About Otter Services : Buzz
Richard McManus in Web 2.0 Explorer:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/web2explorer/?p=208
Gilroy and Ives provide an excellent primer on RSS, blogs and wikis for corporations. They show how those tools can be used to increase user participation and create content mashups. And those are compelling features of a modern intranet, for example for knowledge management purposes. But the real power of 'intranet 2.0' I believe is the web services-driven dashboard vision, where the Intranet becomes a much more useful, usable and personalized resource. The key is the Intranet must serve the needs of the employees, such that they simply have to use it day in and day out - in order to do their jobs.
Shel Holtz:http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/free_chapter_from_intranet_book_highlights_ne
w_communication_technology/ 
Regular readers of this blog (or any of the other PR blogs) won’t find much new here, but for those just starting to think about evolving their intranets, the chapter provides an excellent summary. Its real value, though, would come from passing it along to the nextlevel manager who who doesn’t know a wiki from a Ruth Bar to help make the case and bolster the notion that adding social media tools to an intranet would pay off for the organization. The chapter comes full of case studies, like the use of learning networks at a global financial services company.
Jenny Levine:http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2006/05/20/hows_that_ala_l2_course_going
.html
Kathleen Gilroy from the Otter Group approached me in October 2005 about being faculty for a course about Library 2.0 that she was pitching to ALA. Otter also offered a ready-made suite of tools that let ALA jumpstart the course much faster than it probably otherwise would have. Disagree with the tools all you want, but we'd probably still be forming the committee to discuss the project without them. At least this way we have something to react to and ALA gets a sense of what works and what doesn't. In addition,
though, Otter also provided very knowledgeable people to get the backend going and guide the process as it started. They've been great about providing tech support, and Kathleen has helped facilitate a lot of the process. I'm thrilled with the course itself so far and every day I see something great one of the participants has said, done, learned, or put together. ALA staff in now talking about blogging, comments, social tools, improving online learning, encouraging member participation, providing more feedback mechanisms for the membership, looking at how Web 2.0 tools might help a national advocacy movement, producing OPML lists of relevant professional feeds, reaching student members, and more? What the heck is going on here?? Something good. And everyone is joining in - ALA, the participants, the bloggers, etc. It's actually a great case study, and I hope we can all continue to learn from it. I hope the discussion continues in that direction. I already count this course as a success based purely on the blog posts, comments, half-completed projects, and commitments of time and energy from the participants. I personally have learned a lot, and I have a new view of my professional association as one that is more willing than I'd thought to try something different.
Stephen Downes:http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=34295
Good paper showing how web 2.0 technologies (and especially blogging) can be used in a corporate context. Contains one of the best one-paragraph descriptions of a learning network I've seen: “A learning network uses the intranet as a platform to tie together a set of services that support collaboration and communication, and it uses the web 2.0 tools we've described so far. Learning networks make information in networked databases easy to access and to combine and display in new ways.”
R Mullins:http://www.etech20.org/etech20/?p=10This first post is regarding Content Aggregators. There are tons of solutions out there bouncing around the Internet, and it took me several tries to find one I really like. It is the same one that the wise folks over at the Otter Group use, and its only fitting that they happen to be very exclusive on ‘educationally-based’ or ‘instructor-based’ and ‘learning-based’ tools. But before I discuss the one I use, and how to use it I want to cover, briefly, content aggregators proper.
Negotiation Tip Testimonials
Mladen Kuzminski, Croatia, Europe
“Hi. My name is Mladen and I'm manager in a small European IT company. I found Dr. Weiss' podcasts while browsing business podcasts on iTunes. Since my work requires lot of talking and negotiating with customers and suppliers and my education is primary technical one in nature, I subscribed to Negotiating Tip of the Week and I like it very much.
What I like most are real life examples that Dr Weiss is using to explain some negotiating principles. He is not using just academic talk but real life situations and that makes those tips much easier to apply and give them special value for me.
Beside Negotiating tips I found lot of other interesting and very useful info on Otter Group site that helps me in my professional life, as well as in my work in local community.
