soccnxvii

05/112014

One week until Social Connections VII in Stockholm

News soccnxvii, stockholm by Wannes Rams

Whoa! Where did the time go…? It seems like just a few short weeks ago that we were in Prague announcing that our next event would be this November in Stockholm. And here we are already, in the beginning of November, only one week away from Social Connections VII! Exciting times…exciting indeed!

First things first, I wanted to mention the truly awesome team who are responsible for organizing Social Connections’ 7th event. Without this team, there would be no event. Period. From organizing the venue and securing fabulous locations for the receptions. To making sure we have everything we are going to need covered – from the big things like sponsors and sessions to the small stuff like pens and notepads. And it’s also worth noting that every member of our team, past and present, does this work pro bono since the very first Social Connections event was held in July, 2011. If you do not know who the team is, be sure and check out our team page.

For Social Connections VII; we have over 140 attendees registered. Some familiar faces but a lot of new ones! Stockholm is going to be a real hotbed for fresh social business and IBM Connections discussions! I am personally really excited, not only to see some of my old friends, but to make new ones. And a neat little fact: Once VII is done, we’ll have had over 1,000 Social Connections attendees over 3 year at 7 events! That’s a lot of networking!

We continue to have some great organisations sponsoring the event this time around, 11 in total. And they have a similar story to the attendees – some familiar sponsors and some new ones! We are so pleased and thankful, not only the long-term sponsors we’ve had over many events, but those new ones we’ve gained this time. It’s so rewarding for us to have these business partners, ISVs and vendors seeing the value of our event and putting their money where their mouth is, giving us the resources to make the conference happen. We always hope to provide a truly great environment where the sponsors can connect with our attendees and share their ideas and solutions with the community in a non-sales atmosphere. Be sure to participate in Speed Sponsoring on Thursday evening for your chance to meet each sponsor and win great prizes!

Another thing we are excited about is the gala reception. It is a tradition for us to gather in a more relaxed environment and keep the conversations going. A chance to “be social” if you will. The gala in Stockholm is shaping up to be, dare I say, the best yet. Did you ever think you would have the chance to wine and dine at the world renown photography museum, Fotografiska? We didn’t either! And as we are completely SOLD OUT for the gala reception, we know the attendees are excited too! It is a bit unfortunate that we had to cap the attendance for the gala but we hope that that everyone who couldn’t get a seat understands and appreciates that it’s not a case of not wanting you there, but we just didn’t have the budget to invite everyone.

As I said from the start, we are excited! Can you tell? And if you haven’t registered for the event yet, be sure to act quick as there are only a few spots remaining!

We look forward to seeing everyone in Stockholm next week!

31/102014

Social Connections VII – RESULTS: You pick the session

News soccnxvii, stockholm by Wannes Rams

For the first time, at Social Connections VII in Stockholm, we organized a poll for a session topic to be chosen by the attendees. The choices were: Ask IBM, PTI or Ask the Experts.

The results are in: “Ask IBM” wins at 43%!

This session will be Friday afternoon at 4:00PM in the main tent. This is your chance to ask our panel of IBMers about anything! Want to know when they might release the next version? Want to know what they were thinking about some decision? We’ll have an open discussion answering any audience questions.

We look forward to seeing you in Stockholm! And if you are not already registered…there is still time to get into the event! Register here!

20/102014

How do we host Social Connections? Here’s the answer…

News soccnx, soccnxvii, sponsors, stockholm by Wannes Rams

Although you can see who our sponsors are via their own sponsors page on our site, we wanted to highlight each of our valued sponsors and tell you a bit about each. Why?

Because Social Connections simply wouldn’t go on without sponsors. We are grateful for them as they make the whole thing possible, from the venue to the sessions to the gala reception and more! Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with each and start thinking of all the questions you might have to ask at our sponsor showcase in Stockholm.

Infoware Solutions (Champagne Sponsor & sponsor of our Gala Reception) is one of the largest IBM Premier Business Partner in Scandinavia with full focus on IBM Social Business. With good understanding of their customers’ challenges and expertise Social Business, they develop successful products that make IBM platforms more efficient. Their experiences include content and user management, as well as social platforms for collaboration and knowledge sharing. Today, they have gathered all of their company experience in implementing and managing IBM Connections, and developed a revolutionary tool for easy and powerful management of content and user access: DomainPatrol Social.

Affecto (Gold Sponsor) is the forerunner in the field of Enterprise Information Management in the Northern Europe. Their solutions for information management and business analytics help organisations to improve productivity and competitiveness with superior use of information in decision making and execution. They also deliver operational solutions for improving and simplifying processes at customer organisations and offer geographic information services.

