Social Connections 10 Is Coming -- Register Today!

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Social Connections 10 has been scheduled and keynotes are starting to be announced. Social Connections is the IBM Connections user group. With a focus on IBM Connections and Social Business, this is a first-class event for the user community. If you are working with IBM Connections, I'd strongly recommend that you make every effort to attend!

Last year, the conference was held in Boston and now it's coming back to this side of the Atlantic to Toronto on June 6-7, 2016.

There will be a two day program, starting with complimentary breakfast on Monday 6th of June, with the formal agenda kicking off in the morning with keynote sessions, the first one being held by Chief Emergineer Luis Suarez. After lunch (featuring our Solution Showcase) the rest of the day will be devoted to breakout sessions delivered by international-quality speakers in multiple tracks, including:

• Case Studies
• Management
• Administration
• Development
• Design
• Future of Work
• Sponsors

The formal agenda for the day will end with SpeedSponsoring, followed by the always popular evening gala reception (location to be announced later). On Tuesday, we'll kick off with our second major keynote with Toronto native Alan Lepofsky, VP at Constellation Research. This will be followed by a full-day program that will include more than 25 fantastic breakout sessions, including a series of popular 15-minute Spotlight 'TED-style' sessions for those that prefer a wide range of speakers and topics.

Can't wait? Go register today (Pro tip: Early bird discounts end at the end of this month -- so don't delay)! You can also go here to submit an abstract.

TimeToAct Brings Custom Apps and Forms to IBM Connections

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TimeToAct recently announced new capabilities for IBM Connections Communities as part of their XCC Social Intranet solution.

If you are not familiar with XCC, it's a lightweight Web Content Management System that integrates into IBM Connections. It enhances IBM Connections with classic Web Content Management capabilities and thus integrates the two antipodes of an intranet, i.e. peer-to-peer collaboration with internal (top-down) communications.

For example, you can use the Atom/RSS Feed App, Clipping App, HTML App, and now the Forms Builder App. This app allows business users to quickly build simple apps to collect and report on information without having to code anything.

What's cool about this is that it opens up the possibilities for everyone in the organization to create simple apps. This in turn drives engagement and adoption which accelerates ROI.

In the video below, you'll see how easy you can build Forms to build an HR form to submit open positions or apply to open positions. The video also shows an example of building a media gallery (for example to have users post classifieds).




To learn more, visit http://connections-apps.com/product/xcc-web-content-custom-apps-for-ibm-connections/#contact 

Webinar: Addressing the Crisis in Employee Engagement

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Today, studies estimate that there's a $500 billion lost in productivity and higher attrition since only 37% of global workers are considered to be engaged in the workplace.

IBM's #NewWayToWork Futurists Insights share that 74% of respondents to a survey define a "social" business as one that uses social technology to foster collaboration among, customers, employees and partners yet, only 45% of companies are using social to identify internal talent or key contributors.

IBM Connections is a great way to mine talent and engage your workforce. Teams can self-organize and come together to get work done faster; with less barriers.

On top of IBM Connections there are various solutions that can help further drive usage and adoption to accelerate the returns on investment. For example, the team over at Badgeville has created a solution called MotivationMetrics. Badgeville quotes that companies who successfully use gamification programs have seen an ROI of over 260% with a payback of less than 1 month!

If you are interested in learning more, on Thursday March 17th, 2016, I'll be co-hosting a webinar with the team over at Badgeville at 12pm  ET. To sign up, go to: http://info.badgeville.com/addressing-employee-engagement-crisis-webinar

IBM Verse Integration with Box Is Now Available

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As part of the IBM + Box partnership, IBM today has released Box support for IBM Verse. This new integration allows IBM Verse users to easily send files stored in Box to others.  You might remember hearing about this as part of the keynote at IBM Connect 2016 earlier this year. If you missed the keynote and the demos, here's the replay.

IBM Verse users that have this feature will be able to bring in their Box files when composing a message.  In the file picker, they'll be able to browse all Box folders that they have access to, or upload a brand new file and store it in Box:

Additionally, notice that in the bottom left you'll be able to select the access type for the folder or file being shared. Users will be able to select to share the file/folder with anyone that has the link, everyone in their company, or just the people that have access to the respective folder. Once the file or folder has been picked, a link is added to the message and is ready to be sent!

Note: If you don't see this option, let your admin know so that they can turn this feature on for you. In the admin panel, they can go to Email & Calendar Options and from there turn on Box (and offline as well!!):