The Greater IBM Connection - on the blog side

Is social computing biting the heels of the enterprise?

I've been thinking about what it means to work for an enterprise and how this situation will change for people over the next decade or so. On first blush, it might seem obvious -- you (a worker) enter into a contract with a corporation where you apply your knowledge, skills and creative aptitude to create, produce, solve, communicate, etc... "stuff" for a minimum of 40 hours per week in exchange for pay, healthcare, fringe benefits, and some sense of security about the future. Let's call the application of knowledge, skills, etc..., as described above, "work" (I know for some lucky people, it doubles as play). And let's assume that as you work, you engage with particular people within the enterprise (maybe each of these people represent a larger set of people and work) and, in some cases, outside the boundaries of the enterprise -- customers, partners, suppliers, analysts, subject matter experts.

Hey, that's a great case for a social computing platform, right?
Let's let everyone mingle in an emergent digital (i.e., geography-agnostic) space that can capture connections, ideas, notes for later, stray thoughts. I was a big fan of the social computing tools IBM was starting to release while I was there, as they helped me do my work. It was fun to be part of a community of early adopters. These tools, circa early 2007, included WikiCentral Dogear, and W4. Recently, I've been walked through some of the newer tools such as Cattail, Fringe, and Beehive. In my new role, I consult with other enterprises about what sorts of experiences they should provide to their customers, partners and employees via digital platforms.

For context, the generic names of these tool sets include: (the well-worn) blog, wiki (e.g., Wikipedia, of course), social network (e.g., Linked In), social bookmarking (e.g., del.icio.us), micro-blogging (e.g., Twitter), location-based services (e.g., Dodgeball, Brightkite) and what I think of as community-curated content sites such as Digg.com, Last.fm, and even Flickr, a photo sharing site. Hey, some of these ideas aren't that new -- but the way they're executed and delivered is fresh in one way or another (that Web 2.0 je ne sais qua).

More fun at work
Everyone loves this stuff! It's fun to make work more social, and more digital. Why is digital fun? More exposure to images and sounds -- in other words, more media. The tools' interfaces are getting more interesting -- less wonky than traditional software packages and less hierarchical than traditional web sites. Many of them have a sense of humor. These tools make it possible for people to just *be* online, socially. Last decade, someone spending hours a day online was a loner. Now you can spend hours online being social – cultivating relationships that are essential for your work and play. And for work-related purposes, you can be online with or without a task plan or a particular intention. You can hang out, and information will find you -- information you knew you needed, and also information you didn't know you needed. Your social digital self has become a magnet, and all you have to do is show up. This is really the key.

Picture this. You have a platform, whether provided by your enterprise or part of the public digital fabric, and you're hanging out there with your friends, colleagues, and other associates -- people from your industry, your clients, your partners, etc. What do you talk about? Everyone's there, curious and listening! What is company confidential information? Do we care what our clients think about how we spend our time online? About who we know? Are we inadvertently introducing clients to partners when we prefer to keep the business to ourselves? As we think out loud, are other people profiting from our ideas?

A challenge to the enterprise identity
A company that feels it has a lot to lose (rightly or wrongly) might get a crook in their neck and reinforce their enterprise boundaries. “Smart companies” (or maybe just contemporary companies) are letting it all unfold to form a new landscape, terrain, playing field -- choose your geographic metaphor. Let the cards fall where they may. We don’t know what’s possible yet, so we don’t have a plan to encourage or discourage it.

I think a better way to come at this is to separate the questions that stem from merely a fear of the unknown from the questions that have real implications for business. Which ones are those? I think this is ultimately about a shift in the definition of work and employment. Perhaps, going forward, working for an enterprise means that you're playing on a team. Which team? That's the million dollar question. It could be the senior executives and the board of directors. It could be everyone else who's also loyal to and playing for this team at any given moment -- a community. It could even be the brand, rather than a group of individuals, per se.

The implications for long-term loyalty and affiliation differ greatly among these options. My gut says that the kind of team that wins the greatest loyalty is the one inspired by the brand, much as in professional sports. You can be a Yankee fan for decades, even as the players and management change, and even though you're not even *on* the team, yourself! I always found this fascinating. Is it a blind love? On the other hand, if you're playing to line someone else's pockets (or if that's simply how you feel about your contribution), then there's a very short-lived need for loyalty -- defined exactly by the terms of your employment. Let's say, for good measure, that community is somewhere in between; that there are a lot of variables in the make up of a community; and that community, while varied and complex, is probably the locus of the answers to my pondering questions.

