Ravenweb Blog

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...

I can't believe it's been 30 years since the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was released. At the time, in 1984, mass famine was impacting Ethiopa, and Bob Geldof and Midge Ure wrote the song and rallied other musicians to raise money. 30 years later, sadly there is a new hunger crisis, this time in Syria and with the Syrian refugees.  Please take a moment to remember read about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria and the World Food Programme's efforts to help.

As most of my friends know, through Date on Purpose I am helping the The C4 Foundation raise money for childhood cancer research and support. The C4 Foundation was created to honor the memory of Colin M. Wegner and his fight with Medulloblastoma, a childhood brain cancer. I am posting today to ask for your support in spreading the word about the C4's upcoming fundraiser -- a Charity Blast that will be held this Saturday, September 27 at 7:00 pm the Lancaster Country Club. The proceeds from the fundraiser will be donated to University at Buffalo and their Pediatric Brain Tumor Fund, which is used for pediatric neuro-oncology research. The Charity Blast is a social fundraiser event for singles and couples. Last year, many people came out and enjoyed an evening of socializing, music, and fun. Tickets may be purchased at http://www.thec4foundation.org/date-on-purpose-charity-blast.html .

This week Reserve Hose Fire Company remembers longtime firefighter, President, friend, and dedicated member of the fire service Ron Piwowarczyk, who passed on Friday, September 5, 2014. As Vice President of Reserve, it has been my honor and pleasure to work with and get to know Ron this past year. His enthusiasm and passion for the fire service was infectious, and he loved giving back as much as anyone I've ever met. Ron was a Life Member of Reserve who joined the company on August 4, 1986. In addition to his volunteer service, Ron was also a veteran of the U.S. Navy and a Senior Special Agent for U.S. Immigration. Ron was also one of those first responders from Western New York who went to Ground Zero to assist after New York was attacked on 9/11. This picture below was taken during Reserve's installation earlier this year, when Ron posed for a picture with Autumn Lewandowski before being sworn in as President. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/buffalonews/obituary.as...

I had the privilege to attend and present at Digital Experience 2014 , an IBM event focused on the latest technologies, best practices, and the business benefits of delivering great digital experiences. Though I'm still reflecting on the many great ideas expressed during the presentations, I wanted to put together a quick, day after list, encompassing both the serious and silly, of my immediate impressions. 10. A good way to explain Portal is to compare it to a tree. via @benshoemate 9. California is having a historic drought. Thank you, IBM Digital Experience 2014 event organizers, for the reminder to conserve water. 8. Toronto is an incredibly diverse Smarter City: 240 ethnic groups, 169 countries of origin, 140 languages spoken. via @kristinaverner 7. There are 4.55 billion smartphone users in 2014. via @garydolsen 6. Contextualize digital experiences based on demographic, historical, and situational data. via @sa_powers 5. 50% of user experience is ...

I received the following email from a fellow business professional in my area. He was following up on my having introduced him to another individual in my network who I thought would be able to help him explore career opportunities. His brief note sums up why I connect people and the benefits of a large, extended network. Personally, it was gratifying to observe two interesting people in my network come together and help each other out. Note that I have omitted personally identifying details out of respect for both people. ## Hi Frank, Last we spoke, I was looking at COMPANY ... I wanted to let you know I'm starting a new role Monday where I'll be running the DEPARTMENT. I'm super excited and grateful to have a second chance at working in economic development in CITY.  I also wanted to send you a huge thanks as your introduction to PERSON led to several other introductions which ultimately triggered the consulting work I've been doing for COMPANY for ...