I would recommend Negotiating tip and resources at Dr Weiss' webpage to anybody who is looking for more wisdom in dealing with everyday situations of life and business.”
Brian Hendricks, Phoenix, AZ
“Being new to the world of business, I’ve learned primarily from reading books. Then along came podcasts. Of all the books I’ve read most were about making decisions and where to go to get answers in business, very little was on dealing with people and negotiation so finding your podcast was a piece to the puzzle I was in dire need of finding.”
Clif Krause
“I am very fond of your podcasts and thank you for releasing them to the masses. I get them from iTunes and use them on my daily jogging regime. I find your topics very helpful and they help increase my comfort level when I prepare for some sort of negotiation. Power is knowledge so thanks for the power to navigate through the dynamics of negotiations more comfortably. Keep up the good work !”
Diane Levin
http://mediationblog.blogspot.com/
“I try to tune in each week to catch your podcasts. They are a triumph of brevity and wit, remarkable for how much invaluable information and stimulating ideas they contain in a tiny, 3-minute-long package. It’s always a pleasure to listen in.”
Anke & Matthias Maslaton
“Especially if you learn best by listening, the Negotiation tip of the week podcasts are a wonderful gem…you should subscribe today! From someone at the world famous Harvard Program on Negotiation you learn step by step through information, stories, and puzzles that negotiation is neither confrontation nor war, but a collaborative effort to find a sustainable solution for all parties involved. This is the best managerial podcast on the market!”
Geoff Sharphttp://mediatorblahblah.blogspot.com/2006/05/real-smart-podcasting.html
The Otter Group has been podcasting it’s Negotiating Tip of the Week with Josh Weiss, Associate Director of Harvard’s Global Negotiation Project since this time last year…check it out, if you haven’t already. 40 podcasts and over 100,000 downloads later, these guys are taking the next step.
Recent podcasts include:
Negotiating as the Weaker Party
The Listening Negotiator
Interview with NYPD Negotiator
Problem Solving Answer
First Offer
Fear
If requested Otter will develop customized learning for a specific organization around the podcasts – like a Q&A with Josh Weiss on the issues he is talking about…how neat is that!
There’s also an email facility on the page that I use to send the podcast link to a couple of law firms that use me a bit. I’m talking to them about including it at as part of their lunchtime Dispute Resolution/Litigation CLE program in a ‘let’s go to Harvard for lunch’ slot. Right now it seems like an ADR ‘watch this space’ moment as far as podcasts are concerned- there’s plenty more to come in the fledgling ADR podcast scene, and it will pay to be an early adopter of all that is on offer. Want to skip the whole blogging thing because it’s so last year and move straight to podcasting?…the folk at Otter have some tips on best podcasting practice for you.
CDM Testimonials
William Glynn, CDM Cambridge“I have really appreciated the time and effort you have made in providing us with a solid approach to conflict resolution. It was a pleasure working with you.”
Bill O’Neil, CDM Carlsbad, CA“Thanks for an interesting class experience. Interesting for a number of reasons including exposure to conflicts experienced by other CDMers as well as learning of a more formalized and structured approach for dealing with conflict. It is also interesting to think of the many worldwide conflicts that have occurred and are on-going and to realize that there are highly trained professionals working on resolving some of those conflicts.”
Ron Miner, CDM Cambridge“Josh, thank you for your time and effort. I enjoyed the course and will be using what I learned for better conflict resolution.”
Anthony Gagliostro, CDM Edison, NJ“Thanks for a valuable and enjoyable course.”
Shayne Wood, CDM Jacksonville
“The class has been very informative and useful. I’ve used this resolution plan and we are proceeding to resolve this with our sub from a collaborative approach – So far, it seems to be progressing well and it does not appear as if we are going to have to fire them, so that is good. Once again, thanks for your input and the class has been very rewarding.”
Nancy Hana-Somers, CDM Carbondale
“Josh and Aixa: I just wanted to thank both of you for delivering excellent content via telephone conference call technology and MS Live Meeting software. It is obvious you both have invested a significant amount of effort to insure excellent execution of each lesson. The process is clear and I believe it is directly applicable to my role as Project Manager for CDM.”