Where does this leave us, or me, with this line of thinking. I wanted to pin this back to a practical set of questions about what it means to work for an enterprise. If you follow my logic, then what kind of contract should a person have with an enterprise -- or with several enterprises, concurrently or over time? Where will our current employer/employee relationship model begin (or continue) to disintegrate, and how will social digital platforms accelerate the process? For example, as a former and fairly recent IBMer, I would love to be able to peruse the IBM org chart and other connections to locate expertise from my community. (Yes, I said “my” community.)

Looking at this question from a different angle: What could an enterprise of the future be -- what would its constitution be? Employees, assets, debts… or something else? If you agree with the premise that the boundaries are shifting, then doesn’t it follow that the full shape and make-up of the enterprise will need to be rethought?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about the role social computing plays in our relationships with enterprises.

With gratitude,
Ruth Kaufman
User experience person @Avenue A | Razorfish; formerly creative problem solver @IBM/ibm.com

RECOGNIZING POTENTIAL IN GREAT IDEAS

Recently, I was talking to long-time colleague, Dr. Alex Pattakos, founder of the Center for Meaning and author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts. We had a great chat about my experience of the Greater IBM Connection and the potential so many us see in this business and social networking IDEA. He immediately saw the possibilities for meaningful innovation by connecting all that IBM talent across the world.

Then he followed it up by saying, "You know, I have a connection to IBM, too!" He went on to tell me his story about how one of his creative ideas was showcased by IBM in a special program called INNOVATION IN ACADEMIC COMPUTING over 20 years ago. In the mini-podcast below, Alex shares his story of IBM recognizing the potential in his forwarding-thinking idea called the "Electronic Visiting Professor" that he brought to the University of Maine. Using IBM PCs, he was able to bring in faculty members from around the world into the rural campus in Orono, Maine, expanding the learning experience through technology. Alex also shares his perspective about the Greater IBM idea after hearing about it and visiting our blog and website.

My Talk with DR. ALEX PATTAKOS

download MP3

IBM's eye for recognizing the potential in a great idea isn't new. This is a quality I've learned to more fully appreciate as I've seen and experienced its reach over the years --- and it continues here at Greater IBM and in other initiatives. One of my personal favorites is the Global Innovation Outlook, where IBM is joining together with leaders from business, academia, and politics from around the world to create new opportunities for business and society.

Do you have a story to share from your own experience past or present?

debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Contributing Author
Greater IBM Connection
Founder, President & CEO
Global Dialogue Center and
Leadership Solutions Companies
www.globaldialoguecenter.com
author, Putting Our Differences to Work (Berrett-Koehler June 2008)
IBMer 1970 - 1991 L.A.; Anchorage; Seattle; San Francisco

Imagination in the Enterprise

Once, not too long ago in the Enterprise people found themselves working ever so diligently and thought everything was just honky dory thank you very much. Yet they were completely oblivious to the terrible neglect their creative souls were facing. They had forgotten how to imagine, they had stopped practicing the power of insight and ideas were fast becoming stale. The ability to create without inhibition had been lost. Day and night, they toiled over their business problems, trying to figure things out by themselves.

And then… information was given a name. Your name. Your face. Your likes and dislikes. People started using social media to share opinion and thoughts online. Previously suppressed ideas were openly expressed and socialized.  People began to find their unique voice once more. Authentic expression was embraced. The global drumbeat of new content creation was heard throughout the Enterprise as social networks were formed.

Stories of life, hope and tragedy were shared. People around the world were compelled to take action and quickly formed online communities. Creative souls were stirred to think about the possibilities. They began to imagine great things as ideas were shared from the inside out; as seemingly abstract concepts were externalized they were developed into innovative solutions, alongside others who saw their potential.

The people had found a way to connect and create, but most of all they now had confidence to express themselves and use their unique voice.

Image courtesy of Alice Bartlett

Social Computing has opened up new ways for people to solve problems, work with ideas and imagine great things. Have you given your team the opportunity to express themselves?

Jasmin Tragas aka Wonderwebby is a Managing Consultant at IBM working in the area of Knowledge, Collaboration and Learning Services, HCM, Australia.

Discovering Meaning in YOUR WORK?

