Written by: Emily Pan Moro, Churchill Club Volunteer

He does not want you to think he is a hero.  A little less than a year ago, he did not even want you to know his name and identity.  Yet Wael Ghonim, who was head of marketing at Google, Middle East & North Africa, has been a catalyst for change, utilizing one of today’s most widely used social media tools—Facebook—to bring on a revolution in Egypt.  Born in Egypt, Ghonim, who attended Cairo University and later on American University in Cairo for his MBA, shared his inside story of how he came to lead the Egyptian uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in January 2011.  Laura Sydell, NPR Correspondent, guided the conversation while the activist’s story captivated guests’ attention.

Photo Credit: Ed Jay Photography

Accidental Revolutionary

Frustrated with the turmoil developing in Egypt and with how the regime was “violating human rights,” Ghonim assumed the identity of Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian diplomat who became the key opposition leader against then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.  Ghonim created ElBaradei’s official Facebook page and used the page as a springboard to promote democratic reform.

Soon after Ghonim saw a photo of a young middleclass Egyptian, Khaled Said, who police had beaten and killed.  He decided to put the spotlight on the police and expose their brutality.  He created another Facebook page titled “We Are All Khaled Said” anonymously, frequently making video posts and updates, quoting from news sources.  The page eventually became a center for protest planning and communication.  

During the interview, Ghonim emphasized to the audience that there was no real strategy or plan to his actions; it was coincidental he became one of the leaders of this “leaderless movement.”  The Facebook page he created for Khaled Said is apolitical, just like Ghonim himself, and followers responded positively to the page because of its mainstream purpose and content.  Ghonim focused on organizing based on what the people wanted to do and looked forward to reader feedback.  “Red lines” for the revolution came naturally from the people’s input.  “Every revolution is a people revolution” Ghonim states. 

January 25, 2011

On January 13^th, Ghonim saw the strength of the people’s power when Tunisia’s dictatorship fell.  This sparked Ghonim to start discussing if Egyptians should follow suit and plan its own revolution.  On January 25, 2011 and working with a trusted group of people, Ghonim gathered activists and protesters to mobilize people on the ground, starting from the poorest neighborhoods to gain critical mass and leading to Tahrir Square.

The following day, authorities detained Ghonim and questioned him on his role in the protests.  During this time, Google started a large campaign to determine the activist’s whereabouts.  The campaign notified hospitals, police stations, and other organizations that their employee was missing and urged these institutions to protect him.  He was released on Feb. 7 after 12 days of arrest. 

A Humble and Mature Leader

Ghonim spoke modestly on stage as he recounted his experiences from the past year and shared his thoughts of Egypt’s social climate going forward.  In self-reflection, Ghonim realized he has become more patient as a result of organizing the protests, acknowledging that results take time.  When an audience member asked how he would respond to critics, Ghonim answered with the reply “I agree with them,” stating that his intention was never to become famous and he takes the bad with the good.  Given the choice a year ago, he would have remained anonymous. 

Ghonim believes Egypt’s revolution is still unfinished.   Going forward, he will fight against dictatorship and be the first to support causes that he believes in whole-heartedly using any tools that are available (“in a good way”) to communicate with people.  However, as much as he supports social media in promoting a cause, he firmly states:

“The first spark of a revolution is still within the power of the people, not in the power of social media.  Revolution starts on the streets, not online.  The people will bring change through collaboration and visions will mature in the next several years.”

Wael Ghonim is currently on sabbatical from his role at Google to start his own NGO supporting education and technology in Egypt.  His first book, Revolution 2.0 was released in January 2012. 

Written by: Ann Germany, Churchill Club Volunteer

Privacy was the topic of discussion this past Tuesday evening as guests gathered at the Parc 55 Wyndham Hotel in San Francisco to participate in a discussion on “The Online Collection of Consumer Data: The Good, The Bad, and the Unknown” sponsored by Microsoft.

In honor of Data Privacy Day, the Churchill Club featured a panel of thought leaders with deep expertise on the topic.  The panelists were Jim Adler, Chief Privacy Officer & General Manager, Data Systems, Intelius; Nick Bicanic, CEO and Founder, echoecho; Jules Cohen, Director of Online Privacy, Microsoft; Nicole Ozer, Technology and Civil Liberties Policy Director, ACLU of Northern California; and Paul Schwartz, Faculty Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, UC Berkeley.  The panel was moderated by Jules Polonetsky, Co-Chair and Director, Future of Privacy Forum.

Letting the Government in to Keep Everyone Else Out

According to Microsoft, fifty six percent of adults surveyed don’t actively think about the consequences of their online activities. So the question stands, who should be protecting the data that consumers share in their online activities?  Polonetsky asked whether the government should play this role. The speakers agreed that it is the government’s job to protect its citizens, but when it comes to online privacy, the government’s role is fuzzy. Do we really want regulatory agencies to have access to all of our private data? Or would we rather give the government access to it, in order to keep it from getting into someone else’s hands? These questions are not easily answered. Privacy is a guaranteed right in the United States, but who gets to decide what information is too private? Schwartz suggested there is an important need for government access in order to prevent potential harm to citizens, including threats posed by cyber bullying or stalking. But Ozer pointed out that those needs shouldn’t give government agencies (or anyone else) the right to share that information.