Linda Brown, CDM Colorado“This is the first time I’ve taken a course online like this. I liked your whole approach of using a mix of presentations, audience participation, required readings and preparing a plan for a real conflict situation—all online! “
N. Prasad, CDM Chicago
“The course was a great experience. In addition to learning about conflict resolution skills, what I found most useful was learning about my own conflict style and how to modify it for different situations.”
Thomas M. Casey, Senior Project Manager, CDM Cambridge
“As a project manager at CDM for 20 years, CDM has us take many courses, some of which are very useful and some of which have no use. “Reframing Conflict” was an excellent class; I’ve been involved in hundreds of conflicts over the years, but this is the first time I’ve actually sat down and thought about how I was handling myself, and whether or not I was looking out for the best interests of CDM (as opposed to myself). Keep up the good work-it was 9 hours well spent.”
W. Barner, CDM Pittsburgh“I thank you for your efforts in teaching this class. It really opened my eyes to how common conflict is in our daily lives and how we need to work to resolve. The way the class was structured, to keep us moving and to update our plan every week really helped.”
Mark Peters, West Bank/Gaza CDM“This was far and away the most beneficial class I have had the privilege of attending in
CDM’s strong training program.”
Mike Lovett, CDM Florida
“Thanks for all of your guidance during [the Reframing Conflict class], it was great timing, because this conflict really exists and I actually worked through this conflict based on what you were enlightening our thoughts about.”
Jack Keaney, CDM Providence“I came to the Reframing Conflict course with some hesitation and questions concerning it’s value. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed each session and will now look at conflict situations in a different frame of mind. Thank you for your time and the excellent presentations.”
Sandy Tripp, CDM Charlotte
“I took the pilot of version of the CDM- Conflict Management module awhile back. I found the information very useful. Not only do I use it in my own dealings, but I often refer to it when helping junior staff work through their own conflict situations. As a result, I’m getting a reputation as the person to see if you need to get a difficult message across.”
Julie Gallagher
“I thought this class was excellent. The information presented in the course documents and texts were informative and engaging.”
What People Are Saying About Our E-Learning Programs
Trish Byrne, mother of Alana, Willauer School Parent
“As a parent of one of the Willauer students, I would like to thank you for allowing them space for their project. Because our kids go to school on an island, much of what they do there can be somewhat mysterious……especially when they’re at that communicative teen stage ( “what did you do today?”….”stuff”). Having the blog to read was a wonderful way for us parents to watch this exctiting project unfold. I have saved every word of the blog so my daughter will have the memory of this wonderful experience forever. Thank you so much!”
Michael T. Boland, Associate Dean, Harvard Business School
“From start to finish, concept to execution, you and your staff were organized, efficient, flexible, and professional….None of us anticipated the unparalleled success of this project: initial predictions were in the neighborhood of 2,000 enrolled and in the end, we enrolled over 6,000. This experiment in distance learning was an unqualified success and much of the credit goes to you.”
Jed Bullard, CEO, E.D. Bullard Company, about a course for Harvard Business School
“Congratulations! The course was a high-quality educational event that should have a very positive impact on HBS alumni and their colleagues in attendance. It just adds to the pride we can have in attending such a great institution.”
Marcia King-Gamble, Director Guest Relations, Carnival Cruise Lines
“I was extremely pleased. I enrolled several staff members and we came out feeling elated. We are going to present these ideas to top management.”
Peter Drucker, author, about an OTTER telecourse with 10,000 students registered
“Flawless execution!”
Anonymous comment on Rendezvous Central Square blog“Great website! It’s so easy to navigate…clean, bright & inviting – it seems to reflect the very personality of the restaurant.”
James L. Heskett, UPS Foundation Professor of Business Logistics, Harvard Business School
“What a great effort you put forth in putting together the course. So many pieces had to be fitted together that this resembled something demanding a ‘General Ledger.’ But you did it expertly and with the right mixture of enthusiasm and discipline.”
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