There is something special about discovering that your life’s work matters --- you love what you do --- there is real meaning in it. I had one of these moments this week. It arrived like a gift after weeks of long days and overload. I admit IBM trained me well for this kind of reality many years ago. As I recall, the learning came from a continuous practice of the “learn while doing” approach to “leaping over tall buildings” to reach some new level of service – performance – contribution – excellence. Although it was never talked about much, I’ve not met an IBMer that doesn’t instantly relate and know the exhilaration of having all the hard work pay off --- all the pieces falling perfectly into place --- that moment when the meaning of it all takes on a new significance.

Are you having flashbacks about your own experiences?

So how can we discover deeper MEANING in what we do every day?
Many years ago, one profound influence on my life that began to help me answer this question came from reading, Man’s Search for Meaning by the famed psychiatrist, philosopher, and holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl. Later in a management development class at IBM, Dr. Frankl’s messages were again highlighted by futurist Joel Barker’s recount in his now classic film, Power of Vision. I can still repeat the closing statement: “There is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future, because that’s what gives meaning to life [and our work]."

Perhaps, this question today, at this time of transition and turbulence in business and society, needs to be re-examined more than ever before. Dr. Alex Pattakos, a student of Viktor Frankl and author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl’s Principles for Discovering Meaning in Life and Work, asks new questions for a new time: "Why do some people seem to have an easier time dealing with complex and challenging situations than others? Why do some people seem more capable of dealing with change than others?" Dr. Pattakos offers seven core principles. Below I’ve listed them and provided a brief summary, paraphrased from his book, highlighting what they have come to mean to me:

1. Exercise the freedom to choose your attitude.
Choose your attitude; it’s a freedom we all have.
2. Realize your will to meaning.
Commit to meaningful goals that you can actualize and fulfill.
3. Detect the meaning of life's moments.
Look for the meaning at any given moment.
4. Don't work against yourself.
Avoid becoming so obsessed with outcome; it can work against you.
5. Look at yourself from distance.
Keep a sense of humor as you look back at yourself and your actions.
6. Shift your focus of attention.
Learn to focus your attention away from a problem; see beyond it.
7. Extend beyond yourself.
Look at the bigger picture; the higher purpose of what you are doing.

Does MEANING have a connection to the Greater IBM Community?
As we come together at the Greater IBM Connection, transcending time, distance, and differences across the world, we have the opportunity to find a new level of meaning in this global community we are creating. It is hard not to envision the far-reaching possibilities that social media offer to us, as others, like Andy Piper, have written about on this blog. Imagine the power of all the unique ways we discover meaning in our work and our lives coming together. Imagine what we can do together. Imagine what we can learn from one another. Nice! So I ask you:

Whether you are a current or former IBMer...

What meaning have you discovered in your "work" however you define it?

What qualities in your life's "work" mean the most?

I look foward to hearing your perspective and striking up a conversation!

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Contributing Author
Greater IBM Connection
Founder, President & CEO
Global Dialogue Center and
Leadership Solutions Companies
www.globaldialoguecenter.com
IBMer 1970 - 1991 L.A.; Anchorage; Seattle; San Francisco

Funny Memories at IBM

Every IBM office has its unique character --- and its own characters. My recollection is there were some pretty funny things that happened as we "leaped over tall buildings," pulled out all the stops to deliver, or just made it through a turbulent year. When I found this picture, I laughed right out loud, remembering one funny day, when a bunch of us put in the extra effort to respond to customers and laughed until we cried.

Where I worked, IBM was a well-known landmark in the midst of a bustling metropolitan business center. There were floors and floors of IBM. Our office had a H.U.G.E. bullpen. It was full of desks with phones ringing off the hook and salesmen with flying ties rushing in and out and IBM women with their arms full of technical manuals, day-timer calendars and a whole lot of navy blue. I'll let you guess the year.  LOL

We had a spirited receptionist who kept the whole crew on track. If anyone was looking for anything, she probably had it -- and if you asked for it too soon, she would let you know in a meaningful way --- "Look I have your proposal," she would say, "It is right here in my 'what-is-it folder' and when I figure out what-it-is, you'll get it back. Now, go sit down." She kept us all laughing.

One day, her switchboard went out early in the day. No one could come to fix it until the end of the day. So the only way to answer the phones was for her to run around to all the individual desks to take a message (imagine life before voicemail, email, cell, text messages, live chat...). We all tried to help, dashing here, then across the room, over a desk. She did have a creative flair for solving problems and was not afraid to make sure we did our part.

