In The Biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, it talked about a meeting Steve Jobs had with President Obama. Jobs was quoted saying, '“You’re headed for a one-term presidency,” Jobs told Obama at the outset. To prevent that, he said, the administration needed to be a lot more business-friendly. He described how easy it was to build a factory in China, and said that it was almost impossible to do so these days in America, largely because of regulations and unnecessary costs.' 

It was clear in tonight's State of the Union address that this particular conversation weighed on President Obama's mind, as he addressed it directly. In the Address, President Obama talked about solutions to fix our current American manufacturing processes. He mentioned possibilities such as reducing taxes for companies willing to manufacture in America, and making it more expensive for companies that chose to manufacture overseas. I argue that this is not enough though, perhaps not even necessary, as in an era of technology and brilliant minds technology itself will replace the need for offshore manufacturing.


Silicon Angle has a great post about "The Era of the Physible", a take on a new category of the file sharing website, Pirate Bay, that shares 3D designs for printers that can print objects in 3D. In it they discuss the future of 3D printing, and how we are getting near the real possibility of Star Trek-like "replicators", which can manufacture just about anything you can imagine.

I believe the future of manufacturing is in these devices. I think we are just years away from replacing entire factory lines with simple, polymer ink-based printers not much bigger than the printer that prints on paper in your own house. Here's the best part: each of these "factory-in-a-box" devices will be in every home in America. (They're already on their way in simple forms - see Cubify for example)

I predict, in the not too distant future, not only will you be able to shop, buy, and order phones, devices, and gadgets online (most likely through a mobile device if current trends have their way), but you'll also be able to print those devices out, right in your home, just like you do a piece of paper right now. That's right - the future of manufacturing exists in the homes of every single American, and every person in the world. We won't need those offshore factories in the future! It's an industry that, just like the automotive industry, just like just about any mechanical, human-powered industry, is quickly being replaced by computers!

Apple's meticulous about its manufacturing processes. Steve Jobs instilled a culture where even the factories of Apple themselves were decorated in pristine white design, beautiful, well-functioning processes that got things out quick. With Apple's focus on end-to-end solutions and control over the entire process, Apple could very well move in this direction.

Over the last several years, as we've seen Social Media grow and mature within organizations, I've been in a bit of a struggle as I've tried to define my role at each organization. As a software developer and entrepreneur interested in product design and growth, I've been forced into this world of marketing, a world where developers typically avoid. I've grown to enjoy it, and I think I've gotten quite good at it - so much that I now see myself as a sort of bridge between marketing and technology. You'll notice that, as the tag line of this blog often changes as I try to define what I do. It's a gap not many cover. Yet I still can't help wonder if my struggle is because my expertise is one that is not yet properly embraced by organizations.

My expertise - a mix of product management and design, marketing, understanding of software development and what it's capable of, and a user experience centered around social interactions between people - is one that a typical marketer just won't be very good at. At the same time, other roles I fill and I think I've gotten good at - Facebook Page and Social Media Account management, social advertising, social media campaign management, are roles the typical product manager or software developer will understand. I've come to think that there is a need for a new executive-level role at organizations where a focus on social within the product can be fully embraced. I'm going to call this role the Social Product Strategist, and it should be at the same level as Social Marketing Strategist (formerly called just, "Social Strategist").

The Problem with our Current State of Enterprise Social Media


One of my favorite bloggers around the role of social media in enterprise is Jeremiah Owyang, a partner at Altimeter Group, who specializes in research in the way large corporations embrace social media. In his writings he discusses the role of Social Strategist within organizations, and the structure an organization should build around social media. They suggest a Hub and Spoke model, where a hub around social media, lead by the corporate social strategist, helps lead individual "spokes" within departments of an organization. This role of Social Media strategist is also likely to fade back into the organization, likely into a marketing department. I love their focus on this effort - I've embraced it in many of my efforts.

That statement around Social Media fading into a marketing department has always bugged me about the role of social media strategist though. I've always seen a strong importance around product and social media in the organizations I work with, and the need to integrate social deeply into the products I work with. Things like finding ways to embrace Facebook and Twitter to bring a user's friends into the experiences that are being built. I think social media is much more than just adding "like" and "share" buttons on a site, and should have an even more important focus around determining what your existing "social network" is, and embracing that for each user using your product. This needs someone that understands social design. It needs someone who understands product design, social APIs, and what can be done with them. I don't think this is a marketing role. It fits more in the product, or technology arm of an organization, if even that.


Defining the Role of Social Product Strategist

On Thursday Altimeter Group released a report, titled "A Strategy for Managing Social Media Proliferation", on the state of social media strategy in global corporations with over 1,000 employees. The report is quite telling, suggesting that most organizations in this category simply aren't properly aligning business values with social media strategy and lack the proper tools to manage their social presence online. As one of the Domain Experts considered in the report, I thought I'd chime in.

No surprise to me, the report suggests that from their sample of 144 Enterprise-class corporations, organizations of this caliber typically manage an average of 178 total social media accounts online. Managing such a presence, it is quite a challenge in such a large organization to gain a hold, properly inventory, set proper education, and provide all the right tools to manage so many social presences.