TrustSphere (Gold Sponsor) is the recognized market leader in Messaging Intelligence, having pioneered a next-generation approach to analyzing both internal and external communication patterns across an organization and synthesizing these to provide actionable insights. Clients who implement their solutions, which are primarily based on their existing corporate data, improve visibility and collaboration among management and customer teams. Collaboration leads to an improvement in performance and productivity across multiple lines of business. The insights gained have a direct impact on both customer experience and business performance.

Kudos (Gold Sponsor) can transform and accelerate organisations usage of IBM Connections by encouraging users to leverage the full capability of social enterprise as well as increasing their productivity through clever design. The Kudos Suite for IBM Connections includes Kudos Badges, Kudos Awards & Kudos Thanks, Kudos Analytics, and Kudos Boards.

TIMETOACT Group (Gold Sponsor) loves IBM Connections and its potential for social business. As a full service partner, TIMETOACT GROUP walks the social walk with their customers. During the whole time they help and assist thier customers to find the best seeds, the most promising acres, efficient farmers and high quality fertilizer within their enterprise. There is no question in their mind about the worth of the fruits of Social Business. But depending on the foundation and the maintenance there are significant differences in growth and quality of the harvest. Let them help you with their expertise and simple to use extensions for IBM Connections to get the best out of your installment.

IBM (Gold Sponsor) is the global leader in IT solutions and services with over 100 years of experience in innovations that have been shaping our world. IBM Connections is a leading social software platform that can help your organization engage the right people, accelerate innovation and deliver results. This integrated, security-rich platform helps people engage with networks of experts in the context of critical business processes. Now everyone can act with confidence and anticipate and respond to emerging opportunities.

Connect 2 Cloud (Silver Sponsor) is owned by Sander Software. Sander Software is a development and consulting business. They primarily work with software from IBM and Microsoft. They have worked on some of Denmark’s largest IT installations and have great experience in understanding complex problems within system administration and application development. They also advice businesses on picking the right solution and technologies. They are characterized by the will and urge to solve the problems that are meet through their customers and partners. In addition, their employees are obstinate and have professional pride which means that they never give up. Therefore, they often solve problems that have made other consulting businesses give up. They take responsibility and always challenge their customers to achieve the best results with them.

OnTime by IntraVision (Silver Sponsor) have always been focused on delivering the number 1 group calendaring solution to their clients, no matter where or in which context they work. Therefore it was obvious for us to introduce “Real Calendaring” into IBM’s social platform – IBM Connections. OnTime® Group Calendar for IBM Connections joins the circle of full social coordination: Coordinate and schedule your meetings directly from IBM Connections. Full group calendar functionality supporting dynamic project groups in IBM Connections Communities. Search and find available help right now directly from your IBM Connections Communities. Easy access to availability of colleagues from IBM Connections profiles. Real Time information… everywhere. And so much more…

Belsoft (Silver Sponsor) is an independent, innovative solution provider with more than 15 years experience in developing and implementing complex customized solutions for SMB and large-scale enterprises. The IBM Premier partner is headquartered in Zurich. Collaboration and sharing of information are part of their daily business. As frequent speakers at user group events, international conferences or Belsoft events, their specialists regularly share their know-how.

Longana (Bronze Sponsor) succeed in one of the most complicated tasks you face – ensuring that your company has the correct licenses. Not only that, but they do so in a way that is both flexible and secure for you. They help with everything from purchasing the actual licenses to ensuring that the license portfolio and its management is agreement-compliant. Longana is also one of the Nordic Region’s largest reseller of IBM software. Altogether, partnership with Longana will mean correct licenses for your company, and optimized use of them.

We truly owe a lot to these companies above for their support of Social Connections, and we can’t wait to see their sessions, demos and announcements at the event next month!

08/102014

Social Connections VII – You pick the session!

News soccnx, soccnxvii, stockholm by Wannes Rams

At Social Connections VII in Stockholm, we’ve reserved a session topic to be chosen by YOU! We need your vote and majority will win. The session will kick off on Friday afternoon at 4:ooPM in the main tent.

The choices of session topics are:

Ask IBM: This is your chance to ask our panel of IBMers about anything! Want to know when they might release the next version? Want to know what they were thinking about some decision? We’ll have an open discussion answering any audience questions.

PTI (Pardon the Interruption): A panel of 3 speakers will have a lively, fast paced discussion on 12 to 14 IBM Connections and Social Business topics. There will be 3 minutes for each topic with 60 seconds for each speaker to answer.

Ask the Experts: This is your chance to ask a panel of experts anything! Want to know how to solve a technical issue you are having? Need some advise on an adoption problem you can get past? We’ll have an open discussion answering any audience questions.

