Bird's Eye View

What if...?

My firm, Wf360, is up to its ears in preparing for the 9th annual 360 Summit, which we have co-hosted for nearly a decade with NYSE Euronext. It's a special evening for about 200 senior officers and board directors of publicly listed corporations. We begin with cocktails on the trading floor and then dinner upstairs. It's an invitation only evening, meaning people can't simply buy a ticket. So attendees are pretty well guaranteed that the people they are seated next to at dinner will be peers and, we hope, interesting to them. And they can be assured they will not be asked to contribute money to a cause, worthy or not; it's not a philanthropy dinner. 

Basically, it is an unusual opportunity for a group of business and thought leaders from a variety of industries to engage in candid conversation over dinner about topics of importance to business leaders everywhere. And for the past five years, we've given the 360 Leadership Award to someone we feel epitomizes the 360 Leader, based on the following criteria:

1.    Their ability to perform with excellence in several arenas, each requiring different skills
2.    Their ability to draw on different aspects of their personality as the situation requires, so that their response (whether calling for traits traditionally seen as masculine, i.e. decisiveness, toughness, force of will; or feminine, i.e. collaborative, inclusive, empathic) is appropriate to the venue, the people involved, and the nature of the issue at hand
3.    Their ability to think globally, recognizing that today’s opportunities – and challenges – can come from anywhere in the world
4.    Their ability to see life and its challenges in an historic context, employing lessons from an understanding of the past to lead effectively into the future

Past recipients of the award are:
•    2004: Her Majesty, Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, introduced by Pat Mitchel, President and CEO, Paley Center for Media
•    2005: Christine Lagarde, Madame la Ministre du Finance, France, introduced by Everett Schenk, CEO, North American Corporate & Investment Banking, BNP Paribas
•    2006: Anne Stevens, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Ford Motor Company, introduced by Kathryn Swintek, Global Co-Head, BNP Paribas
•    2007: Anne Lauvergeon, Chairman of the Executive Board, Areva (France), introduced by Alan Hanson, EVP, Areva

This year’s 360 Leadership Award will be presented at the dinner to Helen Alexander, who recently stepped down from her position as CEO, The Economist Group.  She'll now be Senior Advisor to Bain Capital and serves on several major corporate boards as well.  An interesting writeup on Helen appeared in the Sunday London TImes this year.  

I'll be back tomorrow to share more about this remarkable dinner and how the conversation is paramount.

Expanding Your Brand Conversation Through Blogs

I've been blown away with how many bloggers have picked up on our MyVetwork story.  Of course, it's a pretty neat story: everyone feels we need to do more to ensure that our nation's service men and women get the services and resources they deserve.  And to connect them meaningfully with one another the way MyVetwork does makes this even better.  So, yes, it is an obviously good story.

When the blogosphere gets hold of such a story, it can really take off.  There were several bloggers who have been highly generous in their help to spread the word about MyVetwork.  One is Lewis Green, himself a vet and marketing wizard who responded enthusiastically months ago when MyVetwork was a mere glimmer of an idea.  For the public launch this past Tuesday, he helped refine our press release, put it up on his own blog, took it upon himself to go beyond the call to help.  He deserves a medal.  Here's where you can find Lewis.

Then there is Amy Jussel.  A truly gifted writer who runs an amazing operation called Shaping Youth, a non profit consortium of media and marketing professionals concerned about harmful messages to children.  Shaping Youth uses tools and techniques of media industry insiders to flip creative content in a healthier direction.  She's a phenomenon.  On top of that, she's a self-described "military brat" and fell in love with MyVetwork.  So take a look at what she wrote on her blog.

We're thrilled and grateful to both Lewis and Amy and all the others out there helping spread the word that anyone with an interest in our service men and women should get on board at myvetwork.com.

Love that blogosphere and the people who make it so much fun to be part of it all. Be sure to seek out bloggers if you want their help in marketing your product or service.

When a Picture is Worth 10,000 Words

It's true. Sometimes when you can't put into words how you feel, a picture can help. You know I'm obsessed with the power of the word, whether spoken or written but there are times when a picture just, dare I say it?--does it better.

That's what happened yesterday. We wanted to thank a group of people who have really gone the extra mile for us to help launch MyVetwork publicly. The web designers, the platform developers, the marketers, the PR team, financial supporters, prospective sponsors, assorted friends who have simply "been there" with advice and hot coffee when our spirits flagged...we don't have the budget to send them all a gift and we know they would question the propriety of such expenditures. But just a thank you note didn't seem to cut it.

