My New World
I haven’t posted anything for months and I think it about time that I did. My world has changed dramatically in the last year and I wanted to share some thoughts, stories and ideas for the future.
I consider myself extremely fortunate to have met some inspiration people in this time. Firstly, Jasmin (@wonderwebby) whom I met at IBM, while trying to piece together this Innovation/Collaboration strategy I was working on. Jasmin introduced me to a number of social technologies and what they were all about. I joined Twitter, started this blog, began using Delicious, investigated, observed and learnt about Stumbleupon, Tumblr, Digg and many other emerging social sites.
Like with most of the social platforms, I felt somewhat fearful of posting something ordinary, that no one would want to hear about anyway. So I entered these waters slowly, commenting on some blogs, tweeting when something interesting was happening and with Jasmins support, I have morphed my role at IBM into an exciting, challenging and fascinating one. One that involves educating, influencing, developing, demonstrating, discovering and encouraging employees, managers and our leaders in the area of social technologies as an enabler for a more networked organisation. I love teaching, sharing knowledge and stories about how these new technology enablers are empowering employees to find knowledge, learn and discover things more easily without the need to involve managers and go through traditional heirachical structures.
Since I have been active online both internally and externally, my life has literally changed. I have now been able to establish strong relationships with colleagues all over the world across various disciplines and industries both inside and outside of IBM. I am able to find knowledge and expertise instantly or at least learn of where that knowledge might sit.
My last post was before I flew to Berlin for the Web2.0 conference in November 2008. This was an amazing experience and I met so many great people who have formed part of my global network. This included @andypiper, @elsua, @ragtag, @delphRB, @jfarsen, @yoverly, @wkulhanek, @silviaemilia and many many more who have influenced the direction I have taken.
I am very interested in the web and how it will impact the way we do things in the future. I will continue to watch, learn, listen, discover and educate people by sharing stories about the web and social technologies and about how is isn’t as scary as they may have first thought…will post again soon…
Disclaimer: the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Hey Karen,
I just wanted to say thanks. You have been the catalyst for my involvement with web 2.0. While I am not yet up to blogging
I am loving being able to work more collaboratively, able to locate expertise and able to expand my network in ways that would not have been possible otherwise as a result of social software.
I love brainstorming with you, hearing what is emerging and what is the best technology to use for my current need.
Keep in touch. Janelle
Karen, it has been great getting to know you and to work with you in different communities. The thing about all of this tech is that we can remain in touch and “ambiently aware” of each other regardless of geo. Always feel free to try out new social tools – we’re all learning here. You’re doing great stuff over there, keep it up!