Privacy Statements: Does Anyone Actually Read Them?

Consumers are actively downloading various apps and programs and registering for new services on a daily basis. Most of these come with a privacy statement. But who actually reads them. According to Ozer, it would take an average person 200 hours to read all of the privacy statements for the technologies they use. The desire to understand our privacy rights takes a back seat to the desire to get on with using our new social media accounts or smartphone apps. Adler emphasized the need of consumers to be more aware of what is happening with their smartphones – Which apps are recording or broadcasting your location? How much of your Facebook data can be provided to third parties? Is Google archiving every Web page you visit? Simple awareness can make a big difference in how much information consumers consent to sharing, and how they go about shaping their online personas for more accurate targeting.

Members of the audience posed questions to the panel revealing their insight into the topic:

One member of the audience asked the panelists to elaborate on the issue of accountability. Cohen conveyed the Microsoft Trustworthy Computing group’s perspective and distinguished between how you are going to be accountable versus what you are going to be accountable for.  Further clarifying Microsoft’s position, he referred to their corporate governance program which establishes standards and the role of a Chief Privacy Officer.

A question was posed to Schwartz in reference to his mention of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  “Has he ever seen a reputation index in which people could obtain personal information other than financial?”  Schwartz’ response outlined two of the main challenges facing the availability of such an index:  1) collection of the personal data which remain scattered and 2) arguments against the centralization of this data.

Consumer Data – A Steam Engine?

Schwartz nicely framed the issue at hand by drawing an analogy between consumer data available online to the introduction of steam engines. The ensuing period was marked by a national discourse which was necessary to identify and understand the consequences resulting from this new mode of transportation. Adler readily agreed with Schwartz’ analogy and reminded the audience that as a society we must engage in a dialogue to address the tensions arising from the economic opportunities of mining personal data and balance those against the consumer’s desire to protect their privacy.  Adler’s position was that the basis of this dialogue must rest on an educated and informed consumer.  Judging from tonight’s audience and panel discussion, the steam engine has left the round house and is chugging up mountains, ducking around passes and is well on track.

Watch the complete program ‘The Collection of Online Consumer Data’ on Churchill Club’s YouTube channel.

Written by: Kimberly Badtke, Churchill Club Volunteer

Admit it.  You caught the buzzword fever at some point in your career.  Maybe it started slowly with a “game changer” thrown in here and “state-of-the-art” or “innovative, strategic partnership” tossed in for good measure.  It’s time for a reboot.

“It takes courage to speak simply,” shared Carmine Gallo at Churchill Club’s ‘Say Something That Matters’ program on January 18, 2012 sponsored by Aviat Networks.    “Fear stifles inspiring communications.  You may be afraid of what the boss might say.  But remember, your senior executives want you to be seen as an inspiring manager.”

The Churchill Club program featured a panel discussion to help attendees present with authenticity and effectively use body language to get the right message across while truly capturing the essence of the individual.  The panelists were Forbes reporter Kym McNicholas, top-selling author and presentation coach Carmine Gallo, body language expert Carol Goman, and the School For the Well Spoken Woman's KC Baker.

 

“The key is getting rid of the buzzwords,” advised McNicholas, “Words to erase: the cloud, revolutionary, game changer, consumerization of IT, innovative, drinking the kool-aid and eating our own dogfood, ground breaking, strategic partnership, state-of-the-art, leading, next generation and solutions”.

 

Instead learn to speak with feeling—when feeling comes through that resonates with others. Baker cited the example of Apple vs. HP.

“I remember a street post at an Apple presentation showing the intersection of technology and liberal arts.  They were in the business of liberal arts and technology was a tool,” informed Baker.  “Apple created an emotional connection.  In comparison, HP said ‘we make a great computer.’  There wasn’t the same emotional tie.”

 

How Do You Communicate Your Message?

Step 1:  Find your passion
 “It starts with a serious inquiry into the heart and why of what you’re doing,” told Baker.  “Get rooted first in what you want to say and own it.  It is the feeling that comes through then.”  

An exercise to find where passion lies is to have employees write down: “I believe…..” and complete the sentence.  Goman encouraged attendees to use a video to show what your passion is about.  

Step 2:  Create a twitter-friendly headline
Gallo explained “Tell what you do or what your product does in 140 characters.  Remember to start with the big picture before details.  An example is Steve Jobs’ description of the MacBook® Air as ‘the world’s thinnest notebook’.”

 

Step 3:  Stick with the rule of  three
Forget the product feature list of 22 points, and focus on three.  Gallo reminded the audience that Goldilocks only had three bears and the well-known phrase in the US Declaration of Independence “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

 

Gallo further explained that with a presentation, break it into three sections.  When introducing a product, start with the big picture, that Twitter headline, and support with three points.    

