Conference Round-up

Only time will tell, but I can’t help thinking that this might be the pinnacle of the Web 2.0 and social networking tools bubble and it will be interesting to see what happens over the next year to eighteen months.

One message which was repeated several times, in different contexts was the need to actually use and engage with the different applications in order to fully explore their potential and make judgements regarding their use or otherwise to support existing services or provide new ones. Over the next few months I am going to try and put this into practice, although for the life of me I can’t see the value of Twitter, but I might yet be converted?

Privacy is going to be a long term issue I think. In the years to come will people regret being quite so open and honest on Face book, Fwitter, etc., ?

For me the conference has proved that Web 2.0 and its associated tools and networks can successfully provide new and different ways to communicate and disseminate information.

Probably, unsurprisingly, I had only been thinking about this prior to the conference in terms the tools commonly used by students, like Facebook, Flickr and YouTube. However, the presentations proved the value of these tools to support business as well either inside or outside the firewall.


Other Conference Blogs
Information Today
Information World Review

Photos
Conference Photos via Flickr

4/12/07 - Web 2.0 in Action - Bonnie Cheuk

Bonnie Cheuk
It’s more than technology: How ERM (Environmental Resources Management) has embraced Web 2.0 to address environmental issues.
This presentation was fascinated as it described ERM’s experiences of using web 2.0 tools to create Minerva an internal communication space only available to staff (I think the technical term is Enterprise 2.0, because it remains inside the firewall). ERM is a global company and Minerva was set up with the aim of connecting employees and sharing knowledge between offices.

Within Minerva:
- Every member of staff has a profile
- Online collaborative sites
- CEO blog
- ERM’s Wiki Wiki
- Urgent message - an opportunity for all staff to appeal for help from colleagues on Minerva’s homepage

Minerva provided challenges for senior managers who needed to adapt to staff being able to respond directly. For example, to encourage staff to participate in Minerva, a prize draw for 2 round-the-world travel tickets was initiated. A Staff member added comments to the CEOs blog pointing out that this prize might not be appropriate for a company who business is the environment - as a result there is now a discussion forum and blog about the company’s carbon footprint.

Ultimately Minerva is a business tool, which aims to give ERM the competitive advantage within the industry because it is able to harness its staff knowledge and potential in ways not available before.