Graph of a typical business meeting

Graph of a typical business meeting, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

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Social media

Social media, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Why doesn't the typical meeting work for you anymore?

Why, when you see the laptop come out and the lights start to dim, do you feel a vague sense of dread?

Maybe it isn't so vague?

Maybe you've become used to a different way of interacting; a different kind of media. Social media.

What is social media? I think of it as a group of media producers that is primarily it's own audience.

I was first introduced to this idea by Alex Vieux of Red Herring, who defined the Red Herring media ecosystem as a global social network of entrepreneurs, technologists, and financiers who were primarily interested in each others' activities and ideas.

A short while later I sat next to Ross Mayfield of Socialtext, who for three days running attempted to convince me of the power of wikis -- I am sad to say, without success. Those of you who know me are aware that I can be quite slow on the uptake sometimes.

Later I met Jerry Michalski, who is so passionate about social media that he named his company Sociate.

You wouldn't be reading this if you weren't already connecting to the world of social media. Which is why, I submit, that meetings of the traditional type don't work for you any more. You're no longer a couch potato, watching TV in the evening, being spoon-fed your media. And you don't want that role in your business meetings either.

You've become a part of the social media ecosystem. In addition to being a consumer of media, you're now also a producer. You've become accustomed to having a voice in the conversation. Social media is a clear phenomenon and it isn't going away.

So you can imagine my surprise when I searched the web for a simple, clear definition of social media and came up empty.

My definition is in the picture above.

What's your definition? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

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Meshforum 2006

Meshforum 2006, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

As you may know I recently attended Meshforum 2006 in San Francisco. It was a wonderful event -- I took a lot of photos, and copious notes on index cards.

A few people joined the event late and asked what they had missed. Instead of trying to explain it I was able to hand them a stack of index-card notes. The notes gave me a way to share personal impressions of the event without losing my focus on what was currently happening.

I have taken photographs of the events and put them alongside the index-card notes, in roughly chronological order. Looking at the photos and notes in sequence may give you a feeling for a personal experience of the event -- I hope you enjoy it. Take a look.

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Visual thinking with Legos

2006FEB121501, originally uploaded by bootload.

Peter Renshaw uses Lego building blocks as a visual thinking tool.

It all started when Peter and a friend (Russell) went to lunch with pens, paper, books, folders and a whole heap of Lego blocks. Each block represented a function or layer of code. They got a few odd stares, but ended up with a set of building blocks that they thought could solve the problem.

Lego blocks allowed Peter and Russel to clearly visualize what they were trying to do. Think of it as three-dimensional sketching for object-oriented programming.

Assemble a whole lot of modules that can be plugged together to accomplish something.

Peter and Russell were inspired by SAP, the global enterprise software company. Over time, SAP has compiled a tightly integrated grid of modules which can be plugged together in various ways to build solutions.

Here's Peter on how they do it:

"There's no special meaning to the choice of colour or size of blocks, aside from the fact that we join the blocks together to see, and, more importantly, think, how they can come together. Each block or module is uncoupled. That means it does one thing and one thing well.

This is the advantage of using blocks. Click them together to see what you need to acheive a particular task. Its not quite UML and we may miss something. But its cheap, and if used intelligently, does the job."

Click here to look at the annotated photo and read more thoughts from Peter.

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Robert Scoble's "living room test"

Index cards from Meshforum 2006, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

I asked Robert Scoble how he handles comments on his blog. His answer above. He calls it "the living room test."

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I'm in Washington DC

I'm in Washington DC, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

I am in DC today (Friday) and Saturday. Send me an email if you would like to hook up Saturday at dgray [at] xplane [dot] com. Cheers!

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The digital handmade

"Skepticism about the consumerist frenzy in the technology industries has led some practitioners to work with low-tech or outdated equipment, deliberately refusing the allure of commercial polish in favor of handmade aesthetics. Many of these self-styled creators deliberately turn to low-tech production platforms in order to make work that is accessible, inexpensive and often innovative in unexpected ways."

