Cisco Webex Social

In November 2010, Cisco introduced its own software-based enterprise collaboration platform: Cisco WebEx Social which combines a foundation of video and unified communications with personalization and relevant features, applications, and services on the network, integrating them with business and management systems.  One of the early adopters of WebEx Social is the IT Regional Leadership team that is present in four regions around the world.

As part of Cisco’s globaI region IT model, IT shares important information such as roadmaps and global content from IT service owners, infrastructure owners, and other corporate stakeholders with the IT Regional Leadership team and its members. Therefore, consistent communications are critical for its success.

Traditionally, communication between these groups has been relationship-based and most often done through email.  But there was a necessity of improving the outbound communications and the flow of information and the solution needed to be operationally and technically feasible to implement and maintain.

In January 2012, they launched the IT Regional Leadership (ITRL) community on Cisco's internal enterprise collaboration platform, the Integrated Workforce Experience (IWE) which gave them a new way to manage information flow offline that would provide all IT stakeholders globally with consistent, predictable communications.

IWE Solution and Benefits

• It consolidates relevant, cross-regional information and makes it accessible to IT service owners, regional IT leaders, and their teams providing an intelligent source of information out to the regions and back to corporate IT.
• The information flow helps to ensure timely, consistent communications and alignment among the corporate and regional IT teams and facilitates stakeholder collaboration and questions, ideas, and issue resolution within the community.
• It has helped with streamlined, more effective communication flow between the IT groups, service owners, corporate teams, and leadership and clients in region.
• It helps to save time since service owners do not get multiple isolated requests for the same information. Regional IT users do not have to spend time looking up contacts and initiating requests via email.
• It provides a common environment to share information relevant to each region via posts, with functionality for contributors to collaborate and provide their input collectively.
• It helps project teams to share ideas, collect feedback and lessons learned, and brainstorm on solutions to ease the pain points through the use of posts and discussion forums.
• It gives users an instant, unified environment for collaboration and knowledge sharing. Multiple emails (with cumbersome attachments) to multiple recipients on the same project are eliminated.

As we can see, IWE allows employees to more effectively connect, communicate, and collaborate with subject matter experts, colleagues, and communities, as well as share information to help accelerate growth, encourage innovation, and create sustainable productivity.

To read additional information about Cisco’s implementation of IWE powered by Cisco WebEx Social, visit: http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ciscoitatwork/collaboration/iwe_powered_by_cisco_webex_social.html 

How Collaborating Moustaches are Generating Millions of Dollars for Men’s Health

In 2003 Adam Garone was having a beer with his friends talking about the peculiarity of many things consistently moving in cycles - In and out of fashion. Except for one thing. The moustache. That never seemed to achieve revival.

That became a challenge to bring the moustache back. The rules were easy and simple. Each Movember one should:

• Start the month clean-shaving
• Rock a mustache
• Come together at the end of the month and celebrate the best and worst moustache 

This quickly became a big success between Adam and his participating friends. However, little recognition for their “stupid” game was shown from their families, friends and employers not least.

This facilitated an obvious need to legitimize this activity so the fun could continue. The solution was found in using proceeds from the moustache-movement to support men’s health in terms of prostate cancer. The tagline became “Changing the face of men’s health”

Despite little initial support from formal prostate organizations they managed to gather 450 men who collaboratively grew moustaches and donated $54,000 to the Australian Prostate Cancer Foundation - The single biggest donation ever received by the foundation at this time.

After almost running out of funds in 2006 the moustache movement managed to bring together 450,000 men in 2010 raising an impressive amount of $77 million!

Below is an example of the Movember website. You basically set up a profile, upload your moustache and then you are ready to share with your friends and receive donations!

Let's Collaborate and grow some moustaches!

Watch Adam tell his story of the Movember movement in this TED video.