One of the most rewarding parts of my journey has been the opportunity to tell stories that inspire. And certainly, one of the most compelling stories is that of Sabriye Tenberken and her vision for a institute where people who have overcome adversity would master social leadership.

It features some of the most inspiring and courageous people that you will ever meet on the frontiers of social entrepreneurship, at their verdant campus on the shores of the Vellayani lake near Trivandrum. Here is a link to Vision--a film that I directed on the IISE (International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs)--now known as Kanthari International:
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECai9C60Qsk 


If you enjoyed this film, do take a moment to rate this (on five stars) and of course, leave me a comment telling me why you liked it.  

Happy 2012!

I have spent the last three weeks in America, travelling much of the time. What strikes me the most about the country is the energy field of enterprise and drive that it is. Written deep into its source code is the frontier spirit that attracts adherents from every nation of the world. This energy and spirit of enterprise reflects powerfully in the way that it communicates--directly and with imperative.

Every culture that enriches its shores finds new ways to express itself and add another facet to its tapestry of life. Within enterprise, you find diversity that is hard to source in other parts of the world. It has been a tremendous three weeks of experiencing and learning about America. In the weeks ahead, I will share those insights with you. Until then, from the breezy Arkansas night, this is Joseph signing off.

This morning, you woke up to the newest day in the third era of your life.

In terms of computing history, three major ‘eras’ have marked the way computers shaped society--and our lives. Each of these eras has had computers playing pivotal, but different roles in our lives. These eras have coincided with the major shifts in the way we use computing devices and softwares. I recently chanced upon this very compelling way to understand the era that we live in, while researching an article recently.  I share it here with you, in the open source spirit of the third era.

According to Allen Wirf-Brocks, the iconic software architect and entrepreneur, the first era was the Corporate Computing Era (peaking between the 1950 and 1980s) in which computers were used to enhance and empower large organizations such as commercial enterprises and governments.  Its applications were largely about collecting and processing large amounts of corporate data. Databases and transaction processing were key technologies. In the 1980s, the primary focus of computing started to rapidly shift away from corporate computing to personal computing. Corporate Computing still continues to be an important sector of computing.

The second era, the Personal Computing Era, was about using computers to enhance and empower individuals. Here, computer applications were largely task centric. They focused on enabling you to create and communicate information. Remember your baby steps in the direction of word processing, spread sheets and presentations—and importantly, Internet access. The years between 1980 and 2010 marked the second era--Personal Computing Era. 

This morning, you woke up to the newest morning of the third era--Ambient Computing. In this era (expected to peak between 2010 and 2020), computers are transforming the environments we live in. It is, according to Allen Wirf-Brock, ‘an era of smart devices, perpetual connectivity, ubiquitous information access, and computer augmented human intelligence’. Here, you live in an information rich environment where computing devices offer you access to a cloud of computer mediated information. In our third era, we use Social Media to conduct our conversations. Now that is not hard to believe, if you realize Social Media brought you here to read this blog entry. I look forward to your thoughts on the third era of computing.

So, welcome to the newest day in the third era of your life.

Just completed a Social Media Presentation at the Outlook 2011 Media Seminar in Trivandrum. Here are key takeaways from the Seminar for You:

- Social Media is a conversation that uses technology platforms like blogs, podcasts, videocasts, wikis and social networks 
- Of the 1.17 billion Internet Users in the world, over 60 percent have a social media presence, making it the most popular web platform
- India's 70 million 'user group' is all set to grow to 325 million, thanks to convergence of mobile, television and automobile technologies
- Over 50,000 Indian media companies will create thousand of jobs, of which social media is an emerging segement
- Use Social Media to engage employees, deliver strategy and drive business results


Click on the link below to download your copy of the Social Media presentation:

Outlook 2011.pdf (6.01 mb)

If you found this blog--and presentation--insight-filled and useful, leave a comment at this post. Thanks!

This next week, I will be speaking at Outlook 2011 Seminar at All Saints College, Trivandrum on January 12, 2011. The Outlook Seminar comes close on the heels of the Inspire Seminar that I spoke at in Chennai in January last year. This Seminar, hosted by MOP Vaishnav College, Chennai and All Saints College, Trivandrum, is all set to be a vibrant platform for interaction with the student community drawn from across South India.

Look ahead to a great interactive session, swirling with great ideas on Social Media, Corporate Brands and India's ever vibrant student community!

