IdoNotes (and sleep) Lotus software administration and industry reviews covering Lotus Notes, Domino, Sametime, Quickplace, Workplace and tons more http://www.IdoNotes.com/IdoNotes/IdoNotes.nsf/ en-us Mon, 8 Feb 2010 13:03:29 -0500 The solution for obtaining more session evaluations, possibly #ls10 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 13:03:29 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/trackback?open&id=solving-obtaining-session-evaluation.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/solving-obtaining-session-evaluation.htm Lotusphere Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/solving-obtaining-session-evaluation.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/solving-obtaining-session-evaluation.htm this morning's post, an idea bubbled to the top that some liked.  Others may have had reserves, but I think the idea is sound enough to up the number received.  We will be using Lotusphere as an example (for those coming from other types of conferences).

Lotusphere has an online system that is not as clean and easy as some would like for filling out "on the fly" evaluations of session.  Lotus gives a conference T-shirt when filling out and turning in the final conference evaluation.  That is it.  From there the room monitors attempt to get them as people walk out the door, but many are never done by an overwhelming majority of attendees.  So here is what came up.

Offer a token for each evaluation turned in per session.  The room monitors would hand one back when they got handed the eval.  Attendees are a competitive bunch, as pointed out by one person.  They would go for these if the prizes or rewards were real.  Online evaluations could be verified at the Info Desk.  You walk up, show your id and they see the number you have done.  You are handed XX amount of tokens and then they mark those off.  A simple task since you use your registration number to submit the online on anyway.  The info is there.

Now what are the tokens good for?  Numerous choices are possible.  Discounts in the Lotus Stuff store.  Shirts.  More coffee.  Prizes from vendors.  A bigger giveaway with each token being an entry marker.  Hand in a few for some cool piece of Lotusphere memorabilia.  The possibilities can be mixed and matched with cost versus input.  There is a line there somewhere that could be met by all.

While actually handling tokens sounds crazy, people respond better to the physical side.  This could be done virtually as a bank with a scan of your ID.  But being able to trade, share, group and pool them is just as important.  Think collaboration here people.  You are short 3?  Here I am not using them.  We want the big prize?  Let's pool our tokens.

I would suggest reading the comments from the previous posting as well as they offer some great feedback.  No system would be perfect to gain more evaluations.  But there has to be some movement to make the response better.  Also, using a business partner solution, such as Ben's, for the session database makes perfect sense.  It has grown into such an amazing tool and needs to be recognized.  While IBM needs to and wants to keep you in the little lsonline bubble, that goes away, bridging the collaboration gap they so much promote would be awesome. ]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/solving-obtaining-session-evaluation.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/solving-obtaining-session-evaluation.htm?opendocument&comments Are speakers evaluations a requirement, weapons or lack of interest at conferences? #ls10 Mon, 8 Feb 2010 08:19:00 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/trackback?open&id=are-speaker-evals-a-requirement-weapons-htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/are-speaker-evals-a-requirement-weapons-htm Lotusphere Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/are-speaker-evals-a-requirement-weapons-htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/are-speaker-evals-a-requirement-weapons-htm
Now what speakers get back is the difference.  Speakers are normally nervous enough about the impression that was made and how they did.  They sit anxiously by and sometimes run right away to look at evaluations as people leave the room.  Others wait patiently for the evaluations to be entered, manually, into the system for review.  either way it is hard enough to digest.  Every comment, checkbox, compliment and concern are digested.  Some speakers take things to heart, and very serious.  Others glance and shrug.  The next points are very serious and where I am headed.

Evaluations are greatly appreciated and definitely wanted by each and every speaker.  Not just one or two, but in quantity.  If there are 100 or even just 20 people in the room, then I personally expect 95% of that number have an eval.  Even if you only quickly check the boxes and run out.  or go online and fill it out.  Spend the few moments to compensate for the weeks of prep speakers did.  it isn't much to ask and I honestly fore myself to make sure and do it out of respect for the session.  No matter if I liked it or not.

Now what gets placed on the evals has apparently become a game of chance.  From blaming speakers (not the conference producers on final evals) that the room is too hot/cold, that the projector didn't work to something I never anticipated.  From some recent Twitter traffic I submit the following craziness:
1.Oh and ZERO evals for (session removed) - yet people stopped me, emailed me, thanked me for it. Problem is getting feedback to IBM.
2. I did not fill any evals at #ls10 - as a way of saying 'could do better'
3. Didn't look at evals till today, disappointed (+ embarrassed) that people evaluate speaker looks.

