I've been through a number of changes over the past couple of years, and today I have a fabulous one to share with you. It's with great happiness and excitement that I announce that I'll be closing up shop at Sakura Consulting and joining Socialtext as a Customer Success Manager.
Like it was for Alan, moving to a company that is outside of the Lotus community is a little bittersweet for me. I've been working with Lotus products since 1996, and I've spent most of that time in deeply technical roles. I've spoken at many Lotus-related conferences (and still will in January - more on that in a moment). Most of all, I've met some amazing people during my time working with Lotus products, whether I was a Lotus/IBM customer, business partner, or IBMer. The Lotus community has some of the most passionate, intelligent, and geeky people I've ever met, and I'm happy to have been a part of it for so long.
The move to Socialtext is not only a logical one for me in terms of career direction, but also in terms of the software I'll be working with. Socialtext is all about collaboration, in its culture and its products. That's one of the things that really speaks to me about Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 - the collaborative aspect. It's an aspect I'm very familiar with, and why I think the Lotus community was so quick to grok the value of things like Twitter - collaborative software is in our blood.
I could not be happier about my new role at Socialtext, where I'll continue to put that love for collaboration into practice. I'm excited about the software, the company, and the people I'll be working with. I'll post more about my role and the products as I move into my new responsibilities in early January.
Also, as mentioned, I will be speaking at Lotusphere in January - co-presenting with my evil twin Susan Bulloch for two sessions and participating in the Nerd Girl panel and BoF. I'm also looking forward to seeing the usual lot at the bar, where you are all free to buy me a farewell drink. (I kid, I kid. Mostly.)
I don't plan on leaving the Lotus community completely - I will continue to co-organize the Tri-State Lotus User Group with Mitch for the time being, and will be around the various blogs and chats. So, to the Lotus community - thank you for being so awesome over the years, and please keep in touch!
Like it was for Alan, moving to a company that is outside of the Lotus community is a little bittersweet for me. I've been working with Lotus products since 1996, and I've spent most of that time in deeply technical roles. I've spoken at many Lotus-related conferences (and still will in January - more on that in a moment). Most of all, I've met some amazing people during my time working with Lotus products, whether I was a Lotus/IBM customer, business partner, or IBMer. The Lotus community has some of the most passionate, intelligent, and geeky people I've ever met, and I'm happy to have been a part of it for so long.
The move to Socialtext is not only a logical one for me in terms of career direction, but also in terms of the software I'll be working with. Socialtext is all about collaboration, in its culture and its products. That's one of the things that really speaks to me about Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 - the collaborative aspect. It's an aspect I'm very familiar with, and why I think the Lotus community was so quick to grok the value of things like Twitter - collaborative software is in our blood.
I could not be happier about my new role at Socialtext, where I'll continue to put that love for collaboration into practice. I'm excited about the software, the company, and the people I'll be working with. I'll post more about my role and the products as I move into my new responsibilities in early January.
Also, as mentioned, I will be speaking at Lotusphere in January - co-presenting with my evil twin Susan Bulloch for two sessions and participating in the Nerd Girl panel and BoF. I'm also looking forward to seeing the usual lot at the bar, where you are all free to buy me a farewell drink. (I kid, I kid. Mostly.)
I don't plan on leaving the Lotus community completely - I will continue to co-organize the Tri-State Lotus User Group with Mitch for the time being, and will be around the various blogs and chats. So, to the Lotus community - thank you for being so awesome over the years, and please keep in touch!
Congratulations, Kathleen! Sounds like a great fit for someone with a lengthy tenure in the collaboration space. Just remember that Alan != Ed when you are on all-company conference calls!
Posted by: Ed Brill | December 11, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Congratulations - you couldn't be joining a more exciting and innovative company! Good luck, and see you at Lotusphere.
Posted by: Stuart McIntyre | December 11, 2009 at 10:12 AM
We're really excited to have you join us. The Lotus community was very kind and supportive to me when I made my change, as they will be to you. With all the public collaboration tools out there, it is very easy to stay engaged in multiple communities. I look forward to sending you your first Signal internally. Welcome aboard!
Posted by: Alan Lepofsky | December 11, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Sounds like a great opportunity for you, Kathleen. I can't wait to hear how it all plays out-- as I'm sure I will since we all have these great web 2.0 social networking tools :)
Posted by: Mary Beth Raven | December 11, 2009 at 10:53 AM
Welcome aboard Kathleen! The CSM role is a great one; you help all kinds of organizations build out a collaborative capability that can have huge impacts on their business. It's complex, challenging work, and very satisfying to see the results.
Michael Kieran
(a Socialtext Customer Success Manager)
Posted by: Michael Kieran | December 11, 2009 at 11:25 AM
Congratulations, Kathleen! Very happy for you!
Posted by: Liz | December 11, 2009 at 11:28 AM
congratulations, kathleen. it will be interestimg for us to learn what a csm does.
Posted by: Volker Weber | December 11, 2009 at 11:29 AM
WOW!! What a great career move and opportunity for you, Kathleen! Congratulations, and I can't wait to hear all about it at Lotusphere!
--Rock
Posted by: Rock | December 11, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Wow! Very cool! Sounds like a fun and challenging role!
Congratulations!
Posted by: John Vaughan | December 11, 2009 at 12:07 PM
Kathleen, congratulations. We are all really excited about having you on board here at Socialtext! Can't wait to work with you.
Posted by: Scott Schnaars | December 11, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Volker, Customer Success Managers are the post-sales team that works with customers on deployment and adoption.
Posted by: Alan Lepofsky | December 11, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Congrats all the way around. Someone needed to go and be able to slap Alan around when he got out of line over there :-) Awesome choice and move
Posted by: IdoNotes | December 11, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Congrats from the outside of SocialText as well. I love keeping my eyes on the great things that SocialText is doing there and I'm sure you will have a great time working with a very fine group of highly admired people.
Posted by: Gyehuda | December 11, 2009 at 01:40 PM
Congratulations Kathleen! Sounds like the perfect position for you.
Posted by: Debbie Lynd | December 11, 2009 at 01:42 PM
congrats!
Posted by: Humanfireplace | December 11, 2009 at 02:00 PM
Dreams do come true! When Sean and I were visiting you were very bullish and excited for this opportunity. I am so happy you got it. superduperfragalisticexpealadocious!
Posted by: Tara Brown | December 11, 2009 at 02:01 PM
Congrats! sounds fun!
Chris
Posted by: Chris Reckling | December 12, 2009 at 03:12 PM
Congratulations on your new fun role!
Posted by: Steve Castledine | December 14, 2009 at 09:29 AM
Kathleen, we are really looking forward to your joining the Socialtext team!
Posted by: Michael Idinopulos | December 14, 2009 at 06:21 PM