All posts by maria nordin

04/032019

We welcome you to submit your abstract for Social Connections Munich 16-17 September 2019

News abstract, connections, hcl, ibm, ibm connections, session, sessions, speaker, submit, submit abstract by Maria Nordin

We have opened our call for abstract and speakers for our fall conference in Munich.

Submit your abstract here

As always we are looking for speakers who are passionate about collaboration solutions. It can be deep-dive technical sessions, best practices, use cases, success stores, catastrophe stories. Or something unique, that just you thought of. For inspiration, see below.

Do you have any questions? We are here for you: info@socialconnections.info

We are inviting sessions in the following tracks:

Administration – sessions relating to administering collaboration platforms. It could be the design and build of infrastructure, upgrading, managing users, migrating to the cloud, integration with other services or platforms etc. Sessions relating to cloud, hybrid or on-premises infrastructures are welcome!
Case Study – We love case studies! Sessions focused on telling the story of existing collaboration projects. And the more honest the better! Ideally these sessions should feature at least one speaker from the company that uses the platform, but they could be accompanied by a vendor or partner.
Development – how and why to develop for these services. We’d love you to share your tips, techniques and experience of developing solutions or applications, where you might hit issues, and how you overcome them.
Future of Work – sessions in this track should explore topics around the area of improving the productivity of individuals and organisations through the use of collaboration platforms.
Management and Adoption – sessions that take a higher-level view of the issues, challenges and opportunities that surface when deploying collaboration platforms.
Spotlight – this track is designed to give new (or experienced) speakers the chance to present a short session on a topic of their choice. Think of it as being akin to TED talks, but within the framework of Social Connections. You can choose to use a presentation deck or not, to prepare earnestly or to speak from the heart, the choice is yours. What we’re after is insight, interest and passion – the rest is up to you!
New Technology – We also want to reach out to new things, if you feel you have an interesting session on a new technology, please submit in this track.
Sponsor – for those organisations that are sponsoring the event at Gold level or above, there is the option to submit a Sponsor session for the conference.
Workshop – For hands on training. Please supply all information needed on what you need to be able to run it.
Academic – For faculty, IT staff or even students of any academic institution who want to share what they have achieved with collaboration platforms and how they see the future of collaboration.

22/022019

Announcing location of Social Connections 15 – we are going south

News 15, conference, connections, germany, hcl, ibm, munchen, munich by Maria Nordin

After a period of long thoughts, pondering, discussions, interviews we have decided the next location for our fantastic collaboration and networking conference known as Social Connections.

For the first time ever we stay in the same country as our previous conference, Germany. The reason for that is simply that the community asked us. And who are we to say no. At least for this time only. 😉

So buckle up, we are going south to the beautiful Bavaria and the city of Munich! The home of Lederhosen, Dirndl, Beer and Cars. All with a fantastic mountain backdrop.

We welcome you all to submit your session abstract and register for the conference as soon as we open our systems which should be during the next coming days.

See you in Munich, 16-17 September 2019 for Social Connections 15!

08/022019

Connections User Group – The start of a new Era

News 2019, collaboration, connections, europe, hcl, ibm, september, socialconnections by Maria Nordin

The times they are a-changin! And we are super excited!

As you probably know by now HCL has signed an agreement with intent to acquire Connections along with many other products in the IBM Collaboration portfolio. It’s a huge step and very interesting times for all of us using IBM Collaboration Solutions.

For us in the Social Connections team it is great news and we are very positive about the future of IBM Connections. We saw the velocity with Domino being worked on by HCL and look forward to the dedication and execution of HCL on Connections.

We firmly believe Connections is in good hands!

Therefore, we can’t hold back the enthusiasm when we now announce our next Connections conference. The one-stop place for networking, knowledge sharing and hearing the latest news about Connections.

So join us 16-17 September 2019 for Social Connections 15 in EUROPE!

Platinum sponsor:

Keynote speakers:

Richard Jefts
Vice President & General Manager Collaborative Workflow Platforms

Andre Hagemeier
Director Of Engineering at HCL Technologies

11/102018

Vamos a la playa – join us for some evening fun in Berlin!

News evening, gala, soccnx, social connections by Maria Nordin

The moment you all have been waiting for has arrived! And trust us, we have been waiting for it too!

Long we thought there was not going to be an evening event this, the 14th edition of our conference. We just couldn’t see how. It actually was a terrible feeling as we know that the evening event where we round off day 1 of the conference, is one of those things that our attendees value the most. To relax after a day of conferencing, have dinner and some fun with that person you tried to chase all day to have a moment to talk to. To make new friends, catch up with dear old ones, and to tie those so important business knots.

