This morning I ventured out to the Arizona Technology Council’s CIO forum. Anna Frazzetto, vice president of Technology Solutions for Harvey Nash USA presented their findings from the IT Leadership 2006/2007 CIO Survey followed by a round table discussion by 5 business people in various CIO related roles from local Phoenix businesses.

Having an Internet bent on everything I do, I was curious to hear how CIO’s for companies view the Internet. Do they see it as a marketing/sales project? Is it the responsibility of IT? What challenges do CIOs face when dealing with online CRM systems like Salesforce.com or by making company data available via externally accessible intranets?

Instead, the only question posed to the round table that was not related to off shoring was in regards to virtualization. I was in awe that there wasn’t ethical questions about off shoring, instead it was more a conversation as to what to off shore and how to manage it. Places like India, China, Vietnam, and even Mexico are fully capable and are in fact doing off shore projects for very large US companies. This seems to be a given in the CIO world.
The reason seems to stem from available resources. US colleges are graduating less than 10% of their students in computer and IT related fields. Less available bodies means greater costs to recruit and hire these students. Places like India can have as high as 85% of their graduating students in IT related fields. And here, inexpensive labor does not mean cheap work. It’s purely supply and demand.

When deciding what type of activities to off shore, panelist Fred Mapp, President of Quality Service Solutions, put it best, “You need to know what are your company’s core competencies.”

Obviously, you don’t want to off shore or outsource what makes you unique. Instead, you want to off shore those activities that aren’t productive for your company to be part of.

And don’t fall for the 80 - 90% cost savings hype that is often bantered about. Instead, you may expect to save about 40 - 50% after factoring time to manage and deal with the project.

I don’t want to get into any ethical conversation on this topic. If you feel strongly one way or another, I recommend discussing the issues with the Computer Science department at your local university. Also, kids learn what they want to be when they grow up at a young age. When was the last time you told your kids, “Computer Science could be fun.  That’s a profession I would look into.”

David LaPlante, CEO of Twelve Horses will be speaking on, “Building Brand and Destination Character Through Social Marketing” tomorrow at the 7th annual SMG Tourism Conference at Lake Tahoe. The event will be held at Embassy Suites Resort in South Lake Tahoe, California.

He will be providing a look at how destinations are using all things Web 2.0 to connect and engage with their audience in a meaningful manner.

The following article ran in the Reno Gazette-Journal today:

Tahoe Tourism officials to discuss strategy

Lake Tahoe-area tourism executives will gather in South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday to share strategic information at the 2007 SMG Tourism Conference.

This eighth annual event, which is themed “Sustainability & Authenticity: Marketing Your Destination’s Unique Character,” will address issues critical to tourism, including geotourism, social media and brand building, California tourism trends, and how Indian gaming and economic development trends are impacting destination character, officials said.

Speakers at the event include Jonathan Tourtellot, director of sustainable destinations at the National Geographic Society; Dave LaPlante, CEO of Twelve Horses; and William Eadington, gaming expert at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The conference will be at Embassy Suites Resort in South Lake Tahoe from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will include an exhibition area.

Also included will be the Geotourism Dinner Cruise on the Tahoe Queen, featuring a panel discussion moderated by the National Geographic Society, after the conference.

The conference fee is $140 for one or two people or $115

for three or more attendees. The fee includes registration, lunch and all materials.

Spaces on the Geotourism Dinner Cruise are $58 each.

For more information, visit www.smgtourismconference.com or call (530) 541-2462, ext. 102.

tags: lake, tahoe, smg, tourism, conference, social, marketing, branding

An international best-selling author and marketing guru that I have followed for quite some time via his blog and books is Seth Godin. His unique ability to shift the marketing paradigm by framing issues and ideas in a different light has kept me coming back for more.

The stars have aligned, and I will be heading to Salt Lake City tomorrow to see him speak. I will do a follow-up post on the event. If you are in Salt Lake and have not yet heard about it, I have attached the press release below to provide you with more information. Marketing is a component of almost any business, so come on down and be enlightened, you’ll be glad you did. 

