Blink: Xintiandi
If you are heading to Shanghai, be sure to pay a visit to Xintiandi. Shanghai is dominated by stunning architecture – normally big and tall. Xintiandi is a rework on the outdoor shopping mall popping up all over the US. But with stunning restaurants and food.
Moving On
Today I announced that I’m moving on from what has been an incredible three years at Sun. When I joined the Company I was handed a huge challenge and together with the team we stepped up to it. All of them – from media and analyst relations through events, marcomm and Diana on the web – can take a lot of credit for helping all those connected to Sun understand that the turnaround is afoot and that Sun is back.
I want to thank all my team – Sun-side and agency-side – for all your support and friendship over the past three years (about ten years in the real world :-). Your kind words over the past day mean a huge amount to me. I am immensely proud of all we’ve done together and the perceptual change we’ve been able to drive in the market. The real story will be told by you as you shine a light on Sun’s successes – and what the new Sun stands for. We’ve built an amazing foundation on which that story can now be told. You are an immensely talented group and I’m certain you will continue to build on our successes and momentum. Take care of each other – I’m proud to have been able to work with you all.
This wasn’t a decision I made lightly. I have huge respect for Scott (and all of Sun’s leadership team) and believe Sun is back on offense, so the time is right for me to make my next move.
This is undoubtedly one of the most exciting times to be a communicator. A confluence of technologies – from blogs and podcasting to wikis and digital media – are radically changing marketing, supply chains and how buyers/consumers make decisions. The web is a platform that is changing forever the way communications occurs (citizens as journalists, commentators and pundits is the earliest sign of this change). New communities of influence are emerging.
It’s also a huge time of personal change for me as Kristen and I look forward to the arrival of a baby girl in April.
So now you’ve got a hint as to where my head is heading… Keep an eye on my blog for announcements.
I’ll also pen a longer note in the coming weeks on my time at Sun and some of the things I learnt. It’s an incredible company staffed and led by some of the brightest minds on earth. It’s a company with the right strategy, and the right leadership – all at the right time. Ok – so not everyone gets this but as the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
Kia Kaha!
Network Computing Vision Is Very Real…
We often talk about our vision at Sun of everything and everyone connected to the network. Or, in a word, Network Computing
– actually, that’s two words but whatever… Fortune’s Peter Lewis captures this brilliantly in the latest issue. Hung Song, vice president of business development at Samsung, is quoted in the story … broadband goes where he goes …
“On the drive home from work at 9 or 10 p.m., says Song, a tall, thin in-line-skating enthusiast, he uses the phone to check traffic. Because phone carriers can track the location of his third-generation (3G) phone to within a few meters, he has access to a location-based service that monitors real-time road reports and displays alternative routes around traffic jams. (The system also lets him call up a map showing the location of his children, who carry location-based mobile phones too.) If Song gets stuck in traffic anyway, he can always use the handset to watch television news, or go over his next day’s appointments, or download music (Koreans spend more on downloaded music than they do on audio CDs). More likely, though, he’ll do his banking or log on to his computer at the office to check e-mail. As Song drives his Renault Samsung sedan across the Yeongdong bridge, over the broad Hangang River that bisects Seoul, his phone buzzes as nearby restaurants automatically send text messages offering discounts to tempt him to dinner. Some restaurants even let him pay his tab by beaming a code from his handset to a scanner and punching in a PIN number.
“My life has changed” because of broadband, says Song, especially because of his mobile handset. “It’s essential to my daily business and my personal life. Even in the office I have instant access to almost any information or service without having to sit at my desk. I don’t have a checkbook anymore because I don’t need one. I can pay bills with my mobile phone.”
Ok – so that’s what Network Computing is all about….