As you look to the first year of the new decade, I've put together some thoughts that will help make a difference to your year and decade ahead. In the year ahead, you will discover that your growth as a person and as a profession in any space will be built around the following home truths:

Everything is a conversation
Every mail, every post and every social media response is your stamp of individuality and expression in the worldwide community of 1.17 billion users. Your Conversations will use technology platforms like blogs, social networks, wikis, podcasts, videocasts.


What you say is important
Use your conversations to inform, involve and inspire people around things that measurably make our world a joy-filled, sustainable place to live in. Whether it is delivering your strategic messages, igniting collaboration, increasing productivity or fostering knowledge sharing, what you say and how you say it is significantly important.
 
Use your conversations to drive change
As mobile computing, television, even automobiles become platforms for communication, it is vitally important for you to determine your core idea and communicate it relentlessly. Every new platform you use must answer three questions: is it good? is it affordable? is it sustainable? Beyond these questions, your conversations must take your core idea to new levels of adoption and excellence.

Have a wonderful 2011!

In the week ahead, World Volunteer Day commemorated on September 25, 2010 will harness the potential of millions of volunteers worldwide to clean communities, environments and eco-systems. It will present you with the opportunity to make a significant difference in your community—tackling its biggest problem.

You should know that World Volunteer Day is the globe’s largest volunteer event because of two groups that made wanted to make a difference in their community. The Heal the Bay Foundation has helped transform the Southern Californian coastal waters and its watershed safe, healthy and clean. Ocean Conservancy has helped clean up coastlines and oceans, making a ‘sea change’.  These links will open your mind to the potential of making a difference:

http://www.healthebay.org/assets/pdfdocs/DorothyGreen/GreensPiece_Oct-Nov_1991.pdf

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=abt_aboutus

Many other nonprofit organizations worldwide have joined forces with Heal the Bay Foundation and Ocean Conservancy to make September 25th the world’s largest volunteer day.  This signature event will harness the power of thousands of volunteer cleaning up their corner of the planet. Trashy coastlines will be cleaner. Plastic-choked canals will flow easier. Trash heaps will be disappear. And, our planet will breathe a little easier.

As we head into the week that leads to World Volunteer Day, I’ll leave you with the words of the iconic, outspoken American Anthropologist Margaret Mead, who summed up the spirit of this time when she said:  “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does.”

Are you watching Life?

Discovery’s landmark 11-part series:  Life tells the incredible story of our planet’s animals and plants and their extraordinary strategies to stay alive as individuals and survive as a species. You will be over-awed by life’s sheer intelligence. Brown-tufted capuchin monkeys in Brazil. Bottlenose Dolphins in Florida. Stoats in picturesque central England. Every episode of Life will leave you thinking about the Planet we live on—especially in the run-up to World Environment Day, that we will celebrate on June 5, later this week.

Life has existed for about 4 billion years on our Planet. Humans have a recorded history of about 10,000 year. Our last 200 years have been spent trying to undo the damage we have unleashed on the only planet that we can live on.  Across the world, ecosystems and environments have been disrupted only for us to discover that there are personal consequences to every act of eco-vandalism. The Gaia Principle urges You to experience Earth as a single living organism. Every life on this planet is linked with yours. And, everything works towards the sustenance of life. Especially, our Earth. Since 2003, scientists have observed the Earth trying to heal itself, as ozone layer is slowly repairing itself.

World Environment Day on June 5, this week, will create three states of being. Environmental Awareness. Political Attention. Public Action. World Environment Day will make it possible for you to contribute, where you are. Plant a Tree. Save a Forest. Celebrate the birth of the next Tiger.


Begin now, with Life:
http://tv.msn.com/life/?icid=TV2&GT1=TV2

As you read these lines, this blog will cruise past its 52nd week in the Social Media space. In March 2009, when I began www.josephfz.com, social media became the most popular platform of interaction on the World Wide Web, crossing e-mail  for the first time since 1993.

For over 1.15 billion users, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn have become a powerful way to communicate.

Social Media is our brave new world. It offers unexplored territory and new frontiers. And it challenges our notions of transparency—and privacy.  It asks for a new understanding and focus as we step into new ways of communicating and responding in this new era.  In turn, we will step into the realms of opportunity offered by LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and their cousins.

For organizations, social media works at three levels: to engage employees, deliver strategy and drive business results. Watch the Pioneers. They already begun to move towards employee and executive blogs, online video, and internal Twitter-style forums. Social media is today delivering key strategic messages, stimulating work place collaboration and knowledge sharing. And all this, while improving productivity.

My one year in this space has been incredible. Thanks for sharing it.