Closing session as given by Femke Goedhart during Social Connections, the IBM Connections user group event in Amsterdam on November 30th, 2012

1. SOCIAL CONNECTIONS
Amsterdam November 30th
Business Consultant, Silverside
@FemkeGoedhart
Sunday, December 2, 12
Welcome!

2. SOME NUMBERS....
BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM
202 Registered participants from 16 countries
Sunday, December 2, 12

3. SOME NUMBERS....
BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM
202 Registered participants from 16 countries
Sunday, December 2, 12

4. SOME NUMBERS....
BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM
99 unique organizations, 7 Case Studies
Sunday, December 2, 12

5. SOME NUMBERS....
BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM
34 speakers in 3 tracks giving 28 different sessions
Sunday, December 2, 12

6. SOME NUMBERS....
BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM
34 speakers in 3 tracks giving 28 different sessions
Sunday, December 2, 12

7. SOME NUMBERS....
BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM
9 Amazing sponsors!
World-class Content Editing for IBM Connections
Sunday, December 2, 12

8. WHY SOCIAL CONNECTIONS?
• Social Business is booming
• Knowledge shared is knowledge gained
• No matter how social.... nothing beats Face-to-Face
Sunday, December 2, 12
But all good and well, why are we doing all this?
•Recent research from IBM showed Social Business is booming. 46 percent of the
organizations increased their investments in social technologies in 2012
•According to Forrester Research, the opportunity for social enterprise apps is expected to
grow at a rate of 61 percent through 2016
•IBM Connections is a strong contender in this market and seen placed solidly in the Leader
quadrant by Gartner.
And how else to gain more knowledge then by sharing?
different channels: Facebook, twitter, Greenhouse community and a linkedin group with 2.200
users!
But no channel replaces that all important one: “human contact”
this is the 4th Social connections after London, Cardiff and Dublin and by large the biggest
one!

9. WHY THE NETHERLANDS?
Hello Europe!
Sunday, December 2, 12
well because we think everyone should have a chance to visit an event
Being a ‘global’ user group means going globally and Amsterdam was the perfect spot for a
first event on mainland Europe
Also, and not unimportantly: Social Business is definitely hot here in The Netherlands with lots
of interest.
But why is this?
For that I’d like to show you a short video

10. <VIDEO>
http://youtu.be/sagQC-RGjsk
Sunday, December 2, 12
http://youtu.be/sagQC-RGjsk

11. Sunday, December 2, 12
1/3 of current day Netherlands would be under water if it wasn’t for our dikes, dunes and water
management
It is a constant struggle to (literally) keep our feet dry
One that requires constant innovation
But it’s not a struggle we’re facing now, the Dutch have faced this for hundreds, even
thousands of years and that has formed the way we are.

12. THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF A COMMON FIGHT AGAINST
THE WATER HAS LEAD TO A CULTURE OF:
Consensus decision
making Flat hierarchies Sense
of shared responsibilities
involvement Engagement
Sunday, December 2, 12
Having a common enemy that is indiscriminate, ever present and ever increasing as ground
levels drop and water levels risemakes for a totally different way of interacting.
It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, when the dike breaks we all drown. And nobody can
keep the water out alone.
So finding a consensus, working together, recognizing the communal stake, being creative and
involved is something that has been engrained in our culture for hundreds of years and is now
incorporated into everything we do, from water management, to politics to commercial
business, you’ll find this mentality everywhere.
It even has it’s own name: “Polder model”
For centuries this knowledge has driven the way the Dutch interact on every level of their lives.
With each other and with people outside. Noticed that reference about “Sharing” in that
video?!? That isn’t necessarily ‘good will’. That is the realization that constant reinvention and
innovation is necessary and that we cannot do it alone. Working together isn’t a goal, it’s a
necessity!

13. THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF A COMMON FIGHT AGAINST
THE WATER HAS LEAD TO A CULTURE OF:
Consensus decision
making Flat hierarchies Sense
of shared responsibilities
involvement Engagement
POLDER MODEL
Sunday, December 2, 12
Having a common enemy that is indiscriminate, ever present and ever increasing as ground
levels drop and water levels risemakes for a totally different way of interacting.
It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, when the dike breaks we all drown. And nobody can
keep the water out alone.
So finding a consensus, working together, recognizing the communal stake, being creative and
involved is something that has been engrained in our culture for hundreds of years and is now
incorporated into everything we do, from water management, to politics to commercial
business, you’ll find this mentality everywhere.
It even has it’s own name: “Polder model”
For centuries this knowledge has driven the way the Dutch interact on every level of their lives.
With each other and with people outside. Noticed that reference about “Sharing” in that
video?!? That isn’t necessarily ‘good will’. That is the realization that constant reinvention and
innovation is necessary and that we cannot do it alone. Working together isn’t a goal, it’s a
necessity!

14. MAKING IT WORK WITH
SOCIAL BUSINESS...
“ An organization that has put in place the strategies,
technologies and processes to systematically engage all the
individuals of its ecosystem (employees, customers, partners,
suppliers) to maximize the co-created value ”
•Stakeholders
•Top-Down & Bottom-up
Sunday, December 2, 12
And that applies to businesses as well.
New developments and competition force companies to look at new ways of working.
For the first time in history businesses are en masse turning inwards for their innovations and
recognizing they have this enormous unused potential : people
not just ‘drones’ that show up at 8, do as they are told and leave at 5 but inventive, creative,
passionate, driven people that feel they have something to add. Using that potential and
making those employees stakeholders in the business process isn’t just smart. It’s a necessity!
And no, that doesn’t mean allowing them to rule the roost, but it does mean involving them so
you get the best of Top-down corporate leadership and bottom-up innovation and engagement.

15. Sunday, December 2, 12
because the last thing we want is to wake up one morning and see this...

16. ENJOY & MAKE SOME CONNECTIONS!
Sunday, December 2, 12