Then a series of unforeseen events occurred which made it all possible! Happy faces all around. So what should we cook up this time? Those of you that have visited our conferences before know that we always want to do something more for you all. Good meal and drinks, yes. But also that extra quirky thing, like a special venue, some crazy activity or just something that make you smile.

For example, we have had our events at a playground with go-carts and climbing wall in Stuttgart, a table tennis bar in Chicago, Hockey hall of Fame (!) in Toronto, a Photography Museum in Stockholm or a Science Museum with dinosaurs in Boston.

So, therefore, it’s totally natural for us to invite you to a beach party in Berlin! Yes, you heard right. Beach party.

Welcome to Beach Mitte which is an indoor and outdoor venue with good food and fun games, and an outdoor beach! Enjoy archery at the outdoor bonfire station or challenge your colleague on table football, XXL Jenga or table tennis.

The address is as below and it takes approximately 30 minutes by public transport from the conference venue.

BeachMitte
Caroline-Michaelis-Str. 8
10115 Berlin

We start at 19:30 and continue into the night.

09/072018

Social Connections extends call for abstracts until Thursday! Hurry up and get yours in!

News abstract, connections, extended, extended abstract, ibm, ibm connections, social, social connections by Maria Nordin

Hello!

We know. The sun is shining and it’s summer (or winter, depending on where you are). There is a lot to do and to plan and sometimes time just disappear like a cold glass of prosecco on a hot summer day.

But your friends in the Social Connections team has of course thought of that. Therefore we extend our call for abstract a couple of days so you now calmly and finally can sit down and put together that abstract you have had in you head for a while.

You know, that awesome code you wrote to solve that super tricky problem, or that customer who jumped up and down with joy when you executed that project with 5 star class, or maybe that trick you learned how to work better, faster, more efficient and fun!

Or, most likely, that fantastic thing that is in your head only. Yes, exactly that. We want to hear about that. And so does our audience of developers, administrators, managers, project managers, community managers, evangelists etc.

So please submit your abstract for Social Connections, 16-17 October 2018 in Berlin HERE

And before midnight end of Thursday!

Should you need a short refreshment on what we are interested in, take a look below

Social connections have always prided itself in being a very open conference that offers a podium to both the best of the best of experiences and well known speakers as well as to anyone that can contribute from a wealth of day to day experience. Be it customers, business partners or IBM.

Administration – sessions relating to administering collaboration platforms.
Case Study – sessions focused on telling the story of existing projects. We love case studies!
Development – share your tips, techniques and experience of developing solutions or applications.
Future of Work – sessions about improving the productivity of individuals and organisations.
Management and adoption – sessions that take a higher-level view.
Spotlight – think of it as being akin to TED talks, but within the framework of Social Connections.
Watson Work Services – New way of working in teams.
New Technologies – Anything new and exciting you think could be a fit.
Academic – Faculty, IT staff or Student of academic institutions.

So if you feel you have something to contribute, a story to tell, a lesson learned that could help others in a similar situation then please don’t hesitate and submit a session.

We would love to hear from you!

Ciao

05/062018

Social Connections 14 takes Berlin!!! 16-17 October 2018

News 14, berlin, connections, german, germany, soccnx, social by Maria Nordin

One could think we came out of Social Connections 13 from Manhattan (see Leonard Cohen), but actually we just wrapped up a very successful event in the fabulous city of Philadelphia!

So why Berlin then? As always, when we look at cities, we aim to find a city we think you would like. You, our speakers, our customers, our IBMers, all of you. A city where you can get to easily, where we can find and gather many alike you. People who are convinced a workplace is a better place when people work together, with tools and solutions that makes humans come closer, not further apart.

So we ended up with Berlin! And we hope you are as excited as we are! We have been in Germany once before, when we arranged Social Connections 8 in Stuttgart in 2015, and we have many fond memories from that conference. Our goal is to reproduce them and make even better ones this time!

Next thing we do, when we found our city, is look for a venue. Oh my so much to chose from! Fear not, we have chosen.

Welcome to a fantastic venue called Spreespeicher. (Our team member Nico gives free courses in how to pronounce that in fluent German.) The venue is an old warehouse and is located riverside on the river Spree and is close to the world famous Oberbaumbrücke. One of Berlins oldest bridges dating back to 1732 in it oldest wooden form. The bridge was used in the novel and mini series Smileys People by John le Carré, as a handover location.

We are truly excited to announce our 14th event and we hope you will join us there!

