Speed Trap is beat by the “wisdom of the crowds”

My wife shared with me an article the other day that appeared in the Akron Beacon Journal that had gotten a great deal of comments.

Apparently a group of 8 motorcycle officers were dispatched from the Columbus State Highway patrol and assigned to conduct a massive ticketing campaign on a stretch of Interstate 77 near where I live in the Bath, Ohio.   While I’m not sure why they were assigned from Columbus, the fact that they were could become a problem for the state in making the tickets stick.

The four day campaign was very successful and resulted with over 800 tickets issued to motorists. (I’m glad I was working on a update to a new Webinar because I didn’t leave my office for nearly a week and if I had, I’m sure I would be one of the 800).

The comments to the article ranged from individuals chastising the state for creating a situation where 800 families in these hard economic times are now going to be forced to pay a $150 to $250 fine.   Other comments from the reporters indicated a near majority of the tickets were issued for going less than 10 miles over the speed limit. (…More…)

What does Facebook mean to you?

And what does it mean to your college or organization?

About 4 years ago I was conducting a focus group at a New York state college.

Apparently the yearbook was no longer produced at their college. (A combination of cost and lack of interest among graduating seniors.) The alumni director was concerned because she found herself ever more dependent on yearbooks to find out which alumni were in groups and organizations so she could hold campus reunion events around their participation. In phone conversations I had with her, I suggested she consider taking the yearbook online. As more students spend more time online and share more content, I suggested, all we need to do is organize the data and she would have instantaneous access to al l the data she needed.

There were 20 people in the room, faculty, students and administrators. When the discussion came to Facebook, one of the students said, “Facebook is like God to me”. I learned later that she came from a small town that graduated less than 100 students each year and didn’t appear to be the type of person that fit into the most popular click at the school. She went on to say she had over 600 friends on Facebook that she was able to connect and engage with at anytime. (Keep in mind this was in the spring of 2005 and Facebook had only been out of the gate for about a year.) (…More…)

Everyone benefits, a pizza shop, candy store, small business and large corporation

Over the weekend I wrote a 30 page white paper called, Facebook 101 for the Executive Suite.  A friend and a CIO I’ve been working with the last couple of months thought the “executive suite”  would benefit from having a overview of how Facebook could be used in their firm.

After reflecting on how to present the opportunities to VP’s, Presidents and the C level administrators, I came up with:

• 4 fundamental changes in consumer behaviors they need to be aware of
• 4 ways a firm can tap into an anticipated 300 million user base
• 5 ways an organization will benefit by developing a Facebook strategy
• 12 best practices and proven Internet strategies
• How various departments in your firm can benefit by participating in Facebook

As usual, for me, it’s hard to write a 8 page whitepaper.  This baby came in at 30 plus pages.  At any rate, over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be sharing this information with you.

I’ll start by explaining the 4 behavior changes that will drive how you lead and manage your business in the coming decade.  We’ll first examine Community, then follow up with looks at Content, Collaboration and Communication.  The four C’s!

Leaders need to adopt social media and “wisdom of the crowds” to compete today

About 15 years ago I was volunteering in the Akron Public Schools.  I was part of a group of business leaders who were partnering and adopting classrooms and schools to help encourage students, reward and motivate students to do well in school.

When asked by administrators what kind of employees I needed, I suggested creative students. I told them I didn’t need students who could memorize dates and pass the typical tests they were giving them, but that I needed students who could analyze a situation, collaborate with others and create a solution.  This surprised them as the curriculum and testing they offered  focused on graduating a student who could show they had a mastery of memorization.

Today I was talking to a colleague about what kind of leaders our organization need in the future.  I brought up a position that Don Tapscot’s, author of Wikinomics, has been suggesting for years - that successful leaders in the future will not be the “genius” personality who can make gut decisions and move an organization of 10 or 10,000 successfully in one direction but a leader that knows how to use mass collaboration tools that tap into the “wisdom of the crowd”.    His book offers a number of examples.

Just this morning I saw another example.  In doing research for a Facebook white paper I’m writing, I came across a post by Fred Wilson a VC and principal of Union Square.  Fred had worked on a presentation over the weekend that he had been asked to give at Google, and just this morning posted his power point online asking for thoughts and suggestions.     By half past noon EST, Fred had 45 thoughtful suggestions from readers all over the world.  By the time he does his talk, he’ll end up with enough input and suggestions to write a book!

It’s just a small example on how we are all beginning to learn how to change our behaviors and reach out to others for input and advice using social media.

What can you do to use Fred’s example?   Think of something you can do today that builds on this idea!