International Marketing Guru Seth Godin to Speak at
The Salt Palace May 24th, 2007

Salt Lake City, UT (WordMob) May 17, 2007 – New Utah based grassroots group, WordMob (http://www.wordmob.com), is bringing internationally known marketing guru Seth Godin to Salt Lake City on May 24th to speak to members of the community in a public event. Godin was vice president of permission marketing for Yahoo! and founder of two internet companies. He is the author of several international best-selling books, including Purple Cow and All Marketers are Liars.

Godin’s stop in Salt Lake City is part of a multi-stop tour promoting his newest book, The Dip (A Little Book that Teaches When to Stick and When to Quit). Other cities on the tour include Philadelphia, New York, Chicago and Silicon Valley.

Event Details:
Hear Seth Godin and Get Five Copies of His Latest Book, The Dip
The event will take place Thursday May 24th from 1-4pm at The Salt Palace, room 150A-G. (1-2pm will be networking; Seth Godin will speak from 2-3pm and then sign copies from 3-4pm.)

Tickets to hear Seth Godin are $50 and will be available at the door. Attendees will also receive 5 copies of “The Dip”, (1 to keep for themselves and 4 to give away) as part of Godin’s mission to spread the word about his new marketing concept that winners know when to quit when something isn’t working…he’s against “coping” and “being average” and advocates “be a winner or do something else.”

Background on Bringing Godin to Utah
Godin announced in early April on his blog (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip ) that he would come to any city in the U.S. that was able to organize 500 people willing to pay $50.00 to hear him speak. Each attendee would also get 5 copies of his new book (1 for them, 4 to give away), a $60.00 value.

Utahns, Phil Burns, Matthew Reinbold and Jason Alba discussed this opportunity and decided to organize and try to bring Godin to Utah. Within three days, wordmob.com was put together as a central organizational point and announcement hub. Over the next several weeks, more than hundred people committed to attending and several thousand dollars in sponsorship were raised. During this time, well over 100 articles on blogs written by Utah authors were written to spread the word. This action was convincing to Godin that there was an audience in SLC and he committed to speak.

Utah Businesses Sponsor the Event
Steve Spencer was the first to pledge sponsorship for his company Twelve Horses as a Gold Sponsor. Spencer is passionate about providing outstanding opportunities for Utah Businesses such as this event and encouraged other Utah Businesses to also sponsor. Bateman IP Law Group, Connect magazine and BackCountry.com are also sponsoring the event.

About WordMob
Wordmob (http://www.wordmob.com) is a grassroots volunteer organization created with the intent of bringing a world renowned speaker to Utah once a quarter. The opportunity to bring Seth Godin to Utah in May was the catalyst for putting this idea into action. Active members of WordMob include: Kelly King Anderson, Jason Alba, Ash Buckles, Phil Burns, Shahar Boyayan from BuzzBooster.com, Janet Meiners, Matthew Reinbold, Steve Spencer, and Paul Wilson.

I received an email today from the Google Analytics team alerting me to their new user interface. I immediately went to the Twelve Horses account to login. Upon login, I was offered a tour of the new features, but was disappointed to see I didn’t have access to the new UI. Apparently they are rolling it out over the next few weeks. After watching the tour, I am salivating over the new features and ease of use.

If you use Google Analytics, look forward to the new UI.

Another action-packed day here in San Francisco at the Web 2.0 Expo. I’ve got to say I feel somewhat of the minority toting around my PC laptop. I am in a Mac world it seems.

The day really kicked off when Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google took the stage and announced that they are adding presentations to their Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Not only is it newsworthy because it could potentially replace the need for Microsoft’s PowerPoint, but it also offers the ability to collaborate on presentations in real-time with individuals anywhere as long as they have an internet connection.  Granted, if it is anything like Google’s spreadsheet then it will certainly be a slimmed down version, but I am still excited to see it. Many of Twelve Horses employees telecommute, so having an office suit that is completely portable will be a great help.