Does anyone see a crazy pattern here?  Evaluations are not weapons of choice.  Not filling one out is of no help to anyone at all.  Simply state what more or less you would have wished to see.  If you are contacting the speaker with praise, please let IBM know in performing an evaluation there.  IBM does look at these and helps in getting your favorite speakers back and removing those you did not like.  But the last one?  Stating how a speaker looks is of no concern to anyone.  Heck, there is not even a section that asks you that question or ever would.  I am sure your job performance reviews do not have that type of section, since it would be against any and all companies Human Resource rules.  While we are all human and may notice such topics, evaluations are not the place to include them.

It seems now it is too late to fill out evaluations, we can only hope for better at any event that we all attend or speak at.  I am sure the yellow-verse can do better. Can't we? ]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/are-speaker-evals-a-requirement-weapons-htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/are-speaker-evals-a-requirement-weapons-htm?opendocument&comments IdoNotes Episode 73 - SnappFiles launch Mon, 8 Feb 2010 07:16:00 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/trackback?open&id=IdoNotesEpisode73.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/IdoNotesEpisode73.htm IT News Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/IdoNotesEpisode73.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/IdoNotesEpisode73.htm Rob Novak and Julian Robichaux of SNAPPS to cover the launch of SnappFiles (previously Project Jonathan that we covered in September on Episode 66).  This is the finest native Quickr for the iPhone/iPod/iPad application you will find.  You can get SnappFiles from the iTunes Appstore for free right here.

Image:IdoNotes Episode 73 - SnappFiles launch

The entire IdoNotes podcast family is part of Spiked Studio Productions. ]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/IdoNotesEpisode73.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/IdoNotesEpisode73.htm?opendocument&comments Lotus just confirmed, calendaring broke at the end of 2009 Wed, 3 Feb 2010 12:29:30 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/trackback?open&id=02032010122929PMCMIPPJ.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/02032010122929PMCMIPPJ.htm Humor Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/02032010122929PMCMIPPJ.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/02032010122929PMCMIPPJ.htm
Image:Lotus just confirmed, calendaring broke at the end of 2009 ]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/02032010122929PMCMIPPJ.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/02032010122929PMCMIPPJ.htm?opendocument&comments IdoNotes Episode 72 - EXCLUSIVE Gist launch from Lotusphere #ls10 Tue, 2 Feb 2010 10:15:00 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/trackback?open&id=IdoNotesEpisode72.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/IdoNotesEpisode72.htm IT News Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/IdoNotesEpisode72.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/IdoNotesEpisode72.htm screencast from TheSocialNetworker first.

For my listeners, we have some special links ready to go.
  • First, sign up now and get a free account quick with that link.
  • Then head over here to get on the short list to get in on the Lotus Notes beta.  If you aren't serious about providing feedback and exploring the functionality, please leave the spot for someone else!

I would listen in and get excited about a way to manage your connections and see more information about how you connect as Notes integration blends as much as you wish with the public streams of social networking.

Image:IdoNotes Episode 72 - EXCLUSIVE Gist launch from Lotusphere #ls10

The entire IdoNotes podcast family is part of Spiked Studio Productions. ]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/IdoNotesEpisode72.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/IdoNotesEpisode72.htm?opendocument&comments The Widget/Plug-in sidebar needs some UI help Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:09:43 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/trackback?open&id=01292010110941AMCMIN5N.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01292010110941AMCMIN5N.htm Domino 8 Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01292010110941AMCMIN5N.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01292010110941AMCMIN5N.htm
Image:The Widget/Plug-in sidebar needs some UI help

This screenshot is the minimalist one.  If I open a ton of widgets, then I have these things everywhere.  I cannot sort alphabetically, most used, recently used, or anything else.  I need a way to manage the sidebar area more effectively as the client continues to grow with features.

With the Notes client Eclipse portion simply being a frame around Notes basic, the drive to force as much into the frame as possible is the only action.  Without delving into Vulcan in this posting, a change will be needed to get the most use out of the panels themselves and make functioning with numerous ones open as well as finding ones easier.

