I said back on April 6 that I had A New Mountain to Climb, and that as of Monday this week I'd be working for a vendor of collaboration software. I can now stop being a tease and declare that I am henceforth the Global VP of Word-of-Mouth Marketing at Foldera. The press release that says as much will be out early tomorrow.
My two primary responsibilities (30,000 ft in David Allen lingo) are to:
- Get the word out about Foldera, all over the world; and
- Help make Foldera the best service in the world
As much as I'm jazzed about that, it does mean an end to Shared Spaces Research & Consulting Ltd. There's a degree of sadness in that, as I've met and communicated with many wonderful people in the last few years. I hope we can continue those conversations, although I will be wearing a different professional hat now. I have a small number of Shared Spaces projects to finish off, including coordination work for the forthcoming Collaborative Technology Conference 2006 in Boston in June. I will continue to wear my Shared Spaces hat for that.
Posting will cease here, and that includes Quick Links. Obviously I will keep doing that for myself and for others at Foldera, but those posts won't be published publicly. I encourage you to consider two other potential sources of your daily collaboration industry news fix: Ferris Research and CollaborationLoop's Industry News. The end to the posting here is also a signal that I failed what's I've long considered the Tris test of a true blogger ... making more than 1000 posts. This will be my 704th on this site, so I've fallen short. Tris actually didn't write it, but I read it on his site first.
Finally, I will be blogging elsewhere going forward, albeit with a different tone and focus.
- I will be a regular contributor to the Foldera Blog, which was officially launched earlier today; and
- As I have time, I will post to my own personal blog, that being www.michaelsampson.net. Note that I did say it was a "personal" site, not a professional one.
My new email address is msampson@foldera.com, and I'm msampsonFDRA on Skype.
Don't be a stranger!
Congrats, Michael. Should be an exciting move. I will miss the Quick Links!
Posted by: Pat | April 20, 2006 at 02:52 PM
Congratulations, Michael! I'm going to miss Shared Spaces, but it sounds like you have a fantastic opportunity ahead of you with Foldera. I look forward to seeing you at the CTC in June.
Posted by: Alex Dunne | April 20, 2006 at 04:18 PM
Congrats and best of luck, Michael. You've been an inspiration. Keep in touch.
Posted by: Ed Brill | April 20, 2006 at 06:37 PM
Pat, thanks. Yes, I am very much looking forward to it. I will miss posting Quick Links too ... it's been a daily part of my life for so many years ...
Thanks Alex ... yes, it is a fantastic opportunity. And thanks for the write-up on CollaborationLoop. I actually can't attend CTC 2006 ... but plan on being at Web 2.0 in November as part of the Foldera contingent. Looking forward to meeting you again then.
Ed, thanks. Glad that I've inspired at least one person! :-)
Posted by: Michael Sampson | April 20, 2006 at 07:29 PM
Michael. Many thanks for all your posts and the 7 pillars. Your site is one of the sources that is/has been helping me move from a pure system administrator into a more rounded collaborative player. For this I thank you and wish you all the best with Foldera.
Posted by: Stu Downes | April 20, 2006 at 07:57 PM
Congrats Michael - new beginnings are always so very fresh and exciting.
I must now check out the foldera thing!
Posted by: Steve Castledine | April 20, 2006 at 08:20 PM
Congrats Michael. Of course with my new role at Lotus, this means I have to watch Foldera even closer! I'm a little peaved at them(you!) for talking about "Activity Folders" but heck, I could not expect IBM to be the only one focusing on Activies now could I! ;-)
Posted by: Alan Lepofsky | April 21, 2006 at 05:24 AM
Stu ... wow, thanks for sharing. What you said means a lot.
Steve ... yes, you must check out Foldera. Congrats on your recent new start!
Alan ... well of course! Great minds think alike ... I will watch with interest what you guys are up to too!
Posted by: Michael Sampson | April 21, 2006 at 06:57 AM
wow nice one. great job. how about redmonk is your first analyst briefing... :-)
Posted by: James Governor | April 22, 2006 at 02:44 AM
Wow...I mean wow...I just had a vision if all my favorite bloggers all of sudden stopped. Scary...Good luck and congrat however i am saddened as well, Felt like you were part of MY research team for a while...I always enjoyed your links and words..
Will keep an eye out.
Posted by: Bernie Aho | April 22, 2006 at 12:39 PM
Congratulations my friend. We will miss your excellent "Talking News" segment on the "Taking Notes Podcast". Best of luck with your new job.
Bruce
Posted by: Bruce Elgort | April 25, 2006 at 05:59 AM
Congrats man! That's just freakin' awesome!
Posted by: Tris Hussey | April 29, 2006 at 07:28 AM
Have fun Michael. Will keep an eye on Foldera.
Have just subscribed up for their blog.
Posted by: Simon Barratt | April 29, 2006 at 08:47 AM
Blogs are a great outlet, but this transition is a testament to the fact that the business model for blogging needs some development.
Best wishes, Michael!
Posted by: Daniel Taylor | May 04, 2006 at 03:20 AM
Best of luck, Michael. I know that our paths will cross again. As we both know, this is a small world that we live in.
- Maurene
Posted by: Maurene Caplan Grey | May 06, 2006 at 03:04 AM