In July, I will be presenting at the 2014 IBM Digital Experience Conference, an event focused on the latest technologies, best practices, and the business benefits of delivering great digital experiences. Below is the description for my session: Session:  BUS-S20 Date/Time:   Monday, July 21, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM Successfully Enabling Enterprise Content Management, Cloud, Mobile, and Social Business at Superior Group Superior Group focuses on the agile delivery of people, process and project outsourcing solutions. Our session will detail how this organization accelerated its content management and social business needs by implementing a combination of content management, cloud, mobile, and collaboration solutions. Attend this session and you will have an opportunity to learn from Frank Gullo, Director of Digital and Mobile Strategy at Superior Group and IBM Social Business Insights blog contributor, on how a mid-sized organization transformed its digital ...

We talk of Father's Day, and think of one-on-one time with Dad, fishing and catch, and gifts of ties and tools. I appreciate gifts like these as much as anyone, but what I value most are the non-tangible gifts and life lessons that my daughter gives as a matter of course, that are part of the big girl she has become. Below are some of the many Father's Day "gifts" I have received over the years, and my thank yous to my daughter. Thank you for helping me learn to put someone else's well being and interests above my own. Thank you for reminding me of the importance of patience, especially when it's taking a long time to leave for work because a certain little person is taking her time getting ready and putting on her shoes. Thank you for your laughter, silliness, and our crazy, kicking games. Thank you for your willingness to try new things. Thank you for your curiosity and endless questions of why and how things work. Thank you for your creativity a...

I recently volunteered at the 2014 NY Special Olympics, during the volleyball matches on Saturday, July 7. The games were intense and fun to watch, and the athletes were more than impressive. I also enjoyed spending time with two of my fellow volunteer firefighters. Reflecting on the day, I think what stayed with me the most is the fact that even if you struggle in some area and are not great at something, you can excel at something else. You can be excellent. Like how these special Olympians dominated at volleyball.

I recently started a discussion about social business in a LinkedIn Group, and thought it was worthwhile to reproduce here. Do you mean social business or social business? I've noticed an increase in the divergent usage of 'social business' recently. Among my peers who work in social collaboration technologies, there's an emphasis to define social business (quoting Charlene Li and Brian Solis) as "The deep integration of social media and social methodologies into the organization to drive business impact." However, many other business professionals -- particularly those involved in social entrepreneurship -- define social business (summarizing the Wikipedia entry for 'social business') as a business or organization created to address a social problem. It will be interesting to see how the different definitions evolve and if there will be any conflation. I would love to hear opinions from this group. Link to Discussion on LinkedIn

It was over two years ago, at the BIF-7 business conference in Providence, RI, when I had the opportunity to hear author Chris Van Allsburg speak. Like many in attendance, I knew of the author's celebrated Christmas story, The Polar Express , and I was curious to hear his talk. The subject turned out to hit closer to home than I expected, as Van Allsburg's talk was about his newest book, Queen of the Falls . This was a lovingly rendered picture book which told the story of Annie Edson Taylor, the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. As Western New York native, I felt great appreciation to Van Allsburg for telling the story but surprise that Annie's story wasn't widely known. I was also excited to get the book and bring it home to my daughter, who had just turned four. Earlier this month, I finally read Queen of the Falls to my daughter. Though I was tempted to read it to her back in 2011 when I first brought it home, the language and sto...

Over the past few months, I've contributed to IBM's Social Insights blog. Here are my recent posts: Social Business Jobs The Impact of Social Business on Remote Work 10 Great Social Business Features of IBM Connections

Here's a video of me from Connect 2014, talking about social business and how my company uses IBM Connections and Sametime.

I had the privilege to attend and present at Connect 2014 , an IBM conference focused on social, collaborative, and mobile technology. The theme of the event was "Energizing Life's Work" and it all got started in the kickoff session with the up-tempo "Best Day of My Life" from the band American Authors . From there, the ideas, technology, and people in attendance fueled the energy and collaboration until the event closed against the panoramic backdrop of Mars . Many of the Connect speakers and sessions focused on the current pillars in technology: social business, mobile, big data and analytics, and cloud. To get a sense of the richness of topics on display at Connect, search the Twitter hashtag #IBMConnect to start. Within that mix, below are some of the specific topics and technologies that held my attention. Sametime 9 - I was impressed with Sametime 9, particularly the strides in high-fidelity video across devices. Spending a lot of time as I do t...

