Just a little Holiday greeting and farewell to everyone. I will be back up and running after the holidays and hope you have a wonderful few days with friends or family or nature or whatever way you choose to spend your time. Lots of people talk about 2007 as if it is going to be one of those pivotal years. I hope they are right--as long as the world pivots in a good way! 
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Best of luck to you all, and Happy New Years!
I have been thinking about the trip I took to Florida recently to map Learning 2006. Now that the dust has settled, I think that this kind of mapping of large events is probably not the most useful thing in the world as far as introducting people to MindManager (or any other mapping tool). I have participated in a couple of events where we have done this (this one and Gnomedex 6) and in neither case did I feel like having done it opened anyone's eyes up to mapping. I think it needs to be in a more intimate setting. We did some mapping at BlawgThink last year and got a much better response because the number of participants was much lower and we were able to actively map smaller sessions--so people could really see what mapping added to the discussions.
But having said that...
...I'd like to direct your attention to the maps that were created recently as part of Making Markets Work for Climate. "The Dutch State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment hosted the International Conference Make Markets Work for Climate on 16-17 October 2006. The objective of the conference was to discuss how these various financing mechanisms can be leveraged to: (a) achieve sustainable economic growth in developing countries and (b) finance developing country energy strategies that are more environmentally sound than would be possible in the absence of carbon finance." This is a great example of how to share information from an event like this. The web site contains maps, videos, photos and PDFs of some of the more compelling content. While not perfect (the videos are all talking heads, the maps miss some of the subtlety of the actual presentations), it provides a great way for people who care about this but could not attend to spend a relatively short amount of time to scan maps and videos to get a good feel for the event.
As our European partners wrote: "The results of the debates were real-time projected on a central screen via MindManager. By visualising the debate within the map structure, the sessions remained transparent, interaction was stimulated and nobody had problems following the debate as you could literally see what’s being said and what relationships these sayings have with other remarks."
*NOTE: For any of you that closely follow the Mindjet blogs...I freely admit that I am becoming completely schizoid. I am still blogging at the "old" Mindjet blog (http://blog.mindjet.com/) because a lot of people have subscribed to that one. But I started this new one because it is easier to use (easier to post photos, possible to post documents). So without any particular rhyme or reason I blog on one then the other...We will figure this out soon, but in the meantime, please feel free to subscribe to both blogs. Heaven forbid you should miss any of my oh-so-trenchant comments! 
Thanks (or not) to Brian Friedlander at Assistive Tech, who suggested a "group Skype" to address the issue of what an online Mindjet community might look like, I am now the proud owner of a LogiTech UltraVision camera. Skype me at hobieswan and you will automatically see a live image of me. I had a call with Brian in which he showed up in my Skype window and I thought it was pretty cool.
As to the "or not": This camera seems to add about 20 years to me. It's rough! Luckily, I'm not too vain, so Skype away. And let me know if you would be interested in a group Skype call. I've never done one. Brian says it can handle up to, I think he said 100 users. Wow! That's a lot of hot air. I guess we should consider global warming before we try this.
We are looking at our positioning here and Mindjet and so have some questions for you, if anyone would care to weigh in on this (if you do, it woudl be great if you could provide me with your name, your title and/or what you do at your company, how long you have used MindManager, how many others you work with and what you use MM for when you do).
OK, here are the questions (the first two might seem a little like pop psychology. Please bear with use! :o):
- When you hear the word Mindjet – what do you think about?
- When you hear the word MindManager – what do you think about?
- How did you find out about MindManager?
- Why did you decide to use MindManager?
- What product do you use…Basic or Pro?
- Why did you select the edition (Basic or Pro) you did and what do you use it for?
- Did you evaluate any other applications or Tools?
- If you could do one thing to make the product better – what would it be and why?
If any of you subscribe to the Mindjet Blog, you will see the exact same thing there, lazy person that I am...
I read in Robert Scoble and Shel Israel's essential book, Naked Conversations: How blogs are chnging the way business talk with customers, that Scoble does most of his blogging at 4 a.m. That seems just a tad bit early to me. But early does seem to be the best time slot for this...
At any rate, I wanted to draw your attention to a recetn post on the blog Knowledge Mapping in which "Staz" has posted an extensive list of criteria to consider when looking for the perfect mapping application. (Thanks, as usual, to to Chuck Frey at The Mind Mapping Software Weblog for keeping me up to speed on such things.) Staz mentions one thing that we at Mindjet think is the future of mapping: the ability to pull in and visualize information from other sources. Potential purchasers should also, IMHO (in my humble opinion), think about the company itself: Is it financially stable (has it been around a while, is it growing, making money, etc.)? Are other companies developing new ways to improve use of that application? And so on...Staz has provided a very thorough list, should you be in the market.
