Comments on: CMS: Houston, We Have a Problem! http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/03/07/cms-houston-we-have-a-problem/ by Stephen E. Arnold Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:55:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Phil Murray http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/03/07/cms-houston-we-have-a-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-3052 Phil Murray Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:36:14 +0000 http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/03/07/cms-houston-we-have-a-problem/#comment-3052 My brief visit to AIIM was a disappointment. Of course, I can't speak for the presentations, because I was on an exhibits only/general sessions pass, and I didn't even see any of the general presentations. I had planned to spend most of Wednesday and Thursday there, but I left after about 4 hours. I've pointed members of the Center for Semanitc Excellence (www.semanticexcellence.org) to your blog entry for more comprehensive perspective. I suspect that Lynda Moulton of the Gilbane Group will write about it, too. I share some of your reactions, but I'm not sure you've put your finger on the core problem. The new convention center is a huge place, but I wouldn't call it Kafkaesque. And it's way too bright to be called Stalinesque. It's gotta be big to attract the kind of conventions Boston is seeking. (The Hines isn't big enough for some shows.) Even so, AIIM, as big as it was, kinda rattled around in that space. My guess is that attendance was disappointing, too. The waterfront location can be pretty. Walk along the windows on Level 1 (The second floor; they're going all European on us, I guess.), and you get a nice view of the harbor and downtown Boston. The location, however, comes with inconvenience. Driving and parking there is painful. You're right about getting there by public transportation. They need to do something about that. What bothered me was the lack of excitement and interaction. Lots of tired technologies with minor new twists. For these folks, it's still all about paper. They're not solving business problems in interesting ways; they're treating businesses as publishers. Yeah, most businesses are publishers, but if you solve the publishing problems you still aren't solving the business problems. Sometimes you're making them worse. Not enough exhibitors in my domain (the "semantic" space), either. Can't blame them for that, though. I also think that the general doom-and-gloom about the state of the economy dampened spirits. The sheer size of the show and its very traditional presentations + exhibits format left me feeling that I just wasn't getting anything new out of the experience. Same for the Boston KM Forum meeting on Friday morning. (See www.kmforum.org.) It looks like I really got Lynda Moulton's dander up. Many of the recent Friday meetings have been terrific (thanks to the tireless efforts of Lynda and Larry Chait), but the March 7 meeting was a rehash of KM adoption problems -- stuff I've been hearing for 15 years. So after listening to the group for 90 minutes, I said so. It isn't about the information. Businesses are not libraries. We need to redesign work itself, because the world has changed. And we are seeing strong evidence that focusing on information is not a cure. It's becoming part of the problem. In any case, well said! Ignore the snarky comment in the first response. I've been associated with "publishing" for 30 years. Your observations are thoughtful. Phil --------------------- Phil Murray, Chief Knowledge Architect The Semantic Advantage "Turning Information into Assets" phil.murray@semanticadvantage.com 401-247-7899 Blog: http://semanticadvantage.wordpress.com Web site: http://www.semanticadvantage.com Founding member of the Center for Semantic Excellence http://www.semanticexcellence.org www.semanticexcellence.org My brief visit to AIIM was a disappointment. Of course, I can’t speak for the presentations, because I was on an exhibits only/general sessions pass, and I didn’t even see any of the general presentations. I had planned to spend most of Wednesday and Thursday there, but I left after about 4 hours.

I’ve pointed members of the Center for Semanitc Excellence (www.semanticexcellence.org) to your blog entry for more comprehensive perspective. I suspect that Lynda Moulton of the Gilbane Group will write about it, too.

I share some of your reactions, but I’m not sure you’ve put your finger on the core problem.

The new convention center is a huge place, but I wouldn’t call it Kafkaesque. And it’s way too bright to be called Stalinesque. It’s gotta be big to attract the kind of conventions Boston is seeking. (The Hines isn’t big enough for some shows.) Even so, AIIM, as big as it was, kinda rattled around in that space. My guess is that attendance was disappointing, too.