05/102014

Announcing the keynote speakers for Social Connections VII!

News keynote, soccnx, soccnxvii, speaker, stockholm by Wannes Rams

Maybe you’ve already checked out our agenda and seen the hints…? Either way, we are thrilled to officially announce that we’ll have three keynote speakers at Social Connections VII! All three keynote speakers are Social Connections veterans and we are honored to have them back to speak again.

First up…Louis Richardson. I don’t exaggerate when I say that Louis is one of the premier story tellers of the social business story. Although he is from IBM, the message is always unbiased and about how to work smarter using social. Louis rarely even mentions a product as he speaks. One of my favorite presentations from Louis is ‘Have you lost your mind‘.

Second…we have Mike Roche. Mike is the Chief Technologist at IBM Ireland and works directly with development of IBM Connections. Interestingly enough, Mike was one of the of the speakers at the first Social Connections event ever in 2011. Mike will be sure to bring us the latest news of what IBM has planned for IBM Connections.

And last but not least, we have Luis Suarez. An independent social business trusted advisor, who is leading the charge to work out loud as a charter member of Change Agents Worldwide. Luis is a passionate evangelist who speaks from his heart. He delivered one of the top sessions at Social Connections VI in Prague, ‘From Adaptation to Engagement‘.

If you have never seen these three guys speak, you are in for a real treat! And if you have see them, don’t worry…they will be delivering new and exciting presentations not previously seen at any Social Connections event!

So, if you haven’t already…go register now for Social Connections VII and we’ll see you in Stockholm on November 13th and 14th!

07/082014

First two Social Connections VII sponsors announced

News soccnx, soccnxvii, sponsors, stockholm by Wannes Rams

If you have ever attended a Social Connections event, you are sure to know how we feel about our sponsors. We love them. And not only because they make the whole event possible but because of the great solutions they provide to the community.

So, what’s better than a sponsor who supports an event? It must be a sponsor that supports two events! Or, in the case of the first sponsors announced for Social Connections VII, make it THREE events in a row!

We are proud to announce our Champagne level sponsor of Social Connections VII and sponsor of our gala reception in Stockholm:
Infoware Solutions

And we are also proud to announce our first Silver level sponsor:
Belsoft

We do have some other sponsors to announce in due time and if you are interested in sponsoring Social Connections VII, please contact us soon as the spaces are filling up quickly! Take a look at our Sponsorship Packages.

And if you are not a sponsor, you can still be part of the event! Register soon or even submit an abstract if you are interested in speaking.

10/072014

Social Connections VII officially announced! Register Now!

News soccnx, soccnxvii, stockholm by Wannes Rams

Where, oh where will Social Connections go next…?

Back in September of 2013, a couple of months after Social Connections V in Zurich, we had tentatively announced that we were headed somewhere in the countries of Scandinavia. As it turned out…we had to shift a few things around and we ended up a bit south in Czech Republic instead. Certainly, this turned into quite a superb diversion for us to be in Prague, the Czech were wonderful hosts. And now, it’s time to make good on that promise from almost a year ago and head up north!

If you attended Social Connections VI in Prague, you know we already let the cat out of the bag. So, it’s not a big secret: We are going to Stockholm!

Social Connections VII will be held in the stunning city of Stockholm in Sweden on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th November, 2014.

We will once again have a two day program, with the formal agenda starting with a buffet lunch and social gathering on Thursday 13th November at 12pm, followed by an afternoon of keynote sessions and a gala evening reception. There will also be an introductory session in Swedish during the morning for those that are local.

On Tuesday 14th June, the full-day program will include sessions by international-quality speakers in multiple tracks:

Management
Case Studies
Administration
Development
Sponsors

The event will be held in the modern and welcoming surroundings of the 7A Odenplan conference center, just meters from the metro and within easy reach of the city center and many quality hotels.

As mentioned above, we have organized an optional gala reception that will allow participants to continue the days conversations in a more relaxed atmosphere.

For the first time, we will be charging for tickets to a Social Connections event – primarily to try to restrict no-shows at the event and thus wasted resources and catering. However, we have kept the cost to a nominal amount which is still heavily subsidized by our valuable sponsors.

Space is limited, so register now!

There will also be an opportunity to attend an exclusive Social Connections Masterclass on Wednesday 12th November. We will be announcing details of the speaker(s) and topic very soon.

Interested in speaking? Great! We have also opened abstract submission. We love to have abstracts from first-time speakers, case studies from customers and thought-leading topics from analysts. All Social Business and IBM Connections related abstracts will be considered. Abstracts should be submitted by August 31st, 2014.

We are really excited to be announcing this event and we hope to see you in Sweden!