Ed Brill

When I started blogging a little over two years ago, I had little sense as to where the endeavor might lead.  I've enjoyed writing all my life, and initially, I thought that this would be little more than an online journal,  gratifying to compose.  In the first year in review, I didn't talk much about the professional aspects of blogging.  At the end of the second year, it is hard to consider much else.  For 2004 is when this blog turned a corner from outlet to focal point, from hobby to vocation, and from carefree to considered.  

Some of that transition started the very week after I penned the 2003 retrospective, as I entered a time which was personally very intense, leading up to and beyond Lotusphere.  More of it happened during widely-watched blogworld activities in the second half of 2004.  As I re-read all my 2004 blog entries over the last few days, it became clear that my blogging style has changed considerably in that time.  

Through observable statistics, it seems that this has been a change for the better.  A typical day on edbrill.com brings almost 10,000 hits (between browser and RSS).  Technorati ranks this site in its top 5,000... the top 0.1% of all blogs tracked.  The pubsub linkrank is around 2,000.  Even the Blogshares valuation is holding up, though I've spent no time of late thinking about this.

The outcome is measurable, too.  I can't thank everyone enough for your blog entries, e-mails, IMs, and face-to-face interaction that have resulted from blogging this year.  Many, many conversations that start "I read your blog" -- IBMers, customers, partners, industry figures, competitors.  Blogging has resulted in beneficial interactions with many of the software and blogging world's "A-list".  Blogging here has won business for IBM, saved business for IBM, and resulted in new product/feature ideas and substantial product feedback.  Blogging here has resulted in invitations to events and customer meetings, geekdinners and conferences.

Last year's retrospective included a "top dozen blogging moments".  This year, I'd prefer to go with themes...

• The Lotus Notes/Domino business is back on track.  While there was a need for constant reassurance, Lotus customers found 2004 to be a much clearer story than the last couple of years.  The roadmap for Notes is well-documented.  Innovation continues.  I made a personal commitment to strengthen this business.  Domino Express offerings and TradeUp/Move2Lotus created thousands of new Lotus customers.
• IBM's broader Workplace story made a splash in the market, especially Workplace Services Express.
• The truth is out there.  The value of the Lotus community, and blogging specifically, was clear in a series of "We the media" moments.  Sponsored competitive books, articles, and analyst reports, which previously might have gained traction in the market at face value, were debated and/or discredited.  Every "Notes is dead" article was met head-on and challenged.  Trolls were defeated, justly.  And while I still see customers make decisions on less-than-thorough decision criteria, the likelihood that FUD will influence decisions has diminished.  My personal scorecard for 2004 includes a number of sales situations where blog entries were able to directly and favorably change the course of the conversation (for example, the meeting where I suggested that the customer enter the name of the analyst firm who authored a particular report into google, and read the first few links, and then ask me their question again).
• Microsoft's story with Exchange is in chaos.  A new vice president hasn't been able to right the ship.  Customers still aren't upgrading from Exchange 5.5.  "Kodiak" was killed, more than a year after it was supposed to ship. Microsoft refused to hold a debate with IBM on messaging futures, knowing their story was weak.  And using one of the oldest tricks in the PR book, they waited until two days before Christmas, hoping no one would notice, to announce the cancellation of a product announced only seven months before (shades of  "Office Designer" and "Local web storage system" years ago), and likewise to announce a change in Exchange 5.5 support policy.  It's no wonder their collaboration story has shifted away from Exchange, but the success of that shift is still in question.

Other highlights:

• Ten years at IBM Lotus.
• Twenty year anniversary of Notes. (and other links)
• Seeing Petronas Towers at night.  The Tretyakov and Hermitage museums in Russia.
• Geekdinner in London Staines.

Travel highlights from 2004:

• Miles flown: Approximately 93,000 nautical miles.
• Countries visited: Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, China, Malaysia, Singapore. (No new countries!)
• New cities: Köln, Eindhoven, Saint Petersburg (Russia), Houston, Tucson.
• Airlines flown: American, United, Delta, Southwest, Air Canada, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Pulkovo, Privatair, China Southern, Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines. (three new airlines)
• New airports: DAL, DSM, HOU, IAH, TUS, LED
• Mistakes made: Cheesecake (seen as cheeky, not caring); playing paparazzi (I never did send him a pic!); bringing nonconvertible  currency into China.
• Meatspace: It would take a long list to name all of the bloggers and blog readers I met at customer sites, conferences, user groups, and geekdinners during 2004.  Let me just say this -- some of my best memories of 2004 are the social interactions that surrounded the business ones. I count several new friends among you, including people who I'd trust to the end of time.  Let there be more in 2005, starting with Lotusphere (or even the IBM Software University for colleagues and partners) and carrying throughout the year.

In close, thank you all very much for being part of my online journey this past year.  I look forward to continued exciting, invigorating, spirited  interaction and collaboration -- in 2005 and beyond.