The "Yellow Bubble," or the most vocal people that you see on PlanetLotus, has me perplexed. Not only that, but you can add some percentage of the total Notes users (somewhere around 140 million).
IdeaJam is a good site for an example. From what I have seen, and there are others can be much more specific, it appears to me that the same people contribute and vote. I understand that there is no closed feedback loop from IBM/Lotus, but why aren't more people contributing to IdeaJam? Specifically, there are ideas there, in the LS09 Best Practices Sessions IdeaSpace, that could affect the attendees of Lotusphere. Why is the most popular idea getting only 34 votes? Especially since both Mac and Rocky have TOLD people that they are looking at the voting? Is it too difficult to vote? Too difficult to add ideas? Apathy? As for adding your own idea, is it a sense of fear that you are putting yourself out there, where your idea could be criticized?
While there are 140 million (or so) people using Notes, and I know that many of them would never, ever, contribute to any forums anywhere, why do we see the same people speaking out about Lotus? According to PlanetLotus, there are 295 Lotus Notes/Domino bloggers. And yet, a proposed Bloggers Lounge, spearheaded by Keith Brooks, has generated very little interest on Bleedyellow's Activity site (login required). If there is more activity on Facebook, great, but I'll say, without creating a Facebook account to confirm, that Keith isn't seeing a lot of input. Why so little interest, even from the bloggers? I expected more from us, especially for a specific space dedicated to us, our readers, and the Lotusphere speakers from our midst. Is it Keith? Is it the lack of official backing from IBM? Apathy? "All of the Above?"
Upwards of 6,000 people (or more) attend Lotusphere, where they have the opportunity to be exposed to IdeaJam, Planet Lotus, Taking Notes, OpenNTF, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., and still, there are only a few that take the time to contribute. Should we be posting links on Notes.net? Chris Blatnick, at the recent NEOLUG meeting, kept mentioning Twitter. 35-40 people in attendance, and we only have 2 people sign up for Twitter and follow some of us. Two. Twitter has probably the lowest barrier of entry of any social network and only two people get around to creating an account. Or is what I am seeing only the few that care? And if that is the case, why does Lotus care about 290+ bloggers in the Yellow Bubble? Especially if only the Yellow Bubble is reading/commenting, creating an echo chamber? While those comments and blog posts hit the internet, where anyone can find them, I am talking about a number so low (in the grand scheme of Lotus customers/Business Partners) that, frankly, what does it matter?
I recently heard an idea where a person, or persons, uses the Dolphin rotunda as a platform to talk about Lotus/Lotus-centric sites/Twitter/etc. Get up on the edge of the fountain, or up on a box, and expound on a topic. After hearing that, I thought "Heck, why limit yourself?" Have a platform between the Dolphin and Swan or on the bridge to talk about stuff. Maybe engage people during the Welcome Reception, instead of hanging out with other bloggers? My kids know that I will talk to anyone at anytime on nearly any subject. I have no problem walking up to complete strangers and engaging them in some sort of Lotus Web 2.0 Community conversation. In any event, the result should be awareness of something else is out there, places where you can find answers, places where you can make a difference in the Lotus community and, quite possibly, with the software itself.
I guess that I just don't understand people in the Lotus space. I'd love to know why so few people are voting for proposed content at Lotusphere 2009. I'd like to know why there is so little participation in the Blogger's Lounge idea (and, for the record, Microsoft seems to have a kick ass Blogger's Lounge at their conferences). Finally, I'd like to know why, in this brave new Web 2.0 world, we still have so few people joining in the conversation.
Comment posted by Keith Brooks09/22/2008 01:50:42 AM
Homepage: http://www.vanessabrooks.com
It's not a good thing of course to have little participation but the last week or 2 have been busy for many people between UKLUG and now LoLA and the Collab Univ..
In general I think most people want to contribute in some way.
And that's their right to do so or not. Can't force them to do anything.
On the flipside with nothing nailed down yet on the Lounge I can not expect much from everyone. After all, as it sounds many people are having problems getting work to pay for the Sphere this year. Hope all will work it out and we can enjoy Lotusphere togther with everyone.
