The Future of Location: Josh Williams, CEO Gowalla

The Future of Location: Josh Williams, CEO GowallaThe Future of Location: Josh Williams, CEO Gowalla is a glimpse into his crystal ball, given at SxSW 2011. Josh Williams shared his insights about geosocial at this South by Southwest 2011 session as well as his thoughts about how to approach it to serve customers better. Williams was passionate about orienting geosocial functions around storytelling and travel, which he illustrated by describing Gowalla’s approach to adding value.

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Web 3.0 and Social Business—2011 Predictions & Recommendations [Full version]

Web 3.0 and Social Business—2011 Predictions and Recommendations describes a turning point, away from social media to social business. SocialTech Grows Up—Relationship the Foundation of Business Success—Digital Clodhoppers Become Sore Thumbs.

2011_Predict2011 will mark a turning point in the adoption of digital social technologies because the experimentation phase is drawing to a close, and stakeholder expectations are increasing. Organizations and people will no longer gain attention by executing badly. At the enterprise level, participation will wane in venues and initiatives that have no business strategy, focus, content strategy and commitment. Paying inexperienced people or agencies to “share” snappy content will expose brands as digital clodhoppers and push customers away. Individuals will also have to improve their game and focus on the most relevant people in their networks. Stop sending default invitations on LinkedIn. Proactively support people whom you respect and trust the most. The theme is determining and executing on strategy, focus and commitment.

In 2011, the bar to attract and hold attention will be higher, which will present organizations with a new threat: when participation falls, some executives will conclude that […]

2010 Year In Review—Initial Glimmers of Social Business

2010 Year In Review Initial Glimmers of Social Business is the Editor’s Choice of the Global Human Capital Journal—The Best Strategy, Tactics, Case Studies and Insights of 2010

2010YearInRevwCompared to its progenitors 2009 and 2008, 2010 was a relatively calm year because the amplitude of market gyrations was clearly less, and businesses began to find a new floor on which to build stakeholder expectations. Although I watched with high interest the unfolding drama in Europe, I didn’t have the time to conduct the research necessary to do a rigorous interpretation. I did publish a reflection in January, which is not included in this year in review. However, 2010 marked a major turning point in the adoption of social technologies: the recognition that analysis and strategy were necessary to achieve consistent results with social initiatives.

2010 Macro trends

Social has been in adolescence up through 2009-2010 in which “being on Facebook” was an end in itself, agencies produced vapid content and little interaction happened because people won’t interact when brands are talking at them and not listening. People feel it when a […]

Enterprise Adoption of Social Business 2010—Three Technologies to Watch

In this second installment of the Midyear Update, I’ll outline three social technologies that are potential game-changers, and give general guidance for what you can do to evaluate their relevance to your business this year. I’ll decipher them and explain why you need to care about how Geosocial applications are transforming retail, how “federated identity” enables customers to log in to Web 2.0 sites with their Google, Facebook or Twitter credentials and how Web 3.0 slipped in the back door while most executives weren’t looking. [update: the third installment gets personal]

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Are Geosocial Apps Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt & Brightkite Ready for Prime Time?

If your business involves physical locations, geosocial applications represent a tantalizing possibility: people can talk about their presence and experience at one of your locations and, potentially, friends of their friends that have the same interest (or thirst). It adds long tail digital grease to conditions on the ground at a retail location. […]