Conference Breakfast and the FedEx Experience

If I should take up a new diet plan, it really should have been at the conference, where salads were quickly replenished, healthy muffins sat invitingly on trays, bagels a plenty, all very fine and dandy (the croissants were wonderful - I thought I was in Paris with every bite) but I miss juicy meats in my lauk, and plump hormone induced chicken! haha

In any case, that was how I opened the conference. With a healthy dose of Continental breakfast, which lasted throughout the entire week. The conference was worth missing all the nasi lemak, capati, teh tarik and all the lauk in the world. At least, one weeks worth of Malaysian food-lah!

Opening remarks:

Unlike our counterparts back home, the opening remark was mostly made of information regarding the conference, its blogs, and other relevants services available to all participants. No protocol drill, no long winded way of saying "thank you for coming". In less than 5 minutes we were taken from A straight to B. Not A to C to E then J to B.

Points to note:

1. Clearspace by Jive Software, blog provider for the conference

• Enterprise collaboration tool that integrates communities through blogs, forums, wikis, IM chats and VOIP (clearspace) - will review this later.

2. Must pester AA (buggerrooo) for my lost or as they put it, delayed baggage - my 2 day baju stinking up hall and Boston looks too expensive for a shopping excuse

And as I sat between two giants, not that the hall was very small, this is what I got:

FedEx Enterprise 2.0 experience by Rob Carter, CIO, FedEx

Mr Carter gave us an overview of the history of networks. He then moves on to how at the end of the day, networks is about connecting the dots and being open to collaboration. By identifying trusted people and platforms, FedEx has enabled web services that integrates needs with easy to use, currently "commonly" used technology.

• FedEx Quickship - embedded into your Microsoft outlook, you will be able to track your FedEx shipment and contact staff closest to you
• FedEx MOBI -Mobile devices provide the best means of communication around the globe especially where Internet accessibility is lacking. By extending applications on mobile devices, you are essentially extending your networks. MOBI provides the same sort of features your Quickship would offer but via Mobile.
• FedEx Desktop - a widget of sorts that alerts you of your shipment status, as well as sends you alerts directly to your desktop
• FedEx's service integration with eBay
• Use of blogs in FedEx - giving power to people within and outside the organization to innovate and have a say on the direction of the company.

It hasn't been a joy ride for FedEx to start exposing their data for the greater good, but that reaping the benefits of extending their services beyond a single platform will eventually conquer all (interoperability)- patience and persistence does however seem key. They took pains to understand and analyse the demographics of their customers, so they may deliver services on technology that is best suited for the different groups, if any. It wasn't a case of, "OOohh, this is fashionable, lets get on the bandwagon!".

P.S.
I would definitely recommend that AA look into developing a tracking system of sorts for customers that are looking to pay a lil extra to track their luggage, even if missing luggages in the first place, should not happen! I wasn't the only one waiting in line at the Baggage Claim Services office.