After that announcement, Eric Schmidt and John Battelle, CEO of Federation Media sat down for a frank and fairly amusing discussion on other hot topics surrounding Google. As Tim O’Reilly put it yesterday, “Google is the oxygen that breathes life into so many businesses.” With that being said, Google’s enormous influence in combination with ongoing acquisitions of companies like DoubleClick make some individuals a little uneasy.

Not only is it the fact that one company is storing a lot of personal data, but it is also data that can be used to put other entities out of business. Schmidt tried to curb this concern by repeatedly emphasizing that even Google must carefully consider its end users.

One last thing that resonated with me was a question Battelle asked pertaining to any potential future acquisitions or companies that Google has on its radar. Schmidt replied by saying, “…mobile, mobile, mobile.” The mobile device is clearly already a powerful tool and one that still has far to go. It might be Google that is the catalyst for some significant evolution in this channel; however, just like the issues surrounding net neutrality, so much of the success depends on the carriers.

 After the keynote I attended some great sessions:

• Social Networking Winners & Losers: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
  • A great discussion that was moderated by Forrester Research with panel members from Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning, and Yahoo Groups.
  • The message: give people the power to create their own groups. They want to define what it is.
• Using Widget Syndication for Online Marketing and Measurement
  • Check out Widgetbox. Drag and drop, easy to use, and can be deployed in a variety of ways on blogs and web pages.
• Emerging Trends in Search Engine Optimization & Search Engine Marketing
  • I read David Berkowitz’s weekly Media Post column on search engine marketing and optimization, so it was great to finally meet him.
• What I Learned from Syphilis: Epidemiology & Viral Marketing
  • An amusing end to the day’s sessions by drawing parallels between the success of the most deadly diseases,  and how a company should implement new software and marketing campaigns.

After that it was on to the Conference Attendee Party, which was sponsored by Nokia. Free drinks, food and photo opps with the Nokia girls, which were then displayed on flat screens around the room. They eventually cut off the alcohol supply, so we poured out on to the beautiful streets of San Francisco.

Tomorrow is the final day of the Web 2.0 Expo and then it is back to the stables.

tags: web, 2.0, expo, online, social, mobile, networking, search, engine, optimization, marketing

It is the start of the second day of the Web 2.0 Expo here in San Francisco, and I am looking forward to hearing more from many of today’s Internet leaders, entrepreneurs, and assorted creatures of the Web.  There are more than 11,000 people here from all over the world, and they are hungry to learn, share, create, and generate new business.

There has been a lot of industry debate and accusations of over-hyping surrounding the term, “Web 2.0,” which seems to obfuscate the issue even more, but suffice to say that it serves to describe the continuing evolution of web applications for the purpose of greater online collaboration and sharing. Call it what you will, all I care about is the fact that there is some very cool stuff out there that is making our lives easier and richer.

Yesterday, I attended a session on “Building Web 2.0: Next-generation Web Platforms,” and one of the hot topics was the need for increased understanding between networks and the applications that run through them. How much does the network need to know? Well, that prompted a question from the audience regarding net neutrality and the conversation went elsewhere.

The other topic the panel really focused on was the future of networks and whether businesses in the future really need to build their own. There are huge infrastructure costs that new and existing businesses must support, and in many cases it is only required for occasional spikes. This led perfectly into the keynote speech by Jeff Bezos from Amazon. Instead of focusing on the Long Tail of products or his side space project, he discussed Amazon’s web services, which he described as a service that eliminates many of the “fixed costs and fixed burdens” for entrepreneurs. His analogy was something to the effect of why build the bar when you just want one drink.

I attended another session on User Generated Content and Privacy with Lauren Gelman, who is the associate director of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society (CIS), and then a session on tagging with Thomas Vander Wal, which must have had more than 500 people in attendance. It was basically an overview, but I was hoping to gather any useful information that would help us with clients for whom we have build tag-based systems.