Take a look.

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Pen and paper porn

Workspace, originally uploaded by jazzmasterson.

I love paper, but Josh DiMauro is a true paperhaulic. His Flickr photostream is the ultimate in GTD porn.

For those of you who don't know yet, GTD stands for Getting Things Done, a set of approaches and ideas by productivity guru David Allen and evangelized by Merlin Mann of 43 folders, John the Baptist of GTD and inventor of the hipster PDA.

Josh's blog, Paper bits offers a wonderful romp through his paper-loving world, where index cards, coin envelopes, binder clips take on a new life as productivity accelerators.

Josh isn't a luddite though, he embraces technology for the things that it's good for. But Josh and I agree: Always start on paper.

Related posts:
The best technology ever invented
The back-to-paper movement
Why techies are leading the back-to-paper movement

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Liquid browsing

Check out the liquid 2D scatter space.

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Change is in the air

Change is in the air, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

The economy is changing. The environment is changing. The ways that we communicate and interact are changing. It feels like everything is in flux -- there is a monumental shift in the air.

I can sense it. Can you sense it too?

There is a huge gap between we measure the value of a company and the way the market values it. New models of work are emerging -- the idea of a company as an individual entity is evolving into the idea of a company as an ecosystem.

Would Dell be Dell without its sophisticated network of global suppliers and information systems? Would Wal-Mart be Wal-Mart?

And it goes without saying that companies like Google, eBay and Yahoo are emerging into dominance by finding new ways of defining and creating value.

More than 20 years ago, management visionary Peter Drucker wrote, "The economy is forever going to change and is biological rather than mechanistic in nature."

And yet there is still so much we don't know and have no way to measure.

Yi-Tan means conversations about change. On Monday, May 14th (that's tomorrow for those of you who are reading this on Sunday, or today if you're reading this on Monday), I will join Jerry Michalski on his weekly Yi-Tan call to discuss how visual thinking is changing the way interact and communicate.

The topic: how to build shared visual meaning inside a company. We'll discuss:

-- When is visualization especially useful? How is it changing org charts and other common tools?
-- How do you engage work groups in visualization work?
-- How might we create better shared visual memory? Better visual contexts we can return to over and over?

This is the second call in a series on shared visual meaning. The first one was a group dialogue and I was one of the guests on that one too. You can listen to that call as a podcast here.

We will use a free Web document-sharing service that includes chat capabilities.

At the start of the Yi-Tan call, please head to Vyew and join meeting number 568542. If you'd like to practice with it first, join us in that meeting a half hour before the call starts. Jerry and I will both be there.

Date: Monday, May 15, 2006
Time: 10:30 PDT, 1:30 EDT
Primary Dial-in Number: 1-800-615-2900 (Toll Free in USA and Canada), or 1-661-705-2005 (for callers outside the USA and Canada)
Participant Access Code: 778778

Wiki goodness at www.yi-tan.com

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In the event of emergency...

In the event of emergency..., originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Before you take care of anyone else, be sure to put on your own oxygen mask first.

Some of you out there are taking care of other people and neglecting your own welfare.

You know who you are.

Take care of yourself first.

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THE PROBLEM IS NEVER THE PROBLEM

THE PROBLEM IS NEVER THE PROBLEM, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Found on a wall in San Francisco.

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Time-management software -- offline version

Time-management software -- offline version, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Bill Westerman has joined the back-to-paper movement. Here are a couple of Bill's ingenous methods for managing his time and to-do lists in his notebook.

Bill prefers the Miquelrius notebook (shown here).

I have annotated the photo to show how Bill's system works. To see how it works, click here and look at the notes.

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Notes from Meshforum 2006: Howard Greenstein

Meshforum 2006, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

For those of you who missed Meshforum 2006, Howard Greenstein took some excellent notes.

Howard also wrote an article for Optimize magazine called Web 2.0 meets the enterprise which is worth a read.

