Blue Galaxy is an IBM idea (as @kellypuffs says in her developerWorks article: a project, movement, community, initiative; or as I say just a cool thing) to connect the subject matter experts inside and outside the firewall with others who can benefit from those connections.
I was lucky enough and honoured to have been selected as one of the first Blue Galaxy stars (and have my very own poster as seen below) to help drive the idea and enable people on the ground to really begin participating in solid social conversation. Mind you, I wasn’t selected to lead or drive from a formal project management perspective. Rather, like all of the other Blue Galaxy stars, we were chosen because we lead by example: not only can we talk about how to play in the social spaces and make the most out of the amazing capabilities to connect with some seriously cool and smart people, but we’re all walking the walk as well. Leading by example, showing everyone what can be accomplished in these spaces, really driving our own successes and IBM’s successes at the same time; that’s what makes everyone who’s part of Blue Galaxy a star.
Social business isn’t about marketing. It isn’t about driving sales. It isn’t even about improving efficiencies or bypassing convoluted process. It is about connecting people with other people to achieve mutually beneficial successes: that is social business, and that is what Blue Galaxy does.
Blue Galaxy brings together the right subject matter experts in the right channels to ensure widespread success across all clients, brands, and disciplines around the globe by simply sharing our expertise where it can be helpful and add value. I’m humbled and honoured to be involved in such an amazing initiative and to be able to attend IBM Innovate 2013 as a Blue Galaxy star and share my passion for social business.
But don’t let this fool you, this isn’t just an IBM thing… the ideas behind it are relevant to anyone who has expertise in their field and can share in the social spaces. While the Blue Galaxy moniker is IBM specific, the concepts and capabilities involve us all regardless of affiliation. If you’re a tech writer, you have expertise and knowledge to share. If you’re a long-haul trucker, you have expertise and knowledge to share. From a farmer to software developer, we all have knowledge in our realm of expertise which can be shared and help bolster successes across disciplines and in turn help us further our own successes as well.
Call it hippie2.0, but the successful businesses of the future will be the socially enabled, open, transparent businesses which share their expertise and knowledge with the world.
