kmstrategicconsulting.com Blog

February 26, 2010

“Please Rob Me”

Filed under: Privacy, Security, Web — Tags: , , , — Administrator @ 2:19 pm

I recently read an article about a new site that shows the whereabouts of people that post their locations on Twitter via Foursquare, then re-formats that info into a new page, and calls it “PleaseRobMe.com.” The point of this site, according to the site’s co-founder, is to raise awareness of online privacy, since “people are sharing too much online without even realizing it.” Now, I think that online privacy is a huge issue today. With botnets running rampant and malware and spyware causing all kinds of havoc for years and years (believe me, I know) – the advent of regulations like HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act) were created to protect people from all kinds of information getting out on the Internet without their consent.

But really now, “Please Rob Me?” It sounds like the same type of over-reaction that was around when the old “Out of Office” urban legend that caused some people to eschew setting their out of office email assistant for fear that “robbers” would target their homes if they got an email auto-reply like this:

“Thanks for your message. I am currently out of the office traveling on business in Asia. I will return in on April 2.”

And then, since the “robbers” know that you are out of the country, they then casually head to your home and clean you out since you can’t do a thing about it. Of course, the author of this out of office reply couldn’t be smart enough to have a home security system, could they? Or have a friend watch their house?

I know the good folks at “PleaseRobMe.com” mean well, but what is their real intent? Well, on the site today (Feb 26) the following note was posted:

“We at Forthehack have been thinking about how we want to continue pleaserobme.com. It has received a lot of attention and it’s time for a next step. We want to offer this website to a professional foundation, agency or company that focuses on raising awareness, helping people understand and provide answers to online privacy related issues.

If you’re such a foundation, agency or company, contact us.”

I see what they are trying to do, but it looks more like they are trying to get people to stop using Foursquare. My point behind this is that there are better ways to go about what they are doing. Maybe check out privacyrights.org and see if they have an opinion on what Foursquare is becoming.  Maybe there’s an opportunity for the home security folks to brand each Foursquare posting with a “Protected by” seal. ;-)

What do you think?

l, on the site t

January 20, 2010

The Maiden Voyage

Filed under: Uncategorized — Administrator @ 4:11 pm

After leaving my job at Symantec in September 2009, I got busy – took my wife to France, started teaching and playing drums again, upgraded my home music studio to accommodate playing and teaching, got endorsed by a stick company, and set off to determine my next business venture (in addition to the hundreds of “Honey-do’s” my wife had built up over the years). If you’re reading this, then you know that KMSC is that venture. I started KM Strategic Consulting (KMSC) to work in high-tech at my own pace. My job at Symantec was a major burn-out and I had hit the wall with the leadership team. So, how can I do what I love (and happen to be good at) and retain my self esteem? Consult.

Frankly, my network of industry folks was spreading out a lot – I know folks at McAfee, Webroot, Sophos, Trend Micro…the list goes on – and I found it difficult to keep in touch with them while competing with them. So now I get to work, play and network with a broader set of people than before.

So what am I “consulting” on? (i.e., what can I help you with?)

The last 6-8 years of my career I did go-to-market plans. That’s basically the “recipe” for how to succeed in the market. When I got good at doing them all by myself, they gave me a team of people to help execute them and to then write their own. I became the big “overseer” of go-to-market plans, and then reported out to the leadership team on how things were going. As a team, we got really good at big launches – major product or “initiative” releases that we made lots of noise about in the market. My favorite day-to-day activity was brainstorming on marketing strategy – a little like chess. When a competitor did something, would we counter? Could we do something to preempt a likely competitor action?

Those were the fun times. The not-so-fun times were when we had to go begging for money to fund our programs. Sound familiar?   We had responsibility for the strategy, but no direct control over the funding. Is that wacky, or what?

My expertise is strategy – I like to help companies of all sizes decide what to do next. What areas to invest in, what areas to divest. What approach to take to enter a new market, or re-position an existing product. Or expand existing routes-to-market – all challenging and fun stuff.

So if you are reading this and have marketing strategy challenges, give us a try. I say “us” but for now, it’s just me, the “KM” behind KM Strategic Consulting.

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