At lunch time, she went home and came back with three pairs of her kids shoe skates slung over her shoulder. Yes --- and three of us laced up those skates and flew from desk to desk to greet the IBM customers on the other end of the phone line.

How about you?

Have a funny story to tell? 

Click here to share a comment or tell your story.

Have you signed up for the Greater IBM Connection?

Best...
Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Contributing Author
Greater IBM Connection
Founder, President & CEO

Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies
IBMer 1970 - 1991 L.A.; Anchorage; Seattle; San Francisco

How do you know an IBMer when you see one?

Since joining Greater IBM, I keep running into IBMers unexpectedly. We're everywhere!

Case in Point:
Last week, I was at a meeting with two collaborative business partners. One of the partners is new and is joining us for a creative role in an innovative project. The two key players came to meet us personally, so we could explore how the three organizations would work together to fulfill the vision and goals for this joint venture.

Both of our new colleagues were impressive! It was obvious we had the right people. I was particularly taken with the woman, who will be working in the role of "managing director" of the creative process. She had a confidence, a command of the proposed plan, a recall of detail, and a passionate spirit that made you know she was delivering on every promise she made.

Near the close of the meeting, some reference was made that I had worked for IBM. With that news, her face lit up, "I worked for IBM, too!" she said with great pride. We had fun talking about our careers and I introduced her to the Greater IBM Connection.

I know I saw in her qualities that are not uncommon to IBMers and we appear to be spreading our influences out in the world everywhere. I've started asking questions wherever I go, because this same occurence has happened three times this month. Imagine when all of us arrive here at the Greater IBM Connection.

So, how do you know an IBMer when you see one?

Do you see qualities  we have in common?

Best...
Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Contributing Author
Greater IBM Connection
Founder, President & CEO


Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies
IBMer 1970 - 1991 L.A.; Anchorage; Seattle; San Francisco

the greaterIBM connection

One of the many innovations Sam Palmisano has spearheaded at  IBM is the idea of reaching out to "alumni". The first initiative was a few years ago when he hosted a reception for a group of former executives of the company. A few were retired but most were in senior positions in other companies. That was just the beginning and now the idea of reaching out has been expanded -- big time. The number of past and present IBMers is probably close to a million people. Establishing communications with such a huge base can be nothing but a good thing for the company.

 

When I left engineering school and joined IBM in 1967, it was common to look for a job at a company and expect to stay there your entire career. Nobody thinks that way anymore. If you tell someone you were with a company for decades, they might ask "what's the matter, couldn't you find any other jobs?". Another change is that in the old days if someone left the company they were considered a traitor and barred from coming back. Today, there are many executives that left the company at some point, got some experience at one or more other companies, and then brought that experience back into IBM. Some have come and gone multiple times. The turnover has strengthened the company.

 

And now we have social networks. In the early stages there was a perception that social networking meant eleven year-old girls on MySpace. Now businesses are realizing that it is more likely forty or fifty year-old business people on Facebook and Xing and LinkedIn and Plaxo Pulse. The Internet has enabled everyone  to be connected to everyone. Whether it is reading blogs, posting to wikis, updating status on Facebook, or making new connections through viral invitations, it is clear that a big company like IBM has a lot to gain by "connecting" past, present, and  future  IBMers to each other and with the company. IBM calls it "the greaterIBM connection". On Monday evening the company hosted a greaterIBM reception at the Metrazur at Grand Central Station in New York. More than four hundred attended. It was good to reconnect with some colleagues I had not seen for quite a few years.

 

Will social networking payoff in business terms? Nobody knows for sure but in my opinion it is certain -- as soon as we see the New York Times run a front page story that social networking is a fad,  in trouble or peaking out we will have confirmation  that success is a sure thing. A short term inhibitor is that there are so many different social networks. As web standards evolve I am confident that we will have a world where people will create one profile and then be able to decide which part of their profile is accessible in which networks.

 

IBM sees the potential and is investing the time and resources to build a large and active network. The possibilities are endless -- collaboration on projects,   networking to hire or get hired, crafting deals, referrals to and from IBM and its business partners. As a bonus,  social  networking is fun and  good for morale. I look forward to continuing to be a  part of the greaterIBM connection as  it evolves. Upon e-tirement in 2001 after nearly four decades at IBM, I  don't really feel like I left anyway! The stories that I have been writing since 1998 over at the patrickWeb blog fall into a  number of categories. One section is devoted to "IBM Happenings". I am sure I will also be writing  and linking at the greaterIBM connection along with  others. Cross linking will increase the overall  "connectedness". That's what the web is all about. I am really proud  that IBM is taking networking and the blogosphere so seriously.