The Expo Hall Booth Crawl was absolutely packed, but it was tolerable because there was a lot of great new technology to learn about and every so often you could fill up on wine or beer at one of the booths. I also of course had to grab myself a web 2.0 t-shirt, which naturally says, “Web 2.0 is”….followed by a blank space you can fill in with an indelible marker. There were so many different businesses there. Some were very focused on improving business operations with new easier-to-use applications like Apollo, and others were focused on users and building a substantial subscriber base…

So, more to come, but in the interim I am headed off to hear what Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google has to say in, “Conversations with John Battelle.”

Several team members from Twelve Horses attended the Reno-Tahoe Young Professional Network (YPN) Launch Party, which was held at 210 North in downtown Reno, Nevada on Thursday, April 5th.

Check out a little video of the event.

There were more than 500 people in attendance, and the party featured dancers, flame throwers, and a fashion show. The organizers and volunteers of the event did a great job, and a special shout out goes to the Board.

• Erin Kuo – President
• Nick Butler - Vice President
• Erin Lankowsky – Treasurer
• Dominic Brunetti – Secretary
• Malena Satre - Finance/Development Committee Chair
• Stephani Foust - Event Marketing Committee Chair
• Bryan Landaburu - Creative & Website Committee Chair
• John Sande IV - Member at large
• Jesse Jenkins - Member at large
• Stacey Crowley - Member at Large
• Michael Pennington - Chamber of Commerce Liaison
• Michael Thomas - EDAWN Liaison

Why is all of this important to Twelve Horses? We have done a few blog posts on the mission of YPN, which in short is, “to cultivate an informed and involved young professional community in the Truckee Meadows in order to retain and attract young and diverse talent.”

Reno is undergoing a fantastic renaissance in regards to redevelopment and repositioning as, not just the historical gaming town of old, but as a vibrant city offering a plethora of community events and cultural activities.

Of course, this is especially exciting for Twelve Horses because the evolution of Reno that is occurring attracts new people to the area and helps with our recruiting efforts for our corporate headquarters.

If Reno’s close proximity to Lake Tahoe and more than a dozen world-class ski resorts isn’t enough for you, then maybe you should come check out everything else that is going on. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Twelve Horses has been headquartered in Reno, Nevada since 2002 because it is a great place to do business. It looks like other’s are beginning to catch on.

Expansion Management magazine named Reno-Sparks one of America’s 50 Hottest Cities to relocate or expand a business. The magazine’s annual poll surveyed 80 national site location consultants to determine the top 50 cities out of a list of 362 Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The cities that comprise America’s 50 Hottest Cities represent the top 14 percent of all metros in the United States.

Consultants were asked to rank factors such as:

• Business Environment
• Work force Quality
• Operating Costs
• Incentive Programs
• Work Force Training Programs
• And the Ease of Working with the Local Political and Economic Development Community

These are all very important factors, and I would just like to expound upon a few things that are especially important to us here at Twelve Horses:

• Recruitment
• Reno, Nevada is an adventure destination that appeals to young working professionals.
• Excellent Nightlife
• Easy Access to Lake Tahoe and More than a Dozen World-Class Ski Resorts
• Close Proximity to Places like San Francisco, Sacramento, and Las Vegas
• Affordable Housing
• A Burgeoning Economy
• An Exciting Renaissance in Regards to Dining, Shopping, and overall Redevelopment
• A Beautiful River that Runs Right Through the Heart of the City
• Access
• Reno-Tahoe International Airport
• Any employee of Twelve Horses can be on a flight to anywhere in the United States within 10 minutes of the office. Southwest offers direct and affordable flights to many of the cities we serve.
• I-80
• One of the Unites States’ major arteries runs right through Reno and on to San Francisco. Whether it is travel, shipping, or simple convenience, it is a great asset.
• Connectivity
• Plenty of bandwith, a growing number of free Wifi spots, and the ability to respond to email from the ski lift.
• Networking
• There are many professional organizations in Reno.
• Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN)
• Western Industrial Nevada (WIN)
• Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce
• Reno-Tahoe American Marketing Association
• Advertising Association of Northern Nevada
• Sierra Nevada Chapter of the PRSA
• and many more…
• Leaders
• I am not originally from Reno, and when I first moved here I had some popular misconceptions brought on by shows like Reno 911, but I can truly say that I am very impressed by the leadership. There are some very interesting, intelligent, and forward-thinking individuals that comprise the intellectual capital of Reno, and there are some incredible things happening here.
• Infrastructure
• As David LaPlante, CEO of Twelve Horses once said, Reno has got that new car smell.” So much of it is new and fresh and convenient for the purposes of doing business. Reno does have a very historical charm, especially in areas like the Old Southwest, but in places of business everything is top notch.

