The two-day IBM event focuses on helping organizations become social businesses.
This
year marks the debut of IBM Connect 2012, a two-day event that will run
parallel to Lotusphere 2012 and focuses on an array of topics surrounding
becoming a social business, creating value and improving business outcomes.
To
be held in Orlando, Fla., from Jan. 16 and 17, Connect is
designed for C-level executives and business leaders throughout an
organization, including product development, marketing, research and development,
sales, customer service, human resources, corporate communications and IT. The
conference will include sessions on how organizations can meld social, mobile
and cloud technologies to meet common business challenges and enable employees
to improve their organizations' performance.
"If
I think about what's happening and the direction we're headed, in order to help
our clients we at IBM and our partners need a deep knowledge and understanding
of the overall adoption and engagement dynamic and impact we can have with
different techs, and I think we spent 2011 establishing relationships. In 2012,
our role will be to take that insight and lead our clients to that next level
of where social can bring them," Sandy Carter, vice president of Social
Business Evangelism and Sales at IBM, said in an interview.
For
personalized help attaining this goal, attendees can register for a
complimentary one-hour business value assessment to help them begin to align
and shape the business case for their social business
initiatives.
IBM strategists, product experts, engineers, architects and developers will
also be on-site to share their expertise, recommendations and ideas.
"We're
not just focused on the technology," said Carter. "You've got to have
the technology and a great social business platform, but you must grasp the
adoption, too."
To
further assist, Connect's agenda
includes many sessions focused on best practices. One keynote features Kristen
Lauria, IBM Collaboration Solutions, vice president, Worldwide Marketing,
Social Business; Bridget van Kralingen, general manager, IBM North America;
Martina Girkens, vice president, Corporate Functions IT Continental AG; and Guy
Kawasaki, co-founder of Alltop.com, author and entrepreneur. Another keynote
includes presentations by Denis Brousseau, vice president and global leader,
Organization and People, IBM Global Business Services; and Gilberto Garcia,
head of innovation at CEMEX. Carter will wrap up the event with a presentation
titled "Top 5 Social Surprises From Clients Using the Social Business
Agenda."
In
addition, the two-day event includes multiple panel and executive-led
discussions on topics such as social media and innovation, social media in
health care, demystifying enterprise gamefication, social and product
development, social business in the cloud, and big data and social analytics,
among many.
IBM
already unveiled a series of new
programs, services and partnerships to continue to push forward the
company's social business strategy. On Jan. 11, the company introduced a set of
new efforts-including consulting opportunities, educational programs and
workshops-to expand on its social business initiative.
The
Solutions Showcase, open at various hours throughout the event, allows attendees
to see products from IBM and its business partners in action. Other networking
events include an IBM Connect Welcome Reception on Sunday evening, an IBM
Connect dinner on Monday night and a Solution Showcase reception on Monday
evening.
Email
Print