Comment posted by Tony Palmer09/22/2008 01:58:17 AM
Homepage: http://palmerweb.blogspot.com
I'm not going to LS09, so that's why I'm not voting or following the tweets - mind you I'm not following any tweets. Maybe I should vote on ideas as I do look forward to hearing the news via other bloggers and seeing the content posted by generous presenters - which is a poor substitute to being there (so I'm told). Maybe it because planet lotus 295 (ish) blogs represent worldwide and LS09 is more (not totally) US centric. I guess some of the bloggers might be more excited about ILUG or UKLug.
Anyway, you asked and that's my 2 cents.
Comment posted by Bruce 09/22/2008 03:12:58 AM
Homepage: http://www.Elguji.com
@keith I think you missed the point. 250 people at UKLUG and others at CU are a very small number compared to what Gregg is talking about.
Comment posted by Eric Mack09/22/2008 05:43:51 AM
Homepage: http://www.EricMackOnline.com
As the guy with the idea that (currently) has the most votes for the Best Practices track (34 votes!?) I am considering whether it's even worth making a proposal or even attending.
I think that at least part of the problem is that there's insufficient exposure coming from IBM about what's going on inside of the community. The IBM marketing machine is awesome and they use it to promote the IBM message. I think they would do well to promote more of what's going on inside of the community.
Ed's great, but he is, after all, only one person. (Two, if you count Alan). We need IBM to beat the drums, LOUDLY, to let people who are outside of the bubble know what's going on. I can think of many things that IBM could do to raise this awareness.
Thanks for your post.
Eric
Comment posted by Pete Spoors09/22/2008 06:12:00 AM
As some one who has been in Notes 10 years, it is only in the last month or 2 that I have started to look at all the community stuff. There is so much of it, you rattle off half a dozen with no effort. Where do people find time to actively participate? I am lucky if I could get to 1 or 2 of these sites in a workday, let alone make comment. At the end of the day I want to forget work, it seems to me that people like Ed Brill are constantly working/twitting/blogging without any break, most of us cannot, and do not want, to do that. Lotus Notes/Domino has served me well as a carreer, but do I want it to be part of my homelife too? Maybe not,
Pete
Comment posted by Ed Maloney09/22/2008 06:29:09 AM
This topic has come up a lot in the past year or so. To those "outside the bubble" the perception of what is happening with Notes/Domino is very different from those on the inside. Those inside the yellow bubble are unfortunately preaching to the already converted. There is a definite need to extend the message to new and former users.
Comment posted by Ben Poole09/22/2008 08:22:00 AM
Homepage: http://benpoole.com
This issue comes up again and again with respect to IBM Lotus Notes & Domino. The bottom line is that most Notes developers (for example) are so-called "corporate developers": they come in to the office, do some work, go home and switch off. They have no concept, knowledge or interest in the "Lotus community" -- many of these people won't have heard of Ed Brill or Lotusphere, let alone have the site bookmarked or attend the conference.
Those who are in the yellow bubble have a hard time comprehending this, but it's reality: the vast majority of Lotus techies have no interest in what's going on out there.
Comment posted by Chris Goodman09/22/2008 09:18:44 AM
As one of the "corporate developers" I can tell you that it is indeed more difficult to get really excited about what is going on "inside the bubble". One of the main reasons is that we are still on 6.5.4 for Notes and using the embedded 6.x sametime client with no plans to upgrade in the near future. I can play with some of the cool new stuff, but the reality is, I won't be building anything using the new toys anytime soon. It's not that I have no interest in the upcoming releases, It's that I know I won't be able to incorporate the functionality into my applications for at least a year so it's hard to get really excited.
I do read the blogs and try to stay up with the latest advancements but it has a lot more to do with curiosity than anything else, that and you bloggers can be very entertaining as well as informative
Don't give up on spreading the word, I think there are a lot of others like me out there that appreciate the efforts you all make to to ensure Notes/Domino remains a great product! We are just not as visible as you might like.
