Kathleen McGivney

Liveblogging the Lotusphere 2010 OGS

I probably won't be the most prolific or detailed on this topic, but I am sitting next to Team Socialtext and we are both blogging the OGS.

8:00 AM: Opening band are winners of America's Got Talent. Really great act. Now I know why I heard loud drumming during my session yesterday!

8:05 AM: The guest speaker is WFS!!!

8:10 AM: Ol' Bill is talking about collaboration in movies. Maybe the studios need to use Notes. Or Socialtext! :-)

8:17 AM: BobP just called some Lotus competitors "desperate". OH SNAP I wonder who he could possibly mean?

8:20 AM: BobP announced all the product-specific mini-keynotes later today. Talking about how Lotus aligns with IBM's greater Smarter Planet initiative.

8:22 AM: 18,378 new customers since Notes 8! And more smacktalk about M$.

8:25 AM: Focusing on cloud computing and "Collaboration Agenda" - working with industry-specific solutions.

8:30 AM: BobP feels sorry for "competitors". Poor little Ballmer.

8:35 AM: BobP introduces Alistair as new GM. Alan just burst into a cloud of maple leaves with Canadian pride.

A new beginning

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!

TriState LUG's next meeting, cookies included

As you may have noticed if you follow the TriState LUG Twitter feed (and you should!), there is a fantastic TriState LUG meeting coming up next Tuesday, July 21 in Newark, NJ, with great sessions by Akiba Saeedi about Sametime 8.5 and Declan Sciolla-Lynch about XPages. As you may also have noticed via recent blog posts by Jim and Mitch, an attendance challenge was issued. Somehow I got roped into baking cookies if 25 attendees registered, while Mitch merely has to don a tie if 50 attendees registered. I know how much you guys complain about ties, but I think it's at least slightly more effort to bake a few dozen cookies than it is to throw on a tie! At the next meeting, this disparity will have to be reconciled (Jim and Mitch, watch out)!

In any case, we already have over 25 non-IBM, non-organizer attendees registered, so it looks like I will be baking cookies on the day of the event and bringing them there for your enjoyment. I am currently planning to make chocolate chip (sans bacon, sorry bacon lovers!) and ginger butterscotch. I have been informed that chocolate chip cookies are mandatory, but I am flexible on the second cookie variety, so if you are attending, you may indicate your preferences in the comments from the following choices: ginger butterscotch, peanut butter, oatmeal toffee, or blondies (technically not a cookie, but hey! I'm accommodating like that). If I get no comments or there is a tie, it'll default back to the ginger butterscotch cookies, which is a pretty good deal if you ask me. They are delicious.

Be sure to register for the event - we need a list of names for building security - and we'll see you there. Feel free to leave cookie preferences in the comments, though revenge tactics for an attendance challenge for Jim and Mitch for the next meeting are welcome as well!

Announcing the Tri-State Lotus User Group

As Mitch Cohen, Jim Casale, and Ed Brill have already mentioned today, we're happy to announce the relaunch of the New York Metro Lotus User Group, now renamed the Tri-State Lotus User Group. The kickoff meeting for the relaunch of the user group is on Thursday, April 21 at 6:00 PM at the IBM facility at 590 Madison Avenue in New York City. Ed Brill and Carl Tyler will be our featured speakers at this event. Registration and networking will begin at 5:30 PM, and there will be light refreshments and giveaways. As Jim mentioned, we're also running a logo design contest and the winner will be announced (and receive a prize) at the meeting.

We plan to hold quarterly meetings around the tri-state (NY/NJ/CT) area to accommodate more people, and we will be running an annual full-day meeting that will be like a mini-conference - multiple tracks, lots of guest speakers, vendor giveaways, lunch and snacks included - all FREE to attendees.

Registration is open for the April 21st meeting, so please register if you'd like to attend. The meeting is in three weeks, so please feel free to pass this information on to as many people as possible! We hope to see you there!

