Social Media

It's 12 months now since I first started using an HTC Desire smartphone and I can't think of a more aptly named device.

Before I expand on these comments - some context...

At the outset of this new century, I was involved in the development of 3G mobile internet technologies with US telco giant Lucent where we were envisaging what future services might look like. By the middle of the decade I was working for a hosted services company specializing in Windows Mobile and Blackberry based mobile email services. And, right now, I am working for a company immersed in how mobile and smartphone technologies can be integrated into cars, homes and the workplace.

So, here are five main reasons why I find the Desire so desirable?

I was described recently as a "self-proclaimed crusader on behalf of buyers". Despite the rather condescending tone and context of the comment, I have heard from others that alternative views of web marketing and information management from those who spend each and every day as practitioners is welcome. Those practitioners who do post comment tend to get their voices drowned out of social media by the vendors, analysts and commentators who shout a lot louder and a lot more frequently.  So in the interests of living up to that label, here are some predictions for the coming year from the CMS coal face...

The growth and evolution of social media often puts a different emphasis on the approaches to 'blogging' but I still like to use this site as a 'weblog' in its more traditional sense - as defined well over a decade ago...

A weblog often has the quality of being a kind of "log of our times" from a particular point-of-view. Generally, weblogs are devoted to one or several subjects or themes, usually of topical interest, and, in general, can be thought of as developing commentaries, individual or collective on their particular themes. A weblog may consist of the recorded ideas of an individual (a sort of diary) or be a complex collaboration open to anyone. Most of the latter are moderated discussions.

So, the following post is a mixture of business and personal lessons learned from the last 12 months - if it proves useful to others reading, that is a bonus in this instance as its primary purpose is to log some thoughts to review at a later date...

Sadly, my kids really like 'Take Me Out' a UK TV programme where a hapless bloke is judged worthy of a date by a jury of women - 'Paddy's flirty thirty'. It's the contemporary version of a long running favourite from my youth, Blind Date - only a lot more brutal and, in keeping with societal evolution, makes 'men' the main figures of fun.

Like the Soccer World Cup, which thankfully only happens every 4 years, the CMS implementations I’ve been responsible for tend to come round in similar cycles – giving sufficient timeframes to move from phase 1, through the dreaded phase 2 and on to achieving longer term goals.

...absolutely nothing. Say it again! Say again????

With election fever hitting the UK this last week it seemed timely to examine the role politics plays in the content management challenges many of us face daily.

Certainly my experiences over the last 15 years or so have shown it to be a very 'politically' charged activity.

As the homepage for Internet World 2000 announced in lurid pink and yellow... It's big - It's brash - It's bright - It's beyond...  From my recollections of that time, this is an excellent summary of the atmosphere and sentiment of that dotcom boom peak period.

Many thanks to the London Communications and Engagement Group last night for their kind invitation to present and discuss the area of Content Technologies. The Prezi is embedded below should others be interested in joining the conversation.

Promotion and credit given to CMS Watch (a service of the Real Story Group) and Kristina Halvorson for their great work on the Technology Vendor Map 2010 and Content Strategy for the Web