Open Source Management

Posted on by under Open Source

Inc. Magazine takes a stab at open source business in their December Issue. The article is titled “The Secrets of Open-Source Managing” [not online yet]. They use Valve Software (makers of Half-Life) and Van’s Aircraft as good examples. The author used the resistance of Netflix to talk with HackingNetflix.com as a mistep (read about it here ). The article also quotes open source experts Eric Raymond (The Cathedral and the Bazaar) and Steven Weber (The Success of Open Source).

The mandatory takeaway box included the following advice:

  • Pick the right problem (to get help with)
  • Respond quickly to your community
  • Be clear about goals and expectations
  • Respect the Community
  • Be sure to recognized those in the community who brought the best ideas

I thought it was a basic article of the topic. As you can see, I am getting interested in the topic again. I added a new category to capture this stuff.

Open Source Campaign

Posted on by under Open Source

I like what Joe Trippi has to say. If you are not familiar, Trippi was Howard Dean’s campaign manager. He is one of the few in politics to understand what the Cluetrain Manifesto is getting at. I am just finishing his book “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, The Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything.” and would recommend it. The book starts with some biography on Trippi, a lot of the story of Dean’s campaign, and it ends well with what he thinks the future has in store. Read the intro here.

Trippi has been out talking to folks. IT Conversation has audio from PopTech where he spoke and participated in a panel with Andrew Rasiej and Adrian Wooldridge. The topic was Connected Politics.

You can also find him being interviewed by Mitch Kapor at Of By and For. I thought this discussion was a little more partisan in nature, but still worth listening to.

With Personality

Posted on by under Marketing

I have told you before I like Greedy Girl.

A couple of weeks ago GG posted an entry about a T-shirt company called Sharp As Toast. They are a company with a great story and lots of personality.

Here is the email I got after sending up for their newsletter:

Ahoy, and greetings from the rounded corner of fashion! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I am happy to report that we are selling bushels of garments to you people. Bushels! And I would like to offer apologies to any soul awaiting their first Toast. It is a miserable thing to be a purveyor and to run short on supplies. I have the patience of a lit match these days for such things. I will afford you my humble reassurance that your garments will get through to you. We were so bombarded by you people that I have had to catch up on filling our supply room. And how. I would also like to add fuel to internet rumors that Mr. Toast may just possibly be put on a REALITY TV show. That is a rumor that I can not deny, but will not shed light upon at this moment.

SCRAPED SHIRT IDEAS: 1) “Third Degree Burns” with a picture of George Burns graduating with three degrees. 2) “Sextant Mama” with a picture of a antique Sextant with ruby red lips on it (look it up in the dictionary if you don’t know!)

DID YOU KNOW?: If you listen to them, Clocks make the sound “tick, tick,” not “tick, tock.” We hear it wrong. We imagine a pendulum.

A QUESTION FOR YOU: Does anyone wave back at people in parades anymore?

COMING SOON: A new design. All you people in my AWESOME ARMY will get the first word at our latest shirt. A hint: It involves Abe Lincoln! Another hint: orgy!

AND IN CLOSING: Please continue to spread the web-word. These days it is hard to find something so original! All those other clowns own all the airwaves! They own the magazine pages! But they don’t own the street! Take it back on the web! Send Paul Frank a CYBER-FINGER! Give Von-Dutch an E-PUNCH to his cold, dead skull!

AND REMEMBER: Well behaved women rarely make history.

A leg of lamb as before, the heart of a lion forever,
JL TOAST

I thought this was great.

Go vote.

Posted on by under Personal

This is the closest thing you will ever find to political statement on this blog:

Go Vote!

If you need any help, these are the tips from electoral-vote.com:

  1. Find out today where your polling place is by calling your county clerk or checking www.mypollingplace.com
  2. Alternatively, call 1-866-MYVOTE1 to find your polling place.
  3. Check the hours the polls are open with your city or county clerk.
  4. Print the League of Women Voters’ card in English or Spanish and put it in your wallet or purse.
  5. Bring a government-issued picture ID like a driver’s license or passport when you vote. Some states require it but if there are problems, you will certainly need it. If you have a cell phone, take it to call for help if need be.

