Staying Social

By Carrie Pairman, G2G3

Firstly Iet me start by wishing you all (a rather belated) Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a restful holiday and are now ready for what 2012 has in store.

New Year. New start. Fresh from an over indulgent festive season, it’s back to a bitterly cold Edinburgh and G2G3 HQ with the excitement of what lies ahead. 2012 is proving to be an exciting one already and a main focus continues to be the work on our new brand strategy.

The development of a new brand strategy leads us to finding new ways of becoming more social. With the rapid growth of social media, from Foursquare to Facebook, from Tumblr to Twitter, the possibilities are endless, but I have to ask, are we at risk of becoming shrouded by the new services and networks that enter the market?

The daily management of Facebook updates, Tweets and Blogs can be an arduous task and already people are finding it difficult to keep on top of social media without adding new networks to the mix. It can be time consuming, yes, but as a marketer you have to make the time to stay on top of it. With every new network or service that emerges, you have to join in and be a part of it, keep up with the trend or you run the risk of being left behind. We must keep an eye on the emerging social media environment and leverage it to our fullest potential.

2011 saw the emergence of the hotly anticipated new social network, Google+ and it brought with it mixed reviews. One of the initial downsides to this new network was the inability to use Google+ for businesses, but with this issue since being rectified, G2G3 jumped on the bandwagon and I look forward to seeing the addition of new and improved features to Google’s latest success story in the months to come.

I have also been looking into one of today’s leading social media trends and one of the biggest buzzwords of 2011 - QR codes. Providing a dynamic and flexible tool for marketers, Quick Response (QR) codes are exploding into several industries and have seen a recent surge in popularity, particularly leveraging exciting opportunities within the B2B market. When I attended the ServiceNow Knowledge 11 Conference in December, I noted QR codes being employed throughout the event but I have to say I sit on the fence as to their effectiveness within this particular environment. They are an interactive tool which must deliver useful and meaningful user experiences. It is pointless scanning a code to simply land on a company website, QR code content has to be engaging and offer something special.

So the question remains, are QR codes a marketing phenomenon or merely a passing fad? With the rise of the social media revolution, only time will tell and I look forward to seeing what the social media world has to offer over the coming months.

Infographics - License to Shock?

By Amanda Cruise, G2G3

To recap briefly on some key points from my 2 previous blog entries on infographics, successful infographics must:

• Convert data into information, not simply communicate data
• Inform, explain and/or educate
• Convey a clear message – tied to both the design and the data
• Help you understand, find or do something easily
• Stand alone and be completely self-explanatory
• Be universally understandable (at least within the organisation, culture, etc. it was created for)
• Be visually functional, attractive and appealing

That is all very well, however, even when all these elements converge and happily coalesce into a unified whole, there is 99% of the time a seriously large elephant in the room, called ‘map shock’ or ‘visual shock’. This is when individuals, who simply do not possess the skills required (through little fault of their own as we will see), fail to be able to grasp the intended message and information and instead go into visual/cognitive meltdown. Sound familiar…anyone? I know I’ve certainly been there!

Yes, ‘map shock’ is indeed an official, bona fide, scientifically researched modern syndrome - another offspring of our information-overload era. And, it is much more prevalent than you might think. Primary symptoms include visual and audible reactions upon first exposure (details of this left to your imagination), a sense of being lost, ‘not knowing where to start’ and ‘not knowing where to go next’. It affects motivation and concentration and crucially, impacts a person’s ability to process information, even resulting in a complete block. Not good news for anyone at the delivery end of complex information communication.

What does this mean for all those involved in IT communications and wanting to successfully leverage the impact of high quality infographics? Should they jump ship and retreat into visually barren, dense blocks of text? Impose compulsory PhDs in visual literacy and graphic design? Dole out the smelling salts and stress balls at every meeting? The answer may well lie in some basic teaching of the ‘fourth R’: graphicacy. Nope, I’d never heard of it either.

Graphicacy is the ability to understand, interpret, generate and present all forms of visual, non-textual two-dimensional formats. That’s photographs, diagrams, maps, plans, charts, graphs etc. to you and me. From early years at school right through to the workplace, it seems we are all just expected to ‘pick up the skills as we go along’, despite growing evidence that these skills are in fact largely learned rather than innate. Clearly this disconnect gives rise to difficulties for many. Studies have shown that prior background knowledge, and two main types in particular, are essential in successfully understanding all forms of visual and graphic information: 1) knowledge of the particular ‘graphic system’ used to display the subject matter, and 2) knowledge of the actual subject matter contained in the graphic

Infographics are without doubt a paradigm shift in the way we consume information. The more we are exposed to them, the less 'shocking' they will be... and our graphicacy will improve. Only then will a picture truly be “worth a thousand words”.

