It's HARD to Break the Marketing Mold

Yesterday a friend who is starting an Oracle blog emailed me her first post. I won’t share it here, but it a was well-written piece of marketing copy about an industry analyst report. Here’s my reply to her:

It's good, of course, but I think it's off the mark.

I think your posts need to add value right off the bat and need to ENGAGE something that’s out there on the Web or at an event, or something that’s happening here at campus.

For example, what is [our competitor] saying about the analyst numbers and how can you set the record straight?

Or how are these numbers reflected in the moves that Oracle is making? Do they mean that we can scale up developers and do stuff that others can’t? Are there some examples, such as a hiring binge in India or China or here? Are we using our market share advantage to pump out database options that no one else has the resources to build and is there someone from one of those teams that has a blog you can reference?

Other ideas for posts: Is there a new database learning event out there and is there a blog post about it you can link to? Did someone from Oracle just go to the TDWI conference and give a talk or learn something new and blog about it? Or can you link to their abstract and tell people where to learn more?

Is someone you know planning something interesting (that we can talk about) at OpenWorld: an interesting session topic, or an off-site event; something “inside” that you can show people? This is the kind of stuff you should lead with. This is the kind of stuff that will engage people in the blog.

What do you think?

It's hard to break away from the official marketing voice that we've learned over the years and speak directly to people. I applaud my friend for making the first step.
- Jeff

Where I'm Going with Web Video

Socialrank.com has a good example on their home page of where I'm going Web video at Oracle. Click on the move below "Introducing Discovery Engine..." and you will see a way to bring some enjoyment to you and your visitor while solidly making your point. This is the quality I'm driving towards with shows like One Minute Oracle.

Of course Web video is also good for spur-of-the-moment broadcasting and we'll see a lot of that at OpenWorld, including some from me.

How Quickly Can You Construct a Video?

In the Brand and Creative group we’re experimenting with iMovie as a storytelling tool that allows you to bring real human beings into your technology reporting. So while on staycation last week, I experimented with how quickly one could use iMovie to create videos. The following one, shot on a short Mt. bike ride from the coast into Big Basin park, took me about a half hour to construct after I had pulled in the video from our Flip video. IMovie 08 makes is easy to choose scenes, add transitions and titles. I “shared” the movie at the highest quality and then uploaded the 17MB file to YouTube. BTW, this is a great little ride; Waddell Beach to Berry Creek Falls.

One Minute Oracle

Over the last couple of months, I’ve turned up the intensity on my search for a way to improve the content I get from my Technology beat here at Oracle. The search has been driven by a simple question: shouldn’t a person who has researched, interviewed, and written about a technology for three years be able to produce something original and unique about that technology?

I decided to write short scripts that distill a technology to its essence and film a video about it.

The result is One Minute Oracle, a series of short YouTube videos created with Apple iMovie and Apple Keynote. My first attempt is about Certified Fusion Middleware for Oracle Application. Does that not mean much to you? It will in a minute (and 26 seconds).

Ace Adventures - Dan Morgan

I’m trying to decide what was the best part of PSOUG’s Oracle Days event up in Seattle last week. Was it hearing an advocate of IBM Z series fire back, quite convincingly, at IBM’s blade server rivals? Was it getting a serious lesson in data storage by Pillar Data Systems as they introduced the Axiom 600? No, the best part would have to be riding to Microsoft in Dan Morgan’s Jaguar to shoot clandestine video for our upcoming Oracle Magazine story and video podcast.

As we were driving, Morgan, second in command at the Puget Sound Oracle User’s Group, discussed the benefits of being an Oracle Ace Director. “It doesn’t lead directly to money,” he said. But it does, he said, come with interesting speaking opportunities, such as upcoming engagements that Oracle booked for him in Finland and, I think, Bulgaria. And it does lead indirectly to money.

When Morgan, a teacher of database technology in University of Washington's continuing education program, does do consulting gigs being an ACE Director can help land the job. “”When I walk into a client who is also talking to a global giant like Accenture, I simply ask if the firm is going to put someone on their account who is recognized by Oracle as one of the top people on the planet who really, really knows his stuff,” he said. “So in that way, I guess it does lead to money.”

Take a look at Morgan’s library and you will see one reason he’s an Oracle Ace Director. Also check out the other resources on the PSOUG Website and you’ll see just how good a resources a regional user group can be.

Dev Day Afternoon

I stopped by the OTN Developer Day event at Oracle headquarters last week and brought my camera. I found everyone getting their hands dirty in the new Fusion development environment and generally having a good time. Want proof? Here's a little promo I shot while there:

Now, Make It Sing: Bringing BEA Content to Oracle.com

As the tech editor I’ve been part of the evolving Middleware section of Oracle.com as the BEA and Oracle marketing folks hammered out a strategy and then turned it into Web pages. I agree with the Wall Street Journal, that Oracle does indeed understand how to to manage an acquisition. An interesting side of that is the participation of former BEA people in the process. As the July 1st Webcast approached I got emails at midnight and 5 a.m. as BEA people polished up the message to match the new strategy; a strategy that saw some of their beloved technology take center stage, some get parted out to other technologies, and some get parked in maintenance mode. Here’s a little guide to BEA Oracle.com:

If you read just one page, read this.
If you want to see where most of the BEA content went: Check out this page, and look under:
Application Server
Grid Infrastructure
Data Integration
Enterprise 2.0 and Portals
Event-Driven Architecture
SOA Governance
Service-Oriented Architecture

Thanks to all the BEA and Oracle marketing people who crafted this new content and made my job easy.