Ed Brill

I frequently see criticism of the Lotus community that we are a closed system, too much of a self-serving "echo chamber" of like-mindedness.  I don't believe this -- while it is true that there is a social aspect and camaraderie around working with Lotus software, anywhere in the world, there are many more technologists working with Lotus software than those reading the blogs, tweeting, and LinkedIn-ing away.

Knowing there are others out there that aren't as in-tune with the Lotus community is one thing, but doing something to reach out to a broader audience is quite another.  This week, Kevin Hansen, who authors dominokeys.com, has put himself out there in a big way.  He is the topic moderator this week on infoBoom -- a community site sponsored by IBM and CIO.com.  

Kevin's topic -- "Lotus Notes More than Email to IT".

Now, you might be saying -- "oh, the site is sponsored by IBM, it's just an extension of the echo chamber."  But one look at the comments and interaction that Kevin is moderating so far this week show you that there are a lot of new eyes on Kevin's article.  The very first comment set that tone:

Thank you for this article. I have only recently started to use Lotus Notes and am very impressed by the utility of it. I appreciate you pointing out the various uses.

It's been an enlightening conversation, and it's only Wednesday.  Tomorrow, Kevin will be hosting a Q&A, and he's also been posting additional discussion points on his own blog.

infoBOOM is booming -- and now that audience is learning more about the latest versions of Lotus Notes.  In a few weeks, I'm going to be writing on infoBOOM as well -- about "why participation matters".  It's kind of funny for Kevin to be writing about Notes and me to be writing about blogging/social media; but if we had reversed roles (not that this was ever discussed), both of us would lose a bit of authentic voice.  With Kevin's contribution this week, readers are learning first-hand about why Notes matters, today.  This is the best kind of word-of-mouth awareness, and for that, I thank Kevin and those participating in the discussion.  Lotus knows every bit of visibility and endorsement from a real-live reference customer is extremely valuable.  Thanks, Kevin!