 

A final thought from panelists on this topic: be different. “It’s all about speeds and feeds in the Valley,” cited Gallo.  “I suggest telling a story to convey your message.”  McNicholas encouraged the audience to “tell me something I don’t know.  Be direct and give an example with impact.”

 

McNicholas stated that you shouldn’t just tell your marketing message but share how your marketing message came to be.

 

Adding the Power of Non-Verbal Body Language

Having zeroed in on our buzzword-free verbal message, Goman shared insights on how body language can help or hinder your authenticity.  “Most executives are trained in body language from the waist up.  Therefore, the truth can be found in the telltale movements of legs and feet.”

She recalled a CEO presentation humming along smoothly until the question of CEO compensation was raised.  “Then his feet started flopping and tapping.  And remember, we believe what we see, not what we say.”

 

The audience was introduced to her tool for predicting the presidential winner:  the counter.  “As an author, I love words.  But boy, the power of body language,” quipped Goman.  “I use the counter to track the blink rate of presidential candidates during a debate.  Blink rates indicate how stressed you are and the higher blink rate candidate loses!”

 

You can use the power of non-verbal communication to trick your brain too.  “Stand up straight with your feet slight apart and your arms outstretched for a minute or two,”  informed Goman, “This will lower your stress levels and help you feel more confident.  A second trick is what method actors do.  Go back in time and draw on a memory of the feeling you want to convey."

 

In the age of webinars, where communicators are not seen, body language still plays a role.  “Similar to how you mimic body language, you can mimic voice patterns and talk with a smile in your voice,” said Goman.  “Stand up if you can because it will give you more energy in your voice.”  Baker offered the tip to “perch” and sit on the edge of the chair.  The position can make a big difference in being able to communicate clearly and connect.      

 

The audience asked the panelists who, in their opinion, is a stellar example of a communicator to watch.  Responses from the panelists included Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO; Marc Benioff,  Salesforce CEO; Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group;  John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, and Gary Vaynerchuk, The Wine Guy; and of course, there are hours of Steve Jobs’ presentations online.

Everyone has a story to tell. Some people are better than others at telling the story. But anyone can inspire, motivate, and persuade if they learn three simple techniques. I learned these techniques as a financial journalist for CNN. Each day I interviewed CEOs, leaders and money experts. Most were dull, boring and convoluted. But some were so captivating our producers would invite them back time and time again.

When I left television journalism to start my own business, The Gallo Communications Group, I applied journalistic principles to corporate storytelling. I discovered that the techniques were equally effective in preparing spokespeople for media interviews (media-training), creating messages, or crafting and delivering PowerPoint presentations.

Step One: Find Your Passion. Passion is everything. You cannot inspire anyone unless you’re inspired yourself. It’s important to discover your passion and to share that passion in all of your professional communications. Most spokespeople neglect this crucial step but it makes all the difference. For example, when I interviewed Starbucks founder Howard Schultz he used the word ‘passion’ in nearly every sentence. But I soon discovered that he wasn’t passionate about coffee, the product he sells. He was passionate about treating employees with dignity and respect. Happy employees would deliver better customer service and better customer service would attract customers. Schultz described it this way—coffee is what we sell as a product but it’s not what Starbucks stands for.

One way to discover your passion is to ask yourself, “What does my company [brand, product, service] stand for? Remember, it might not be the obvious. Dig deep to identify what you are truly passionate about and once you do, share that message with your employees and your stakeholders.

Step Two: Create a Twitter-Friendly Headline. Check out the articles on The Huffington Post or USA Today. Popular blogs and newspapers write catchy headlines that grab your attention. More interestingly, the catchiest headlines can fit easily within a Twitter post of 140 characters. Now apply the same philosophy to your product or service. Why not create a headline to describe it? You should because the human brain craves meaning before details.

John Medina is a research scientist at the University of Washington. He wrote a wonderful book called Brain Rules. He once told me that the human brain needs to see the big picture before details. “When primitive man ran into a saber-toothed tiger, he did not ask ‘how many teeth does the tiger have? Instead he asked, ‘will it eat me?’” Big picture before details.

Now think about Steve Jobs introduced the first MacBook Air in 2008. “In a sentence, it’s the world’s thinnest notebook.” The world’s thinnest notebook. If that’s all you know about the computer, it tells you a lot. It’s also just 31 characters. The four-word description of the MacBook Air was consistently communicated by Steve Jobs in his presentation, in the press release, on the Apple Web site, and in all in-store marketing material. If you can’t describe your product or service in 140 characters or less, go back to the drawing board.

Step Three: Follow the Rule of Three. The human brain can only consume about three or four chunks of information in short term memory. Since that’s the case why try to cram twenty points in your five-minute interview? It doesn’t make sense. You’re simply overloading your listener. Great writers understand and follow this principle. The Declaration of Independence guarantees us the right to three things—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Goldilocks only saw three bears, not four. The same approach applies to effective corporate messaging. What’s the iPad 2? It’s three things—“thinner, lighter, and faster” than the original. Stick to the rule of three. It works for great writers. It will work for you.

Do not underestimate the power of story told simply. These three techniques will help you craft and deliver a corporate message that educates, informs, and inspires your audience.