 

        the greaterIBM connection
Greater IBM Wiki

A New Kind of EXCELLENCE for a New Time

Hello!  I’ve been thinking about all of you that might stop by. Then I found myself wondering where to start and how to make friends. If you are here, there is a reason --- and I wonder if yours may not be so far from mine --- or if it is, perhaps, you will tell us about it. Let me start the conversation by sharing a few things that have been in my mind...

There is something powerful about the potential of the Greater IBM Connection across the world. It’s hard not to imagine possibilities when so much talent is coming together. I admit that when I first heard about it, my pioneering spirit was moved. In this gathering, we might spark some new level of innovation or open a new pathway we might not have seen on our own --- perhaps even make the world a better place than we know today, because of just the right people finding one another.

I’ve had a grand time building a business and working to make a difference since I left IBM. No doubt many of you have unique stories and experiences that reflect significant achievements in your own right and I hope we get to learn more about where you been and what you've accomplished. I must admit I’ve become much more consciously grateful about all I learned and experienced at IBM, some of which wasn’t so obvious in the rush of business during the rewarding years that seemed to fly by.

There are many things about IBM that have grown and changed. It seems friendlier and more open. I love seeing the new values that have the fingerprints of IBM people all over them. It made me proud when I read about how it happened. If I were to pick out one IBM attribute that seems unchanged, it would be EXCELLENCE. It isn’t demonstrated so much in words, as it is in actions, execution, and people. My very first tour of Greater IBM in Second Life proved this point (If you've not yet visited, check it out on YouTube). Since then as I’ve watched and Debbe Dae (my avatar) has experienced its many innovations come to life through the mastery of its IBM creators --- in every way, the EXCELLENCE speaks for itself.

In reflection, the notion of EXCELLENCE was center stage in my leadership career with IBM. My mentors over the years clearly exemplified this belief in their work, lives and overall successes. Funny, as I’ve visited and gotten involved at the Greater IBM Connection, I’ve thought of many who inspired me. They helped me, by their example, see the difference between mediocrity and EXCELLENCE. While watching them, I observed that building a reputation for EXCELLENCE eliminates questions, opens doors, brings opportunities, and adds an element of integrity to one’s work and leadership that others notice and customers want.

A NEW KIND OF EXCELLENCE FOR A NEW TIME
New Questions to Consider... What do you think?
Whether you are new to IBM, seasoned, spent a long time or just a brief time, it seems collectively we have found ourselves at the threshold of a great opportunity to demonstrate a new kind of EXCELLENCE right here as part of the Greater IBM Community. A highly respected customer executive told me one time that leadership has a Germanic origin, meaning to “find a new path.” This seems to be the calling for all who show up here. The question waiting to be more fully answered is how will we come together across generations, cultures, differences and distance to contribute to a new kind of EXCELLENCE at a new time in history with all the talent showing up from every corner of the world?  What do you think about it?

What does excellence mean to you?

What possibilities do you see in what we could do together?

What makes you want to be part of it?

As I ponder these questions more myself, I hope you’ll share your thoughts. Make a connection.
Stop to say hello.

Best...
Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Contributing Author
Greater IBM Connection
Founder, President & CEO
Global Dialogue Center and Leadership Solutions Companies
IBMer 1970 - 1991
Los Angeles; Anchorage; Seattle; San Francisco

Hello again from NYC

Though I haven’t posted a new entry in a couple of weeks, it definitely doesn’t mean that living and working in NYC has become boring. Not at all. There have been three major highlights that I’d like to share with you:

I co-hosted the German Welcome Call for new German-speaking members of the Greater IBM Connection together with Sandor Barany, Greater IBM moderator from Vienna, where we organized a Web and phone conference and introduced the participants to the different functionalities of Xing and showed them what the Greater IBM Connection offers them and how they can benefit most from our community. The attendees from Austria, Switzerland and Germany participated actively and gave us very positive feedback at the end of the call, I am already looking forward to the next one this month.

The next – completely different – highlight was a weekend at my friend’s place in Poughkeepsie, which is also in the state of New York, but where you feel like you have travelled to another country! After having spent several weeks in this lively, crowded and never-sleeping city, it was amazing to see that just 1.5 hours north of here, you can find such a beautiful and peaceful landscape near to the Hudson River. For the non-Americans amongst you, I have also added a picture of the fair we visited there – unbelievable: all you can see is food, food and again: food! :-)

Thirdly, I’d like to share a few great impressions of the city with you. I took these pictures from the top of the Empire State Building, where you have got an amazing view of all NYC with its many parks, bridges, skyscrapers etc. The city is especially impressive at night.