The scoop on Sakura Consulting

Back in July, I started Sakura Consulting as a way to continue sharing and expanding my expertise with the Lotus family of products. As many of you know, I have over 13 years of experience with Notes/Domino and related products, and am really passionate about the technology I work with. I'm happy to continue sharing that passion and expertise at venues such as Lotusphere, and also directly with IBM/Lotus customers who use those products.

One of the things I liked about working in consulting roles in the past, both as an IBMer and for other business partners, is the ability to take a fresh look at an environment and help customers see how they can improve their use of the products. That is Sakura Consulting's focus - to assist you, the customer, with getting the most out of your software implementation.

To that end, we offer services such as systems audits, to help you get a handle on best practices and whether your environment is adhering to them, as well as assistance in bringing your environment in line with recommended best practices; systems architecture, whether it is for a fresh implementation or revamping an existing one; troubleshooting and performance tuning, to help you get maximum stability, efficiency, and performance from your systems; and education, for everyone from systems administrators to end users. We have a much more detailed list of services, of course, and you're welcome to contact us if you would like to inquire further about them.

And again, I'll be here at Lotusphere all week, so stop by one of my sessions if you want more information, or just stop me in the hallways and say hi!

(By the way, since someone asked, Sakura means "cherry blossom" in Japanese. I really like cherry blossoms and go to the Cherry Blossom Festival at the BBG every year, and that's why I chose that name.)

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My Lotusphere Schedule

I've been knee-deep in Lotusphere preparations, as well as a little R&R riding roller coasters before Lotusphere starts. I'll be speaking at a number of sessions this year, which I've detailed in this handy list, but if you really want the goods on the sessions you should check out the Genii Software Lotusphere Sessions Database. There are also a number of sessions I'm hoping to attend this year, some of which I'll be liveblogging, livetweeting, or photoblogging. So expect a ridiculous amount of updates more updates than usual this week.

My speaking schedule:

Sunday, January 18: JMP102 IBM Lotus Domino Administrator Jumpstart, Swan 7-10, 1:30-3:30 PM
Tuesday, January 20: GEEK102 Nerd Girl - Making Geek Chic, Swan Mockingbird, 11:15 AM -12:15 PM
Tuesday, January 20: GEEK101 Speedgeeking, Dolphin Pacific Hall, 6-7:30 PM
Wednesday, January 21: BP211 Managing Your IBM Lotus Domino Clusters, Swan 5-6, 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Wednesday, January 21: BP210 Making the Most of the Administration Process, Swan 5-6, 3:00-4:00 PM
Wednesday, January 21: BOF415 Nerd Girl - Making Geek Chic Roundtable, Swan Toucan II, 5:45-6:45 PM
Thursday, January 22: GURU101 GURUPalooza, Swan 5-10, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Stop by my sessions and say hi or just stop me if you see me in the hallways!

Into the belly of the beast

As you know, Thursday was my last day at IBM Lotus. I will be posting a bit more detail about my new company and the services we offer in a few days, but first, I have to tell you about what I did on Thursday night.

I was at dinner a few weeks ago with Mary Jo Foley and she mentioned that she was going to be a judge at a competition for technical speakers called "Speaker Idol". Due to my experience speaking at Lotusphere and attending similar speaking competitions, she thought I'd be a great addition to the judging panel, so I agreed to do it. The event in question? A Microsoft .Net Developers Group meeting. Inside a Microsoft building.

Eek!

I have to admit, I was a little nervous walking into a room full of .Net developers, but the organizers, attendees, speakers, and other judges couldn't have been more inviting and pleasant. The speakers were great and the judging was fun. Also, as it turns out, entering a Microsoft building as an ex-Lotus employee will not, in fact, cause one to burst into flames. Who knew?

Lest anyone think that I am running out Lotus/IBM's door straight into the open, willing arms of their main messaging and collaboration competitor, not to worry. I still plan on remaining independent for the foreseeable future. This being my own boss thing is pretty sweet.

Plus, I just officially migrated to a Mac. I'm pretty sure that's like Kryptonite to Microsoft people, right?

Photos of the new Mac after the jump.