Around Cleveland
After getting an iPad recently I discovered how many applications there are for making art. From drawing to photography. While playing with these I have become very excited about using the iPhone for photography. These are few of my early experiments.
I work for a company that is moving from a start-up to young business. Recently, I was moved into the role of "Product Manager". While every company has it's own nuances in organizational structure, the role of product manager is still being defined from industry to industry. I have found it very difficult to learn how to be a "product manager" for the software company I work for.
I have a design and engineering background which has provided me a view of the many roles in the business of software development. I know and can interact with business, design and engineering, or so I thought.
A product manager cannot believe they hold any power. A great product manager distills the knowledge of every conceivable resource into a product plan then articulates that plan to those who will make the product successful.
The ability to communicate and understand needs across organizations is critical. A product manager MUST be able to manage sales, customer service, design/UX, engineering, marketing, executives, the board, users, customers and anyone else you can think of.
I have been discussing the use of the term "group" in the context of collaborative online environments. I firmly believe when designing interactive tools you should not break convention unless:
Since entering Google Wave and trying to figure out how we can use this new collaborative tool there has been allot controversy in our office. Some love it, some are not sure and some see potential. When using for business collaboration I think it's important to understand a Wave should be finite. Older Waves seem to be nothing more than noise. Where it is an interesting collaborative tool, it has become very quickly yet and thing I have to spend 15 minutes to a half hour on every morning. I already have email for that.
I see Wave being useful for carrying on a conversation after a meeting, collaborating on a topic in a time box and collaborating with offsite co-workers. The lack of organization to means once these conversations are finished they need to removed and if need the result recorded in a more organized permanent tool, like a wiki. Google Wave does not remove the need for face to face. A danger with relying on Wave is no one knows when a person in a topic will be log in, unless it it required by the organization. That being said asynchronous conversation does not replace real conversation.I have been thinking about the laundry list of possible interactions in various social software applications. View, comment, create, rank, subscribe, share, post, add, tag, connect, message, search, invite and probably many other verbs that describe what people do. I playing around with an exercise to assess the varying values these verbs provide to the community and the person. The two variables that seem to stand out are impact to others, impact to me and how often it occurs.
Depending on the community type and personality I plug in, these values shift dramatically. Environment, membership and active personalities add extensive variation. This poses a great challenge to developing broad based social software in market verticals. Sub-communities and providing micro areas with larger organized communities can allow for more specific observation and encourage greater participation, especially from the lurker who wants to participate but has class barriers that prevent them from doing so. This also provides an array of lenses to observe and react to behavior to continually improve these environments. I loved Sachin's presentation on "Designing for social traction: Turn a user into a passionate customer *before* making them sign up for your service" (http://sachin.posterous.com/designing-for-social-traction-turn-a-user-int). The concepts are very fresh and provide a new perspective for developing active communities for our customers/user's.
I had some time tonight without any pressure to do anything. I picked up on some projects that have been long neglected. One of these was cleaning out a room that could have been on an episode of "Hoarders". Bags of crap, papers, magazines and assorted junk found their way to my trash and boy, that felt good. My Dad was on my mind though. I have been dealing with his death and it's really fucked me up. He was a real standup guy. A beautiful person who had integrity, intelligence and compassion. He was the ideal Dad. He taught me to be strong and independent, to give people the benefit of the doubt and to work my ass - because that's what people do. I survived because of him.
He became sick about two years ago and it broke him this summer. My Dad shot himself - and dealing with that is the most fucked up thing ever. It's been more than a month and still does not feel real. Luckily a demanding job has kept me occupied. But, tonight finally clearing out that room I came across photos I don't even remember even having. Not just of Dad, but some weird collage of the last 40 years. This entire month has been kicking me in the ass, forcing me to look at myself, and I have fought it tooth and nail. Now, while digging through a bunch of trash I came across all of this. It feels good to remember. It feels good to be here.As I sit here and think about the reason(s) I started this blog. In the beginning it's to try something new. A place I could start to market myself using a very convenient tool. I launched a new career move and thought here is a place I could catalogue my ideas and become a thought leader. The execution was fuzzy at best. A photo here a thought there but nothing professional. Work takes so much time and the theory becomes the topic of so many conversations. I just didn't have the cohesion of thought or the time to do what I really wanted to.
Today things all seem very different. The stars never seem to align all at the same time. This is life I suppose and when I recollect the stories from people in my life I know this is true for us all. After investing so much of who I am, my time and desire into work I find a year and half later it may really pay off. I have found a rhythm with a roll I never heard of six months ago and we find a market hungry for our goods. In fact, things are looking very good. Without having crossed the "We Did It" line, myself and my co-workers should feel very encouraged if not down right excited with the prospects we have. While focusing so much on work my Father has been on a path of physical decay and my Mother over fifteen years has been decaying mentally. The reality of dealing with a person with severe mental illness, a person you love, is an unbelievable drain on the soul. This especially true when they offer moments of hope, quickly dissolving into familiar hopelessness. A vibrant wonderful person who has so much to offer the world cannot grasp the humans and opportunity that surrounds her. At the same time, their partner who is another person loved dearly, is struggling with them and colossal health issues. In the midst of this my sense of family obligation and love encouraged me to provide love and support. Then the breakdown. I gave up and became completely self absorbed. Cut my family off completely. Became enraged at my mother and screamed obscenities. I left with no plans to return, and I didn't. for almost six months I have cut myself off because I could no longer tolerate the complexities and pain caused by my Mother's illness. I let my Father suffer it alone. Now I struggle with the fear that my decision doomed my father to continued health decline and left a truly wonderful man, father and husband to endure alone. Today I have learned this amazing man, who gave me so many lessons in what it means to be a good human is most likely dying. I find myself at this time lost and confused. Guilt and absolution flow in different directions and I am the intersection. At a time when I have worked so hard with the reward in sight, I find my other life holding the reins. It's true you can't have it all. Aspects fade in and out. Life turns and takes you with it. The good and bad come and go when they choose and your left to sort out each moment as it passes. All the little things keep adding up, or falling away. In the end I hope love transcends my actions.Got up early and went apartment hunting. I can't believe how affordable and cool downtown living is here. Pools, gyms concierge services etc. Beautiful apartments that had me gasping, given an opportunity I would have signed two or three leases today.
Then we went to the Fish Market for lunch. Outstanding is all I can say. Then off to the aquarium which was very entertaining. If you come to Dallas both are a must.
Trying something new, I'm going to post some of art for awhile.
