I’m running for the Board of Directors of the Harvard Alumni Association, so if you’re a Harvard alum, you likely received a ballot in the mail recently. I’d very much appreciate your vote, and if you are so inclined, for you to encourage other alumni to vote for me as well.
Well, I was asked. I got a call a few months ago to consider joining the board, primarily because they thought I could help push the alumni more into using social technologies. I was deeply honored to be asked so agreed to run.
Harvard made a huge difference in my life, not once, but twice (College ’88 and Business School ’93). And it continues to wield its influence in my life on a regular basis, from alumni connections to the research the University conducts. I see this as an opportunity to not only pay back my alma mater, but to also “pay it forward” and invest in a future that will benefit not only me, but also society and the world in general.
To be effective, Harvard has to extend and leverage its resources wisely, and one of the most exciting ways to do this today is through the use of disruptive technologies such as social media, mobile devices, and cloud computing. In particular, I’m energized by the possibility of tapping into the extensive Harvard alumni network, especially activating people who to this point have had limited engagement with Harvard.
Imagine if we’re able to get Harvard’s alumni base to interact and contribute just a bit more than they already are today, simply because the social affinity between alumni becomes greater because of these technologies. The implications are staggering – we could exponentially increase engagement on multiple fronts and provide greater support to Harvard’s mission of creating knowledge for the next generation of leaders.
There is also the issue of diversity on the board. As a woman and Asian American, I feel I bring a unique perspective that would benefit alumni programs. In particular, I frequently work with women who for very good reasons decided to take time off to raise their families — and then struggle to re-enter the workforce. I’d love to see the university develop more programs to help alumni – both male and female — as they go through the inevitable transitions in their lives.
Thank you!
There’s a battle waging in the world of commerce, where newly empowered customers are demanding a better, seamless shopping experience. Social commerce is the outcome, but companies don’t understand that this is more than simply putting up a Facebook page. It’s about the impact that social commerce will have on your organization. It requires a fundamental rethink of the relationship with customers and partners, and it impacts at the core how companies organize and operate.
This is such a major shift that Altimeter is basing its first event on this topic. At “The Rise Of Social Commerce”, taking place October 6-7th at the Four Seasons in Palo Alto, we’ll hear about best practices from expert practitioners like Best Buy, Dell, Hallmark, Nielsen, Newell Rubbermaid, Virgin America, and Zynga, amongst others. This is an intimate event, limited to only 100 attendees so that we can have deep, meaningful conversations that will provoke breakthrough thinking.
I’m going to discuss the event in two blog posts. The first one today is about the framework for understanding how social commerce will arise. The next post will be about how we’ve structured the event to be a unique experience.
The event is organized around the four phrases that we believe organizations will evolve through as they engage in social commerce (see the agenda). This will be detailed in a report that Lora Cecere will release just prior to the conference, but I thought I’d give you a sneak peak at some of those ideas with the hope that it will encourage you to come to the event to learn more.
We believe that social commerce at companies will develop through these four phases:
1) Social For The Sake Of Social. At this step in the journey, companies learn how to listen, and build a dialogue with their communities. The goal is typically to build a fan base and to extend brand reach, with the result being that social efforts centered on the marketing and communication functions. But companies are quickly finding that this is not sufficient because your fans want more. The question soon becomes, “What is the ROI? And, how do we encourage our fans to buy?” As companies struggle to answer these questions, the effort no longer is social for the sake of being social, but gives rise to horizontal processes that extend beyond marketing to drive social commerce.
2) Enlightened Engagement. In this phase, social processes extend horizontally across the organization to spawn new outside-in processes. Companies learn how to listen, test and learn and then respond. Tactics include integrating social into a Web site, changing customer service to include social listening, and using community feedback in the design of products and services.
But in the evolution of integrating social processes, companies find that listening and learning is not enough. Fans want companies to respond in a more meaningful way. They want to have input into which products that they buy and the way that they buy these products. This gives rise to the third phase of social commerce evolution.
3) Store Of The Community. As product development organizations learn that they can trust the voice of the community, open innovation processes accelerate and your customers, suppliers, and partners all help to determine the four Ps of marketing. Which Products/services are delivered, what Price is paid, how it’s Promoted, and finally, how you Position within existing and new channels to maximize presence. In the process, the heightened needs of that community—especially their use of new technologies.
As shoppers give input into the four Ps of marketing, companies realize that they can use new technologies—mobile applications, geo-location shopping, 2-D tagging, social gaming, social couponing, smart shelves—coupled with social technologies, loyalty programs and point of sale data to redesign the shopping experience.
