning by trial-and-error and learning from books. I say this because schools and universities do not invest at a pace that means they're bang up-to-date. You can out-strip them and be useful to potential employers if you have a mindset that says "I can learn without being taught!"

Who gets the best employees?

Employers that choose wisely. Schools, colleges and universities cannot teach experience, drive or ambition. That's our job. As employers we have the responsibility to do two things:

1. Shoulder the responsibility of employing and training young people
2. Choose our trainees wisely

Senior managers focus exclusively on this years profits — and shaping a trainee amounts to a distant ideal that doesn't fit with any contemporary management instruments such as return on investment. We owe young people the opportunity of work and this has to be a conscious decision. We owe young people the opportunity to become the best employees.

PS: On reflection, IBM wasn't my first job. I worked with my Dad from a very young age, mixing reconstituted stone in buckets for the production of garden ornaments and then working on building sites as I got a bit older. Well before being a teenager I used to start diesel concrete mixers, carry 112lb bags of cement and work anywhere from deep trenches to rooftops. I can't think of a better way to inherit a *can do* attitude and thank my parents for putting aside safety concerns in the name of learning.

Related post: http://xjg.co/gerhRi

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