All in Blogging

I recently demonstrated social networking and social media concepts to a group of professionals via a special version of this blog. I showed among other things how easy it is to locate RSS feeds and subscribe to them as well as the various ways you can view them. I even showed how easy it is to see what Netflix DVDs I have at home, courtesy of a special RSS feed. In retrospect I realize how confusing this topic can be to some people who are accustomed to the concept of “web sites” and “web pages.”

How Involved Should Customers Be in Managing Their Own Technical Support?

Last week I wrote about my experiences when my main laptop computer died. The bright spot was that I learned about the value of remotely-sourced database access through my use of DabbleDB. The dark side: my experience with my computer vendor’s Gold service plan. Looking back, I can see advantages and disadvantages of using social media and social networking technologies as components in overall customer and technical support situations.
EirePreneur has a real interesting use of OPML files and GRAZR -- a personal list of experts that is shareable. Now, I've just gotten through with updating my own feeds-on-web-page so I have some questions about the cumbersome nature of this process, but I like the idea. Check it out; it generates discussion about a variety of interrelated topics including tagging, taxonomy, what is an expert, and sexual discrimination (I kid you not).
Luis Suarez recently blogged and podcasted about social bookmarking services. He highly recommends BLINKLIST, a service that I have not used. I have been using RAWSUGAR, COGENZ, and CONNECTBEAM, so I also have been forming some personal opinions about social bookmarking.

The IT Director in a Large Manufacturing Company Discusses "Baby Boomer Brain Drain"

Last week I interviewed “Ferris” (not his real name) about how his company is handling the pending retirement of senior IT staff. Ferris is the IT Director in a large manufacturing company. Ferris’ company doesn’t have the mix of custom legacy Cobol and Assembler based mainframe systems that Boris the Insurance Company CIO has.