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 Live Tech Media Hub and Podcast:

S.M.A.C. Talk - Social Media, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud

S.M.A.C.talk the podcast launched in 2014 and over those 4 years hosts Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo have covered topics that included Big Data, Digital Transformation, Social Selling, Data Center Migration, Millennial Marketing, Digital Marketing, live streaming video, customer experience and everything else impacting today's technology world.

SMACtalk became much more than just a podcast as every episode is live streamed via Facebook Live and Periscope while also going live to technology events such as Mobile World Congress, IBM developer conference, CES, SXSW, HP Discovery, SAP Sapphire and other technology events.  Past sponsors of the podcast include IBM, SAP, SAP Store, Avnet, Adobe and currently Cisco.  

Hosted by Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz and Daniel Newman @DanielNewmanUV

If you want to have SMACtalk live at your event like Dan and Brian did at Superbowl 50, HP Discover, SAP Sapphire DNewman@broadsuite.com Brian@iSocialFanz.com

 

Apr 24, 2015

 

Brian and Dan attempt to change the current technology discussion from what’s the best technology solutions available to, what technology is my company using today and what solutions best fit in my company culture.  The goal for businesses embracing technology must be around implementing the best tools and solutions to empower our employees to be most productive when solving business problems.  

 

Brian explains his background and experiences as a technology evangelist and why he believes the focus on culture and people training and change focused him to changed his focus to teaching change more so than teaching the technology.

 

Culture, Processes and People often overlooked as a major factor in what technology and tools would be the best fit for a company.  

 

Daniel discusses the mistakes many make when focusing only on the popular technology or software rather than diving in and truly understanding what’s the best solution for the business.  

 

Using technology to match step by step offline procedures is often a problem that doesn’t allow technology to increase productivity and scale rather just doing things offline online.  

 

Honest monday morning quarterbacking failed technology solutions reveals the root of a solutions failure which is often the software selected was wrong or the company culture wasn’t designed to leverage that solution.

 

Stop blaming the technology or tool for failing before you identify how the tool was trained, implemented and designed and if it would have ever been successful within the company culture.

 

Fear of missing out (F.O.M.O.) is something that scares many brands and yet overly excites others that causes mistakes in both cases.  Brian explains why brands should let influencers or analysts like himself to test and embrace FOMO so that a brand can make the best decision.

 

Brian’s approach to technology is different than Daniels but they discuss why in their business it’s the perfect fit and both roles are required.  

 

Discussion about technology like Meerkat & Periscope on how brands are adopting it and comparing it to change in software such as Microsoft Office to Google Docs and how not every brand or company can adopt all of these solutions equally.  

 

Broadsuite Media Group leverages @SlackHQ software, Daniel and Brian explain why and how they implemented this collaboration software and it’s increased productivity and collaboration.  

 

Other Takeaways:

 

  • Technology is never an all or nothing solution.

  • Understanding business needs and workflow is required to truly embrace and implement new technologies.

  • Do brands or companies truly understand the features and benefits of new technologies today?

  • Understanding what the best solution for a business problem is often times a solution that isn’t allowed or enabled within businesses today.  

  • Would adoption of Google Docs been hurt or limited if the requirement was every person must have a google+ account vs having a gmail email account.  Understanding the value proposition and how to best tap into existing workflows is often what makes tools like Google Docs successful.  

  • What’s the role of “Open API’s & API Friendly Software”

  • Why don’t all companies embrace Single Sign-on like Buffer & Meerkat that leverages Twitter sign-on for all users, eliminating the need for new accounts and/or passwords.

  • Why don’t companies today ask employees or internal haters for feedback on what technology and tools they would like to leverage?

  • Why is it acceptable for companies to settle for products and technology that are poorly designed because it’s an internal tool not customer facing?

  • Are companies finally looking at features available with cloud and new technology solutions and weighing them against the legacy software that they already purchased and don’t want to throw away because the money was already spent.

  • What are companies willing to give up to embrace new technology and tools?

  • What does the future of dynamic or automated data integration into productivity and collaboration tools we’re leveraging today?

 

Companies that have strong cultures, empower their employees to leverage the technology that allows them to best solve the business needs while investing in training and procedures to eliminate risk and better embrace change!

 

This episode is sponsored by IBM to help companies envision a #NewWayToWork.

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As always we are grateful to be able to share our insights and views with you the listener, and welcome feedback, suggestions and open conversation at all times using the hashtag#SMACtalk.