By Carmine Gallo, President, Gallo Communications Group

Carmine Gallo will be speaking at the Churchill Club’s ‘Say Something That Matters’ program on January 18, 2012. Gallo is the communications coach for the world’s most admired brands. He is a keynote speaker, bestselling author, and columnist. His company, Gallo Communications Group, is based in Pleasanton, California. He can be reached at www.carminegallo.com

Churchill Club’s 8th Annual Gadgets Program: “What's Hot and What's Not in Consumer Technology” at Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto this past Tuesday helped us evaluate the usefulness of things before we click “Buy”. It showcased some cool gizmos the tech world has conjured up this season for consumers, and helped those of us who are composing our wish lists for self and gift lists for loved ones, to jazz up our lists.

The gizmo gurus on stage were: Kara Swisher, Co-Executive Editor at AllThingsD.com; John Lilly, Partner at Greylock Partners, former CEO of Mozilla; Reid Hoffman, Partner at Greylock Partners; Walt Mossberg, Columnist at the Wall Street Journal; and Greg Harper, President at Harpervision Associates.

Kara, John, and Reid each presented 5-6 gizmos and Greg pulled out 20-25 gadgets from his magic hat.. er.. jacket. The gadgets ranged from $1 all the way to $1200. They were a mix of toys, digital media apps, cameras, music machines, and accessories most people were seeing for the first time. Toys remote controlled by smart phones, next gen digital cameras, and quantified self apps were common highlights among the presenters.

A full list of all gadgets presented by the gizmo gurus is below.   

Written by: Ritu Malhotra 

Thank you to the sponsors of the 8^th Annual Gadgets Program: Plantronics and Speck Products!

Photo credit: Ed Jay Photography

Kara Swisher: have a ball – a Sphero ball

Sphero is a translucent white ball with a light inside it. It is controlled by an iPhone app. You can ask questions in the app and you get the response from the ball – which flashes green and red, for yes and no

Goop is a website setup by Gwyneth Paltrow on the scoop of the day

Angry Birds Bag

Touchfire is a tactile keyboard that fits right on top of the virtual on screen tablet keyboard. Touchfire has $150,000 crowd source commitments

Rat lights in different colors that glow on your fingers, $1 each

Hat with a bat mascot goes with the rat lights

Instagram is a digital photo app that you can use to send a picture message to your friends

Hipswap is an e-commerce photo app that you can use to post photos and prices of items you have for sale, and get bids on them

John Lilly: how to build a circuit board before you learn to read – Little Bits

Little Bits is a circuit board assembly kit for 6 year olds that retails for $89. Each time you connect a component correctly it lights up. The setup includes a finger sensor and buzzer

Ness is the iPod of thermostats. It learns your living pattern, knows when you are saving energy, and can tell how many minutes it will take to get the temperature you want. It is currently in alpha mode and has some issues like, installation is not easy and you may need to pay for someone to set it up. It does not know whether you are home or not, so it may be over controlling the temperature when it is not required.

NEX 5 is a high quality camera which is lightweight and retails for $699 with the 18-55 and $599 without. You can focus and view the image simultaneously. The NEX 7 is the higher end version and has a 7 mega pixel sensor.

Up is a “quantified self” application like Fitbit Ultra. It has an open model so you can collect all kinds of data about yourself and use it later. Some of them were recalled by Javon however the one on stage worked just fine.

Reid Hoffman: snap now, focus later – Lytro light field camera

Lytro is the next generation of camera that captures the full light field of its vision when you take a picture. Using the Lytro app you can change the focus on different subjects in the “photograph”. You can also convert it from a plain two dimensional image to a three dimensional image. I talked to xyz who is a Director of Photography at Lytro, and he explained how Lytro works efficiently to record and interpret light paths efficiently and manages to record one picture with approx 16MB, much lower than a more simplistic implementation might do. $799 for the demo model and $399 for another model.

Yama is a coffee maker .. no .. coffee syphon that will satisfy anyone who used to do chemistry labs in their spare time, and are sentimental enough about it to pay $80 for the syphon which may or may not work as efficiently as the Braun or Gevalia in everyone else’s kitchen. For those who value the experience even more – you can spend $300 on the higher end Kona

Romotive is a $100 chassis which is remote controlled by a smart phone app. This is the kind of innovative toy that will make you buy an iPhone for your 3 year old.

