The State of the Collaboration Union
The State of the Union was last Tuesday. And the more you watched, the more it felt like hope and whatever loose change was left was slipping away. And not for the reasons you think.
I tuned in last Tuesday to the State of the Union. As a voting individual in this great nation, I take interest in the politics and policies enacted by those that I elect to office. The event is usually a festive one in Congress, with the President addressing all elected officials as well as the rest of the country.
Its usually one of the fluffiest things you can watch. The President makes comments about policies and tasks that he’d like to complete for the year, and the rest of the nation watches on.
One of the more disheartening things of course, is the Republican response to each and every one of these declarations. And while the Republicans are not fans of Obama as well, the impression given during speeches like this shows not only a lack of unity as a nation but also a lack of an interest in one of the most important tenets of business and social media - collaboration.
Its often noted that Republican representative Mitch McConnell has said that he will do everything he can, if possible, to prevent Obama from being a successful President, and will block anything and everything possible to make this happen. In the eyes of private and public work, this is the antithesis of collaboration. When one is usually hired in a company, they are brought in to work and help reach organizational goals. In the case of the United States Congress, this seems like the exact opposite - the goal here is to make the President fail.
In general, the consensus of the citizens of the United States is that nothing is getting done, and partially, that’s because of the US government is refusing to collaborate. If anything, the State of the Union showed us that gridlock and a promotion of failure seems to be the way to go. While the nation moves more towards a socialized and collaborative framework with collaborative technology, the government moves the other direction.
What’s your take? Tweet me at @albertqian or comment below.
The Beauty of Blogging: Part 4 of 4 - Collaboration
One of the big trends in social media today is collaboration. Cisco is doing it with Cisco Quad, Salesforce with their platform and Zoho with their comprehensive platform, among many others. Collaboration offers the opportunity for shared value and the ability to team up and have multiple voices.
Blogging platforms today offer a bevy of social media tools, and some offer the ability to collaborate. Consider the following questions when starting your blog for you and a possible team:
1. What’s the Blog Brand?
Because blogs are such a large component of social media, and personal branding is so important, its important to realize through your goals what your company brand is. If your brand identity is a shared value between you and your collaborators then this will make it easier. If not, then see it to communicate expectations.
2. Do you want a Paper Trail?
Some blogs don’t allow for multiple sign-ons, while others, such as Wordpress do. Do you want to show in your dashboard that your employees or collaborators are doing what they are doing, and completing the tasks instated or do you have trust for what they are doing? The ability to add additional accounts to a particular blogging platform can be critical to getting what needs to be done, done.
How are you collaborating with others on your blogging goals? Let me know here in the comments or on Twitter @albertqian
The Blog: 5 Reasons its a Collaboration Tool
Collaboration is a fancy word that businesspeople use to describe ‘working together’. Humans after all, have been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years whether it involves the construction of a home or the slaying of a beast. Collaboration can also be used when it comes to writing in your blog. How? Let’s explore a few ways:
1) Idea Sharing - the Internet has come a long way since the early days. It used to be that you just surfed the web and you could find something, but you couldn’t interact with it even if you loved it to death. The emergence of Web 2.0 changed it all. With commenting abilities and much more, you can share your idea, and your idea could net you something lucrative down the line.
2) Idea Spreading - Similar to idea sharing, a blog is useful in spreading the ideas of individuals outward. Lifehacker and Gizmodo are some of these exact uses - nowhere else can you find useful articles on how to use your technology or why such technology matters.
3) Social Justice - Social justice has increased on the web in the past half decade. As organizations come to light and really try to bring their campaigns to social media, people are taking notice. From Doctors Without Borders to Amnesty International, people can read about efforts without having to receive a quarterly mailer.
4) Art - Artists are admittedly not given enough credit for the effort, time and energy they put into their craft. Centuries ago artists would struggle when alive, but after death would see a dearth of activity on their goods. Van Gogh was such a man. Blogs can be used to bring publicity to people on the web in free ways that do not involve galleries.
5) Affiliation - This one I saved for last, has also been used the longest. Affiliate Marketing makes blogs an instant collaboration tool because blogs can work with other blogs to make money. And money talks.
How are you blogging today?
(And if you’d like to collaborate, leave a comment.)