Look out for more information in the next coming days about how to participate. We are inviting:

sponsors to exhibit your solutions and services
speakers to tell the audience about your latest findings
attendees who are eager to learn about the latest in the IBM collaboration space

See you in Berlin 16-17 October 2018

19/042018

Game time! Our Gala night will be as fun as ever – join us in Philadelphia and Social Connections

News billiards, buffalo, dart, evening, event, fun, gala, games, networking, night, pool, shuffleboard, table by Maria Nordin

Are you like us, who thinks that networking is as big part of a conference as the sessions and the learning and knowledge sharing?

Do you also, like us, think that evening events with peers, customers, business partners and IBMers brings that extra special layer of a conference?

A moment where you can have more relaxed conversations and get to know people you wouldn’t otherwise? Good. Are you also ready to have fun? Even better.

You are most welcome to our Gala night after the first day of the conference, Thursday April 26, 2018

We at Social Connections take pride in not only giving you food and a place for networking, we also want to give you that little extra. A trip down memory lane among our earlier Gala nights: Sensapolis in Stuttgart where we did wall climbing and go-karting, Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto where we played ice hockey games and shot pucks on goals, Ace Bounce in Chicago where we played table tennis to name a few.

So what have we cooked up for you this time?

Let’s just say pool/billiards, darts and shuffle boards. Accompanied by food and refreshing beverages.

Welcome to Buffalo Billiards 118 Chestnut St. Philadelphia at 7:30 pm. Right after speed sponsoring at the conference venue. Dress code: business casual

Do you want in on all the fun? Register here for Social Connections 13 in Philadelphia. The IBM Collaboration conference with value. One free ticket to our Gala event is included!

See you!

16/042018

Session highlights Social Connections – all on collaboration software

News connections, register, social by Maria Nordin

We are only little over a week until take-off! Last minute preparations is almost done and the agenda is published.

So let’s take a look at some highlights!

The ESN Culture
Ross Cavanaugh, Wells Fargo

Digital transformation, Enterprise Social Network and the Future of Work are all labels for similar efforts. The catalyst for success, however, is far less about technology and far more about culture. I’ll share how we quickly shifted from a focus on technology to instead leverage our need for cultural change as the secret to our success as we engage 325,000 employees and contractors on IBM Connections. Our journey started on Yammer, evolved to Jive, and found our sweet spot with IBM Connections as the means to invest in our company’s most important and valuable assets – our team.

Customer Success Stories: IBM Connections Use Cases
Firas Yasin

Have you ever wondered how customers use Connections? This session we will dive deep into use cases. We will walk through many successful customer stories. We will introduce some ideas for success so you can deploy it in your organization. We will also talk about strategies and how to develop objectives to guarantee success. If you are thinking about Connections or looking to get better handle on how to become more successful then this session is not to be missed.

Good Morning Dave, :Ethics in AI
Rob Novak, Snapps

Harvard Law, MIT, Stanford. Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates. IBM, Apple, Google, The World Economic Forum. What do these revered universities, industry leaders and organizations have in common? Each has expressed a deep interest in the ethical complications that we as humans must consider as caretakers of our future in the presence of an exponentially growing population of devices, programs and decisions being made by artificial intelligence. From stories of AI that has made great and poor decisions to the ethics of how we can best solve problems in the future, this session will peek into our future and help attendees guide decision-making today to ensure AI benefits humankind as a whole. What does this have to do with developers and management? We are at the forefront of what is possible – so it’s important for us to step back and take into consideration the ethical implications of our work. This session will teach us how to start thinking about it….

New from Watson Work: Make Resolution Rooms Work for you!
Darren Cacy

Watson Workspace provides an intuitive interface to connect and collaborate with your work groups. It has the ability to easily connect third-party apps to let you work more seamlessly with these everyday tools. But you already know that! 🙂 You may also know that the Workspace team has released an innovative new framework which brings together people and applications so that they work together even better. Imagine a workspace which understands incident information from ITSM solutions like ServiceNow, automatically adds and configures the applications you need to resolve the incident, and adds the right people to the space as well. And best of all, the space can be saved as a template to be reused as needed. In this session, you’ll hear what the Workspace team is doing to allow you to create and share these reusable templates, and you’ll see working code showing a resolution room in action, integrated with ServiceNow.

Workshop: Enterprise Social Networking Strategy Framework
Luis Suarez, panagenda

Back in 2008 and then again in 2013, Gartner stated how between 70% to 80% of Social Business initiatives would fail in the short time frame of a couple of years, mostly due to a lack of purpose and clearly aligned business imperatives. That means that 7 or 8 out of 10 social business programs will eventually fail no matter how hard people may try. What if there was a different way …?

