BizStratBlog2

Connecting with the World

There's a lot of talk about web 2.0 going around the net. It's a phrase that has already become a cliche. Some bloggers think it's "vacuous marketing hype" and others... well, we just consider what we do as part of the unfolding of a new world. Over at the Fastforward blog, there's talk of Ajax (a web application) and intranets, and more good content that presents the Web 2.0 world in an unbiased light. (To my way of thinking)

Bill Ives wrote the post linked above, and he's one of the few good technical writers I trust. By technical writers, I mean folks who write about technology - not software programmers or web designers...

Meanwhile, I think recognizing the power of The Long Tail, ala Chris Anderson, and accepting the value of Web 2.0 - the concept being change in a world morphing into a Star Trek movie before our very eyes - is key to creating success online today. It's interaction, engaging clients and customers, and not being afraid they'll say something you don't like.

Well, the reason I started this post is to share the outstanding video embedded here. It outlines the power of Web 2.0 better than anything else I've seen. Take a break and watch it. Then, tell me what you think. Smart? Crazy? Or, crazy-smart?

Viruswarn.com - new and improved

My company (OS-Cubed, Inc.) and 2 others (Wizard Wrx and Periwinkle Communications) have joined forces for a number of years to create a Wwebsite called www.viruswarn.com.  This site originally began as a mailing list where we would send out notices to friends and family about new security threats, or patches that should be made.  The next generation was using sharepoint, and the current generation uses content management.  The list sort of grew up from there, until we now have subscribers from all over the world that both visit our site and are participants in the mailing list and forums.

The list is free - and we don't resell your name to ANYONE.  Once a year we do send out a "New Years Notice" with news about our companies, but the rest of the year posts will be completely informational.  You can review the posts on the forums in the archive which reside on the site.  You'll need to register and login to sign up for the mailing list (you don't have to sign up for the list - you can just register to use the forums if you wish).  The Website does have Google and Amazon ads on it in hopes of recouping the cost of our investment - though this is mostly a labor of love.

We write the notices to be as non-technical as possible - each post consists of a "What it is" section that describes what the virus or patch we're discussing is, a "What you should do section" that describes in simple terms what your actions should be and a "References" section where the technogeeks can go for additional information. Click here for an example of a recent post regarding IE7.

I'm offering the same list and forum service to everyone on the Business Strategies blog - just visit our site at www.viruswarn.com, register and sign up for the list.  We welcome your participation.

Lee Drake