Any port in a swarm: Teams take cover as bees delay Baseball game

Online WhiteBoards (OWB) aka collaborative whiteboards are a new class of web tool, which let remote users interact over the web in real-time using a shared virtual whiteboard. I have reviewed 5 of them and believe, that whilst they are not yet fully mature, OWBs could become valuable support tools for virtual brainstorming or open innovation activities.

Swarms 101 is a short interactive web-based presentation which introduces the basic concept of a Swarm, the key Swarm characteristics (Open v Closed, Star v Peer...) and how Swarms can be combined into powerful "Swarm Communities" through the ability to exist in mulltiple swarms (as Swarm Owner and/or Swarm Users). Includes examples of Swarm Communities in Music, Brands and Public Health.

A few years back I developed a simulation to expose key dilemmas in the incubation stage of Virtual Enterprise Networks. I used a powerful simulation-building tool called ithink from Isee, the newest version of which now allows deployment of simulations over the web. So I just republished the VEN simulation for free on www.bioteams.com.

Swarmteams is about to launch a major new software version offering a 1-stop shop for anyone who needs to engage and empower key networks of customers, consumers, fans or supporters - over any and all channels.

NEWLY RELEASED 15-minute video of me (Ken Thompson) introducing the concepts of The Networked Enterprise (TNE) and Virtual Enterprise Network (VEN) at an event "Connecting Innovation" in Brighton (UK) organized by Use8 (The User Experience Society).

I recently had the privilege of being invited to speak to a NASA audience at their Research Centre in Langley (Virginia) on the topics of Bioteams and The Networked Enterprise. My talk was very nicely reported for NASA News by Jim Hodges.

About 18 months ago I listened to Andrew King give a fascinating lecture in London about his unpublished research into Baboon societies. Andrew explained how in the harsh environment of the Namib Desert dictatorship sometimes works better than democracy. Andrew's ground-breaking work has now been widely published and he kindly sent me some excellent links. There are many parallels with human teams, groups and communities!

Bizeazia have pulled together a number of my articles on Virtual Business Networks from www.bioteams.com into a neat 10-page guide within their Online Business Library of 700 articles. You can download it free here.

A bioteam is an organizational structure in which peers share power and responsibility and each member of the team is a both a leader and a follower. The structure is modeled after a fluid leadership structure found in nature....... read the full article from Whatis?com the IT encyclopedia and learning center.

Swarmteams (www.swarmteams.com), the Bioteams-based multi-channel group messaging system, is now ready to raise its first external investment. The Swarmteams executive team are looking for strategic investment partners (individuals and enterprises) who can add real value to the mission of turning crowds into communities.

I (Ken Thompson) spoke on the theme of The Networked Enterprise at an event "Connecting Innovation" organized by the University of Brighton and Use8 in Hove (UK) on 26 March. My full slide set is available here for download.

A unique reference card for printing on 2-sided A4 (Landscape) which folds into 6 sections - what a "bioteam" is, how to decide if a group needs bioteaming, the 5 bioteams zones with their beliefs/rules, 7 main bioteams techniques, 3 checklists, links to 2 free bioteams tools and links to key foundational material.
A must-have for all bioteams practitioners!

Alex Lin (CEO of ChinaValue Business New Media) has just conducted a major interview with me (Ken Thompson) where we explore in detail the concept of The Networked Enterprise for Chinavalue.net. Here are the full interviews in both English and Chinese.

I was delighted to speak on "Bioteams: Turning Audiences into Communities" to a lively audience in Brighton (UK) at an event "New Frontiers in Social Media" organised by Use8 - The User Experience Society. You can get a copy of my slides here.

David Wilcox (Social Reporter) chats with me (Ken Thompson (Bioteams)) on his video phone about how best to engage people, and whether you could "sell" them social media (knowing you can't really).