This workshop will cover panagenda’s Enterprise Social Networking Strategy Framework that Luis Suarez has been using effectively with clients and business partners around different social business adaptation techniques to help organizations become successful ‘Socially Integrated Enterprises’. Come and join us to learn what those foundations for success would be like and how you, too, could kick off your own digital transformation initiative in just 6 different steps to start seeing immediate results and real business value, i.e. transform the way we share, learn, collaborate and innovate together to get work done more effectively. Working smarter, not necessarily harder.

Why you should attend:

Digital Transformation Leaders, Managers or Executives tasked with transforming their social collaboration landscape, interested in:

Aligning their key business imperatives with their social business transformation efforts
Creating a solid governance model for their Enterprise Social Networking environment
Building an engaging online community programme (including a community of change agents / champions)
Implementing an effective education & enablement programme around an extensive list of use cases
Measuring and evaluating accordingly due progress through data analytics
Addressing potential barriers and obstacles while evaluating how healthy & mature the overall Social Business programme is

Diving Deep into the Grid
Maureen Leland, IBM

IBM Connections Grid is our new modern app builder for both business users and for partners who want to build practical collaborative applications quickly and easily. This session will begin with building a simple app, and then demonstrate the many ways of adding sophistication to simplicity. We’ll add script coding to document events, compute values, and enforce data validation. We’ll also see how the data in a Grid app can be made available to external applications. You’ll learn about the underlying architecture and we’ll discuss the foreseeable road map. Come join us on this journey!

30/032018

Our agenda is out! Better than ever. Time to buy your ticket to the event!

News agenda, agenda social connections, ibm, philadelphia, speaker by Maria Nordin

The day has come. We now know who will be a speaker and what they will speak about at Social Connections 13 in Philadelphia on April 26-27, 2018.

We have an agenda!

We in the team always love this task. Extracting all the great abstracts from the database, compiling them in an Excel file and choose! But it is also one of our hardest tasks. Always. Because, with no exceptions, we always have a large amount of fantastic abstracts to go through. The range, the quality, the ingenuity. We never stop to be amazed.

Each conference is different to the other. News trends, new technique and solutions. Our speakers never cease to impress us. In the end we always aim to end up with a good mix of both technical and non technical sessions.

A developer, an administrator, a manager, an adoption consultant. All of them should be able to find something they like.

So please have a look at the 2018 spring edition of Social Connections!

We invite you all to participate in our great event! 2 days of networking, learning and fun.

See the agenda here

Time to buy your ticket!

29/012018

Social Connections 13 is coming to Philadelphia · April 26 & 27 2018 · Hook up with us and collaborate

News 13, announce, conference, connections, event, philadelphia, philly, security, soccnx, social, social connections, usa by Maria Nordin

We are announcing our 13th conference and we are just as excited as ever! This time we are heading to USA and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “The city that loves you back” according to local tourism

Welcome to a learning and networking conference arranged by the global IBM Connections and Collaboration user group Social Connections! 26-27 April 2018

We have a strong focus on social collaboration technology, aimed at both existing and prospective IBM customers and partners, and at individuals with both business and technical perspectives. Our events bring together highly qualified attendees, speakers and business partners from all over the world.

Our goal is to take up the thread where IBM Think left off! Hear updates from your favorite areas and learn from both speakers and attendees.

After organizing and hosting 12 conferences we have learned a thing or two about running these events! As a result, all our gathered experience has allowed us to create an unmissable 2 day event in the IBM Collaboration space. We focus on bringing together customer decision makers to discuss, learn and get inspired about what is relevant in the IBM sphere and what is coming next.

New this time: We are broadening our scope with a new Security track! We have touched the subject before with a couple of sessions here and there, and now we feel ready to add Security as it’s own track. As collaboration is all about communication in between people we also think it is natural to look at how to protect the company’s biggest assets against threats through behaviors and solutions to detect and eventually close security gaps.

We offer our attendees and sponsors

Learning sessions and keynote sessions. Both technical, strategic and future of work. All with quality speakers from around the world
A great selection of user case studies focused on real life examples of how organizations have approached the rollout of IBM Connections!
Great sessions by IBM Champions
Speed sponsoring and of course lots of networking
A Gala night you won’t forget
A peak into the future with sessions on Connections Pink, Watson Workspace and What is coming to IBM Connections

Stay tuned for registration links this week!

Are you our next speaker? Call for abstracts is opening this week!

Are you a sponsor? Take a look here for our fabulous sponsor opportunities!

Questions? Email us or tweet us!