Projected keyboard has optical sensors so you don’t need to use the on screen keyboard and can dispense with the load of a physical keyboard. Works best on a metallic surface

Flying shark is a flying balloon toy that you can remote control using a smart phone app

Capacitive gloves allow you to use your touch screen device without having to take off the gloves when it’s cold

Fitbit ultra is the quantified self application you can use to record your fitness and daily activity data and store it historically. It has an open API / ecosystem

Walt Mossberg: untangle your ear buds and zip up your quality of life

Sol Republic Ear Buds are tangle resistant and retail for $100

Zipbuds Ear Buds don’t tangle because they zip and up-zip for your use. Retails for $40

Intoxicase is an iPhone case with a built in beer bottle opener. It comes with an Intoxicase App that tracks your count and gallons of beer consumed

Lenovo U300S Ultrabook Copper is the PC answer to Mac Book Air. It has a 13” screen, and at under 3 lb it is lighter than Mac Book Air. It has a solid state drive instead of a hard disk, and sells for around $1000, which is cheaper than the $1299-1399 that the Mac Book Air sells for. It has an Intel Core 5i processor

Airstash is a wireless USB drive that is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and Android. It acts as an automatic wifi router and streams data over wifi to the devices you want. Using Airstash you can stream photos and movies at super speed to your devices

Greg Harper: bloom music in your Sony NS 500 vase

Sony NS 500 is a concert quality sound speaker system in the shape of a vase that works with DLNA compatible devices. The large version is listed at $400 and is available at $250 at a discount. It may be a bit more difficult to use with AirPlay than with other devices

Qumi is a pocket projector with great brightness. It is HDMI compatible, works with an SD card. It retails for $450 and you can use speakers with it that retail for $150-200

Set of 6 Programmable Game Cubes that are remote controlled by the Siftrunner app. You can program them with word games and other games.

ZipShot folding tripod from Tamrac – convenient for carrying on the plane, sells for $60

GoPro 3D Camera has a suction base that you can do cool things with like stick it on the car front and take pictures in 3D and 2D. It has a viewfinder add on if you need it. Retails for around $200

Contour GPS records exactly where you go in full HD. For example if you were skiing you could stick it on the helmet and see what trail you blazed, at what speed, etc

Sony HDR – TD10 aspires to the gold standard for consumers wanting to record the best video. It has a 3D viewfinder at the back. It can record and playback in 3D and 2D. It is lightweight, has great picture quality and surround-sound. Retails for around $1200

iPhone Holder has a cradle for the iPhone and handles on both sides of it that makes it more stable to hold and play games on. Retails for $30

3D Headset gives you an image equivalent of phenomenal 150” screen. It would be very handy to see Avatar on an airplane if you can figure out a way to convert its voltage supply (maybe you have a personal jet that does it?) You do have to put it over your eyes so you have to not care about strangers thinking you are a bit freaky

Fileton active noise canceling headphones – battery operated

Samsung Blue Ray Player

Titanium Straw to sip in the soda through the movie without mishaps

Canon S100 Camera is terrific with its great performance in low lighting, fast lens, and 5x zoom all in a handy lightweight case. Retails for $400

Owl has a bigger lens that you can overlay on your camera. Makes it easy to hold steady and take great pictures

20 MHz Probe attaches to your iPhone and tells you whether that turkey in the oven is ready for the table

iGrill is also a probe that tells you whether that turkey in the oven is ready for the table

Brookstone Rover is an infrared camera that you would have to find an application for

Dream CheekyArmor is a toy that can be remote controlled by an app called iLaunch

Plantranco is a helium balloon that you can remote control using iPhone

Motorola Monitor is a quantified self kind of application the size of an iPod Nano that remotely records your heart rate, Fit Bit statistics, and chooses music for you based on the current activity you are doing

iCufflinx are cufflinks that pulse with your Apple device

Body Media is a cool gadget that communicates your physiological vital statistics to your TV. But it will stay there for a while – so make sure you erase it if you are using someone else’s TV!

On Friday, September 16th, Churchill Club presented Igniting Innovation & Mastering Change: A Day-long Conversation in Three Acts, a series of discussions presenting new perspectives and examining opportunities for advancing information locally, nationally, and around the world. As the final event of Churchill Club’s 25^th anniversary celebration year, the conference focused on discussions throughout the day in three segments.

The stellar list of speakers included:

• Shubber Ali, Innovation Lead - Silicon Valley, Accenture
• Dave Blakely, Head, Technology Strategy Practice, IDEO
• Curt Carlson, CEO, SRI International 
• Russ Conser, Head of Game Changer Program, Shell 
• Gordon K. Davidson, Firm Chairman & Partner, Corporate Group, Fenwick & West
• Richard Dickson, Partner, Fenwick & West LLP
• Ricardo dos Santos, Senior Director, Business Development, Qualcomm
• Steve Hoover, CEO, PARC
• Ujjal Kohli, CEO, Rhythm NewMedia
• Randy Komisar, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers
• Geoffrey Moore, Author, Speaker, Advisor
• Will Price, CEO, Flite
• Sudhakar Ramakrishna, EVP & GM of Unified Communications Solutions, and Chief Development Officer, Polycom
• Roy Rosin, VP Innovation, Intuit
• Paul Saffo, Managing Director of Foresight, Discern Analytics
• John Seely Brown, Visiting Scholar, USC; Independent Co-director, Deloitte Center for the Edge
• Vivek Wadhwa, Visiting Scholar, UC-Berkeley and Columnist for the Washington Post and BusinessWeek
• Ann Winblad, Managing Director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
• Eric Young, Partner, Canaan Partners

The morning began with ACT I: Here: Innovation in Silicon Valley, discussing a local focus.  The afternoon sessions included ACT II: There: Innovation in America and Around the World, and ACT III: & Then: Inventing the Future. Attendees and speakers alike were encouraged to ignite conversation through engagement and interaction on stage and in smaller groups.