Is anyone else seeing this yet? ]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/01292010110941AMCMIN5N.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01292010110941AMCMIN5N.htm?opendocument&comments PL was down.. who was using their RSS readers? Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:06:58 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/trackback?open&id=01272010080658PMCMI4HF.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01272010080658PMCMI4HF.htm Geek Toys Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01272010080658PMCMI4HF.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01272010080658PMCMI4HF.htm
I do visit both but live in RSS heaven with Feedly (which is a great UI interface extension in Firefox for Google Reader).  By importing the OPML file a while ago of all the bloggers, I kept right up with everyone and was able to whip through quickly.

For a crash course, I might do a screencam to make it faster to understand how the sharing, importing of OPML and more works.  Here is the original posting I had with the OPML files to keep all of you moving along. ]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/01272010080658PMCMI4HF.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01272010080658PMCMI4HF.htm?opendocument&comments Apparently the vendor that pissed me off before doesn’t read my blog Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:53:04 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/trackback?open&id=01262010015259PMCMIRBR.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01262010015259PMCMIRBR.htm Rant Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01262010015259PMCMIRBR.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01262010015259PMCMIRBR.htm in early December, I put the company BitWeld on blast for their marketing tactic.  I was sure that would be the end.  Well they are back again with the exact same thing, just in a smaller envelope.

While the service itself looks to have opportunity, the way they keep sending these private and confidential letters to offices leads me to believe they have shady business practices.  I sat back and thought, well they are selling secure file transfer and message services.  However, there is always an air of mystery receiving something marker personal at work with no corporate sender on the envelope either.   Just the persons individual name and address.

So maybe I was not clear before and will make sure to send them the link to this shortly. ]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/01262010015259PMCMIRBR.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01262010015259PMCMIRBR.htm?opendocument&comments As speakers, were we not social enough inside LotusLive? (from a comment there) Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:36:00 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/trackback?open&id=01252010030639PMCMISRQ.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01252010030639PMCMISRQ.htm Lotusphere Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01252010030639PMCMISRQ.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01252010030639PMCMISRQ.htm
In my opinion, it doesn't appear that presenters/speakers are communicating during their sessions on where to locate their Connections public communities (if any). Most of the communities have minimal content, although during the presentation speakers are sharing during their presentation online resources and bookmarks for additional information. Couldn't this information have been uploaded to the speakers/presenters' Connections community before attendees arrived at Lotusphere, which could've spear headed Connections and audience interaction during question and answer portion of session?

It is disappointing that Lotus/IBM is promoting social software but it isn't being used to its' potential.

I think there are a few reasons:
  • Many of us run public blogs that contain this exact content
  • Lotus created these and also had the pdf files, which could have been linked there I imagine
  • We put the resources in the slides themselves, instead of as bookmarks inside the session community
  • The community isn't used by many people it seems
  • MOST IMPORTANT: Lotus online is not a community since it goes away in a few weeks.  See my posting here
]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/01252010030639PMCMISRQ.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/01252010030639PMCMISRQ.htm?opendocument&comments The one issue stopping the Lotus App store (AppCentrist) right now Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:32:19 -0500 http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/the-one-issue-stopping-the-lotus-app-store.htm Lotusphere Chris Miller http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/the-one-issue-stopping-the-lotus-app-store.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/the-one-issue-stopping-the-lotus-app-store.htm great post on what is needed as a missing ingredient, a Lotus App Store.  It has been in the works for some time and is ready to begin.  Here is the issue:

 Vendors all across the Lotus software world are not ready nor do they sell in this mode.  No one has an a la carte attitude or the means to support it currently.  Everyone thinks in the Lotus model for licensing with great discussion on purchasing, support and other items.  I have found it nearly impossible to even get referral codes form most of the vendors. They are just not built to support them.

User counts matter, number of servers matter, your certifier name you use matters.  The Lotus client and server are not built in consumer mode, so I do see some concerns.  
Don't get me wrong. (I am highlighting this so you all read it). I am not saying any vendor is not right in protecting the code they developed and making sure it isn't sent all over the place without receiving payment.  We aren't talking a phone that has individual coding, we are talking a server that takes any template, so it is harder to write for and protecting intellectual property is tough in that model

But I will say that in order to spread your goods to more places, on demand, requires a change of thinking in how people are allowed to procure the software from you.  So if you think you can step up and want part, let's talk.. ]]> http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dxcomments/the-one-issue-stopping-the-lotus-app-store.htm http://www.idonotes.com/IdoNotes/idonotes.nsf/dx/the-one-issue-stopping-the-lotus-app-store.htm?opendocument&comments