From my perspective, there are 2 ways to solve this problem:

1. Simplify your presence online and instead facilitate, and outsource to community that is passionate about your brand and can help spread further knowledge about your product or message.
2. Improve the tools for members of your organization, simplifying the process of Social Media Management and educate employees on the proper use of these tools.

Disneyland (and Disney California Adventure) cannot be experienced in a single day. The industry standard is at least 3 days, 3 long days. Between rides, shows, parades, and shopping, it is hard to know where to begin and what to skip when time starts running short. Choosing a top 10 list was almost impossible. After three fun-filled but long days at Disneyland and Disney California Adventures, I had each member of our family name their favorite two rides (with no repeats). Here is our list of the best of the best:

This is a re-post from my more personal blog, Stay N Faithful. I thought due to the timeliness, it was worth sharing this bit of my life with you as well. Please enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

As I finish up the night, stockings all hung, presents wrapped and under the tree, I can't help but reflect back on all the traditions my family has participated in over the years. Christmas, in my family, is about tradition, family, and loving one another as we reflect on all the years we have spent with each other.

In my childhood, we all had stockings, made from patterns from my grandmother that my Mom made. My Dad even had his own stocking, made by his grandmother that he would hang alongside ours. We didn't have much money growing up, so we'd spend Christmas Eve usually as a family, some times going over to someone else's Christmas party and others just enjoying time with each other. We'd always, as Christians, read Luke Chapter 2 and eventually our traditions wound up with us opening up one gift from a sibling that night. I'd then have a sleepless night pretending to sleep when I really couldn't, wishing the night could go faster.

As I got older and even though I knew, in my heart, that Santa Claus wasn't real, the Spirit of Santa Claus was still there, and I still secretly wanted him to be real. I'd imagine all night long, what if my parents themselves had just stopped believing in Santa but he really did come? Yet I still wasn't quite sure how all the presents got there in the morning. I also enjoyed adding to the mystique and happiness, the story of Santa Claus brought onto my younger brothers and sisters faces and enjoyed keeping the story alive for them. Even today I enjoy playing Santa and keeping the story alive in my children's lives, with "visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads." I think the Ballet, "The Nutcracker" sums up that fantasy well - it's the essence of what being a child is all about, and again goes back to traditions, and remembering our childhoods as we grow old and how innocent we were.

As a child, on Christmas day we would wake up, usually way too early waiting for the designated time our parents set to wake them up and open up presents. By that time I usually had scoped out approximately what Santa had laid out for us at night and was eager to open the new presents. Our Mom would always make us eat a full breakfast so all the candy from Santa didn't spoil our meals, and we'd get at least something healthy that morning (even if it was sugar cereal, as we usually enjoyed). For Christmas dinner, we would usually have a ham, some times turkey. After spending time with our new toys and presents, we'd often go see a movie or go do something special together as a family. For us, Christmas really was about family.

Now that I'm older, I find similar traditions permeating my own family into the lives of my wife and kids. Every year we visit my in-laws (my parents live all the way in Boston so we don't see them as often as we would like). We open presents from the in-laws, have dinner, and spend time with my wife's parents and siblings.

We then spend Christmas Eve as a family. Just as a child, we read Luke Chapter 2, and this year we even watched an amazing presentation of Luke Chapter 2 set in ancient Israel produced on the iPad (very few words - really amazing! Go check it out now!) by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think this itself will become a new tradition for our family.



We then finish the night with a piano recital by each of my kids (they are taught piano by my wife, who plays beautifully), a trumpet solo by me, and a beautiful piano solo from my wife. We end the performance with a couple songs we sing with each other and top it off with "Silent Night." We have a family prayer and everyone rushes to bed, trying to beat NORAD's Santa tracker on Google to when Santa is supposed to arrive.

Then begins the present wrapping and visit by Santa. As we're wrapping presents, my wife and I enjoy watching traditional Christmas shows. Some times we watch "A Christmas Story", with its own portrayal of tradition and youth from the view of a child. Other times we watch midnight mass, enjoying the ancient Catholic tradition that goes back to early days of Christianity and the spirit that is felt there.

Lately I find myself watching a production of my Grandpa's, "Mr. Krueger's Christmas". This new tradition shows the view from an old, lonely man (played by Jimmy Stewart), and his own desire to get the most out of Christmas, despite his lonely circumstances. I like it because it makes me think about others that could be like him in the world, and those that may not have family with them to celebrate these traditions each year.



Even as I write this, I'm starting a new tradition. In the background I'm playing back-to-back episodes of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's "Music and the Spoken Word" Christmas specials. This has become near and dear to my heart lately as I've had a few opportunities to help out the choir in their social media efforts.

I think Mr. Krueger said it best when he said the purpose of Christmas was to love one another. As a Christian, our tradition is that Christ himself suggested the same. In fact, as I reflect on Christmas traditions and going back to my own childhood, I can't help but remember Christ's own direction, "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Even Christ himself, who in our tradition is the Savior of mankind, came to the world as a child, and asked us all to reflect on that.

