Monday 16 January, 2012 at 3:54 pm / 0 comment

Lotusphere 2012

Oh Lotusphere, oh Lotusphere, it’s that time of year for Lotusphere.  No, I haven’t had any cocktails, but I thought it would be fun to start today’s blog out with a song.

by Dave Dabbah, Marketing Team, Ephox

Anyway, over the next couple of days, I plan on writing about some of my observations from what I call the Mothership of all Lotus related IBM conferences.

This morning was the big Keynote where music for OK GO was some how mixed together with the readings of one Marty Mcfly. It was great to see MJF, also known as Michael J. Fox, present a keynote to thousands of people in the audience.

So I wonder, what does MJF have to do with IBM?

What would MJF have to say that would some how connect his world to the Social Business world of IBM Lotus?

The answer to this question lies someplace between social business and social networking. As we all know MJF has Parkinson’s disease and at some point after his diagnosis, Michael and his team set out to make people across the world aware of Parkinson’s.

Through his well publicized foundation http://www.michaeljfox.org/, Michael J. Fox has been able to bring the world together in a way which would not have been possible 10 years ago. The power of social connections inside companies and the consumer market integrated with a powerful consumer message, “Our Progress is Powered By You”, has enabled Michael and his organization to significantly grow awareness for the purpose of what we hope will someday lead to a cure for this terrible disease.

On the surface it’s interesting that IBM and Marty Mcfly are so connected, but as the world evolves, technology brings us closer in so many ways that make Back To The Future look and feel like a potential reality.  Sure, a cure to Parkinson’s won’t happen overnight, but through the efforts of an increasingly social world, I bet a cure will happen someday soon and social collaboration will play a role.

Observation:

IBM did a great job with the presentation, I just wish they would have found a way to include a DeLorean in the mix.