Web 2.0 & Maggiano's in the Morning

So what on earth could he be talking about? Maggiano's in the morning and Web 2.0 sounds like a strange combination unless of course you were attending the panel discussion this morning sponsored by Pink Magazine, Melia Design Group, Nimbus Software and Interface Guru and wanted to understand how you could leverage Web 2.0 to create successful on-line business strategies. Moderated by Daryn Kagan (darynkagan.com), the panel discussion was interesting, fun and certainly informative. I never knew "usability" was a discipline until someone asked what characteristics they should be looking for in a potential "usability" employee. Did Cia Romano (CEO and Founder of Interface Guru) actually say to look for an anthropologist? Hmmmmmm. That's a twist I hadn't considered before, but it makes absolute sense when you think about what a "usability" expert contributes to the business. Brad Fallon, CEO of Smart Marketing, Inc. may have pulled the biggest smiles when he noted that the three great discoveries of mankind were fire, the wheel and affiliate marketing. Genevieve Bos, the co-founder and publisher of PINK magazine dazzled the audience with her iPhone and crackberry (do you really need two form factors Genevieve?)and her insights on understanding not only who your users are, but how they want to engage content and what content do they want to engage. Finally, Paul Arne from Morris, Manning and Martin gave an interesting brief on some of the liability issues that on-line media companies face in today's environment. As noted during the recent Georgia Tech Security Conference, Web 2.0 has "created numerous new attack vectors" and we all have to be vigilant in safeguarding access to our personal data.

I met some very interesting new folks this morning, which is always a treat. Traci Fento, Founder & CEO of WorldBlu, Inc. (www.worldblu.com) is a new transplant to Atlanta from Washington, D.C. Her firm helps companies to create democratic work environments and I was really intrigued with our conversation. I also met Zenobia A. Godschalk of ZAG Communications and had a delightful chat about Web 2.0 security issues as well as the lack of VC funding in Atlanta at the moment. Kevin Howarth from TechLinks and I sat together and it was fun catching-up with him this morning as well. All in all, a good solid networking event with some great content. Great location and well executed.

Finally, my sincere apologies to all for failing to post for such a long time. As some of you know, I have been working as a consultant for Tescom USA for the past several months. But what many of you may not know is that I recently accepted the position of VP of U.S. Operations for Tescom and I'm now focusing all of my efforts on building Tescom's brand and reputation in the Southeast. It is a great firm and I'm delighted to have been asked to join the global management team. I'm off to Tel Aviv shortly for my first global sales conference and I know it is going to be fun meeting the international team and learning what is working across the globe with their operations.

I will sincerely try to post more often now that I have my feet firmly planted at Tescom. Meanwhile, hope everyone has a delightful day.