The waterfront location can be pretty. Walk along the windows on Level 1 (The second floor; they’re going all European on us, I guess.), and you get a nice view of the harbor and downtown Boston. The location, however, comes with inconvenience. Driving and parking there is painful. You’re right about getting there by public transportation. They need to do something about that.

What bothered me was the lack of excitement and interaction. Lots of tired technologies with minor new twists. For these folks, it’s still all about paper. They’re not solving business problems in interesting ways; they’re treating businesses as publishers. Yeah, most businesses are publishers, but if you solve the publishing problems you still aren’t solving the business problems. Sometimes you’re making them worse. Not enough exhibitors in my domain (the “semantic” space), either. Can’t blame them for that, though.

I also think that the general doom-and-gloom about the state of the economy dampened spirits.

The sheer size of the show and its very traditional presentations + exhibits format left me feeling that I just wasn’t getting anything new out of the experience.

Same for the Boston KM Forum meeting on Friday morning. (See http://www.kmforum.org.) It looks like I really got Lynda Moulton’s dander up. Many of the recent Friday meetings have been terrific (thanks to the tireless efforts of Lynda and Larry Chait), but the March 7 meeting was a rehash of KM adoption problems — stuff I’ve been hearing for 15 years. So after listening to the group for 90 minutes, I said so. It isn’t about the information. Businesses are not libraries. We need to redesign work itself, because the world has changed. And we are seeing strong evidence that focusing on information is not a cure. It’s becoming part of the problem.

In any case, well said! Ignore the snarky comment in the first response. I’ve been associated with “publishing” for 30 years. Your observations are thoughtful.

Phil

———————
Phil Murray, Chief Knowledge Architect
The Semantic Advantage
“Turning Information into Assets”

phil.murray@semanticadvantage.com
401-247-7899
Blog: http://semanticadvantage.wordpress.com
Web site: http://www.semanticadvantage.com

Founding member of the Center for Semantic Excellence
http://www.semanticexcellence.org
http://www.semanticexcellence.org

]]> By: Ferdinand Chan http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/03/07/cms-houston-we-have-a-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-2971 Ferdinand Chan Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:40:39 +0000 http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/03/07/cms-houston-we-have-a-problem/#comment-2971 Arnold, Your session in the AIIM was an eye-opening one for me. I can't agree anymore on your views of the current ECM markets. People are still playing those "Feature Checklist" games when they seeks for solutions without even understanding the problems are they trying to address. Buzzwords are poisoning the market and seems that most of the players are overdosed Arnold,

Your session in the AIIM was an eye-opening one for me.

I can’t agree anymore on your views of the current ECM markets. People are still playing those “Feature Checklist” games when they seeks for solutions without even understanding the problems are they trying to address.

Buzzwords are poisoning the market and seems that most of the players are overdosed

]]> By: Milind Joshi http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/03/07/cms-houston-we-have-a-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-2941 Milind Joshi Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:56:20 +0000 http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/03/07/cms-houston-we-have-a-problem/#comment-2941 Arnold, It was interesting meeting with you at the AIIM show. It is probably the only meeting that ignited something very strong inside of my mind. I had to leave for a meeting soon, but it would be good to hear more about what exactly you were trying to say to me. I read your comment in your blog, and for the most part you seem to have your finger on the pulse, but I'm not sure if your concerns spring from real problems that you saw, or just that maybe you think you know about things you don't but need to speak with an authoritative tone in order to continue to run your business of writing books and attempting to influence people with your brand of thinking. All the same, the comments you made to me during our short conversation are duly noted. Arnold,

It was interesting meeting with you at the AIIM show. It is probably the only meeting that ignited something very strong inside of my mind. I had to leave for a meeting soon, but it would be good to hear more about what exactly you were trying to say to me.

I read your comment in your blog, and for the most part you seem to have your finger on the pulse, but I’m not sure if your concerns spring from real problems that you saw, or just that maybe you think you know about things you don’t but need to speak with an authoritative tone in order to continue to run your business of writing books and attempting to influence people with your brand of thinking.

All the same, the comments you made to me during our short conversation are duly noted.

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