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I’m very pleased to announce that John Hagel, best-selling author and Co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, will be the special guest at our next Clearvale SecondFloor event, taking place next Wednesday, November 16th as part of the Official Enterprise 2.0 Conference Attendee Party in Santa Clara, CA. The conference itself will be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, while the party will happen just next door at Techmart.

Everyone is welcome to join us for hors d’oeuvres and drinks as Mr. Hagel engages in a lively discussion with our very own Dr. Pehong Chen, CEO of BroadVision. The floor will then be open to Q&A with the audience. Please note that in order to attend the party, you must be registered for the Enterprise 2.0 Conference. The generous folks at E2 have been kind enough to let us provide complimentary expo badges for all attendees — all you have to do is visit the conference registration page and enter code ‘broadvision‘ when selecting your expo pass. Be sure to take advantage of this special offer and come check out both the show and the party.

Doors open at 6pm and speaking will begin at 6:45pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

When: Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Where: Techmart, Santa Clara
Doors open: 6:00pm
Speaking begins: 6:45pm

To view our press release, click here.

Via Technorati a few days ago I came across a post by blogger Laurie Buczek titled “The Big Failure of Enterprise 2.0 Social Business“. I recommend you check it out. The post’s title might mislead you into thinking it’s just another devil’s advocate type rant — but it isn’t, as the writer is quick to disclaim.

The article covers a number of factors that stand in the way of true social business adoption, with a focus on the lack of integration. I’m going to set integration aside and focus on the former, more general adoption issue. This is something I know for a fact many of the prospects and customers we’ve spoken to have struggled with for quite some time. The products we vendors offer are powerful. They’re packed with features. They can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Our very own BroadVision Clearvale allow companies to interconnect different business networks for their employees, customers and partners, and encourage knowledge sharing and idea flows like never before. There’s so much that these products can do for companies that are looking to “go social”.

But how do you get others in your organization who aren’t already embracing it to jump aboard? When will social business be viewed by companies as the norm and a necessity, rather than a segment of the enterprise technology industry? Analysts and thought leaders will tell you that it’s already here, that you can’t escape it. But how many companies in the world are still doing business just as they’ve always done? Don’t mind them, you might say. Those companies that resist will struggle. They’re going to fall behind.

Perhaps to an extent they will, but at the end of the day these companies are our prospects and customers, and it’s even more important for us to show them what social business can do to improve collaboration and engagement across their entire organizations. So many people we’ve spoken to have a fear that social business and enterprise social networking will interfere with long-established policies and processes, and the move to social would set them back far too much for it to be worth it. They can’t just abandon the way they’ve been doing things for X number of years. And that’s a legitimate concern.

But here’s what really got me thinking. Laurie calls social business an evolution, and not a revolution. This caused me to ask myself: as an individual working for a longtime enterprise solution company — a company that is now almost completely focused on cloud-based collaboration for internal and external business social networking — what have I been trying to help customers accomplish? Have I really been trying to help them “revolutionize” their business processes and the way their employees interact with each other? Is the injection of social business into an organization a “revolution?”

No, not really. “Revolution” is a scary word. It connotes uncertainty and disruption. But that’s what I and many others in the collaboration space have been calling it. So the more I think about it, the less the word “revolution” applies. I feel that people need to know we’re not trying to overthrow or stage some sort of coup against traditional ways of working, but rather help those traditional processes through a transition. To assist them in keeping up as technology changes and the world becomes more connected and social than ever before.

As Laurie’s post suggests (and to somewhat play sides against Andrew’s previous entry), old platforms of engagement like email are not dead. And they won’t be dying anytime soon. So my job, and the job of a social business solution like Clearvale, isn’t to make companies root out all the traditional stuff, but rather to keep the peace, and have the old and new worlds meet in the middle as technology continues to progress at its rapid pace.

“Evolution” is a much nicer word, and I’ve come to realize it’s much more relevant in the context of social business. Because that’s what social business is — a gradual adapation, a natural change, and one that will take some time.

New York has joined a list of 13 other cities in recognizing April 16th as “Foursquare Day.” From what I gather, all you have to do is get a bunch of people together in the same place and “check in” to Foursquare on 4/16 (get it? Four squared is 16). Nice.

Demonstrating the power of social media — I get that. But a city/government recognized geotagging day? Really?

I have a problem with geotagging — or rather, I have a problem with the lack of common sense many seem to exhibit when using geotagging services. To a certain extent, I understand why so many people have jumped on the bandwagon; after all, we live in a “share everything” world now. But I simply haven’t been able to embrace the concept. Sure, broadcasting your current location to your network of friends and acquaintances is cool. You can discover bars, restaurants and other new haunts you never even heard of. However, while I can see the benefits and power of this kind of service, I’m of the feeling that not enough people exert the right level of caution when they use it.

I see it in my Facebook feed everyday:

“Joe Schmoe has checked in at _____.”
“Joe Schmoe has checked in at _____ with _____ and _____.”
“Joe Schmoe has checked in at HOME.” (and then it lists the address!)

Call me stingy, but even though I’m big on sharing certain information and staying connected I generally don’t want people to know where I am and who I’m with. Anyone else I’d want to share my location with would probably be there with me. Maybe my friends don’t want others to know where they are, either. And finally, I most certainly don’t want anyone to know where my home is and whether or not I’m home.

Granted, all of these are user-controlled, and it’s up to the individual using Foursquare or whatever other geotagging service they’re on to broadcast at his/her discretion. The main problem is that most people don’t think about the negative aspects of all this. Say you have your broadcasts set to be shared with friends only. But are you broadcasting across Facebook, Twitter and other channels as well? Are those settings properly  configured? In spite of your immediate precautions, it’s still quite easy for anyone with an inkling of bad intention to either find out where you are (or aren’t), and take advantage of that.

I know a couple of people whose houses have been broken into because they checked in somewhere and thus told the world they weren’t at home. Then there’s the public story of Carri Bugbee, a social media strategist from Portland, Oregon who was stalked and harassed by an unknown individual after checking in at a restaurant. Needless to say I’m sure there are more out there.

The level of connectivity available to us these days is astounding. If you’re not interacting in person, you’re probably on the phone. Or texting. Or chatting and talking on Skype. Or on Facebook and Twitter. Technology and social media have made it so easy for people to always be in touch, one way or another. Geotagging services have taken this to the next level.

I want to reiterate that I am not against Foursquare or geotagging services in general, but just wish more was done to educate the general population about the dangers of sharing everything. The more you’re aware, the safer you’ll be. If you’re going to do it, make sure you know for a fact who can see what you’re broadcasting, and even then exercise caution. You just never know.

I’m going to get a drink now…but sorry, I’d rather not tell you where.