"Smart Collaboration" at Lotusphere Comes to You, Madrid

March 9 2010

OK, mark another one off the bucket list.  Today at Lotusphere Comes to You here in Madrid, I delivered an entire 45 minute presentation en español.  The presentation, "Smart Collaboration", was essentially a slightly higher-level version of the keynote Kevin Cavanaugh and I delivered at Lotusphere.  In fact, it was the comfort of knowing that this was my presentation, my words, that gave me the confidence to deliver those words in a different language.  The times when I stumbled were mainly those where I tried to use someone else's words, for a few slides that were borrowed from here or there.  Otherwise, according to reports, the message got across.

Here is the presentation -- for IBMers, I'll even post it along with the entire script (not just speaker notes) on my Lotus Connections files later tonight.

Lotusphere Comes to You España "Smart Collaboration" en Castellano
View more presentations from Ed Brill.



Speaking in Spanish had its challenges, clearly.  While I routinely read Spanish-language documents, my daily use of the language is fairly limited, and it has been 20 years since I was a student.  The situation was improved last night when we realized I could use my Mac as a teleprompter -- yes, despite the criticisms of Lotusphere reliance on same -- and then it was more about pronunciation than about word choice.  That was a HUGE help.  I struggled with pronouncing a few words, especially large ones or those that looked suspiciously like their English equivalents -- try saying desarrolladores three times fast (in the end, I resorted to "developers, developers, developers", but there was no monkey dance.  The way I knew that things had gone well -- the owner of the "lotuspherecty" twitter ID, who I did not meet, tweeted several times during my presentation, highlighting the key messages.  Clearly, the message came through correctly.

Both in person and on blogs/twitter, many in the audience thanked me for making the "titanic effort" to present in Spanish.  Really, it shouldn't have to be that big a deal.  Unfortunately, in the culture in my country, being fluently bi-lingual is not common nor a requirement.  I am in awe, and somewhat embarrassed, when I meet people who can speak four (or more) languages easily.  So, such is not mi vida.  For me, today (and of course, Thursday in Barcelona) are the best effort I can make to truly bring Lotusphere to "you".

After my presentation, I later joined IBM's Luis Suarez on stage to discuss social software.  Luis's presentation was excellent, and I understood most of it.  Interestingly, the Spanish are among the most prolific users of social software, but it is mainly market-facing usage.  Many in the room use LinkedIn and Facebook, but not so much for (or from) their jobs.  Luis asked me to discuss IBM's use of social software and how it has affected my business, and (after holding up my Spanish/English dictionary as a reference), I provided some basic answers about how you and I are now having the direct, market-driven conversation instead of hiding behind market research reports and consulting studies.

The IBMers have run an excellent event here in Madrid, and I expect more of the same on Thursday in Barcelona.  Until then, ¡hasta luego, otra vez!

Ed Brill Teatro Quinto, Madrid, España Category:  Lotusphere 2010  Add/View Comments [16]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Albert Buendía http://slug.es | 3/9/2010 11:40:22 AM

    Felicidades Ed, nos vemos en Barcelona.

  1. 2  Abraham  | 3/9/2010 12:42:15 PM

    I have met with some US based IBMers and i think you are the first i know that speaks Spanish! so that is a big plus Ed, congrats, however I don't know if everything in your presentation makes sense in Spain, but in Mexico that kind of Spanish sounds weird, like in the opening slide "la evolucion del puesto de trabajo de colaboracion" , that reads in English like "the evolution of the collaboration workstation", is that what you mean?, other things looks to me like in spanglish.

    but again, is great to see someone from IBM make this level of effort =)

  1. 3  Daniel de la Fuente  | 3/9/2010 12:43:20 PM

    You have been great today. Thanks for your effort to talk in spanish.

  1. 4  Eric Mack http://www.NotesOnProductivity.com | 3/9/2010 12:47:57 PM

    Wow. Great job, Ed. A professional and respectful way to communicate to your host country. Well done.

    I had the opportunity to live and attend school in Belgium for several years as a kid and we were required to learn three languages (at the time: English, French, and German). I too was amazed that the Europeans could communicate so freely and flexibly across borders. Language, for most, was not a border.

    Thanks for setting the example.

    Eric

  1. 5  Amit  | 3/9/2010 12:51:16 PM

    It's all the effort speaks not the language

  1. 6  Miguel Angel Calvo http://www.zarazaga.net | 3/9/2010 1:01:14 PM

    Ed, Estoy seguro de que el esfuerzo habrá valido la pena.

    Thank you very much,

  1. 7  Juan F. Ruiz http://juanfco.ruiz.name | 3/9/2010 4:48:51 PM

    Ed, ¡Muchas gracias!

    And then, i'll try in english ... Don't worry about the pronouncing of a few words like 'desarrolladores' ... we've understood your conference perfectly!

    Developers, developers, developers!

  1. 8  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 3/9/2010 5:41:48 PM

    @2 admittedly we did not go over the slide translations in quite the same detail as the spoken ones, so my apologies where it sounds funny.

    @1/3/6/7 Me gustaba mucho aprender a ESLUG hoy.

  1. 9  Roberto Boccadoro  | 3/9/2010 5:44:10 PM

    Start learning Italian Ed, next time you'll be here I'll have you deliver the presentation in our language :-) If you can do it in Spanish, Italian is not so hard.

  1. 10  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 3/9/2010 5:55:02 PM

    @9 Avete un museo del prosciutto?

  1. 11  Graham Dodge  | 3/9/2010 9:47:04 PM

    @10... Ed, were you asking for meusli with ham? They must have a different diet in Italy.

  1. 12  Jose Martinez  | 3/10/2010 2:51:47 AM

    @7 & for XPages Developers fans:

    { Link }

  1. 13  Luis Suarez http://www.elsua.net | 3/10/2010 7:18:58 AM

    Hi Ed! As folks may be able to check from the Twitter streams under #ls10 and #lcty10 you did an exceptional piece of work in delivering your session yesterday, and surely the messages got through successfully and quite nicely! I have a lot of respect for you for what you did today, which I am sure most people wouldn't have even dreamed of doing; and you did a great job at it, even for those "difficult" words! I thoroughly enjoyed the session your delivered and surely look forward to the one in Barcelona.

    Thanks for the mention and for the kind comments, too!; glad you enjoyed it and always a pleasure having you on stage sharing your amazing story of how critical social software activities (Blogs, Twitter, etc.) have become for you and your direct communications channel with customers and business partners! That was fantastic! :-)

    ¡Nos vemos en unas horas!

    Luis

    PD. Oh, and both "The Museum of Ham" and Bora-Bora were just great! :-D Speak later! ;-)

  1. 14  Roberto Boccadoro  | 3/10/2010 2:49:48 PM

    @10 - Not here in Milano, but we can arrange a visit to Parma :-) A tour of prosciutto farms will be better than a museum

  1. 15  Emilio Penedo  | 3/10/2010 10:39:49 PM

    Ed, you don't need to wait to go to Italy for prosciutto, while in Spain try Jamón Serrano and Jamón Ibérico de Bellota. (from wikipedia: "These hams were known as a delicacy even in the days of the Roman Empire").

  1. 16  Bryn http://www.attix.com.au/ | 3/13/2010 1:26:59 AM

    That's pretty impressive - 45 minutes in a second language is not an easy feat. I've got a 90 minue presentation coming up to a room full of powerful decision makers, and I'm quaking just a little. I had a look through your slides, and they look really clean and engaging. This is definitely something I need to focus on - putting some personality into my slides. Thanks for the inspiration.