Ravenweb Blog

I am excited to have been selected to present at Connect 2016, the premier social business and digital experience conference. This year, I will be co-presenting with Jeremy Kauffman from Waters Corporation . Below is the description of my session: 1330: Superior Group and Waters Corp: Social Business Journey 3 years later! Three years ago, Superior Group and Waters Corp embarked on the Social Business journey! Embarking on the journey each company wanted a globally connected internal communication platform that promoted company-wide knowledge sharing and collaboration. In this session, we will showcase each deployment and discuss how they were able to become successful in the journey from a business value, adoption and technical perspectives. This session will provide valuable lessons learned for you to consider when planning and orchestrating your IBM Connections deployment and what you need to make it successful in years to come! Program: Core Curriculum Topic: Best Pr...

Two years ago, Date on Purpose was launched to combine online dating and meaningful giving. I imagined a scalable platform that would one day evolve where a visitor would pick a charity of his or her choice, and then bid on a date in a nearby city to support the cause. So I launched a startup to bring the traditional bachelor/bachelorette auction online to allow people to bid on dates with eligible singles. With a small core team and many volunteers but no funding, we spoke to many charities, built a website and social media presence, and recruited dozens of men and women to bring the concept to life. Our initial online charity concluded in a semi-formal live launch event on October 18, and I'm proud to say the event was a success and a really, really good time. Date and Purpose is proud to have tried something different in the online dating space – but, above all, we’re grateful for the community of charities, partners, bachelors, bachelorettes, bidders, and visitors who s...

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post comparing technology companies to countries . For Google, I choose Japan because both the company and country have distinctive cultures and have continuously demonstrated expert technical competency and precision. The post and the comparisons were simplistic and meant mostly to provoke thoughtful conversation, but after reading Laszlo Bock's  Work Rules , it is evident that I was right about at least one thing: Google does have a truly distinctive culture. In Work Rules , Bock summarizes the pillars of Google's culture and details how the company's People Operations function works and has evolved with the rapid growth of the company. It is fascinating as an insider's view of Google and also as a primer for other organizations. There's abundant material here that company leaders and HR specialists can use, tweak, test, and implement. As a high level summary, Bock distills key "work rules" into ten steps that can tr...

On April 14, I will be participating in a University at Buffalo (UB) Career Services live webinar targeted to students about the importance of making career connections. The webinar will include an online panel discussion in which UB alumni will share their experiences of establishing career connections and networking, both online and in-person. Below are the webinar details: The Career Mentor Experience Part 2: Meeting a mentor Tuesday, April 14, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. https://youtu.be/zfg_0a5IX-U

I was predisposed to want to read Stuart Scott's Every Day I Fight . I'd always liked what he brought to ESPN SportsCenter and how he helped evolve the brand to reach new audiences. I also respected and related to how much it meant to him to be a dad to his two girls. Still, I was a little surprised by how heartfelt, honest, and reflective he was in what would be his posthumous memoir. I think I was expecting a book mostly about ESPN and the many athletes Scott had interviewed over the years. Figures like Lebron James, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods. While these subjects are in the book, they are overshadowed by the larger themes that Scott wanted to leave behind: his indomitable love for his daughters and his thoughts and feelings about cancer. I appreciate Scott's willingness to bare all and be completely vulnerable about getting sick and living with cancer. I am sure many will enjoy his anecdotes about ESPN, but I suspect many more will draw inspiration from his wor...

Last week, I attended a two day business meeting that was held at the Herman Miller New York City office. I had heard of Herman Miller before but had no idea how much they've been doing around innovating work spaces. A meme they've developed is Living Office and they define it as a "natural and desirable workplace that fosters greater connection, creativity, productivity, and, ultimately, greater prosperity for all". Below are a few pictures I snapped while at the office. Also check out their Living Office information online . Especially fascinating is the Modes of Work elaboration.

A few years ago I attended a conference in which one of the presenters showed the Mr. Rogers "Garden of Your Mind" remix. It went over well and inspired the attendees. Every since then, whenever I get ready to attend a business event where I'll be exposed to new ideas and meet new people, I think about these lyrics from the "Garden of Your Mind". Imagine every person that you see Is someone different From every other person in the world Some can do things Some can do others Did you ever think about the many things you've learned to do? Did ever grow anything in the Garden of your Mind? You can grow ideas In the Garden of your mind It's good to be curious about many things You can think about things and make believe All you have to do is think And they'll grow  

I am happy to be participating on a panel at IBM ConnectED 2015, an event focused on the latest technologies, best practices, and business benefits in cloud, mobile and social. Below is the description for my panel: INV401: Delivering Engaging and Differentiated Customer Experiences: A Customer Panel Date/Time:  Tuesday January 27, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET Panel description: While the pace of business and the speed of content continue to accelerate, so does the demand to engage with audiences through rich and robust online experiences that span multiple channels and devices. By emphasizing delivery techniques including rich media and video, social, campaign management and analytics, enterprise integration and more, forward-thinking organizations are realizing the benefits of competitive differentiation, customer loyalty, and profitable growth. Join this customer panel discussion session to hear directly from successful customer leaders as they share how they are using Digit...