MatthewPoyiadgi.com » Social Media

Keeping IT cool

Matthew Poyiadgi — Fri, 20 May 2011 08:57:05 +0000

Gadgets are the new cool – everyone wants the latest mobile phone, iPad 2, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy and a myriad of others. In fact, at the recent CRN PartnerConnect conference at the Ricoh Arena, where we talked about cloud business opportunities and mobility, our CEO Todd Thibodeaux brought all of these devices with him in his hand luggage and showed them to the audience, which generated a combination of laughter and interest. Todd also talked about making IT cool (http://blog.comptia.org/2011/05/09/making-it-cool/) and I would like to pick up on this.

When I present to audiences about some of the trends in technology, eyebrows are always raised when I ask about engaging our young employees and utilizing social media for business. Why? The younger generation are digital natives and they live and breath the technology that so fascinates my generation. For them, it is their oxygen, a gateway to the outside world. They also understand how it works, how it connects, and how to maximize it, so why do we push back and in some cases not allow social media sites in the office during work time. My view is that we should encourage its use, and also invite the younger generation to tell us how we can build sites to target the new generation on the platforms they are so comfortable with. That is how we can tie “cool” and “IT” together, and create a new harmony in the workplace. More importantly, by doing this we make our companies a more exciting place to work and we will attract the new generation to want to work for us. Today they have a choice, and those with the skills and talent will decide whether they want to add us to their CV. They are vitally important to our success, regardless of how cool we think our company is – we must engage them on their terms, because they are both our workforce and our customer of tomorrow.

Above was the view at the Ricoh Arena from my room when I drew the curtains in the morning. What a great idea to combine corporate hospitality suites with hotel bedrooms to maximize use of the space. Another cool.

Communities

Matthew Poyiadgi — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:29:17 +0000

The CompTIA Annual Member Conference (#amm11) and Colloquium event are both over. Some enlightening sessions and excellent networking for a solid 2 days. Highlights of my presentation can be found at: http://blog.comptia.org/2011/04/07/making-social-media-work-for-your-business/

My main takeaway – technology drives communities. Whilst Facebook is great and accounts for 4-5% of all the time we spend online, less obvious communities like Ravelry is what it is all about for me. Specialised groups, in this case with an interest in knitting and crocheting, bring like-minded people together. Don’t understimate the power of the knitters – there are 1.2 million members to this community. That is technology’s true power.

New Marketing

Matthew Poyiadgi — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:05:44 +0000

The share price of H&H Imports jumped $50 million in one day after 50 Cent tweeted about the company. Investigating further, it seems companies have worked out that celebrity endorsements can catapult their product to the headlines. Some are paying celebs anywhere from $100 – $10,000 per tweet to promote their brand. New marketing indeed, although just spotted here in the UK that the authorities are looking to clamp down on this – spoilsports!

2010 closing thoughts

Matthew Poyiadgi — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:51:39 +0000

Here are my three closing thoughts for 2010:

1. As we transition to the cloud, I am seeing an increase in the US of sites that cater to borrowing, such as NeighborGoods, ShareSomeSugar and SnapGoods. Will we move away from ownership and borrow everything? Quite possibly – and if we no longer collect books, music and movies, it will also free up shelf space too.

2. Social media was headline news all year. Will this evolve into Social TV, with billions of TVs connected to the internet and allow you to run live commentaries with your acquaintances? Will we ever be left alone again? We need to get used to a life where others are looking in.

3. Finally, and most importantly, research at Princeton University discovered that £47,000 is the level of income beyond which there is no improvement in emotional well-being. How interesting. Could this figure be the perfect balance between challenge, satisfaction and a stress-free day?

Whatever does or doesn’t materialise, we must get accustomed to change. It is taking place whether we like it or not. Personally, I enjoy it.

Going Social

Matthew Poyiadgi — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 11:54:52 +0000

I have no idea how tomorrow’s devices will shape up, but I do know they are taking over the world and most of us will be online for longer. There are 1.8 billion internet users (half of them from just 5 countries), Tencent in China is the largest social network with 637m users, the ramp-up time for new products in this space is setting new records (28 days to sell the first million iPads), Oprah has 4.5m Twitter followers, commerce and shopping is now on your handheld device, and Steve Jobs (genius) remains king of the jungle! Are you a part of the Facebook/Apps/Google revolution – is your company and product fast/easy/fun – if not, you are standing still, and may well get left behind.

Backwards to go forwards

Matthew Poyiadgi — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 07:58:46 +0000

Followed an interesting series of articles/videos/conversations around networking and the “new” Twitter. In conclusion I agree with Seth Godin, who said there is little value in building large numbers of followers. It doesn’t benefit them and it certainly adds almost nothing to your objectives. What you need to do, and I agree, is find the 10, 20, 25 people who are key to your network; the influencers, the one-percenters, the sneezers, call them what you will, who have an impact in your career, decisions, network and future. The people that make things happen. Doesn’t that sound more managable?

TV debate

Matthew Poyiadgi — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:43:48 +0000

Twitter is adding a new dimension to television. Watching TV whilst tweeting is like listening to live commentary. It also turns a solitary pastime like watching TV into a communcal one, and you get to have your say. It is time Twitter was incorporated into plasma TVs for same-screen action and TV audiences for political debates include the Twitter brigade.

Superbowl ads go online for maximum impact

Matthew Poyiadgi — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:27:00 +0000

I was fortunate enough to be in the US last weekend, and really enjoyed Super Bowl XLIV.
There was as much buzz around the half-time commercials as the game itself. Some 100 million people saw the game (and the ads), but 40 million or so also watched the ads online. With so much creativity at play, led by Bud Light, GoDaddy and E-trade, the ads have been circulating the social networking sites all week. Domain name business GoDaddy have attributed most of their growth to the Super Bowl and many of the advertisers have been relying on their Facebook and Twitter fans to spread the message. It’s all about impact and the key is getting consumers creating the buzz through social media – it spreads so quickly and of course it’s free. But ads aside, well done to Drew Brees and the Saints on their first Super Bowl.