James Surowieki, who I happen to think is one of the most engaging writers around, spoke at Learning 2006 about the thesis behind his best-seller, The Wisdom of Crowds. You can find MindManager maps of Surowieki, Steven M.R. Covey on The Speed of Trust and others on the Learning 2006 LearningWiki.
Covey, son of the Stephen Covey most of us think of when we think of FranklinCovey, makes the point in his book that the key ingredient in the success of any enterprise is trust: Build trust, succeed. Fail to build trust and the foundation of success, no matter how strong they seem, will erode. (That is my haiku on his book. You can hear Covey himself discribe the importance of trust at http://www.internationalspeakers.com/speakers/ISBB-67RT7A/Stephen_M.R._Covey/.
I was over at RobiNZ CAD Blog just now and saw his post about how TechSmith's blog, The Visual Lounge, has "a great series of Camtasia demos: 30 Videos in 30 days." Alas, a demo of MindManager was not on the list. (You can see the list on RobiNZ blog.) But I like the idea. I was driving around Boise the other day and heard an NPR interview with a woman who wrote "365 plays in 365 days." Why? Because, she said, it rhymed!
What do you think? Should we do 30 MIndManager Videos in 30 days? What would be among the things you would like to see us demo?
When I was at Learning 2006 last week, I had a chance to attend a session given by John Abele, founder and chairman of Boston Scientific. After the session, which, interestingly*, was on improving meetings, I went up to John and introduced myself. [A short aside here: We have talked inside Mindjet about how someday the day will come when we no longer have to say, "Hi, I'm from Mindjet!"...(pause, wait for name recognition...see none...)...and then go into a long description of what we do.] John smiled broadly and said, "Oh! Mindjet! We love to use ift for brainstorming sessions," and then said a few words about how he was very familiar with what HE called "mind mapping." I guess that hallowed day is getting closer.
So tell me, do you use MindManager in meetings? Do you use presentation mode? What could we do to MindManager to make it easier/more effective in the meeting setting?
* I say interestingly because we believe that MindManager can do a great deal to improve the quality of meetings by:
- Enabling the participants to create a clear, real-time record of the meeting
- Providing participants with a way to quicky capture, then organize meeting content...and the reorganize the content again and again to reflect the evolution of thinking during the course of the meeting
- Enabling the team to leave the meeting with clear action items, due dates and assigned resources
- Share meeting content with all stakeholders immediately following the meeting, and in numerous formats.
...and we are not just making this up. If you go to the case study section of our web site and read the Air Products, Allied Telesyn or Consolidated Edison studies (among others), you'll hear the same thing from the horse's mouth.
Shortly before I left for five days of Elliott Masie's Learning 2006 and then a couple of days off to pursue my elusive goal of finishing the two-story tree house I am building for my daughter, I asked a question on the Mindjet Blog about what an online Mindjet community might look like. I asked it because while I think we at Mindjet have done a good job of starting and maintaining a company blog. That is exactly half right.
Now we need to get better at actually using this new technology to build real a community of people interested (for whatever reason or reasons) in Mindjet. As MavenMapper contributor Brett Bumeter wrote in the above Mindjet Blog thread:
"If this [an online Mindjet community] is going to be a success, then Mindjet must talk with the users, trainers and developers. If that occurs, it doesn’t really matter where it happens or what technical setup is used. The substance is the dialogue, and the technical features just increase the flow of ideas."
I really like Brett's comment not only because it has the advantage of being true. But also because even though I work for a technology company, I struggle with technology and tend to agree that while lipstick is nice, what is more salient is whether it has been applied to a pig, or to something what we might traditionally call "attractive" (thoughI'm suer I am not alone in finding our porcine co-inhabinants charming in their own special way). But we are lucky nonetheless to have people like Michael Scherotter, Vivek Vishist and Tom Blossom around here to surprise, amaze --and help--us with their technical wizardry. I am more about plain speaking: A little less glamorous, perhaps--but equally useful, I hope.
