Description:

The business world is experiencing successive waves of disruption caused by new trends and technologies; from publishing to media and entertainment, software development to financial services and healthcare, entire industries are being transformed by the Internet. With Web 2.0 technologies gaining traction, these rates of change are likely to only increase as new forms of collaboration-enabled by technology--unlock the creative capacity of people across the globe. Within such an environment, learning and leadership are survival skills.

While most organizations recognize the need to address these changes, their responses are typically anemic and inclined to failure. Most strategies fails for the same, simple reasons:

• A heavy reliance on outside expertise
• A basic failure to understand the shift in organizing principles and mindsets that define Web 2.0 companies

Based on direct experience consulting in the field, and backed by O'Reilly's thought leadership on Web 2.0, this webcast is for the rest of us: executives and professionals working in "traditional" (non-Internet native) business trying to take advantage of new trends. We'll explore the underlying organizing principles and success factors in building and executing a Social Web strategy, specifically:

• New ways of listening
• A focus on relationship building
• Creating "Open" strategies

About Joshua Ross

Joshua Ross, vice president of O'Reilly InPractice, has been consulting with businesses on digital strategy for over a decade. During that time, he has overseen the launch of dozens of highly successful, enterprise-class ecommerce sites, exchange platforms, and community sites. He has worked extensively with start-ups to Fortune 500 companies on strategy and governance planning for ebusiness.

Joshua comes with a deep background in online marketing and communications, utilizing emerging social media technologies--community, blogging, virtual worlds, and WOM, among others-to deliver highly successful, sustainable marketing strategies. His focus over the last three years has been on applying Web 2.0 principles to deliver competitive advantage to Global 2000 clients, from new business model development to customer engagement and communication strategies. Joshua has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University on information design and human factors, and has spoken at conferences related to technology and digital strategy. Past clients include Washington Mutual, Accenture, Best Buy, Autodesk, and Polycom. Joshua holds a degree with honors in Chinese Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.