Visual Insight captured visual images of the conversations taking place during each keynote, panel and breakout session.  Enjoy this eye-appealing look at the takeaways from the day! 

Silicon Valley Innovation - An Endless Frontier?
Speakers: Paul Saffo, Discern Analytics; and Geoffrey Moore, Author, Speaker Advisor

Innovation in Silicon Valley - Whose Game Is It?
Speakers: Gordon Davidson, Fenwick & West LLP; Steve Hoover, PARC; Ann Winblad, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners; and moderator Paul Saffo, Discern Analytics

Innovation: From Serendipity to Predictability
Speakers: Shubber Ali, Accenture; and Roy Rosin, Intuit

Reinvention and Pivoting
Speakers: Ujjal Kohli, Rhythm NewMedia; Randy Komisar, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers; Will Price, Flite; Sudhakar Ramakrishna, Polycom; and moderator Richard Dickson, Fenwick & West LLP

An Abudance of Opportunities, a Scarcity of Innovation
Speaker: Curt Carlson, SRI International
Mastering the Global Innovation Economy
Speakers: Russ Conser, Shell; Vivek Wadhwa, UC Berkeley; Eric Young, Canaan Partners; and moderator Curt Carlson, SRI International

Innovating Innovation
Speaker: Russ Conser, Shell

Collective Entrepreneurship
Speakers: Ricardo dos Santos, Qualcomm; and Dave Blakely, IDEO

Enacting the Future: Socio-technical Perspective and the Next Cambrian Moment
Speaker: John Seely Brown, Deloitte Center for the Edge

Thank you to our conference sponsors!
Innovation Champion: Shell
Breakout Session Sponsors: Accenture, Fenwick & West LLP, Qualcomm
Supporting Sponsor: Silicon Valley Bank
Video Sponsor: Intel

Missed the conference?  Watch all sessions on-demand at http://fora.tv/conference/igniting_innovation. 

Photo credit: Ed Jay Photography

The stage was set and as the room lights dimmed this past Thursday evening, 9.15.11, focus was centered on The Churchills, four hand-crafted bronze bowlers being presented to the 2011 honorees at the Churchill Club Awards.  Guests enjoyed opening entertainment with video clips of historic moments during Churchill Club’s 25 years and a special message from Jonathan Churchill-Sandys, great-grandson of Sir Winston Churchill.

The Churchill Club Awards seek to inspire others by highlighting excellence in the areas of innovation, social benefit, collaboration, and leadership.  Honorees were present to accept the awards and each was interviewed on stage in true Churchill Club fashion.    

The Game Changer award was presented to Facebook for indispensable technology and business innovation.Katie Mitic (Director of Platform Marketing, Facebook) accepted the award on behalf of Facebook.  On stage with Margit Wennmachers (Partner, Andreessen Horowitz), Katie said Facebook "fundamentally changed the Internet experience for all of us.”

The Legendary Leader Award was presented to Elon Musk for inspirational leadership and contributions to others’ innovation and success.Elon Musk (CEO, Tesla; CEO, Space X; Chairman, SolarCity) said to interviewer Steve Jurvetson (Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson), “When trying to attract world’s best talent, it helps to have challenge that’s world-changing.”

The Magical Team Award was presented to the Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 team for collaborative breakthroughs that resulted in an irresistible product or service.Todd Holmdahl (Corporate VP of Hardware, Microsoft) and Mihai Budiu (Researcher, Microsoft Research) accepted the award on behalf of Microsoft.  Interviewer Geoffrey Moore (Author, Speaker, Advisor) asked how the Kinect product was orchestrated considering there were an array of different teams and components.  Holmdahl said “focus was not on PowerPoint” but used “initial experiences to show what we were trying to do.”  With that, team members came together voluntarily because of passion for the product. 

The Global Benefactor Award was presented to Salman Khan for irrepressible vision and positive impact on society.When asked by interviewer Geoffrey Moore if he was a “compulsive tutor-er,” Salman Khan (Founder, Khan Academy) enthusiastically said “I am!”  With 2,700 educational lessons online since November 2006, we agree! 

The evening concluded with a standing ovation from the audience for Salman Khan.

Thank you to the Churchill Club Awards sponsors!

Innovation Champion Sponsor: Shell
Game Changer Presenting Award Sponsor: KPMG
Magical Team Presenting Award Sponsor: Nair & Co.
Legendary Leader Presenting Award Sponsor: Accenture
Inspiration Leader Sponsors: Fenwick & West LLP, Silicon Valley Bank, SRI International, and Studio 22 Design

Photo credit: Ed Jay Photography

In anticipation of Churchill Club's 25th anniversary and our two upcoming premier events to celebrate, we hosted a Twitterview (#CHCview) yesterday, Thursday Sept. 8, featuring Churchill Club CEO Karen Tucker. Thanks to all who tuned in and joined the conversation!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Twitterviews, they are interviews conducted on Twitter where the community can interview a special guest about a specific topic. We’re gearing up fast for our Awards ceremony and Igniting Innovation event next week, and we wanted to provide the Churchill community on Twitter a chance to chat with Karen about Churchill Club over the past 25 years.