Comment posted by Denny Russell09/22/2008 10:41:17 AM
Homepage: http://www.sherpasoftware.com/blogs/SherpaBlog.nsf/
I gotta agree with some of the other posters, the 'yellow bubble' community is very tight-knit and a lot of the outside world doesn't even know about it.
I work with Notes/Domino Admins/Developers on a daily basis from some of the biggest Domino shops in the world and they have no idea any of it exists.
I try to use my blog and our customer newsletter to promote a lot of the 'cool' stuff going on in the community but most of it falls on def ears. I recently conducted a survey of my hundreds and hundreds of customers and of the few that did respond, they commented they don't read blogs because they don't find them useful and don't want to hear about someone's personal doings. It's a shame because (1) they have no idea it's nothing even close to that and (2) there is some awesome info that gets out there from the blogs.
But the fact of the matter is you either embrace the new technology or you think it's of no value to you (and you are missing out.) For a lot of the companies, the plan to migrate to the newer technology is so far off that they don't even think about it.
Comment posted by Gregg Eldred09/22/2008 12:13:16 PM
Homepage: http://www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf
Wow, a lot of great comments.
First, I was under the impression that people in the Lotus space would be interested in what is going on, whether they are in the Yellow Bubble or not. Based on your comments, I am sorely mistaken.
I have never made the distinction between "corporate developers/admins" and the rest of the Lotus Community. I figured, again wrongly, that during the course of a day, you take a little time to see what else is happening in the Lotus world. Since that is not the case, it explains why some people miss announcements at Lotusphere; they have made a determination that this particular feature/product is not something they are interested in or will be able to use, so they immediately tune out.
However, and this is another area where I struggle, you may not be using the features now, but what if you find yourself without a job? Looking for new work may require new skills. If you come to the party with R5, R6, or R7 skills, and everyone you are interviewing with wants R8, you get left out. I understand that we all have limited time to update our skills, and it may be hard to accurately predict what the next needed skill set may be, but if you have decided to stay in the Lotus space, don't you need to know some of the new skills? You may not need them immediately, but you might at some point.
As for new/more voices in the Community: I have no idea how to engage more people or build the awareness and I don't think that it should be totally shouldered by IBM. It seems that we can "lead a horse to water, but we can't make it drink" is appropriate. I may have to resign myself to the fact that we will never get a good percentage of total Notes Developers/Admins to get in the room and I should be happy with the existing reach. Perhaps Lotusphere is a good place to ask "Do you use blogs/Twitter/LinkedIn and if not, why not?" I think that I need to ask that-so that I have a better understanding of the user base.
Comment posted by Andy Donaldson09/22/2008 12:51:04 PM
Homepage: http://blog.macian.net
Gregg,
I understand what your saying and I agree with your tactics, but I think that a lot of what you are seeing is just folks that are content with the way that things are for themselves and what they do. Example, my co-worker who was with me on Thursday, who will remain nameless, doesn't "get" the idea of Twitter. Why? I don't know. I plan on talking to her about it tomorrow, but will she adopt it? I have a hard time thinking that she will, it's just not her thing.
IMHO, I think, (gulp,I feel like I'm putting my neck out here), IBM needs to take a more aggressive approach at marketing this community to those outside our bubble. Cheerleading and word of mouth is one thing, but getting a big blue marketing dog behind you barking for attention to help spread the word about the bubble would be great. Should we subject ourselves to IBM allowing them to have some editorial rights about what we say? No. But feel free to use us, (well not me, I'm too busy posting pictures of guys up elephants butts), to others to say, "Hey, here's a group of people that use our stuff every day, see what they have to say!" And Lotusphere should be that place to do it. The bloggers lounge is a great idea, but I think the big blue dog needs to get more involved with it and market it hard at Lotusphere to truly be a success.