Howard Greenstein is currently the Senior Director of the Center for Management at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at NYU. In this role he is the administrator for 9 management-related programs including Coaching, Business Continuity, Project Management, and Human Resources.

You can learn more about meshforum here and see more photos here.

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The power of visualization

The power of visualization, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Visualization has the power to reveal things that are hidden and generate new insights.

Theyrule is a perfect example. It allows you to visually map the kieretsu-like relationships between board members of major publicly-traded companies.

I used theyrule to make the map above, which shows how the boards of Microsoft and Xerox are connected via General Electric.

The data was collected from company websites and SEC filings in early 2004, so it may not be completely accurate - companies merge and disappear and directors shift boards.

See what you can discover.

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16 Dumpsters

16 Dumpsters, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

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Notes from Meshforum: Two questions

Notes from Meshforum: Two questions, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Day three of meshforum employed the open space format. Michael Herman told me that he gets many questions during a typical open space meeting; questions like "Would it be okay to...?" or "Can we...?"

He said that regardless of the question there are only two answers:

"What do you really want to do?" and

"Why don't you take care of that?"

You can learn more about meshforum here.
and see more photos here.

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Web developers clean up with AJAX

Meshforum 2006, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Day three of meshforum was held in the offices of adaptive path, the company who coined the term AJAX for web applications. Their office is also the home of application development company Rubyredlabs. So I wasn't surprised to find ruby red AJAX in their kitchen.

You can learn more about meshforum here.
and see more photos here.

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Notes from Meshforum 2006: Imaginify

Meshforum 2006, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Imaginify.

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Visual thinking and the network of networks

Join the network of networks, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Networks form the basis for everything, from the tiniest atom to the entire universe. Understanding networks and how they function may be one of the most important competencies of the knowledge economy.

And next week -- if you live in the Bay area, or you can make it there -- you'll have a unique opportunity to join the network of networks, MeshForum.

Who's in the network of networks?

Manuel Lima, founder of VisualComplexity.com, who will give the opening keynote.

Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, who will talk to you about naked conversations in the blogging world.

Heather Gold, who will show you how to tell a compelling story.

Anil Dash of Six Apart and LiveJournal, who will help you understand large-scale social networks.

Michael Herman, one of the world's foremost experts on open space events, will open a space for us all to engage in a deep and meaningful dialogue on Tuesday, May 9th.

And I will be there too: you'll join me for a lunch workshop on Monday May 8th, where you'll do some hands-on exploration of visual thinking and networks.

Starting Sunday May 7th, we'll talk and learn about about political networks, social networks, communication networks and transportation networks. We'll talk about your networks: Your business network, your social network, even your supply chain.

We'll have dinner together at Osha Thai. We will have a blast!

I want you to go.

So I asked Shannon Clark, Meshforum's founder, if he would give Communication Nation readers a special rate. I also asked him if there was a way people could register for just one day if that's all they could fit into their schedules.

I'm pleased to say that Shannon agreed, and set up a special page so you can sign up for the whole workshop -- or just one day -- at the XPLANE-only rate. So if you want to join the network of networks and have a great time in San Francisco next week, click here!

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Beauty in decay

Beauty in decay, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

"Decay has spent most of its long but ignored history on the dismal periphery. In the past few years, however, urban decay has experienced a modest reexamination. Decay has become the aesthetic adhesive uniting a disparate group of writers, artists, photographers, musicians and their respective communities. Decline and decadence has provoked an ongoing, interpretative dialogue with the past. "

-- From "Everything falls apart" by Ryan Bigge, writing in broken pencil.

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Still life with green apple

Still life with green apple, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Oil on canvas, 10 x 14 in (25.4 x 35.6 cm). Collection of the artist.

If you want to get an email when my paintings go up for sale on eBay, please send me your email address at dgray [at] xplane.com or send me a flickrmail.

See the process or view some other paintings.

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