Infographics - the good, the bad and the downright ugly...

By Amanda Cruise, G2G3

The use of infographics as effective communications tools across IT enterprises is still a rather hit and miss affair. When they are good they can be hugely influential and brilliant works of art in their own right - creating understanding and simplicity where once there was complexity; when they are bad, boy can they be bad…. convoluted, obscure, monstrous creations that can strike fear into even the most hardened of techie hearts.

So, in the world of infographics, how does one tell good from bad, effective from downright destructive? The real test for success is the extent of their

distribution and use; high quality infographics can (and often do) go viral, because of their visual appeal and immediate effectiveness. When everyone starts to use, share and refer to an infographic as the centrepiece of a project or program it’s a sure sign of a winner. The best ones also frequently live on as examples of best practice in their own right, long after the initial catalyst for them is gone. For IT communications

the pay-offs are real and tangible: time and cost savings, easy to use marketing and branding tools that can demonstrate concrete added value, heighten visibility and raise the profile of IT company-wide. Not bad for what is sometimes disparagingly seen as a simple ‘poster’.

Conversely, poorly conceived and badly crafted infographics can have an almost diametrically opposite effect: confusing and discouraging the intended audience with obscure complexity; diluting or losing any core message in a sea of redundant statistics or text and even damaging the project or programme objectives by representing them in a misleading way. Infographics are meant to be a visual pleasure, not a seasickness-inducing nightmare.

Creating successful infographics requires considerable creative and artistic skill as well as strong knowledge input. So, proceed with caution. Before dashing off to create a new masterpiece, or worse, asking some poor IT manager to simply rustle one up in their lunch break, stop by the master of information display Edward Tufte and check out the superbly effective work of Megan Jaegerman for the New York Times. Equally, take a good look at what does NOT work.

Finally, if you’re drawn to more inspiring examples and additional tips on best practice you’ll find plenty to explore here and here.

And if you are looking to create some infographics for your own IT enterprise, drop us a line or give us a call. We'd be happy to help.

London's calling!

By Carrie Pairman, G2G3

The cases have barely been unpacked from Fusion 11 and it’s time to hit the road again and head to one of the most anticipated events in ITSM’s European calendar - The itSMF UK Conference and Exhibition.

Next month’s conference returns to one of London’s top conference venues, Novotel London West, for two unique days which will provide unprecendented opportunities to share service management experience, network with colleagues and learn from industry leaders. With some truly inspirational and motivational keynote speakers, over 40 educational sessions and a bustling exhibition hall, this event is set to make a stamp in its 20th year.

G2G3 are exhibiting at booth E2, so drop by and speak to Linda (yes, she’s being allowed out to play this time!) and the team to gain some insight into our newest offerings, particularly in the area of Organizational Change Management and Transformation solutions. But it’s not only the exhibition we are taking part in. This year’s event offers several experiential learning sessions and we are pleased to announce that Jason will be delivering our very own G2G3 Cloud Simulation on the Monday afternoon. Facilitated in a high-technology airline scenario, this simulation brings alive the business impact of fluctuating demands on global IT organisations whilst accelerating the understanding of the elasticity and cost benefits offered via the utilisation of private, public, private/public hybrid and virtualisation technology. It is a unique, experiential and exhilarating learning approach which is ideal for anyone who wishes to gain a holistic understanding of the benefits that Cloud Computing can offer IT organisations. So sign up, come along and be a part of it!

We are looking forward to meeting with our partners and peers, networking with new faces and ultimately participating in one of the biggest events in the international service management calendar. November 7th and 8th - see you there!

The Infographic - a quintessentially 21st Century Tool for IT

By Amanda Cruise, G2G3

Infographics…they seem to be everywhere these days and lots of people across business, academia, science and media rave about them. But what are they (really) and what, if anything, have they got to do with IT?

The term ‘infographic’ is a modern invention, a compression of ‘information graphic’ used to describe a visual representation of information, data or knowledge in graphic form. Easy and obvious, right? Wrong. Dig a little deeper and immediately the plot thickens with multiple layers of definition and a plethora of debates such as this one on what it is exactly and above all what function it should perform.

