Visible Networking

NET - Interview with Guillaume Thevenot (Hotel-Blogs.com)

I have just come back from Luxor. Egypt: what a great Past, and what a fascinating culture!

Luxor, Egypt
We spent a week in Egypt with two of our very good friends: Carine and Guillaume. We had a great time visiting temples, swimming in "the infinite swimming pool" on Crocodile Island, and enjoying card games every day! No technology, networking or blogging there! ;)

a few pictures

 

Please check all the pictures on flickr.
 
Video interview: Guillaume Thevenot, Founder of Hotel-Blogs.com
Luxor, with view on the Nile: what an ideal (and unusual) place for an interview! ;)



Guillaume Thevenot
Guillaume is one of my best friends. He is a French professional who works in the Hospitality industry, in the hotel space in particular. He is passionate by new technologies such as Internet, blogging and the Web 2.0... anything which could improve the way people book their trip! He has been living in London for over 6 years.

Hotel-Blogs.com
Guillaume created Hotel-Blogs.com in December 2005 to share his expertise and his passion for the hotel/"e-travel" industry. He has done a great job: everyday faithful readers, from all over the world, visit his blog and leave their comments. Well done my friend!
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Technorati: blogging, weblogs, businessnetworking, socialnetworking

NET - Interview with Naina Redhu from Mumbai (12/07/06)

I am extremely pleased to have met with Naina Redhu during my trip to Mumbai! For the last 4/5 months, I have been reading her blog on online networking and we share the same enthusiasm for blogging and networking.
Thanks Naina for your post about me. :)

Naina Redhu is Creative Director and founder of her own company Aside.
Naina is one of the first&top bloggers in India. She is very visible especially thanks to her blogs on Innovation and online networking, and her profiles on websites such as Linkedin, openbc and Ziggs.

Video interview
Naina kindly accepted my invitation, and I shot the video interview on Wednesday 12 July 2006 at the business center of the Hilton Towers.
Naina answered all my questions on networking and blogging, and explained how she developped a successful and sizable portfolio of international clients thanks to her online visiblity and her four blogs. Follow Naina's example!


And if you want to share your success stories linked to online networking or blogging, please contact me for an interview!_____________________________________________________________________________________
Technorati: socialnetworking, businessnetworking, interview, blogging, weblogs

NET - Interview Selma Prodanovic

Thanks to Selma for sending me another interview, more comprehensive this time. We got in touch thanks to her interview on EPWN's website and we are both members of online networks such as Linkedin, openbc, or Networkers (on Sossoon).

A few paragraphs
What is the profile of a CNO?
CNOs must have brainsworking skills. This means they have to be able to use their “networking intelligence”, their connected thinking skills, to share and create new knowledge with the goal to foster business development (which also includes personal development, creativity and innovation). It is a person who facilitates and develops communication of all stakeholders. CNOs must have excellent people skills and entrepreneurial spirit.

Is CNO position getting popular in Europe and worldwide? What´s the trend?
Yes, it is gaining importance, and I am positive we will see an exponential raise of CNO is the next 3-5 years. I started as CNO of brainswork™ in 2004 and at that time it sounded a bit strange. Even in November 2005 at a Vienna Hub round table on networking with professional networkers like Bill Liao from OpenBC, I was the only CNO. In January 2006, OpenBC appointed Udo Hamm as CNO, and today the number of networks and companies relying on CNOs is growing. Of course exceptional networkers existed long before the internet and online networks, but the profession itself is developing only now.
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Technorati: socialnetworking, businessnetworking, interview

NET/BLG - Interviews

I like passionate people!
My goal is to collect as many personal experiences as possible about Visibility, Networking and Blogging. One of the best ways to spread the word and show people how important it is to be visible is to show/share all those good experiences.

Interviews
You have been networking or blogging for a couple of weeks, months, or years? You created a social network or an online platform for communities? You work as a Chief Networking Officer?

Please send me an email (cm_langlois[at]yahoo[dot]co[dot]uk) with the answers to the following questions:

Interviews - Networking
* How long have you been networking (offline / online)?
* What is the main online network you are using, and why?
* What are your key drivers?
* A success story/an anecdote?
* A piece of advice?
* What are the 3 social/business networks (offline / online) you would recommend?

Interviews - Blogging
* How long have you been blogging?
* What is your blog about?
* What blogging platform are you using, and why?
* What are your key drivers?
* Results so far?
* What are your 3 favourite blogs?

In addition to your answers, I need a link to your online profile (like your web profile on Linkedin) and/or to your blog/website. As an option, feel free to send me a photo too.
(if you prefer, you can also send me an audio record with your short answers)
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Technorati: socialnetworking, businessnetworking, interview, blogging, weblogs

NET - Interview Selma Prodanovic (from EPWN)

Please find below an interview of Selma Prodanovic who is Chief Networking officer. What a fantastic job! I found this interview on the European Professional Women's Network (EPWN) website.

Q and A with chief networking officer Selma Prodanovic.

Q: How common is the post of Chief Networking Officer in European firms?
A: As CNO, not common at all, but I expect this will change in the near future.

Q: Which companies are embracing the idea of the CNO? Are they from particular sectors or European countries?
A: This is a position which SMEs understand much better than corporations. Some small businesses call the position Chief Relationship Officer, which, in my opinion is different to CNO but it is based on the same idea – building long term relationships for future business development. The SME needs “quality” relationships much more than corporations who have the “quantity”, but still the corporate world will have to move in this direction.

As I said in my announcement for the WCN event on the topic: "People make the difference statements made by leaders such as David Ogilvy or Jack Welsh are even more true today. It is not just about the individual knowledge and expertise, it is about the ability to connect the unconnected and with it create new business opportunities, foster innovation, enable long term business relationships, motivate employees and ensure sustainable development.”

Q: How would you define ‘networking’?
A: Unfortunately, ‘networking’ is not the correct word anymore. In the U.S. , they use “connecting” more than ‘networking’, and I tend to use ‘brainsworking’ instead. Today, networking describes establishing and keeping ‘contacts’. Especially the online networks allow you to have tens of thousands of ‘contacts’ but what is the purpose? How many of these contacts can you really use, rely upon and trust? How much do you know about these people? Of course, there are ways to manage such networks (be discussed on another occasion), but in my view it is more about a balance between quantity and quality, between diversity and trust. The sooner networking becomes a professional skill, the faster the position will be established. I lecture, train, coach and consult individuals and companies on how to use this skill to develop their business, creativity, and innovation.

Q: Can you name any companies that already employ CNOs?
A: The online network OpenBC has a chief networking officer, as does the Brazilian company Net-Bridges ( Octavio Pitaluga). I am member of the Net-Bridges Advisory Board.
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Technorati: socialnetworking, businessnetworking, epwn, interview

NET - EPWN: interview with Malika on ZDNet.fr

Malika Mir-Silber, réseau EPWN: «Notre club de dirigeantes veut montrer des réussites au féminin, sans être féministe» Par Sylvaine Luckx
ZDNet France - Mercredi 8 mars 2006 (full article)

Earlier today, I was looking for blogs about EPWN on google: I found that article posted on ZDNet.fr.

I met Malika a couple of years ago at an excellent EPWN event in Paris. Malika is very dynamic and successful, with an impressive career in IT and at Microsoft. Congratulations for that interview!