If you missed the Twitterview, or are just hungry for more, you can find the complete transcript below. If you have additional questions, feel free to send them to @Churchill Club and we’ll be happy to get them answered. Also be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates on all things Churchill Club.

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Hollywood and Silicon Valley converged at a Churchill Club  Premier event in Santa Clara on July 18 to discuss the growing connection between talent, technology, and opportunity.

Ari Emanuel (co-CEO and Director of William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, talent agent, and inspiration for the popular television personality Ari Gold from Entourage) sat in between Jeff Weiner (CEO of LinkedIn) and moderator Kara Swisher (Co-Executive Editor of AllThingsD.com). While the meat of the discussion focused primarily on talent, conversation was buttered with business anecdotes, personal jokes, Taylor Lautner references, and the occasional high-five.

Photo credit: Jeremy Waldorph Photography

The Economics of Talent:

“Economics has changed the relationship between money and talent,” said Emanuel. “For example, if you take a celebrity’s webpage, like—” “Taylor Lautner” chimed Swisher. “Let’s say his website gets 47,000 hits, but his eight different Facebook pages get over a million hits total. We can program his social presence by identifying where he is most popular—namely Facebook—and then combining all those pages into one for maximum efficiency as a fan and as an agent.”

Weiner said that social presence is based on the “platforms,” or basically the medium chosen to showcase one’s talents. “It’s not surprising that people become famous on YouTube or Facebook, because that’s what those platforms are intended to do,” he said.

Just as sites like YouTube showcase talent, LinkedIn provides a powerful platform for networking opportunity. Weiner shared a story about a female college film student who sent him a personal thank you note because her entire senior project was funded by one of her LinkedIn connections. “What its purpose comes down to is connecting, networking, ultimately sharing,” said Weiner.

Best Advice:

“‘Stay in traffic’ and ‘Great ideas and great voices are more important than ever,’” said Emanuel.

Weiner added: “Imagination is the only thing that cannot be commoditized. And, everything that can be converted to the web will be.”

Measuring Talent:

Perhaps the ultimate difference between talent and technology is the inability to measure and identify talent through a set system; essentially, there is no algorithm for talent.

“Identify or predict talent through data? I don’t think you can,” said Emanuel. “I don’t think you can predict Larry David…No, I don’t think you can.”

Of the evaluation list in searching for talent, Emanuel put data last. Weiner, on the other hand, said that in his process for recognizing aptitude, he puts data first and talent second. “There is a little difference between Silicon Valley and Hollywood, but at the end of the day, we both need, and our work involves, talent,” said Weiner.

Emanuel agreed and added that if talent could ever be measured, then a more rigorous process is required for the “algorithm of talent.”

“But that’s the magic of it all! We can’t predict talent,” said Weiner. “Who said we needed another singing competition on television? Wasn’t American Idol enough? But now we have The Sing-Off and The Voice and The Glee Project. There are not enough television talent shows to contain the amount of unbridled, immeasurable talent out there!”

The Aggressive Talent World:

Business can be cut-throat…especially showbiz. Emanuel and Weiner wrapped up on the topic of their “aggressive career strategies.”

“I don’t know what my mother fed me, or my brothers, but I love what I do,” said Emanuel. “Every time I start a project or a movie, it’s like starting a business, and I love both. The reason I’m so aggressive is because I love it… You gotta go into something that you love.”

Weiner shared his key to success as well: “Ultimately knowing what you want to accomplish. It’s surprising how often people nowadays don’t know what they want to accomplish.”

written by Hannah Miller

Four of Silicon Valley’s top tech executives sat on Microsoft’s stage on Wednesday, July 13 for the Churchill Club’s Roundtable panel; all four of them powerful, all successful, all women.

Ann Winblad (Co-Founder of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners) moderated as Shahla Aly (VP Solutions Delivery of Microsoft IT), Robyn Denholm (CFO of Juniper Networks), Lori Goler (VP of Human Resources and Recruiting at Facebook), and Barbara Holzapfel (Managing Director of SAP Labs North America) spoke on their current perspectives of the Tech industry, the progress on the diversity challenge, the keys to their success, and the balance between work and motherhood. 

Perspective on the Industry Today:

“Innovation is the most exciting thing on the planet!” said Denholm, who was thoroughly enthusiastic about the current state of the tech industry. “We’re only at the beginning of what can be done. The global and national perspective is alive and well. I see no reason not to be optimistic.”

Goler described today’s tech industry as “a diverse and robust ecosystem,” and Holzapfel added how innovation is at a “game changing stage at the moment.”

In terms of working with people, as VP of human resources and recruiting at the world’s biggest social network site, Goler commented how, in the job market, there is high competition for the best people. “Competition is intense; I expect it to get worse,” she said. “There is a lot of pressure in the short term. We’ve seen a lot of start-ups. Technology doesn’t drive innovation; it’s the people who drive innovation and change.”