So here's what we wrote, and the image with which we accompanied it:

"John and I know you deserve a (see below) for all you did--above and beyond the call--to  listen to my MyVetwork stories and cheer on MyVetwork.com's launch to be a major success. Many, many thanks, Gang, for helping our Nation's service men and women and their families. I'd not lived through this launch without you...

Here's to battling on and taking the hill!"

 
 

 

 What do you think happened?  People loved it and wrote to thank us for their medal!

 

Word of Mouth Needs Encouragement

Sometimes I think people unfamiliar with the inside machinations of initiating and sustaining viral marketing think that one person tells one friend, and they each tell two more and voila! the whole world knows, seemingly overnight.  But that's not so.  Usually there is a great deal of effort involved in lighting the spark, in finding the best way to breathe the word of mouth to life.  It may seem to happen overnight, but there is usually a somewhat slow steady beginning before things take off.  In fact my company's business premise is based on the need for what we call this process: Brandversation.

But sometimes it's best to have someone else tell your story. That's why people hire us to build a strategy for their particular Brandversation.

We're no different (much like the saying that a smart attorney knows that "He who represents himself has a fool for a client").

As I've mentioned here, we've been heavily involved in the launch of MyVetwork, the online social network designed specifically for military personnel and their families, so they can use it to shape their own community.  MyVetwork is a phenomenon, really.  There is no other online opportunity out there like this for our service men and women.  Based on sophisticated algorithms underlying the platform, members are able--at no cost--to find the handful of content and people (out of thousands, potentially millions of individuals) they would really like to know, based on what they've indicated is important to them.  What's fascinating about its application for this particular audience, is that to a certain extent military people are known to place trust in others who have "walked in their boots."  Get a couple of guys together who have experienced combat and it doesn't matter when or where they served, they have an instant bond the rest of us can only envy, never duplicate.

But truth is, that bond--felt pretty universally among all people who have served--is fairly uni-dimensional.  It doesn't mean that going forward, they want to have a great deal to do with one another.  Within a large pool of fellow service men and women (and we're talking millions), each person still has certain things they deem important (interests, aspirations, skillsets etc.) that make them gravitate to certain people rather than others.  Put simply, based on its sophisticated platform, MyVetwork can recommend the several people who are most likely--out of this huge pool--to be people you want to know and because they are all related to the military in some fundamental way, there is an assumption of basic trust.

So we decided we needed an outside media company to get things off the ground, especially because MyVetwork as an umbrella community is a concept not easily understood.   Easily experienced, yes.  But not easily understood in the abstract.  So we hired a terrific firm called Grow Marketing, headquartered in San Francisco and they took over, identifying the facts about MyVetwork that would be most important to media types from those not so important.  They put together lists of media people they wanted to approach--print, television, bloggers, radio...you name it.  And then approach them they did.

The result?  A truly terrific, well researched article in USA Today that captures beautifully what MyVetwork is about.  And numerous radio interviews, some television and many blog posts.  So they got the conversation started, which Grow tells us resulted in over 80 million impressions.  Now, it's up to us to sustain it.  Check with me later and I'll tell you how we're doing.  For now, we're delighted to see more and more people signing onto MyVetwork to take advantage of all that it offers for free.

And the new MyVetwork members are telling their friends to join up, too.  So apparently they feel it's worth talking about.  But I can tell you this didn't happen spontaneously.  It just looks that way. 

The Conversation About Veterans

Today is Veterans Day, the special day when our nation stops to honor and give thanks to our military veterans and their families.  Some of the conversations that take place today just don't happen the rest of the year: children learn details of their Mom or Dad's service in combat zones, often facts they hadn't shared before but allow their tongues to loosen when they hear the parade drum and bugle corps and see the flags.  Sometimes people talk about relatives long gone, whose wartime service defined their lives...and the lives of their family members.

I mentioned yesterday that today, November 11, is the launch of MyVetwork, the online social network for service men and women and their families. MyVetwork took part in the New York Veterans Day parade, so I thought you'd like to see what a Veterans Day parade looks like in Manhattan.  Perhaps not surprisingly, it looks a lot like the ones we held in my home town in Wisconsin...and I'm sure they still do now.  There is usually a good contingent of firefighters and police, made up of the veterans who now serve on the force.

And flags.  Lots of American flags.

Often, there are groups of high school bands and Veterans Service organizations, like the American Legion.

And, just like my hometown parade, New York's parade has lots of motorcycle riding veterans.  More of them than in Wisconsin parades perhaps, but looking like the same cycle dudes for which most of us share a mixture of awe and deep down envy of their apparent freedom and disdain for authority (c'mon, most of us do feel that way, no?).