Comment posted by tom09/22/2008 12:52:10 PM
Homepage: http://www.codepress.net/b
A lot of the participation you hope for is never going to happen. Think about any meeting or college class you attend. Some people participate... some of those people are great... and some people should never open their mouths. But most of us... are just voyeurs. Either because of a lack of self-confidence or a general lack of knowledge... we sit back and watch.
We need the Bubble-folks because it adds value to our day but don't expect us to become one of you. It's hard... and we come out of our shells when we're ready. Just don't be alarmed if we go back to our comfort zone.
Comment posted by Pete Spoors09/22/2008 02:03:24 PM
I would like to pick up on 2 points here: Firstly, from Chris Goodman, one that fits my situation exactly. All the Notes houses I know of, and on Teesside there are a few, are still 6.5.4 (at least on the client side. They may have 7.02 or so on servers, but that is often just because they were upgrading servers anyway and there seemed no harm in it, or it was for a backend service like BlackBerry so no direct impact on users. But bosses are never minded about upgrading unnecessarily, many of my users even have 4.5 templates (no joking honest) and nothing I say will turn anyone round ( "notes is slow enough over the network as it is, why do I want a bigger, newer client slowing it down even more?"). I bet my users go home and look at Outlook Express and think "What a POC it is I use at work".
The second point is from Greg about skills, as it happens I am unemployed come 2 weeks and so have tried to get a feel for all the new, great sounding apps. I have tried the LotusGreenhouse and it does give me a bit more of a view on things, but in the end, I don't know anyone using them. At a £,1000 a throw for an official course, I just can't afford to update (no official training since R5) just the Admin stuff, let alone all the rest.
As for the social side, twitter etc I did sign up, but don't really know what to do with it, it seems rather sad to me if I am supposed to tell all about my sons' rugby exploits or my daughters' singing or my messing about with Sp*re. Work is work, it pays the mortgage, I don't mind a hour or two extra-curricular stuff (like now) each week, but I have a life,
Pete
Comment posted by Chris Goodman09/22/2008 03:03:42 PM
@Tom
"most of us are just voyeurs" I couldn't agree more. I know of quite a few people who read blogs but, for whatever reason do not feel like contributing. I think this is probably only the 3rd or 4th time I've posted a comment but I read the blogs daily.
@Gregg
It's not that we don't want to improve our skills so we are more marketable should we find ourselves looking for a new job, It's just tough to spend all day writing code and helping users, then go home and fire up the laptop and try to learn new technology. I have read several books and been to training courses for various technologies but without the opportunity to put the information to use on a daily basis that knowledge quickly fades.
Comment posted by Don McNally09/22/2008 09:20:58 PM
Homepage: http://dmcnally.blogspot.com
Although I am someone who is inside the "Yellow Bubble", I find it hard to contribute everywhere. I have a job to do during the day and am not able (due to firewall) to see Twitter. By the time I get through the RSS feeds I have, there is little to no time to contribute on IdeaJam or Notes.net. Plus, I'm not sure yet if I can even go to Lotusphere - I should just put my votes in but it hasn't been a priority because it may not affect me.
Between RSS feeds, Twitter and Facebook, I am often "socially overloaded". Maybe I just need to retune priorities.
I can definitely relate to the "intimidation factor" implied in some of the posts. After reading what some bloggers post, I feel there is very little I can contribute. But, we're really all "just folks" - I have never met one of the Yellowverse bloggers, well-known or not, who is not friendly and open.
Comment posted by Aussie09/22/2008 09:49:39 PM
You may get more Australians joining the conversation if IBM bothered to hold LotusSphere here. It's a hard to get management to cough up for flights to Europe or US.
Comment posted by Denny Russell09/24/2008 08:45:03 AM
Homepage: http://www.sherpasoftware.com/blogs/SherpaBlog.nsf/
Do you use blogs/Twitter/LinkedIn and if not, why not?"
I sorta asked this question in relation to our Blogs and forums and the responses varied from "I've never had any luck in any forum I used so I never even bothered to look in yours" to "I don't have time to read a blog about what someone ate for dinner".
The fact of the matter is it's sad they haven't taken the time or that's what they think this is all about.
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