“At the end of the day, innovation is created by people and then the companies are what allow it to happen,” said Denholm. “Leadership is definitely part of that equation.”

Identifying Rising Talent:

Winblad asked: “What do you look at on résumés? How is your career shaped by the people you choose to have on your team?”

“I ask myself: Will these people work to drive change? Are they willing to take risks? Are they open minded about change that will come their way?” said Holzapfel.

Aly gave an anecdote about how she landed her position at Microsoft. Aly said that she flew up to Seattle for her Microsoft interview, and, to say the least, she was given the “royal treatment.” Yet, amidst all the luxury and reverence bestowed upon her, Aly said that the day after her interview, Microsoft called her and offered her the job; it was Microsoft’s decisiveness in hiring a new executive that prompted her to take the job. 

Denholm said that Juniper Networks looks for people who are “phenomenal at what they do, passionate, enthusiastic, and knows where the company is going.”

Goler agreed and added, “We’re looking for someone who can say, ‘This looks great, but we can take it a step further.’ We want someone who is looking ahead and willing to try something different.”

Progress on Diversity Challenge:

The topic of gender diversity would not likely emerge on a panel of male executives; yet for women, the issue of gender balance in these top tech roles is a hot one.

“I thought we’d be in a slightly better position today than what I thought from the 1980’s. We still don’t have all the tools,” said Aly. “We hear things like, ‘women don’t ask for things’ or ‘women need to be more ambitious,’ but I say: We need to stop trying to fix the women! We need to fix the system! Sure, some women are not ambitious, and there are a lot of men who are not ambitious, but we need to stop ‘fixing the women’ and instead focus on the system.”

Goler posed a possible solution: “We need more women in engineering; the numbers have dropped significantly.” Holzapfel agreed and said that we need to reach out more because it has become increasingly more important to raise awareness on dialogue for getting women in more technology roles.

Winblad agreed and noted that start-ups need engineering talent. “They’re looking for six-packs of engineers!” Essentially, the front of the bus needs a lot of engineering talents, and right now we’re lacking.

Yet, Aly posed and answered an excellent question: Do students need a degree in tech to get a job in tech? “I look for business and liberal arts as well.” Holzapfel agreed, “It’s really more about the skill sets.”

A Key to Success:

“As successful tech executives, how do you help people be successful, and how do you pick out rising stars?” asked Winblad.

Goler listed off a number of key qualities, “Impact, flexibility, and autonomy. On the first day of the job, we tell our starting employees, ‘We expect you to have an impact…you can’t take a few quarters to figure it out.’”

Winblad picked out the one overarching characteristic mentioned by all the panelists: communication. “You are all great communicators. How did that come about? Were you coached? Is it natural capability?”

Aly said that she started young. Her mother put her in elocution contests, and encouraged her to go into public debating—in which she became a national champion. “It’s nerve-wracking and exhilarating, but I developed those skills to think on my feet,” said Aly. “In the end, what you are is what is represented by your words.”

Denholm’s experience was completely opposite. “I was really shy as a kid—still am a little today,” she said. “No matter what the skill set, the first step to success is to know what you need improvement on and then working to improve it. As they say in Australia, they must have ‘the gift of the gab,’ basically people who can still communicate well underwater. In reality, most people who are good at public speaking are actually terrified.”

“My mentality has always been ‘Practice makes perfect,’” said Goler. “If someone needs help speaking, then I make them speak. I sit in the front row and watch with a smile on my face, while I take careful mental notes and then I give them pointers on how they can improve.”

“I use the ‘Sink or swim’ approach. It’s all about the experience and the feedback,” said Holzapfel. “You can’t be a managing consultant if you can’t communicate; the goal is to keep it short and simple.”

Parting Advice:

Before turning to audience questions, Winblad asked for any last message they wished to share.

Aly began: “Think very carefully about what success means to you. Is it making a lot of money? Is it owning a very nice car? Maybe your definition of success does align with society’s. Ok, but what does success mean to you?! Once you have figured it out, then align all your tasks to meet this goal.”

Holzapfel said: “What are you passionate about? What excites you in the morning? And does your job allow you to do that?”

Denholm finished with, “Live life to the fullest. You’ve only got one to live.”

Balancing Work and Family:

The final, and probably most lingering question to be asked regarded the balance between work life and motherhood.

Aly’s daughter, 27, was seated in the front row and offered a child’s perspective. “When it was really important, Mom was always there. Of course, she did travel a lot and she couldn’t be there for everything, but for the important things she was.”

“Any working mom knows that balancing work life and family life isn’t easy, but the key to success is to prioritize what’s important, and don’t sweat the small stuff,” said Goler. “I’ll admit, sometimes I pull the kids’ outfits out of the hamper in the morning, and there’s nothing wrong with cereal for dinner once in a while if it has substantial nutritional value! Those are the small things. The time I do get to spend with my kids, I want it to be about them, not logistics.”

In the end, every mother on the panel agreed that time was precious and nannies help. “Outsource everything, except love.”