Finally, I can announce the first event I’m organizing all by myself. On Sunday, September 30^th, the Greater IBM Connection will host current and former IBM interns living in the greater New York Cityarea for an intern Meet-up at the New York City Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). As several (former) interns have already responded back to me and told me that they would participate, I am really excited about this afternoon at the Museum and the get-together at a bar afterwards will be a great opportunity to get to know each other and exchange ideas and experiences. Please make sure to check out the podcast we will post in the Greater IBM Connection Web site about this event.

Kind regards from New York,

Mona Lisa

New York, New York - Sightseeing, the first THINK Forum and American peculiarities

As I promised, here is my second blog entry from NYC. A lot has happened since my arrival, even though that was not even 3 weeks ago! So here are my personal highlights of the first few weeks:

First of all – I have already found myself a nice new place to live in. As the first apartment I lived in was very remote and the neighbourhood not too appealing, I managed to visit several places all over New York City (some different ones in Brooklyn and also one in Union City, New Jersey, from where you’ve got an amazing view onto the Manhattan skyline) and decided to move into a lovely place in downtown Brooklyn which I share with two incredibly nice American roommates.

Secondly, I didn’t have to wait very long for my first real highlight inside IBM. Last Friday, the Greater IBM Connection organized its very first so called THINKForum – which itself already was a very interesting event, because Ted Childs (www.tedchilds.com), a greater IBMer who is renown as the top diversity expert on planet and his successor at IBM, Ron Glover, Vice President Global Workforce Diversity – HR,  discussed the impact of diversity on business success. One exciting thing about the event was the fact, that groups of Greater IBMers in Bangalore and Vienna were connected to the discussion via web and phone conferences, while they sat together in IBM locations and could ask questions to the guest speakers and participate.

 

 

Ted Childs (left) and Ron Glover

Moreover, the event took place in Armonk, where the Corporate Headquarters of IBM are located. Therefore, Flor and I went to Armonk and I was allowed to visit the headquarters for the first time in my life – which was really impressive! Especially because I expected them to be extremely different: just seconds before we arrived there, I was afraid that the taxi driver got lost (again ;-)) because we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of many, many trees, forests, lakes and nature reservations – AND three different buildings labelled with the three letters I, B and M J By the way, a funny coincident was, that one of my German coop colleagues, Maik Kelpin, works as an intern in Armonk right now and we met there. Well, sometimes the world seems to be just like a village!

After having enjoyed the first weekend mostly in the beautiful parks of the city, Karina Jankowski, who is a German coop student as well and interns at IBM Poughkeepsie at the moment, visited me last weekend and we finally discovered the city as tourists and tried to do as much sightseeing as possible within two days. We walked a lot(!) and visited many of the famous attractions, as you can see from the impressions I’m sharing with you in the pictures below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday afternoon we were even able to see the Broadway play “A chorus line” – can you believe that you can get Broadway tickets for $25, if you know WHERE and WHEN to buy them?! ;-)

        By the way, another exciting coincidence is that both of us are going to deal with projects within Second Life during our internships at IBM here in the US, so that we will be able to support each other in the next few months. Talking about work – I don’t think I’ll get bored until November, seems like my list of tasks is growing and growing. So I’m allowed to help organize events for the Greater IBM Connection, design a career centre in Second Life and support the team with their daily business. By the way, I’m thinking about organizing a nice get-together myself with all current or former IBM interns in the New York City area before autumn… any ideas or suggestions?! Let me know!

Alright, as a little conclusion after the first three weeks, I’d like to share some of my most “interesting” observations here in NYC with the non-New Yorkers amongst you:

• a cheese cake in the USA can exist of up to 90% chocolate or even more

• New York is a crazy city to live in, there are so many free concerts and theatres in all the different parks all around the week

• never try to meet a particular person at Times Square at 11pm on a Saturday evening

• it’s definitely true: this city never sleeps

• if you walk around and don’t see more than 3 Starbucks cafés within 10 minutes, you must be outside New York already

• never ask in a supermarket, if they offer a certain product in SMALLER packages than those huge family sizes you usually get, unless you want the staff to know that it is your first week over here
  

Best regards,
Mona Lisa