2010 looks set to be the year when we move beyond a conversation about why and how to adopt social tools and begin working on long-term business improvement programmes, supported by social technology, but aimed at upgrading organisational processes for the Twenty-first Century.
There's a lot to learn and a lot to explore. We have outlined the basics of our social business design methodology, and behind the scenes this is fleshing out nicely based on continuing experience and practice as we address new use cases. But we really need to get out more and learn from others, particularly those working inside companies who are trying to overcome barriers to change and progress business improvement step-by-step, process by process.
So, we are on the lookout for opportunities to engage with our colleagues, peers, clients, as well as thinkers and practitioners in related fields. Also, if you want to influence the agenda of our Social Business Summits (see below) or feed into this debate more generally, then a good place to start is the Dachis Group IdeaScale site, where we are inviting people to let us know what they think the social business imperatives will be for 2010.
For now, see below for the main events we will take part in this year, where we will try to talk to as many people as possible who can challenge our ideas, test our hypotheses and fill the gaps in our thinking around social business design. Let us know if you want to meet up!
Social Business Events
Social Business Summit (Austin)
March 11: This will be the first in a series of summits in our main areas of operation, where we aim to bring together an expert group to consider how social business design might impact the way we organise companies and conduct business over the next few years.
See http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/events/social-business-summit-2010/ for more details.
Social Business Summit (London)
March 18: The next venue on the world tour will be London, where we have a fascinating venue and developing plans for a really open, discursive summit.
See our blog for more details.
Social Business Summit (Sydney)
March 25: We have a great venue lined up and some very interesting speakers covering everything from business practice or organisational psychology.
Contact Anne Bartlett-Bragg for more details.
Social Business Edge (New York)
April 19: We are very excited about this event, organised by Stowe Boyd, and we are proud that Dachis Group will be a main sponsor. Stowe has come up with a great plan for the day, some excellent speakers and a mixed format that I think will really work well.
See http://www.edgewards.com/ for details.
Next'10 (Berlin)
May 11-12:This is a strong conference with a good mix of business, marketing and technology people in attendance. This year's theme is 'game changers' and I will be giving a talk that will show how social business design really is a game changer for organisations, with some examples of how this is playing out.
See the Next website for details.
Enterprise 2.0 (Boston)
June 14-17: This remains one of the main events of the year where E2.0 and social business practitioners come together with software vendors and customers to assess where the market is going. This year should be an interesting event, with strong products and some long-term case studies and project stories. Speaking slots are organised by open ballot, and we have proposed two talks:
- A technical talk about integrating social tools via a meta-API to help individuals organise their social information sharing and companies get a grip on measurement of activity and outcomes.
- A business talk about how we move from doing individual technology implementation projects to running social business improvement programmes:
(For the avoidance of doubt: please vote for these talks if you want to see them ;-)
See the website for more details about the conference.
Social Media Influence (London)
June 22 (TBC): Formerly Blogging for Business, this event has been one of the best UK events consistently over the past few years. This year, it will be bigger and better than before, and we are working with the organisers to plan a Social Business track that will run through the day.
More details to follow, but see here for previous events.
Other events where we will be present
In addition to these dedicated events, we will also be speaking or participating in a number of other events that give us an opportunity to meet people and discuss social business design, such as:- Legal IT (London) Feb 11: Lars Plougmann will be presenting with Mark Weston from our client MABLaw about our work together.
- SHIFT (Lisbon) April 16: I will be speaking at the event, whose topic is 'DIY'
- LIFT (Geneva) May 5: We will be at LIFT as usual to see what delights Laurent and his team have in store this year.
- Reboot (Copenhagen) June (?): The original, the one-and-only. Brain food.
- KMUK (London) June 15: I hope to be speaking, asking KM and IM people why they are not leading social business improvement in their companies.
- Fund Managers Forum (Monaco) June 28-July 1: I will be speaking about the way social tools are changing the world of finance and investment