Tag: IDDY Award

Developer relations, developer programs and #womenintech

Posted on by Russ DeVeau

Russ DeVeau GCN developer coverage Russell DeVeauMy experience working with developers includes over ten years of managing proactive programs designed to build and expand developer communities, increase developer participation in global standards bodies, and showcase developers and applications in markets around the world.

This experience includes managing positioning for Java Verified and UTI in the mobile application quality industry; launching and managing the IDDYs, a global awards program designed to recognize developers in the digital identity sector; and managing communications for Liberty Interoperable, an international program focused on testing vendor products for interoperability of identity standards and protocols.

My proactive work with the Liberty Interoperable program includes five years of working with leading deployers of identity solutions such as the US GSA and governments around the world – as well as with top vendors in the identity sector such as HP, IBM, Microsoft, Ping Identity, Oracle, RSA Security, SAP and Siemens – to position and promote the program and vendor products in global markets.

I have a great deal of experience in producing and promoting workshops and educational events designed specifically for developers and covering a wide range of topics such as federated identity management, policy and governance, open source, service oriented architecture and web services. These events have received high marks for quality from developers around the world and have served as valuable content for client blogging and proactive social media activities.

I also have a lot of experience – and have enjoyed a lot of successes – placing developer and technology teams in panel presentations and speaking sessions at major industry events such as HP World, RSA Conference, SAP’s SAPHIRE, and Oracle World – as well as at regional and vertical-specific events such as AfricaCom, Digital Disruption, Cloud World Forum, Digital Identity World, HIMMS and Java One. I talk more about industry events in my What’s your favorite tech event? post.

Developers became an important part of the communications process right around the time when Sun Microsystems was aggressively promoting Java and IBM was promoting e-business. At that time many public relations teams at the global IT firms were moving fast to associate a face – usually a young man’s – to new Internet initiatives. Media trained developers frequently became that face.

I was on several of the teams that were promoting developers as spokespersons during the early e-business transformation years. While those spokespersons were mostly men at the time, it wasn’t too long before I was promoting women developers as spokespersons and the #womenintech movement had begun.

I’ll highlight some of the #womenintech I’ve had opportunity to promote during my career to date in future posts. – Russ DeVeau

Related:

–Promoting future presidential candidates and President Obama’s tech guru

-Java, women in technology #womenintech and Hartford College for Women

Twitter direct messages, an IDDY winner and a Manhattan press tour

Posted on by Russ DeVeau

This is a great example of what I consider to be a highly effective use of a direct message (DM) on Twitter. The message demonstrates how valuable DMs can be when used strategically to drive visibility and place messages.

 

Russ DeVeau SafeNet and Gemalto tweet

 

Gemalto sent this DM last weekend. The message gives communities and influencers a fresh opportunity to take a look at the news, share it with their own networks and perhaps drive another round of traditional and social media coverage based on the content.

The DM tells me what I need to know about the status of the news and what I need to do to continue interacting on Twitter.

The message was likely sent to everyone who follows Gemalto and SafeNet and seems to be a good use of automated tweets.

I’m not always a fan of automated tweets and messages. But when used strategically, DMs can be an extremely effective tool for raising the awareness of a wide range of initiatives on Twitter.

Seeing these two organizations in the same DM reminded me of the proactive work I’ve done with both companies. Gemalto was a winner of the 2009 IDDY Award, a global program I launched, managed and promoted for four years.

I had the opportunity to work with SafeNet executives in 2004 when I managed a security-focused daylong industry analyst and media tour in Manhattan. That incredibly successful event took place during a time when all eyes were beginning to focus on web security issues and included some very talented spokespersons.

Twitter didn’t exist when I headed up the NYC SafeNet security tour. Fast forward to today and Twitter and Twitter DMs are among my go-to tools for proactively and strategically working with influencers around the world. – Russ DeVeau

Winning an Environmental Leader Award

Posted on by Russ DeVeau

Russ DeVeau Environmental Leader Award russell deveauSpeaking of prestigious industry awards…

I’ve been an avid reader and a big fan of Environmental Leader for many years. The outlet is one of my go-to publications when I am working with technology teams and executives who can tell stories in the energy efficiency, green IT and sustainability sectors.

I also look at a wide variety of Environmental Leader content when I want to create or help validate an idea for an industry trend story and when I am researching a potential new sustainable ICT positioning opportunity for one of my clients.

I’ve worked proactively with many top-notch journalists at the outlet over the past several years including when I helped place this story based on ODCA news announcing how enterprises can measure and control data center CO2 emissions.

The story was incredibly well received by communities and target audiences around the world. Equally as important, the coverage set the stage for involving ODCA in the Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards program.

The Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards reminds me of the IDDYs, a global awards program I launched when I was working in the digital identity management, security and privacy sectors.

One major difference in the programs is the fee required to apply for an award. Environmental Leader charges a fee to submit a nomination. No fees were associated with the IDDYs.

The fee was a bit of a sticking point when it came to my client teams deciding on whether or not to apply for the Environmental Leader award.

After managing the IDDYs for four years, I understand why award programs sometimes charge an application fee. I know first-hand how much time and how many resources can go into making a global annual awards program successful.

I also know that the ROI can be significant from a communications and public relations point of view when an organization wins an award that is sponsored by a highly respected media outlet.

These are some of the reasons I was in favor of paying the application fee for an Environmental Leader award.

But I was also in favor of paying the fee because I wrote the press release and messaging that led to a feature story in the top-tier outlet.

I knew the content was of the highest quality and – based on my experience working in the global awards industry – also knew that an ODCA submission would have a very good chance of winning.

The eventual win opened the door to another round of significant coverage in Environmental Leader and provided the organizations involved with a variety of new short and long-term positioning opportunities.

When it comes to demonstrating communications and public relations ROI, the Environmental Leader award was an all-around win. – Russ DeVeau