Without getting dragged into the debate itself, additional characteristics of an infographic include:

• It conveys information and situations that could be seen as overwhelmingly complex and unwieldy intext form (think London underground map or…. ITIL?)
• It contains visual shorthand for everyday concepts (such as STOP and GO signs)
• It is used to create a unified message that is stronger, clearer and more powerful than each individual component on its own (like maps, charts, timelines etc)

Can you see where this is going?

For some time now and in particular on the back of the recent ITIL update, the war cry rising from the Twitterverse, Blogosphere and digital media at large has been that the communication of IT concepts and IT service management in particular are too often excessively – and often unnecessarily – complex. That

complexity, in an age of 140 character sound bites and constant and rapid change as the new norm, is a cardinal sin.

Any medium that can help simplify and accelerate the explanation and understanding of lengthy, complex information, issues and processes internally (and crucially, with external shareholders) should surely be welcomed with open arms at the 21st century IT table. Especially if it also has the capacity to breathe life, relevance, appeal, and even dare I say it, beauty, into otherwise dry and potentially dull but essential information.

Already adopted so widely and successfully across other disciplines, the potential for high quality infographics to revolutionize and positively transform communications across the IT sector is huge. They may not really be new – early human cave dwellers were enthusiastic early adopters after all – but infographics can often be invaluable allies in an increasingly complex world.

Fusion 11 - That's a wrap!!

By Carrie Pairman, G2G3

As the Exhibition Hall emptied and our fellow vendors packed up their stands, the sun had set on another fantastic itSMF USA Fusion Conference. Four busy days of meeting with partners and networking with new faces, all within the fantastic surroundings of Washington’s National Harbor, certainly made my first conference experience with the G2G3 team one to remember.

With over 1600 attendees, Fusion 11 was bigger and bolder than ever before, offering a unique opportunity for learning and allowing us to leverage our existing relationships. With some of the most knowledgable and experienced speakers and vendors in the industry, it goes without saying that events like Fusion provide us with a wealth of opportunity to network, to

learn and most of all to share our knowledge and experience with partners, prospects and peers alike.

I took to the stand (so to speak) for the first time on the Sunday evening and for me, it was a great experience - to be able to put faces to names and meet with people previously only known as a name on an email. I was given the chance to learn so much about an industry I am relatively new to, and attending an event like this provided the perfect platform.

During the conference, not only were the team working hard in the expo hall, but G2G3’s very own Henry Strouts took to the stage and delivered a fantastic presentation on “The Positive Impact Gamification Will Have on IT Enterprises”. With delegates approaching the stand to meet the man himself and comments such as “awesome” and “fabulous” used to describe his presentation, I look forward to hearing the final cut once the audio is made available!

I would be lying if I said that a whole day’s traveling, followed by three days of exhibiting, meeting and greeting wasn’t starting to take its toll, but the “On The Boardwalk” conference party provided the perfect way for vendors, delegates and event staff to unwind and connect in a fun and relaxed atmosphere - a brilliant end to a busy few days!

I had a fantastic experience with the G2G3 team at Fusion 11, and a huge thanks goes to HDI and itSMF USA for putting on a great show, not to mention the Gaylord National for providing such an excellent venue! All that’s left now is, (I hate to say it), unpack the cases and look back on the successes of Fusion 11. So here’s to Fusion 12 - See you in Texas!

The Road to Fusion 11!

By Carrie Pairman, G2G3

September is well and truly upon us and it’s that time of year again for the G2G3 team to head Stateside for the itSMF Fusion Conference. Next weekend we are headed to the nation’s capital - Washington D.C. - and it looks set to be another fantastic event, bigger and bolder than ever before.

With lots happening at Fusion it has been a busy week here at G2G3 HQ, organising meetings, unpacking, packing and repacking boxes and cases, but we’re almost there! Fusion 11 brings together the best of the best and with more than 80 informative presentations and plenty of powerful networking opportunities, I for one am really looking forward to it.

We are exhibiting at booth 413, so if you’re attending the event, drop by and say hi to the team and find out about our latest offerings! Not only are we exhibiting, but Henry will also be giving a presentation on “The Positive Impact “Gamification” Will Have on IT Enterprises” and it’s one definitely not to be missed. Gamification is all about using game mechanics for non-game purposes, and it’s taking the world by storm. This session is sure to give participants a clear understanding how games and simulations can create engaging, powerful learning experiences and how introducing gameplay mechanics into the working environment can create fulfilling user experiences. Don’t miss it!

We look forward to catching up with old and new faces alike throughout these four days of fun and fulfillment. Hope to see you all there!