May you all remember your own childhood traditions as you go about this Christmas. My hope is that, believer or not, we can all take the Spirit of Christmas to heart, becoming as little children just as Jesus Christ did in Luke Chapter 2, as my own family reads every year. I believe there is much to be learned from each others' traditions, and hope me sharing mine can help instill a little tradition into each of your own lives this Christmas.

May you all have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year this season, and may you all experience wonderful traditions in your lives.  Hopefully the videos shared in this post give you more to think about this season of giving, and reflecting back on our own childhoods and traditions.

With many of us hitting the road and the skies during the next week, here are a few common sense tips to make traveling a little easier.

Tip #1--Check the Weather

This should be obvious, but many of us get so locked into our plans we forget to take the weather into consideration. One memorable year, an uncle of mine insisted on leaving as scheduled despite a severe storm. The consequence--he was stranded on a shutdown 1-80 in Wyoming. He ultimately made it home a day late--same as if he had waited until the storm was over before leaving. If flying, make sure to check before you leave for the airport and keep in mind that layovers can be problematic because of weather delays.

I'm no stranger to the power of social networks. I have 3 books on Facebook and 1 on Google+, and have built an entire business around Twitter. So far, the majority of my current career is built around bringing attention to people and brands through social media (of course, while making them more personable).

As a result, I've built what some consider to be a considerable audience in the process. When I speak, there's a good chance people hear. When I share, people of all types receive, comment, and share my posts, many that I've never met. This comes at a cost though. Now I have to think twice when sharing pictures of my kids. I have to think carefully the personal, religious, or political posts I want to share, or when I just have a thought I want to get out of my mind. To be honest, I can't really share "me" as much as I like. That's why when Path recently did a Pivot towards being a "smart journal", I listened, and boy do I feel at home!

When I first started using social networks like Twitter, and eventually Facebook when they allowed people to post status updates (yes, Twitter offered that first, technically), I used them as a journal. Twitter, for quite some time, was a way for me to let my wife know what I was doing. I even used it to share the birth of my 4th child to my family. As someone who keeps a journal, but doesn't have the opportunity to update quite often enough, I found these sites a great way to keep an archive of my life, 140 characters or so at a time.

Unfortunately I've lost the ability to do that though. Facebook and Google+ have lists and privacy controls so I can target updates to lists of close friends and family, which I use, but I find there's a barrier there that makes me have to think of just one more step, one more learning curve, to allow me to share my most personal updates with my close friends and family. That's where Path comes in.

Path -- The Smart Journal for Your Life

Path, originally just a photo sharing app for the iPhone, has rebranded to become a journal for your life. There's one caveat though: it only allows up to 150 friends. This makes you think - "before I accept this friend request, do I really know this person?" or, "Am I okay with this person receiving my most personal updates?" With Path, I don't have to think twice before posting - I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what I'm about to post will only be seen by the people I want to see it, so it's much easier to share.

On Path, nothing is public. Nothing is visible to "everyone". Everything on Path is limited to your personal, real friends network. That's what makes it powerful! It's actually what Facebook originally intended to be!

Path Makes Your Journal Automatic

Path isn't just about sharing though. There are really simple ways to share photos, with Instagram-like filters (even premium ones you can buy!). There are ways to share really short videos of what's happening around you, and even filters for that. You can attach a location or friends that are with you. It's very feature-rich! Path is much more than that though.

Path focuses on automating your life's activities. As you travel from place to place and open the app, it notes the cities and the areas you're in (you can turn this off if you're uncomfortable with it). As I traveled from Salt Lake City to Anaheim to go to Disneyland, it noted that automatically for me. You can note when you sleep, and when you wake, and it will automatically notify your friends and yourself the temperature and weather outside when you wake up. It will also tell you how much you're sleeping. They're even rumored to be working on solutions to integrate devices like Fitbit to automatically track your health, sleeping habits, without any interaction from you.

Path Integrates Into Your Private Circles


I've know Dave Morin, founder of Path, since he was at Facebook and was one of the key players to launch Facebook's developer platform to the world (which in turn likely made Facebook the powerhouse it is today). He knows the power of integration. The cool thing about Path is that when you share outside of Path, it doesn't just share to the world. It uses Facebook's privacy settings to only share with the people that are in your Path friends list. This means only they will see it on Facebook.

I can anticipate many other integration points in the future - there is all kinds of information they could be learning from your various social profiles around the web and adding to your Path journal automatically for you. Imagine photos from Facebook getting added automatically for you, or places you visit being added automatically. Or what about Foursquare checkins? Who knows what they could add in the future - I'm excited to see what happens!

If you're looking for some peace and quiet in the world of public social media; If you're looking for a place you can feel much more secure about what you're sharing online; If you're looking for a way to journal your life, and share with your most intimate friends and family, go check out Path right now. I see a bright future for Path, and it will only take you home!

Path is available for iPhone and Android devices. Go download it and give it a try. If you know me look me up!