Two months ago I participated in eComm. What a great event! (Thanks Lee!)
My talk was on “Cutting the Cord on Big Bell Dogma.” I think it’s a pretty compelling story. You can check out the video here and the slides further down in this post.
Another of my posts at Seamless Enterprise is worth referencing here: “What does Social Grass mean for the Enterprise?” The full post is probably worth reading, but here’s a shortened version:
In a recent interview with Telephony editor Kevin Fitchard, I introduced the concept of “social grass” as a component of how mobility will shape the next couple of decades. Even if you figured out what I meant by “social grass,” you probably struggled to see how it fit into a corporate environment.
Let me take a shot at clearing up the confusion on both fronts.
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What’s relevant to me right now is based on many factors, some of which aren’t hard for a mobile device to determine - where am I, what time is it, who am I with, what’s on my calendar, etc. But more than anything, relevance is based on relationships - my relationships with people and companies.
The fact that Joe Smith serves on the board of Habitat for Humanity in Tulsa, Oklahoma may or may not be relevant to me. Even if I’m meeting with a Joe Smith for lunch, how will the systems that can prepare me for that lunch meeting determine whether it’s the same Joe Smith?
The term social grass combines three different concepts into a rich view of relationship determination. The first concept is the “social graph” which has been referenced heavily by players in the online social network space. The second concept is “grassroots” - the natural and spontaneous development of communities and their activities. The third concept is “grass weaving” - the intertwining of individual strands to create a strong, yet beautiful product.
This “social grass” - separate social graphs growing naturally and spontaneously in different places, woven together into a reliable indicator of my relationship with people and organizations - can connect me to the Joe Smith that I’m having lunch with, to his company, and to his community involvement with organizations like Habitat for Humanity. And can help me be prepared to talk about how every man, woman and child should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live.
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I’ve mentioned before that I was recently interviewed by Kevin Fitchard of Telephony, and that interview was published last weekend. Well Kevin’s been talking to other folks in the industry, and mid-week he put together a piece pulling together my comments with those from AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega. Perhaps surprisingly, our observations weren’t that far apart. We both talked about the connecting together of different devices and content in ways that don’t require a PhD to make work. I guess Mr. de la Vega is pretty on top of things after all. 
All of these articles are part of an interactive feature at Telephony on “The Future of Mobile” which will be developing over the next several weeks. It’s worth tuning in to.
Sprint has just raised it’s customer referral program bonus from $25 to $100. For each friend or relative you refer (up to 12 per year), you can get a $100 Visa debit card and your friend gets $25.
Click here to get started.
Telephony magazine just published a fun interview senior editor Kevin Fitchard did with me a couple of weeks ago. Titled “Sprint’s McGuire on Frolicking in the Social Grass,” the subtitle of which is “Sprint strategy chief lays out his vision of an interconnected world, in which context is just as important as wireless connectivity” (free registration required). The basic question I was asked to answer is “how will the world be different in 2025, thanks to wireless technology?”
You can read the whole interview online, but basically I tie my answer back to five trends that are well underway today, but which I believe will take decades to be fully integrated with each other and with the lives of everyday citizens:
If you’re wondering about the title, so was I until I got the third page of the interview. Apparently, along the way I coined a new term. I kind of like the imagery, the grass roots, the weaving together, the blowing in the wind… But maybe I just need to work on my enunciation.
This weekend, Michelle B. commented on this site, and among other things, said: “I, as others have stated, am not sure why once we become a customer and stay loyal for years, we are treated so poorly. Existing customers should be offered better deals just for being loyal! Sprint should say Thank you for being loyal and we know you are keeping money in our pockets and food on our tables so we will reward you with some freebies!”
Great timing on the question, Michelle. Today, Sprint announced the launch of Sprint Premier. The program may not perfectly match what Michelle was asking for, but hopefully it’s a strong step in the right direction.
From the press release: “Loyalty pays. So Sprint is rewarding its most loyal and high-value consumer customers with perks, privileges and discounts that drive higher satisfaction, through the launch of Sprint Premier. … After being automatically enrolled in Sprint Premier, customers receive benefits such as: Early Upgrades, “Just Because” Perks, Anniversary Rewards, First to Know/First to Buy, Accessory Discounts, and Courtesy Plan Check. … Eligibility requirements for Sprint Premier are simple: 1) For three consecutive months, consumer customers must be on an individual wireless plan of at least $69.99 per month or spend at least $99.99 per month on a plan that shares minutes, or 2) they must have been a Sprint wireless customer for at least 10 years.”
Congratulations Michelle. With your 15 years with Sprint, you’re automatically in!
I just got around to posting the last of my “December” posts - on research. I’ve been pretty busy the past couple of weeks, so haven’t had time to dig through all the web sites of the various research firms to finish out this post. Although published 10 days into the new year, this post effectively represents the last of my 2008 posts.
The new year brings an opportunity to look at the world differently. Over the past few months, I’ve noticed that the bulk of my personal interest and (undoubtedly relatedly) the bulk of my posts have been the collections of links I label “Business Observations”. As I kick off 2009, I’ve decided to step away from my old categories (Capturing the Power, Managing the Danger, Indicators, etc.) and move towards collections of Observations. I imagine I’ll play around with different categories for a couple of months, but I’ve been gathering enough observations over the past few weeks to have a pretty good idea of buckets to start with. I hope to post my first post under this new categorization later today, so it’s out with the old and in with the new.
I look forward to any feedback on this new approach. Happy New Year!
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I’d been asked to start a discussion at Buzz About Wireless and I told you about my second post over there. Well, I’m now up to five posts at Buzz, some of which may be of interest to readers here. Feel free to check them out and join the conversation:
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Now playing: Steven Delopoulos - As If Love Was A Sword (Alternate Version)
This past week, I posted my first article at Seamless Enterprise - a new Sprint blog all about convergence. There’s already a bunch of content out there by my fellow bloggers. My post is on how convergence fits into the mobility revolution. Check it out!
I’ve been asked to start a discussion at Buzz About Wireless. I’ve just posted my second article in the Strategic Perspectives forum - on “Why I Switched to the Treo 800W.”
Check it out!
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