Confessions of an eBiz Junkie

2012 - The Year of the Ant

2012-01-10T10:13:03-08:00

Readers of this blog know that my passion for the digital realm, and the business transformation that it enables, is simply insatiable. Where real-estate on the web was once reserved for big brands with deep pockets, the social web of today has leveled the playing field. This digital revolution is fundamentally changing the rules of business, and brands that embrace this change will command a significant competitive advantage in the years ahead.

This is a transformative journey that requires a fundamental re-wiring of tired and traditional business models. So when the opportunity arose to help other companies accelerate their own transformation, my decision was rather straight-forward. I'm thrilled to share that I've joined the team over at Ants Eye View... Hands down the most passionate, talented and forward-looking team of enterprise practitioners that I've come across in my entire career.

I take my place on the team as Vice President of Social Business Strategy, tasked with helping some of the worlds top brands accelerate their own journey to becoming a fully-engaged enterprise. I simply could not be more excited about the opportunities that tomorrow holds.

I look forward to expanding the scope of my blog to include lessons learned from a variety of verticals and markets with hopes of helping you on your journey. In the meantime, if you're ready to jump-start your own revolution, drop me a line.. I happen to know some folks who can help. ;)

Cheers to a healthy, productive and prosperous new year for all in 2012.

Len

A New Year, A New Opportunity

2011-12-16T08:13:27-08:00

I've been very fortunate to be a part of the EMC family for the past twelve years. During that time, I've had the opportunity to do some truly amazing things, directly influencing EMC's digital presence and also the overall corporate culture.

In 2007, we formally embarked on our journey to become a true social business. The transformation of the brand has been nothing short of staggering, and has fundamentally changed how we engage across audiences. It's easily been the most fascinating thing I've ever been a part of.

All of this, plus my strong affinity for the 48k folks that make up the EMC family, made the decision to move on all the more difficult. However, an opportunity recently presented itself that I simply couldn't refuse.

In the upcoming year, I'll be taking on something new with hopes of helping other brands ignite their own journeys. I've seen firsthand just how powerful the transformation can be, and can't wait to help others see the opportunity at hand.

I'll be sharing more specifics in the coming weeks. Suffice it to say 2012 is going to be BIG! In the meantime, I wanted to share the news, and will be taking the rest of the year to reflect on the wonderful memories from the past twelve years.

Happy holidays and cheers to you in 2012.

Len

EMC Fights Cancer

2011-10-11T11:20:34-07:00

It's one of the things I love about EMC's culture - the seemingly insatiable desire to make the world a better place.

Each quarter, we take on a new cause, and harness the power and passion of our global employees to make a difference. Earlier this year, we set our sights on fighting hunger. We sure did have an impact, collecting over 40,000 pounds of food and helping over 20,000 individuals across the globe.

In fact, we doubled our goal.

This quarter, we take on something that's touched just about all of us in some way or another - Cancer.

There are no shortage of organized activities taking place throughout our third quarter. Folks are posting ribbons in their offices, tomorrow we'll literally be painting one of our offices pink, we have a silent auction to raise money for Swim Across America, so much more.

From a Social Media perspective, it's worth mentioning that our internal community hub EMC|ONE has become the rally point for organization, ideation and execution. That in itself is humbling to see.

Even more impressive is just how much individual employees are encouraged to be creative and come up with their own ways to make an impact.

Personally, I've already had some fun with it - and made a difference in the process. As example, I'm ALWAYS encouraging our employees to join the social ranks. In the last few social training sessions we've done, I've offered up a donation to the ACS for every individual who tweeted something alongs the lines of '@LenDevanna fights social complacency while #EMCFightsCancer'.

Suffice it to say I'm in for more than a few bucks already ;)

With a couple of external speaking opportunities on the horizon, I've asked the requesting group / agency if they'd be willing to make a donation to the ACS in exchange for my time. While I'd happily present if the answer was no, each group I've asked has emphatically supported the idea - And together we've made a difference.

Intent here isn't to promote what I've done - rather to highlight the fact that it just takes a little bit of creativity to do something significant.

The power of EMC'ers fighting a cause is stunning... Just search on the Twitter hashtag #EMCFightsCancer and you'll see what I mean.

So how about you? Does your company encourage something similar? Any examples to share? I can personally attest the affinity I feel towards a brand who goes above and beyond to do something meaningful for the world we all share.

What's Your Social Media Strategy?

2011-09-15T12:10:10-07:00

It was an honor to see EMC's approach to Social Media cited in the July issue of the Harvard Business Review. The article is well worth the read, if you haven't seen it already. Be sure to read the healthy and provocative comments from the community.

What's most interesting to me in reading this piece is the fact that no one size fits all. The authors call out four basic approaches - The 'predictive practitioner', 'creative experimenter', 'social media champion' and 'social media transformer'.

While it's true that we (EMC) continue to embrace the notion of experimenting, our journey has actually taken us to each of the other approaches described (and then some...). The authors note this, suggesting that 'many organizations will progress from one to another' during their journey. That's definitely proven to be the case.

The most important take away is that all of the approaches cited, all of the different behaviors, have one thing in common - These brands have embraced Social Media and are leveraging it to transform their business.

We've seen remarkable results, and have only scratched the surface.

So, what's your strategy?