Well there we were, making the presence of MyVetwork known to the crowd.

It was a proud day.  Now, we need to think of what happens when the parades are over and the yellow ribbons come down.  One challenge is the difficulty service members report in sustaining connections with each other...of not having others who have "walked in their boots" with whom to have conversations in which their combat service is understood.

Not too different from all those who feel they are different, outsiders, whose experience seems to be foreign to those around them.  The more diverse our companies and neighborhoods become, the more we have the opportunity to get to know one another, to tease out the kind of candid conversation about experiences that differ from ours and that can bind us together.  Maybe Veterans Day can remind us of that need for deeper personal connections all 'round.

Veterans Day Launch of MyVetwork

As we're thinking about this http://www.ageofconversation.com/, in honor of Veterans Day tomorrow I want to share this with you:

Some of you know I've been involved in advising a group led by my husband, a former Marine, who was decorated with two purple hearts for his service in combat. The group founded MyVetwork.com, the first-ever online social network designed specifically for veterans and their families to interact in potentially powerful ways and allows them to shape the community themselves. It's designed to be a word-of-mouth trust engine, exploiting the age of conversation in the best sense.

   

Created with a sophisticated system for "matching," MyVetwork helps members plug into and navigate valuable resources and benefits and connect with other like--minded individuals--to share stories, solutions and advice. No other online site serves military and their families in this way. Membership is free to all service men and women, their families, friends and anyone who supports our nation's military personnel. 

The public launch of the new site will be tomorrow, Veterans Day. Here's the press release. I'm helping spread the word to people who have influence--like you loyal blog readers--and who agree that whatever one's politics, our service men and women deserve our respect and assurance that our nation will give them everything they deserve for their service. Frankly, this is one of the most exciting and worthy projects my company has taken on; we all feel privileged to be part of it.

And it's interesting how many of us are touched by the military when we start to think of it. When the new site is up tomorrow, read brilliant Jamie Simon's article on www.myvetwork.com called '"Who's a Vet"?   For example, I learned today that fellow Age of Conversation blogger Amy Jussel, Executive Director of "Shaping Youth," is a military brat and has a deep emotional connection with her military background. Check out her blog re Veterans Day.

So I hope you'll mention www.myvetwork.com to anyone you know with an interest in the military. And wear something purple on Tuesday in honor of our vets (it's the color of valor). If you feel like it, take your picture and put it up on www.myvetwork.com with a dedication to whomever you like (as in "to Great Uncle Bob, US Army, WWII").

See you tomorrow in your purple!  And for those of you military families who are reading this, thank you for your service. Our nation salutes you.

Military service - honor or duty?

I am Daniel Gilgen from Switzerland and a current intern at Wf360 in NYC. I arrived in New York at the end of August after graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the ZHAW School of Management, Winterthur, Switzerland. The purpose of being here in this thrilling cosmopolitan city is to practice my English skills as well as to learn more about the American way of life. So far I have experienced many cultural differences between Switzerland and the USA but the one that I find of great interest is the different perception of the army among the public of those two countries. Seeing that, as well as my involvement in the launch of MyVetwork on Veterans Day next Tuesday, November 11, gives me good reason to blog about this topic today.

Let me first explain to you the Swiss military system: Switzerland has a militia where almost every male adult (except those with physical and/or mental problems) has to serve for a certain period of their life. Also women can join the army but on a voluntary basis. Therefore Switzerland has a comparatively large army although it is a relatively small country with a population of approximately 7.6 million. In addition, I have to mention that Switzerland is a neutral country, not taking any sides during conflicts. We never attack another party. This is probably one of the reasons why the Swiss army has never been militarily involved in a war. A great personal example of this is during World War II, my grandfathers had to stand at the border to secure the independence of our country but they didn't have to fight actively, as there wasn’t a need. 

More recently, the Swiss army has a problem with its image. Every soldier has to serve at least 3 weeks per year in the army. But during most of that time, there isn't military education or activity so all we tend to do is play cards and wait until these 3 weeks are over. This lack of work leads to a public opinion that the Swiss military is, quite frankly, a waste of money and some people even want to abolish it. Furthermore, it is argued that there is no need for a big militia for a neutral country like Switzerland. 

