Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Shifting from Guessing, to Stalking, to Asking, to Learning

“The power of social media (individual voices) and VRM (individuals being empowered, commercially or otherwise) will put us ahead in the next decade. It’s a bigger opportunity than search (SEM*).” [Darren Herman] Perhaps one of the least talked about and most valuable virtues of modern times is patience. For someone like me who can go from zero to Italian in no time, the last decade and half spent at the intersection of business and technology has been both super rewarding and incredibly frustrating. We are both making progress and inching our way forward. The title of this post explains why:... Read more →

What we Value, What we Make, What we Act on

Making Sense: What we Value Perfect example of how putting our heads together is the way to go, and because the complexity of convergence points demands it. The Press isn't Getting Heartbleed. Dave Winer: Changing passwords is security theater. It doesn't fix anything if hackers have access to your passwords, they have access to the new ones too. The Internet has made geography irrelevant? Since when? Gapingvoid: History has always been primarily made along trade routes. Human conflict happens when trade routes get blocked, or at least, altered without mutual consent. Making Do: What we Make (or should) A Script... Read more →

Weighing Whether to Build or Spread

One of the recurring themes in recent years of intense digital concentration has been that of where to create, consume, and comment on content. It seems like a fairly simple choice for many who have immersed in understanding the evolution of tools and options available. However, once we start factoring in the number of social networks and media platforms (potentially) available, the formula becomes more complex. For simplicity sake, say we have two main choices, each with multiple ramifications: (1.) Do we build our own -- URL, platform, body of work, and brand as a consequence -- this involves original... Read more →

Are You an Extreme Learner?

While learning by example included my most recent thoughts on the topic, I have written about learning at this site extensively. From learning to learn, not a play on words, to one of my older posts and still very much current topic of learning from customers and then recognizing customer learning curve and making it easy for them to complete tasks online. Learning on demand via John Seely Brown, getting in the learning zone vs. our comfort zone, to how marketers selective learning has become consumers selective hearing in an age of product and service abundance. The importance of learning... Read more →

Next Step: Do Better

Earlier today I listened to a podcast of a conversation between Tom Ford and Kinvara Balfour hosted by Apple in its Apple Store, Regent Street, London# [hat tip Om Malik]. It was a good example of the art of the interview thanks to the two ingredients necessary to make a good conversation: A subject that has done interesting things, and has an intriguing point of view -- Tom Ford meets both criteria in spades A set of questions that demonstrate the interviewer is interested in exploring some of those projects and has a certain point of view -- Kinvara Balfour... Read more →

Customer-Obsessed Culture

In his annual letter to shareholders#, Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos listed 21 things the company is doing commercially, many in support of its customer-obsessed culture. Bezos missives are a good example of content strategy to keep business promises. As ordered in the letter, he addresses: the growth or Prime the company's investment in readers and authors -- ever since the company rolled out the first Kindle reader, it's been moving into the fertile terrain of book publishing by helping connect authors with their audience -- part of its secret to online dominance is knowing what we read and comment on, literally... Read more →

Doing Something Meaningful Edition

Doing something meaningful takes guts and it takes time. For this edition of Sunday links, we take a look at the stories that highlight a new development from a multi-year direction. Making Sense: The Tools of Personal Expression Why the Web Still Matters for Writing. Ben Thompson: There is no question that apps are here to stay, and are a superior interaction model for some uses. But the web is like water: it fills in all the gaps between things like gaming and social with exactly what any one particular user wants. Cars as crucibles for personal autonomy. Doc Searls:... Read more →

How Technology is Transforming the Career Market

The match-making market to connect companies and teams with candidates who possess the right skills is ripe for change. As is the case with many industries, the first phase of technology integration is about transferring offline or analog processes online. In the recruitment industry, we saw a generation that helped assist companies and candidates by putting them all onto one platform, then using a keyword optimized version of search to take people from awareness though consideration and conversion. Think Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, Indeed.com and TheLadders.com. Each built a slightly different experience by layering other offerings on top of helping answer the... Read more →

Nancy Duarte on the Art of Storytelling

Do you know your audience's resonant frequency? Every time you present to a group – whether that be your colleagues, management team, the CEO, company investors, your customers, or conference attendees – you have an opportunity to connect. However, transmission is only the tip of the iceberg. What all great presenters and communicators have in common is their ability to get you started on a journey – one that will prompt you to do something differently. What causes this change? One of my favorite visual storytellers, Nancy Duarte, has written a remarkable guide on how to present visual stories that... Read more →

Our Time is Limited

We view time linearly, as a sequence, and we are often so wrapped into anticipating what's next and what others are doing that we overlook what is now, what is with us. [image courtesy] + Valeria is an experienced listener. She designs service and product experiences to help businesses rediscover the value of promises and its effects on relationships and culture. She is also frequent speaker at conferences and companies on a variety of topics. Book her to speak here. Read more →