  6. As you enter the polls, note if there is an Election Protection person outside the polling place.

  7. If you are not listed as a registered voter, try to register on the spot. Some states allow that. Otherwise, talk to the Election Protection person if there is one or call 1-866-OUR-VOTE for instructions. If neither of these helps, ask for a provisional ballot, but you will need a picture ID to get one.

[end of public service announcement]

When I think open source business…

Posted on by under Management, Open Source

When I think of transparency and operating as an open source business, I think of what BzzAgent is doing with their blog.

The latest example is the post asking where they ask their stakeholders “Who Would You Hire?” They provided descriptions of the two finalists’ backgrounds and looked to readers for their feedback. This week Bzzagent announced the person they hired and gave reasons for the decision.

Back in May, they shared an internal memo that included their cash burn rate and plans for obtaining additional capital.

I think what they are doing is bold.

Mmmm good

Posted on by under Technology

I have been trying to get my head around what was so cool about del.icio.us.

Mr. Ruebel helps explain social bookmark sites with this post. Steve tells the story from a PR angle, but you definitely get it after reading his thoughts.

I went over, got registered, and am now participating. I am starting to see the cool.

More soon…

Discouraging blogging

Posted on by under Blogging

Scoble has an anecdote about bosses who discourage blogging.

In my previous post, I got caught up in the institutions and abstracts of “branding” and “companies”. I am quickly reminded it is people who protect the history of a company. It people who protect the image of a company. Often, it is only people trying to protect their egos.

And it takes conversations to change those attitudes. So, we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing and wait for the rest to come along.

What is open-source marketing?

Posted on by under Open Source

Steve Ruebel wrote last week about Mozilla and open source marketing.

First, I like what Mozilla is doing with the Spread Firefox campaign and am supporting it. I would describe the NYT ad campaign as fund-raising though. Nothing more. Yes, it is for open-source and the response has been great, but it is not open-source marketing.

Did Mozilla go to their evangelists and say, “How can we launch 1.0 with a bang?” I don’t know. I would love to see in the FAQs how they came up with the idea. They do have a forum for Marketing Ideas, but like many forums, it is hard to see what it bubbling up and being used.

They have hired a PR agency to help with the ad placement and managing the story. Did they ask if the community wanted to help? I think they could have pulled together a stable of professionals who would have loved to help with this launch.

I want to say again I like what Mozilla is doing. I want a different definition and better examples for what open source marketing is.

More soon…

Branding and Blogging

Posted on by under Blogging

All this talk about branding lately.

James Tauber says:

Recently, Doc Searls made the observation that the companies known for their brand don’t have nearly as many bloggers.

I was all ready to embrace this meme that blogging and branding were opposing when I stopped and thought—hang on, Tom Peters blogs. Tom, more than any other person taught me the power of the personal brand.

Then it dawned on me. Blogging builds your personal brand. Perhaps people that (are good at or want to) build their personal brand don’t sit well in companies that have a strong corporate brand.

I like James’ thoughts. I think he is exactly right. Blogs only work if they are written by people who have identities. Over time, those identities become brands. Apple wants you to think about the Steve Jobs brand or maybe Jonathan Ive brand, not a program manager developing the next release of Mail. I agree with Mr. Ruebel. Apple is not going to have people blogging any time soon.

Why is the assumption that bloggers will distract and not enhance these mighty brands?

How much longer can companies keep employees from doing this very natural thing of talking customers?

It’s hard

Posted on by under Blogging

There is lots of buzz about the Mazada psuedo-blog [the site has been taken down].

I agree with everyone else. It doesn’t work.

My first thought was to say that corporate blogging is hard, but that is not true. It really isn’t that hard. There is no lead-time needed before you can do it. There is no technology barrier.

Maybe, it is hard for companies to talk to people. Without the veneer. Without the lawyers and message makers in between.

Companies don’t need an ad agency to figure out how to talk to people. You do need to decide how you are going to go to market, but then talk to people. If you are trying to figure out to talk to them, you are thinking too much.

[End Rambling]

Give you a little more

Posted on by under Blogging

Evelyn said I short changed you on this post from a couple weeks ago. Consider this quote:

The best musicians are like the best programmers – and like the best bloggers, although notice I didn’t say the most popular bloggers – they do it because they can’t not do it. They write and/or play music for the same reason a writer writes: it’s how they breathe. And it’s as involuntary as breathing. Most of them can’t tell you why they do it. They just do, and they love it.

This may help you consider reading the whole post.