4) Frictionless Commerce. This leads to the fourth phase, where there is a redesign of the shopping experience to improve the commerce experience. These new technologies and relationships allow companies to build customer intimacy in new and more meaningful ways. Friends can buy with friends, new services can be delivered, checkout becomes more automated, and channels become more seamless.
Traditional push-based processes will give way to the momentum of community pull. Those that quickly test and learn and adopt will define new brands, deepen customer loyalty and repeat purchases and accelerate time to market for new products. Those that don’t will struggle in the evolving market.
As you can see from the four phases, this it no longer about being social for the sake of social. It is about a new way of doing business where real and meaningful relationships evolve in new ways to extend all the way to the store shelf.
The race is on. Are you equipped? We want to help. Join me at The Rise of Social Commerce event to learn. To sign up, go to www.riseofsocialcommerce.com. Use the code “RSC1” to get a $100 discount.
If you have any questions about this event, or have thoughts about the rise of social commerce, please email me at charlene (at) altimetergroup (dot) com. Hope to see you in October!
A final reminder that the Open Leadership Awards submission process is drawing to a close. There were some problems with the Web site and submission details, so we are extending the deadline to Monday, September 13th at 6pm Pacific Time for submissions.
And I’m offering a special bonus to the first three organizations to submit an entry — a free one-hour call with me. So don’t wait until the last minute –take advantage of the opportunity to connect with me one-on-one and submit ASAP!
Entering a case study is easy – go to the Open Leadership Awards site where you can get detailed information and submit a case study. You’ll be asked to register and provide basic contact information before you see the submission page.
The case study submission has four required essays:
1. Long description (500 words or less). Describe an example of open leadership where the organization enabled better, more open relationships with either customers and/or employees. Include specific examples of the use of social technology enabled more open information sharing and/or decision making.*
2. Leadership (500 words or less). Describe how a person(s) affected the outcome of this program. This can be an individual’s initiative, a supportive executive, or person on the front lines.
3. Impact (500 words or less). How did this program add value to the organization? Impact can be quantitative or qualitative, but there needs to be proven impact. Example: % of employees engaging with customers increased from x to y over the last six months.
4. What have you learned (500 word or less). Describe the journey the organization took, especially how you overcame the obstacles and failures along the way.
In addition, there is a Short Description (100 words or less). This is a summary of your submission. You will also be able to include a URL as well as upload materials such as photos, videos or presentations.
Any questions? Send an email to openleadership (at) altimetergroup (dot) com.
Update: This contest is closed and winners have been contacted. Thanks so much to those who participated!
Last year, I gave away such a meeting for a charity auction and the lunch I had with Solarwinds resulted in a case study that I included in the “Open Leadership” book. So think of the possibilities!
To enter, go to the Entry Form and enter the following information:
No purchase is necessary….but I’d really appreciate it if you’d purchase a copy of “Open Leadership”. It also makes a great gift for your management team! Purchasing a copy has no impact whatsoever on your chances of winning in the random drawing.
Complete entry and giveaway rules are available and if you have questions, please send an email to giveaway@charleneli.com.
*In person meetings are in the Bay Area or wherever I may be traveling. They cannot require additional travel on my part.
I’m looking forward to finally launching my new book, Open Leadership. The official launch date is Monday, May 24th which is right around the corner. I could never have gotten to this point without the help of many, many people, and especially you, the long-time readers of this blog. So a big thank you!
Now it’s time to celebrate, and to get the word out. First, the celebration part!
I’ll be at the Barnes & Noble flagship store for a public signing on Wednesday, May 26th from 6pm to 7:30pm, 555 Fifth Ave (between 45th & 46th Streets), New York . I hope you can make it, but even if you can’t, please spread the word! (http://bit.ly/cxPqy1)
Second, here’s what you can do to help make Open Leadership a bestseller:
- Read/watch the press and reviews of Open Leadership. I’ve collected press coverage and reviews of the book in handy place.
- Tell your Twitter followers, blog readers, Facebook friends, LinkedIn contacts. Add a review at your favorite online retailer, on GoodReads, or “like” the book on Facebook. If you write a review on a blog, photos and images are available on the reviewer resource page of this site. And be sure to let me know about it so that I can add it to the review page.
- Promote the FREE Introduction to the book. The Introduction to the book is available online and for download on Slideshare.net. It includes a case study of how the American Red Cross was able to become more open and embrace social technologies — and in so doing, activated a distributed fundraising machine using primarily social media. Share, embed, forward the Introduction freely and broadly — it’s a great overview of the book for people who want to get a quick look.
- Buy the book — but please buy it starting Monday, May 24th. Bestseller counts are by the week, starting on the Monday of every week. If you’re going to buy the book, then please try to buy it between May 24th and May 30th — every book bought during that week will help drive Open Leadership toward the bestseller lists.