Below are the dates, times, and locations of my  Connect 2014  presentations. If you attend one or both of the sessions, please say hello afterwards. Session:  ECE104 Program Stream 1:  For Business Leaders Track 03:  Solutions for Exceptional Customer Experiences Brand Refresh and Responsive UI at the Superior Group When: January 28, 10:00 - 11:00 am Where: Swan Ballroom 7-8 Founded in 1957, Superior Group focuses on the agile delivery of people, process and project outsourcing solutions. When your business is people, brand is critical. Mobility is also critical as HR professionals and recruits are not always sitting in front of their computer. Come to this session to see how The Superior Group partnered with Avnet Services to deliver a new brand, leveraging rich content management capabilities. In addition to the new brand, the new sites are fully responsive so users are given the proper experience from any device. You will learn the business drive...

This year, I will be presenting during two sessions at Connect 2014 , an IBM conference focused on social, collaborative, and mobile technology. I will be speaking about my company's implementation of IBM Connections (a social network for the enterprise) and responsive web design. Below are the descriptions for both of my sessions: Session: ECE104 Program Stream 1: For Business Leaders Track 03: Solutions for Exceptional Customer Experiences Brand Refresh and Responsive UI at the Superior Group Founded in 1957, Superior Group focuses on the agile delivery of people, process and project outsourcing solutions. When your business is people, brand is critical. Mobility is also critical as HR professionals and recruits are not always sitting in front of their computer. Come to this session to see how The Superior Group partnered with Avnet Services to deliver a new brand, leveraging rich content management capabilities. In addition to the new brand, the new sites are full...

I was very busy in 2013 launching Date on Purpose, and unfortunately did not read as much as in past years. Still, even though I read less, I enjoyed a lot of what I read from this past year. Notable titles included Daring Greatly by Brene Brown (go watch her TED talks right now if you are unfamiliar with her), Tina Fey's Bossypants (hilarious), and  The Four-Hour Work Week  by Timothy Ferriss (an inspiring, get off your ass book). I also reread The Hunger Games trilogy and enjoyed them just as much the second time around. Happy Holidays and happy reading! Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel H. Pink The Impact Equation: Are You Making Things Happen or Just Making Noise? by Chris Brogan and Juliet Stanwell Smith State of Wonder by Ann Patchett A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins Bossypants by Tina Fey The Shift by Wayne W. Dyer Garbology: Our Dir...

I haven't blogged much this year, but not because I haven't had thoughts and ideas. I've been away for a number of reasons, but mostly because I spent a lot of my excess time this year working to launch Date on Purpose . If you haven't heard of Date on Purpose yet, this is a sustainable business that gives away half its profits to charity. To do this, Date on Purpose has brought the traditional bachelor/bachelorette auction online and provides a platform allowing users to bid on dates with eligible bachelors and bachelorettes for charity. Date on Purpose launched in my home city of Buffalo, NY. Our first online auction went live in September 2013 and the dates for that auction and launch party took place on October 18, 2013. With no major sponsors or outside investment, we were able to raise and donate $2,500 to Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo. Date on Purpose news and press Date on Purpose launch event photos My thanks to an amazing startup te...

My fellow firefighter Dan Frontera, a Veterans Service Coordinator, regularly runs in WNY races to remember those soldiers from WNY who lost their life in Iraq and Afghanistan and raise funds for a WNY Iraq / Afghanistan memorial. Thanks to Dan's efforts, the memorial is going to be a reality, and there will be a fundraiser in September. Below are the event details WNY Iraq / Afghanistan Memorial (IAM) Fundraiser September 21, 2013 3pm-9pm Harvey Morin VFW Post 965 Center Road, West Seneca, NY 14224 $25 donation per ticket For tickets, access http://www.wnyiam.org/ .