I could probably go on, but you get the picture. Come check us out!

tags: reno, sparks, las vegas, nevada

UPDATE: Thank you nekoniku for pointing out what a math wizard I am. You are right, it would only be $2,000 for 40 people per year. This means that it would take about 12 and a half years to equal the cost of the Microsoft solution. That makes it much more attractive if you are just starting your business.

Google has been cobbling together a bunch of apps that it was referring to as Google Apps for your Domain. These apps included:

• Email (Gmail)
• Calendar (Google Calendar)
• IM (Google Talk)
• Page Creator (Google Pages)
• Start Page (Google Personalized Homepage)

Now they’ve bundled Google Docs and Spreadsheets with some enterprise level features and charged for it. For $50 per year per users, you can have 99.9% guaranteed uptime, increased email storage (2GB to 10GB), shared resource calendaring, API access to integrate with your current network, 24/7 assistance, and 3rd party applications (data sheet).

With shared calendaring and Gmail, a small to medium size business could forgo the cost of Microsoft Exchange. This browser based environment would mean freedom from operating system constraints and could conceivable allow more users on Ubuntu (Linux). For a small business this could mean tremendous cost saving. Eliminate MS Office from the mix and save even more money.

And with the recent announcement of Firefox 3 supporting offline modes, you could use many of these applications while disconnected from the Internet.

I love Gmail. I hate Outlook Email. Google Calendar is cool. Outlook Calendaring not so cool.

However, Twelve Horses has about 40 people who would need to be on this premier edition. That would be $2,000 a month or an annual cost of $24,000. That is significant. That would be $2,000 per year for the whole company.

According to Microsoft, Exchange Server for 50 accounts is $3,999. Lets say you put that on a beefy server costing $10,000. Now add in $279 for each instance of MS Office (upgrade price, full version is $449) for a total of $11,160 ($17,960 for full). Your looking at $25,159 (I used upgrade pricing since we all have full versions of Office). While that is a grand more than Google’s offering, it’s also one time as opposed to annually. Additionally, you get PowerPoint (and some other more janky software) with Office. You are tied to Windows or OS X, so you could compare the OS costs to Ubuntu, but that drags it farther out then I want to go.

My point, Google Apps Premier Edition rocks. It just costs too much for business with more than a few users.

Technorati Tags: Enterrprise, Exchange, Gmail, Google, Google Apps, Microsoft, OS X

Do you have a business idea that you’re sure will make tons of money? Are you struggling to figure out how to get your foot in the door to pitch it? You can always do what Aaron did. Aaron wanted to get in front of Google to pitch his idea. He started by creating a very simple website and uploading some videos to Google Video. His idea was simple:

1. Fly to Mountain View
2. Sit in Google’s lobby until someone listened to his idea
3. Pitch
4. Fly home

Underlying all this was the real plan: go viral. Because of the uniqueness of the whole concept and the way he went about it, he was sure Google would hear him. Unfortunately, they didn’t. At least, not at first. But he persevered. Once he arrived, he kept updating the site and producing videos. Word started to spread and then he made Digg.

He has had his meeting with Google, met Robert Scoble and Dave Winer, and has promises from Google for a follow up meeting. He continues to stay in Mountain View and has been there for the last 7 days. Good luck, Aaron.

[Via Robert Scoble's Blog]

Technorati Tags: Dave Winer, Google, Marketing, Robert Scoble, Viral