One of the parts of the show I really enjoy is talking a look at some of the new technology out there and doing some hands on testing.

We looked at 2 items last night on the program.

But I always thought of IBM as this big faceless company that made mainframe computers.

Yes I know they had been a big player in personal computing but that never stuck with me, and not them either.

Then I happened upon this whole new face of IBM, the idea of social business.

Cool.

And the 60 second videos say it all!

And what was the revelation for IBM over the last 10 years? Really the same one we are all facing and for the most part in a corporate context doing very poorly, speaking to people as people and not objects.

It’s no longer a BtoB or BtoC relationship. It’s PtoP.
People to people isn’t about file sharing. It means that every department, from HR to marketing to product development to customer service, uses social media the way it uses any other tool and channel to do its job. A company that uses social networking tools fluently to communicate with people inside and outside the company acts as a Social Business.

I love the way IBM has framed the idea of a social business because as I think about radio or education the rules also apply.

IBM has identified three distinct characteristics of a Social Business:

• A Social Business is engaged—deeply connecting people, including customers, employees, and partners, to be involved in productive, efficient ways.
• A Social Business is transparent—removing boundaries to information, experts and assets, helping people align every action to drive business results.
• A Social Business is nimble—speeding up business with information and insight to anticipate and address evolving opportunities.

This is a little piece worth reading and keeping on your desk the next time you are asked where are we going in this industry.

This course has changed a lot since we first started it, but it has always stayed very true to the core idea of combining what has been learned in the curriculum of the communication college to real world activities.

My latest projects are all based around sound.

Part of the motivation to work with sound is my love for radio and the ability it has to be the ultimate education tool.

And then there is the fact that my students have a huge amount of technology on their person daily.

Laptop, phone, camera, MP3 players and more.

So what if we could use a students personal technology, their skills and my passion for radio to create a learning tool for UAE Nationals and expats alike?

The project involves students finding a sound that reminds them of something in their life.

Students record the sound on their phones and import them to their laptops.

Once the sound is on the laptop they record and intro and description of the sound and edit the whole thing together.

The result is magic!

And the reality is that while my students are not recording experts they have all the tools and talent to work in sound NOW.

We live in a technology enabled world but how much thought are we actually giving to that technology and its implications?

The reality is not enough.

Rick opens up some interesting doors for continued exploration of the ideas of technology and society.

When I say talent, in this case anyway, I am talking about cultural talent.

My Canadian sensibility leads me to listen to music that is being produced here in the UAE as a piece of UAE culture.

Well, last night on Nightline I had Paul Kelly of TripleW.me joining me in studio with 2 UAE based music producer, WOW.

Dylan Ellis, www.dylan-ellis.com, and Joshua Williams, www.joshuafwilliams.com, showed me a whole side of the UAE I did not even know existed.

Dylan and Josh not only talked about themselves but also the industry that they are helping shape int he UAE.

They are a perfect example of “anything is possible”.

Not only did we have a great chat that is well worth the listen, but they also brought in a track each that they have produced.

What a heard immediately was music of a global standard that could have been produced in LA or London, but it was produced here.

I enjoyed this interview, give it a listen.

And here is the music of Absolace and Beat Antenna at a little higher sample quality.

Cultural industries in the UAE are alive and well!

The problem with our increasingly WEB influenced social mentality is that the parts that make up the whole of our WEB aided society don’t seem to be working together as well as they should or could.

What we need is a good conversation to bring all the parts together.

In Canada The Canadian Digital Media Network did just that with its 3rd conference called Canada 3.0.

The question that I was asking myself was can another conference make change? Probably not.

So why have a conference at all? Why not just open up a Facebook group, link a twitter and YouTube account and let the good times roll?

What I find interesting about the CDMN’s Canada 3.0 Conference is that it brings together the industry, academic and government stakeholders to talk, see and do change.

The problem we are confronted with, when we talk about our new web enabled environment is we still have economic, social and regulatory structures that are rooted in an old school at you media mentality.

Today our media is with you and we have moved from a tool maker to a tool user mentality.

And then there is the global/local issue.

Geographically we have localized political, academic and industrial machines that are contextualized locally.

But the wide world of the new web community is without borders, so how do we facilitate local ideas for the global arena?

Dr. Kevin Tuer, Managing Director of the Canadian Digital Media Network, looked at the issues and made the road ahead a little more obvious.

This is a must see talk from this year!

About this talk

As a democratic revolution led by tech-empowered young people sweeps the Arab world, Wadah Khanfar, the head of Al Jazeera, shares a profoundly optimistic view of what’s happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and beyond — at this powerful moment when people realized they could step out of their houses and ask for change.

About Wadah Khanfar

As Director General of Al Jazeera, the only international TV network based in the developing world, Wadah Khanfar works to bring rare liberties like information, transparency and dissenting voices to… Full bio and more links

And here is my TEDActive Chronicle for day 4! One more day to go!

What became clear was that for TEDx events to really work some form of collaboration with organizers in country or region is necessary.

The question is how to connect?

I love the quote of the morning, “entrepreneurs save the world to change the world.”

Idea from TEDxSeoul

-Korea has undergone an amazing change from a population concerned with the rice bowl to a youth that is dynamic and optimistic.

TEDxAtlanta

The key to a great TEDx event is going regional and collaborating.

TEDxColumbus

“Save the Cat” is a must read book when it comes to putting together a great show.

TEDxNASA

A great event builds on LOYALTY equity.

You have one goal when creating an event, excellence.

TEDIBYork

I loved the quote here about getting speakers to rehearsals,”getting speakers to a session is like nailing jello to a tree.”

TEDxGuangzhou

TEDx events can have adventures to lead people into the events! Think trips and the like to get ideas out before your event.

TEDxSydney

Learning to delegate is a huge challenge to many.

The book ‘The Starfish and the Spider’ is a great read to refocus.

TEDxLondon

A great organization tool that is behind www.tedxlondon.com is www.exudo.com.

TEDxEast

Doing a TEDx is like doing a hobby job it takes up all your time for no pay!

GROUPS

The best title for an educator this afternoon was the LEARNING ACTIVIST!

And a great thing is coming from TED is TEDed!

I make no apology and I have not used a Nokia or any other smartphone to make any comparison.

I love my phone because as a phone it works BUT as a multimedia tool it also works.

The big seller for me was SIMPLICITY.

This technological tool makes complex tasks easy and painless.

Take Nightline, the radio program I host.

I needed a new intro for the podcast and simply didn’t have time to get into the studio to record the intro.

And if I had there would have been editing and transferring issues, a 10 second job would have taken 30 minutes.

What do I do?

I sit in a closet, really, and record the intro on my iPhone and send it to myself to be added to the podcast!

Broadcast quality recording on a phone that is simple to transfer!

Listen to the iPhone recorded intro, pretty good if I do say so myself.

When I talk about SIMPLICITY the iPhone is another example.

SIMPLICITY is about taking complex ideas and/or tasks and making them accessible to anyone!

Why is this idea so hard to make stick?