                 

However, here in New York I realized that the public opinion of the US Army is completely different from those of the army in my home country. Not only have I experienced this from the presidential debates which I have recently watched on TV but also my work at Wf360. Wf360 is working on a project called MyVetwork, the online social networking site for the US Military and their families. MyVetwork opened my eyes to the importance of the military to American citizens. The US army is regarded as a necessity to keep the country safe. Generally, the main task of the Swiss military is for the security of the country (area protection and defense) but because we are so neutral and never at war, the tasks have become more subsidiary assignments like security services for embassies and consulates or emergency aid for natural disasters.          

From my time in the US and especially New York, I believe it is a privilege to serve for the US Army and every soldier is filled with pride and honor. Unfortunately, I feel that in Switzerland it is only an annoying duty. In the US, Veterans are regarded as heroes and so they deserve a special day like Veterans Day where the public remembers and pays tribute to their commitment to their home country. This is why a community like MyVetwork is something so crucial and necessary. I think these Veterans need a platform where they can communicate, share ideas and look for help. Therefore I highly support their joining at MyVetwork.com and I am happy that I can contribute to the success of this online community during my internship at Wf360.

The New Conversation in Business

Lots of talk today about the new way to look at business leadership, as inspired by Barack Obama's example. My favorite, hands down, is what Media Wizard Jack Myers wrote today. It's a compelling piece today entitled "Business Lesson of Election '08: It's the Vision, Not the Economy."

 

Basically, he talks of the need for business leaders to have--above all--a clear vision for the future and the ability to build strong relationships with their customers. Then, assuming that a leader has this dual requirement down cold, he/she has to be able to communicate that vision--and engage others it. Not a small task. 

I'll let Jack speak for himself. Check it out here. 

Obama and History in the Making

My son called to say it felt like the euphoria he remembers we all felt when we lived in San Francisco and the Forty Niners won the Super Bowl: people driving their cars for no reason other than to honk the horn and join in the celebration, heads out of the windows shouting their enthusiasm out the windows.

People all over New York report spontaneous neighborhood parties last night, where neighbors and strangers alike took part in sharing their excitement about being part of history in the making.

The media reports there were many similar celebrations in cities throughout the United States.  Someone said last night was like New Years...except not any New Years.  More like the Millennium New Years when the celebrations followed one another in a wave across the Nation, covering different time zones.

Everywhere there were conversations. Word of mouth in its most viral and infectious fashion. Our Wf360 interns reported this morning that they too, both Europeans, were caught up in the excitement and messaging their friends back home in Switzerland and elsewhere. They're thrilled to know they spent time in America when the "miracle" occurred.

I suspect we'll each remember "where I was that night" when we talk with our grandchildren, telling them this remarkable story of ascendancy to powerful leadership in what turns out to be, yes, after all...the land of opportunity Americans used to brag about. And now find themselves newly proud about.

Obama's success in being elected by this Nation to its most powerful position of leadership which includes global importance was awesome in the true sense of the word.  We'll need to hold on to this enthusiasm in the days ahead when the reality sets in: that each of us must take on responsibility for participating in the solution for the problematic situation we find ourselves in on every side from wars to economic slowdown. This will be hard work. I know we're up to it. I hope we're all up for it.

Meanwhile, Yahoo!

Change Squared

No matter what end of the political spectrum you occupy, there is no denying that this presidential election date, November 4, 2008 is one of those dates that will serve as a milestone. Things will be described as happening "before the election of 2008" or "after the election of 2008." 

Think about it. As Arianna Huffington says in Huffington Post today, the Internet is the clear winner of the moment. Yes, we'll watch our television sets tonight, but we'll look to the web for the sharp-eyed analysis that we've never had so handily before. I became obsessed over the past few months by Nate Silver and his baseball-stats-wonky delivery of the numbers on the election. So obsessed, in fact, that I would check in 3, 4 times a day, sometimes even more. Didn't want to miss a thing. 

Nate's delivery of the stats, accompanied by the running commentary of his merry tribe who covered hundreds of campaign offices throughout the nation, on a Kerouac-like odyssey seeing American true grassroots fashion, then discussing it in the kind of conversation delivery style you expect of people sitting next to you on the couch in your living room...Nate's website, fivethirtyeight.com is the perfect example of the new conversation. Talk about a way to reach your audience...and engage them in the patter. Nate's presentation was infectious, both because you quickly trusted the keen intelligence behind it, and because you liked the way he and his buddies shared it with the rest of us.

Yes, you gotta hand it to Nate. He deserves the attention he's getting, from an appearance on the Colbert Report to sharing the mike with Dan Rather (tonight, too!). It will be interesting to see what kind of stat-laden conversation he dreams up next. 

I'll be there.