During a recent course I took at the MIT Sloan School of Management, I had a chance to meet Professor Eric von Hippel. Professor von Hippel, who leads the school’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group, had some interesting things to say about how the Web, particularly Web 2.0, will change the face of innovation.

The notion that I really liked the most was that users have always been the real developers of many of the new products that manufacturers produce. This is evident in the field of sports, for example the first skateboard. But now users are increasingly engaging in collaborative innovation – enabled by the Web. This collaborative user innovation has higher efficiency than traditional in-house product development by producers. As a result, some firms are abandoning aspects of their in-house development activities in favor of becoming publishers of innovations developed by user communities! Check out our podcast …

Innovation in a Web 2.0 world, a podcast with Professor Eric von Hippel

About Eric von Hippel

Eric von Hippel is a professor and head of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He specializes in research related to the nature and economics of distributed and open innovation. He also develops and teaches about practical methods that firms can use to improve their product and service development processes.

Democratizing Innovation (free book download)

The Sources of Innovation (free book download)

I met Tom Pick through my blog when he identified me as an emerging blogger with good content on B2B marketing and decided to link to me. When Robert Lesser and I put out our survey to identify which Web 2.0 tools are most popular with B2B marketers, Tom was one of our first responders.

I asked Tom about his experiences with Web 2.0 and what his clients are asking him for. I wanted to get a sense of how on-target our survey results were compared to his experiences, as well as elicit some best practices in using Web 2.0 tools to share with you. Enjoy …

B2B Marketing with Web 2.0 tools, a podcast with Tom Pick

About Tom

Tom Pick is a marketing and PR executive with more than 15 years’ experience in the technology industry. Previous to his work as a B2B marketing communications, product marketing and Web marketing consultant, Tom was director of corporate communications at reinsurance intermediary Collins Associates. There he was responsible for developing and implementing an integrated marketing strategy that included media relations, Web marketing, sales collateral and event marketing programs. Under his plan, the company increased website traffic by 400% and tripled its press coverage.

Prior to joining Collins, Tom spent nine years with the manufacturing software company SoftBrands (formerly Fourth Shift), managing trade shows, analyst relations, PR and Web marketing. As director of Americas marketing, he led a team that successfully launched two new products while producing a 50% year-over-year increase in qualified leads for a mature product in a consolidating market.

Tom has authored numerous articles on Web marketing and social networking for various publications, and he writes the award-winning WebMarketCentral blog.

I met Maggie Fox through Social Media Today, a collective we belong to. She offered to do a Social Media Success Story podcast with me, so I hope this is one of many such stories to come!

Maggie is working on a phased social media strategy for Yamaha Motor. She just completed a detailed analysis of Phase I, including what her company, Social Media Group, calls “engagement metrics.” (The engagement metrics for Yamaha Motor are double those of the “most popular” community in the same space). In this podcast, Maggie discusses this work and provides a really cool anecdote about how Yamaha Motor successfully connected with an influencer who’s active in a competitor’s community. Enjoy …

Social Media Success Story podcast with Maggie Fox – Yamaha Motor

About Maggie

Maggie Fox, a communications and content expert who has never met a medium she didn’t like, is the founder of Social Media Group, Canada’s first agency devoted exclusively to helping business navigate the world of Web 2.0.

Over the course of her career, Maggie has marketed, written and produced television and website content for companies like CHUM Limited, the Global Television Network, Do it Best, Deloitte, Sears and Disney. A longtime blogger (and dot-bomb survivor), she’s currently putting her unique experience to work for firms that want to engage their internal and external audiences through social media.

Please visit Maggie at www.socialmediagroup.ca for more info or join in the conversation on Social Media Today at www.socialmediatoday.com

As director of business development for KnowledgeStorm, Matt Lohman identifies new channels for marketing and helps clients leverage those channels. Which is why Web 2.0 makes a great addition to KnowledgeStorm’s existing toolbox for B2B marketers.

I had a chance to interview Matt along with Robert Lesser, president of Direct Impact Marketing. Robert and I wanted to better understand what B2B marketers are asking for and how our survey of Web 2.0 tools stacks up as a resource. Enjoy …

Matt Lohman of KnowledgeStorm discusses Web 2.0 Tools on a podcast

About Matt

Matt is director of business development at KnowledgeStorm, Inc. He is responsible for KnowledgeStorm’s content licensing and partnership deals, new sales channel development, and market research efforts. His specialties are online content partnerships within B2B business and IT media, sales channel development, and market research. Matt recently has focused on creating thought leadership that explores topics relating to online content and emerging media such as podcasts and blogs.