To whit! The goal of Hobart Mindjet Blog II will be to see if we can open up a dialog with you. We want to know what you like or love about MindManager. What do you like about being a Mindjet customer? What drives you crazy? What would you like to see in the next generation of Mindjet products? What improvements would you like to see in the current ones? How can we "delight" you? Who would you like to talk with at Mindjet--and what would you like to talk about with them? More than 1000 of you have joined the Mindjet Labs? Why did you join? What are you looking for? Are you finding what you need?
As we move forward, we would like to create a place where MindManager users--and people with all of the interests (and more) listed above--can get together and trade thoughts, ideas, best practices, tips, stories: where you can post photos, maps, audio clips, video; and join user forums (we've already go some started so check them out and let us know what other ones we should start). But mostly it will be a place to talk, to ask questions (in either direction) and to work together to see if we can all help each other find ever new and ever more creative, interesting, effective and...dare I say it...FUN ways to work together.
Thanks, and hope to talk to you soon.
Hobie
I have been talking recently with senior management at three large multinational organizations about how they use MindManager in their sales departments. I have to say that a few months ago I was not particularly clear on the value our software brings to this side of the business. But I have to say that what these people had to say pretty much knocked my socks off. You hear about people use MindManager for all kinds of interesting things. But these companies are using it to make more money faster. That's pretty compelling! It just kind of takes MindManager out of the realm of nice-to-haves and pushes it into the gotta-have category. I mean, if you could shrink your sales cycle from 90 days to an average of about a week (as one of the aforementioned people told me), wouldn't you want to run out and buy a few (hundred) more licenses for your entire sales team?
Along those same lines, it is very cool that Steve Martin of "Heavy Hitter Sales" fame will be our featured guest in an upcoming webinar on using MindManager for these self-same sales purposes. If the promo on Steve's own blog is any indication, this webinar (10-11am Pacific on Nov. 8. Enroll here) will get your blood moving: "All battlefield commanders," Steve says, "need location-based information--the coordinates of their current location and the enemies’ locations. With that, they can create a map that points the way to reaching their objective. Salespeople need the same type of information. They need to chart their own position in an account and the positions of enemy competitors. Finally, they need a road map that shows them how to win. I'd like to invite you to join me for a free webinar where I will present sales strategies to destroy your arch-enemies."
Steve's newest book, Heavy Hitter Sales Wisdom, looks at sales warfare strategy from the perspective of some of "the greatest military minds of all time—from Sun Tzu to Napoleon Bonaparte to George S. Patton."
Of course, we love the fact that Steve is passionate about his work. Attend this webinar, gain some very good insights on how to use MindManager to sell better and sell faster, then let me know how it works for you.
There's a good article in the 9/25/06 issue of Computerworld on interface changes that will come with Office 2007 and Vista. The main idea is that everyone recognizes that as the number of features available in any given application grows, it becomes increasingly difficult for the user to access what they need. The answer, according to the writer (and others) is not fewer features: "People want more, yet they want it presented as less," says Gartner analyst Steve Kleynhans. How's that for a design challenge? Microsoft's new context-specific ribbon bar is designed to address this issue. And if you have seen what the Labs's own Michael Sherotter has been doing with MindManager and Word 2007, you will hopefully agree that the ribbons show promise.
This new blog marks my second attempt to maintain my own blog. I started the first "Hobart's Mindjet Blog" back in March of 2006 as part of our internal campaign to get Mindjet to create a corporate blog. We succeeded--as evidenced by the fact that we now have the official Mindjet blog (http://blog.mindjet.com and now that fantastic new...what do yu call it Michael Scherotter (who created this space)...this Mindjet blogging community.
My goal with the blog is to try to stick to things at least loosely related to our business. But I have to say that I have been dying for someplace to chronical my experiences with customer service. After being here for about 5 years, I have come to really value the importance of each and every single contact with our customers. Why? Because I am a customer myself--as are we all, of course. And once you put put yourself in the shoes of the customer and look at how your own company treats them, you simply need to ask yourself the musical question: Would I like to be treated like that?
For instance, I own a 2005 Subaru and love it. But I got a call from somebody trying to sell me a $1700 warranty package that really puts me in a bad mood about the company. This person presumed that I had read the many letters Subaru had sent me on this subject. And when I did not respond knowledgable to her questions, she actually got peeved at me--as if I had failed to do my homework. So here I am now, blogging about how bad an experience that was.
Needless to say, this kind of word spreads fast. I don't ever want any of our customers to have cause to spread any thing even remotely like this.
So I will continue to blog at http://blog.mindjet.com about the more Mindjet-centric topics and use this blog for more wide-ranging topics. Welcome!