MICROSOFT CHANNEL 9Business and wikis

PRECONDITIONS FOR CHANNEL 9

The Cluetrain Manifesto

a set of 95 theses published in 1999 by top business-thinking people

“Markets are conversations” Internet is not just usual media used in

marketing Radical transformation of traditional

marketing Impact of Internet and Intranet – companies

have to adapt, changes are inevitable

EXTRACTS FROM CLUETRAIN MANIFESTO

“Public Relations [currently]does not relate to the public. Companies are deeply afraid of their markets.”

“There are two conversations going on. One inside the company. One with the market.”

“To speak with a human voice, companies must share the concerns of their communities”

“We are immune to advertising. Just forget it.” “We want you to take 50 million of us as

seriously as you take one reporter from The Wall Street Journal.”

HOW MICROSOFT RESPONDED: CHANNEL 9 DOCTRINE “Channel 9 is all about

the conversation”

“Learn by listening. When our customers speak, learn from them.”

“Be a human being. Channel 9 is a place for us to be ourselves, to share who we are, and for us to learn who our customers are.”

CHANNEL 9 WIKI A website written by its users Comprised by: video forum, a general topic

forum (The Coffeehouse), a technical forum (Techoff) and a Wiki; plus The Sandbox - Screencasts, Podcasts and a place to share your code

via The SandBox, Ch9 gives its users the ability to create and host their own Open Source projects (which they maintain ownership of)

Some of the more popular OS projects include GusPinto' MSN System Tray Web Search and Sven Groot's C9 International Avatar Creator.

TOPIC AREAS: Architecture - deciding what to build is harder than building it Channel9Topics - bugs, feature requests, and video transcripts CommunityPetitions - make your voice heard CommunityProjects - a bunch of project ideas from the

Channel 9 community MicrosoftTechnologies - discussions of current and upcoming

Microsoft technologies OtherWikis - other wikis that are related to this one PeopleAndPlaces - keeping track of who we are and where we

go PatternsAndPractices - serious knowledge for architects and

enterprise developers ProductFeedback - bug reports, suggestions for Microsoft

products

USER COMMUNITY

Channel 9 attracts both younger and older members. The variety of views often generates lively debate

Microsoft Employees Microsoft Developers and Employees

routinely communicate with users on Channel 9 forums and its wiki — even some senior employees such as Larry Osterman

Careful readers may also notice that past employees will occasionally post, sometimes shedding some light on the past of Microsoft

BLOGGING SUCCESS STORIES

Source: RSS, Blogging & Podcasting-Opportunities to

Connect People in New Ways, evoljennifer

Using Delivery Vehicles for Business SuccessConversations are happening. It isbetter as a business to be involved inthat conversation than to be separatefrom it.• Microsoft Changed Perceptions -Moved the Compass• Thomas Mahon, Saville Row TailorBlogging about his love of his craftbrought him success

EXAMPLES

Users bringing forward ideas http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/In-the-C9-Coffeehouse-xgamer-shows-off-CamSpace

This week on Channel9 Show http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/This+Week+On+Channel+9/

The Channel9 team, Larry Osterman http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/TheChannel9Team/Larry-Osterman-20-years-at-Microsoft/

SOURCES: http://channel9.msdn.com http://blogi.nozare.lv/zarins/2007/10/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_9_

%28discussion_forum%29 http://www.cluetrain.com