Looking at Security Issues in Social Media: What Doors Are You Leaving Open? (Webinar)

Social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are fabulous! However, be aware of what additional information may be leaking out about your organization through these same social networks! In this session, Marcy Rodney will share real examples, and will discuss issues and best practices around security and privacy when using these networking tools as well as how to find information. This free event takes place on August 25 at 6 pm on Second Life http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/62/114/33.

Contrasting the Traits of Good Product Managers & Competitive Intelligence Managers

Many of the traits that make a good product manager also make a good competitive intelligence manager. Like product managers, competitive intelligence professionals rely on others in their company for support who do not report to them. The best product managers need to understand the customer’s world. Don’t filter customer’s input based on what you believe. A common question product managers ask executives is “what keeps you up at night?” to get focused on what the executive needs immediately. While CEOs may be critical of product managers, they expect leaders to have product management experience. This sure isn’t the case with competitive intelligence, a key skill, which is not a pre-requisite for the executive suite!

Collective Intelligence: Approaches to Find Stolen Art, “Urban Sunset”

Last weekend, we were at an outdoor art show in a prosperous Chicago suburb. Rodgers’ painting “Urban Sunset” an original oil painting of a Chicago city scene was stolen (24” by 30” + frame). We would love to recover this painting, but it’s probably not that likely, so I thought I would share this story with you to remind you to be careful, and to share some sources to recover stolen art.

Improve your Competitiveness: Learn about AIIP

Read excerpts from Chris Kenneally’s interview with AIIP leaders Marcy Phelps and Linda Rink and find out about this great organization of 600 information professionals in over 20 countries who run their own businesses and support businesses which range from start-ups to Fortune 1000 companies. AIIPers do a lot more than simply find information: many members provide analysis to help clients make sense of the information, and provide ongoing updates.

Todd Wille, Turnaround Leader Extraordinaire, A Cooperative Leader

Read this remarkable turnaround success story about how Todd Wille’s cooperative leadership and management brought back the customers to Unify Corporation and boosted the morale of the workforce during a very difficult time when the company was under investigation from fraud, they were almost bankrupt, and it seemed like all they could do was fail! I applaud Todd Wille, winner of the 2008 turnaround executive award!

Develop Proactive Competitive Intelligence through Business Blindspot Analysis & Executive Personality Profiling

I find it interesting to partner two analytical tools: business blindspots and executive personality profiling to predict where a company is going. In business blindspots, you seek to uncover the biases of your company, competitors or co-workers and recognize that you have them too. We all have blind spots based on our experience in life! When you combine this with executive personality profiling, you can come up with some insightful conclusions such as predicting company’s actions, including your competitors.

Intelligence 2.0: Creating New Business Models–SLA 2009

Asymmetric information models are passé and information interpretation is NOW: the ability to understand and anticipate! Many of the models and processes that we use to collect competitive intelligence and conduct our various forms of analysis–including voice of the customer and market research–do not lead to innovation. So often these processes concentrate on what customers “want” rather than what they “need,” and they don’t know what they need. Innovation is most easily defined as productivity. Yet innovation is a sloppy process. Employees innovate best within a culture of “learning and growing from mistakes” rather than being punished for making mistakes. Learn how to articulate the truth in ways that management will listen (cooperative leadership).

Competitive Intelligence at SLA 2009 & Other Favorites

Just before SCIP09, we shared a list of 10 things we wanted to do while at the conference, so in the spirit of cooperative intelligence, I’ll share the talks in the Competitive Intelligence Track and some of my favorites at SLA2009, which takes place in the Washington, DC Convention Center June 14 – 17.

Just How Social is Social Networking?

In most cases on LinkedIn, it’s a loose connection, and you’ll never hear from that person again unless they want to sell you something, fill jobs or find a job. Yet I do connect with many of my pals and meet new people who share my interests on Twitter and we do engage through tweets, albeit with the 140 character limitation. The pendulum is swinging back to more traditional marketing for me since I still get more business from word of mouth marketing and referrals from existing customers and friends.

Let’s Hear it for Librarians in Competitive Intelligence!

Many of us in CI are very good at digging up good insightful data and providing relevant analysis. We’re not so good at the human issues of connection and communication, which is where librarians run circles around many of us. Librarians get where their role is in the company, that it’s evolving and provide it with a spirit of service and giving. They also know what they don’t know and learn about it.