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December 13, 2006

A First: Business Book Launched on Mobile & Print Simultaneously

The book 12: The Elements of Great Managing was launched yesterday on mobiles (Palm and Win 5 Smartphones) and represents a step forward in content publishing capability for mobiles. Unfortunately, this version is text only and while having it on hand to read in bits in moments of otherwise 'down time', it doesn't yet take advantage of the media capabilities of devices to create a more engaging experience as the underlying technology of Mobifusion promises. We'll have to wait for that.

I'm both encouraged and surprised at the amount of mobile phone based reference ware (encyclopedias, guides) that have been developed by Mobifusion. I'm waiting for media rich versions. It would be great if they also connected to mobile/online communities, too.

Posted by Ron Edwards at 01:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 12, 2006

Hot Virtual World Applications

I had a fun meeting yesterday exploring how virtual worlds can be used for emergency response training. They want to model part of a town in 3D to import into the Forterra Systems OLIVE virtual world platform to do a variety of things from model different scenarios to doing live training instead of shutting down part of the town to do it as they usually have to do. This is already working great in the US in a program being run by Stanford University Medical Media and Information Technologies (SUMMIT )but what's new is starting with GIS (Geographic Information Systems) data.

I have been hearing about a lot of activity from IBM exploring virtual worlds and found this recent article in CLO Magazine on how they are actually planing to use them for training and aclimating new hires globablly
Here is an excerpt listing a few initiatives. I especially like the idea of having alumni mentor new hires and role playing for sales training!

New IBM programs include: In India which boasts IBM's second-largest workforce next to the United States , IBM has begun using virtual worlds to help onboard thousands of new employees who work in geographically dispersed offices. Employees can log on from their homes and client sites to gain a global perspective of IBM, help them understand IBM's policies, culture, products and services, as well as build out their social networks. New hires can interact with characters they don't know, quickly analyze new situations and solve problems quickly. The program began in August.

In China, IBM is starting a global program called Fresh Blue for interns who plan to join IBM after they graduate college. The interns can acclimate to IBM before their official start date and become productive much sooner. It gives them a jump-start on sharing code, discussing experiences and role playing, from simple tasks such as submitting an expense report to complex business scenarios such as how to deal with clients. The program will launch in 2007.

Also launching in China, IBM will use virtual worlds to train hundreds of new salespeople on how to sell products and service in the real world. Because relationship building is critical in Chinese culture, virtual worlds will help IBM salespeople connect with other employees and learn sales techniques while competing for virtual points and prizes. The program, called Sales Quest, will launch in 2007.

In the United States, IBM will use the virtual world for former IBM employees both retirees and those still working to mentor new hires through speed mentoring, group meetings and more. The diverse pool of IBM talent among alumni and employees in the United States will help new and recent hires draw on former IBM employees' collective intelligence and skills, discuss new projects, connect and collaborate about their working experience at IBM, build skills and understand customer needs so they can be more productive. This program will launch next year as part of the "Greater IBM" virtual world project, which already represents the largest presence in the virtual world by a Fortune 500 company.

'The 3-D virtual world presents a new way for IBM to train thousands of new, geographically dispersed employees," Hoff said. "Through technology innovation, IBM is finding new ways to help employees connect, form social networks and collaborate to solve business challenges.'

I think the use of Virtual Worlds for 'Serious' applications is finally coming of age!

Posted by Ron Edwards at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 06, 2006

Leadership Dev & Performance Slides up

I uploaded my slides and synched with the audio from my speech last week using Datpresenter for fun. (whee!)
You can access it here. I added a chat group to it for fun, feel free to leave a comment!
Has anyone had problems with the same audio as a podcast (posted below?) Sometimes it works fine, other times it runs way too fast. I may just have to quit using free tools... and you may notice I need to get a better microphone, too!


Posted by Ron Edwards at 04:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack