MPC Community to LAUNCH!!!!

We are in shock & awe!  We are actually going to launch our new community to 5000 of our customers starting August 29th through September 1st.

Ali has been spearheading the training to all the sales teams & individuals with great success.   Of course there are always the typical comments of “it is just bad timing” & “I don’t want my customers talking to each other, they might say bad things!”  Well, if they are saying bad things, it is probably already happening, people don’t tend to bottle up issues like that.  We will now have a place to hear the conversations & act on them when needed.  I loved what Angela said yesterday…”it is time to knock down the walls & start communicating with our customers in a way that has never been done before at MPC.” 

Considering we are the last computer manufacturer to launch a community site, we are positive & hopeful of the success of the site.  Customers have been asking for one for almost 3 years now & the fact that we can finally deliver this to them with enthusiasm, I feel very confident in saying this is going to be a great moment in MPC history.

whoo hoooo!
-jen

Project on hold

Just wanted to post out there that the Lithium project is on hold.  I have been told until January 2009, but you never know, someone might bring it back to life next month.

We have other “2.0″ tools happening, more in the form of new PR strategy, which seem to be getting really great feedback.  Hopefully we can expand on that success & get MPC more “social” on the web.

Social Media is not a trend & it is vital for a company…just as email is today.  I hope that there will be enough outside education on this subject with-in the decision makers spheres (not just me) which will lead to a sense of urgency to get back on track.

 

MPC Community Update

Well our site is 89% there!  We need to launch it internally first (goal: Friday 5/23/08) tweak it, mold it, learn it & then we would like to release it to our initial test group of customers by the end of June.

The site is very “thin”, as per the suggestion of Lithium.  I initially had it stacked w/layers of categories, threads & questions to get the customer “started”…but they said the best model is to have it very raw and let it take it’s direction from the users, the customers.

I am very anxious for the educational opportunities internally to help spread the Social Media love with an actual example!  My last education on the site (see link to slideshare.com) I had some great response & enthusiasm mostly from the folder of “it’s about time”. 

 

Deadllines & Timelines

I love timelines, deadlines & the persuit of an end project (notice I didn’t say the “G” word…more on my aversion to that word later).

I understand hick-ups happen & we can easily adjust.  Angela & I have both agreed that we are in love with the proocess, not the timeline.  (ok, she never said “love”, that would just be me).

Our timeline to launch our community is off by about 10 days…but we are ok with that.  We really want to make sure that everyone is informed & educated as to what we are doing & how/why this customer community is going to work. Everyone is getting educated and will be educated again before we launch to our selected customers (our 5K).

No worries, no fretting…we want to make this right.  I love and thrive on deadlines (I actually do my best work when pressured with time…hellooooo my fellow adult ADD firends!)

Will keep you posted!
-jen