Know thy Dynamics HashTags!

Understanding how to navigate the social landscape is a vital skill that help one stay on top of the latest news for Microsoft Dynamics, and further be a contributor to the community at large. Events like the upcoming Convergence 2013, being held in New Orleans can seem overwhelming, in trying to digest all the great news & happenings while there. Further, for those not able to attend, but wanting to learn as much as possible - navigating the social landscape is a must!



To help weed through the information, and further avoid things like "social saturation" understanding HashTag's that are used within the Microsoft Dynamics Community is a must! Enter Jon Rivers latest post on this topic.: 2013 #HASHTAG PREDICTIONS FOR MICROSOFT DYNAMICS ARE HERE!



You may recall Jon & Mark Polino's efforts in helping customers and partners entering into the social fray, with their joint authored book.: Social Media for Microsoft Dynamics Partners.



Jon continues his mastery of the social arts, with giving us a heads up for this years HashTag index. It's ever so important to understand the value of such HashTag's as #Conv13, #AXUGSummit and many more. Doing so, as I mentioned above, will give one the ability to stay on top of the information most important to you. Further, if your going to contribute to the ever growing community at large, then having the right HashTag's used associated with your efforts if vital.

I will say, sometimes there is a battle for HashTag dominance. Where competing events, or community actually land on using the same tag. I bring to mind the great battle when Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 was launched, and the same time the Anime Expo 2012 conference was being targeted. I believe the Dynamics Community won out right the use of #AX2012. However, this battle is far from over as we approach the year 2015. I predict, once again the Dynamics Community will face off against the Anime Expo crowd, when #AX2015 is the focus for the year 2015 and the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2015.

Going back more to the serious side of this social skill set, Jon's efforts within the community are always helpful. With his post, we all have a quick reference to the HashTag's that should be targeted and used. Further, Jon will avoid *ME* direct messaging him, asking "Jon, what is the HashTag for [Insert event here]."

Many thanks Jon for all the efforts you do for the Dynamics Community at large. There should be an MVP Award from Microsoft that allows Jon to be awarded for his efforts across all the Dynamics Products, including his focus on mastering the social landscape.

That's all for this post, I hope that each and everyone of you have a great weekend, and find yourself being productive in our Dynamics World. Check back soon as more Dynamics & BI coverage to come. Further, as we approach Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2013, keep an eye here for total coverage, interviews and more! Till Next Time!
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"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

Understanding the Value of Social Media for the Dynamics Ecosystem

I wanted to take the time today, and talk to you about the Value of Social Media for the Dynamics Ecosystem. This by far, is such a powerful force, in helping shape information, in enabling others to learn, and that truly makes the Ecosystem itself very Dynamic.

Social Media, by nature is about organic growth. The idea, is you share information, through blogs, tweets, and the like, to and ever changing, hopefully growing base of users.

When first starting out, it's typically a produce, with many consumers, and little actual interaction. However, as you grow in your social media aspects, that turns more and more into an interactive, collective experience.

To illustrate this point, take for example a topic in which Microsoft itself is talking about. They launch a blog entry, and then the Ecosystem can pick it up and run with it. I may take and create a few blog posts that dig deeper, or ask questions, with my own answers. In turn, other fellow bloggers, could link into my post, and the Microsoft one, and have their own knowledge added to the mix.

These are all shared, and continue to grow, as well as interaction with the reader base, as they leave comments, re-tweet, etc. It's very much then a Dynamic process that continues on, and on.

To this end, Microsoft Partners, Independent Consultants as well as Customers themselves, need to understand the power of social media. In understanding it, it can then become a powerful tool, to help brand yourself, or mined from a customers point of view to gain knowledge that applies to them.

At this point, I would like to share a recent eBook that two of my peers created. Mark Polino and Jon Rivers created an eBook together, that focuses on Social Media for Microsoft Dynamics Partners.



This is a very great book for any partner, or someone working for a partner, that wants to increase their understanding of how best to use social media tools for branding.

It's a nice little read, and has some real good resources, and real life information, from some lessons learned through these two Dynamics Social Media Pro's. I recommend checking it out for yourself, and seeing how it can help launch you, into a larger, ever Dynamic, ever growing Social Media landscape that exists within the Dynamics Ecosystem.

Many thanks to Mark and Jon! That's all for this post, however check back soon as a whole lot more to come.

Till next time!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"

PartnerCompete Spotlight and How Not to Annoy Your Consultants

Let me first say I love PartnerCompete, which can be found here.: www.PartnerCompete.com. It is very informative, and targeted at Microsoft Dynamics Partners.

You have to pay to be a member, and I am a "news" member, which means they send me emails, for recaps on recent story's and publishing that have taking place on their site. This site is a must to check out for any Partner that lives and works in the Microsoft Dynamics Ecosystem.

Now with that splotlight said, an area I cover a lot with this blog is actually focused around Microsoft Partners. A lot of the technical post, can be both partners and customer focus, but still I have a lot of content that is focused around partners. One thing that caught my eye, fromt he Recent PartnerCompete newsletter, was this "The Death of Reason" blog.

The top entry right now, actually caught my eye, as it's focused on Partners, specifically consultants that work for, and are a part of Microsoft Partner companies.

The direct link to the blog post I am talking about, can be found here.: How Not to Annoy Your Consultants

The author of this post, is a fellow Dynamics Blogger - Mark Polino, who focuses mostly on the Dynamics GP brand. He recently joined the "Death to Reason" blog, and I believe he has some great insights.

The basis for this blog post he did, was around the book called.: Making Things Happen by Scott Berkun.



In this post, Mark goes on to have Ch. 10 of this book really catch his eyes, in which he believes the topics apply to Consultants for a Microsoft Partner Company. This is a really good list, and I believe Mark is really speaking for the Mind and Heart on this one.

One section, which is just great, can be seen here.:
Waste a consultant’s time

"A consultant’s time is precious, they know exactly what it’s worth. It appears on a bill every week. Most consultants I know only have two types of time, billable and family. Anything that wastes either of those is really annoying. When consultants have to over document because management is over protective, it’s annoying. When there are flip flops on important decisions its annoying. When poor management decisions lead to rework and wasted time, it’s annoying. When consultants have their time wasted in unnecessary meetings, it’s annoying."

I love the fact, that the time split up is so true and to the point. We are either billable or family time marked, that's the split. :-)

The summarized list from his post, can be found here.:

• Assume a consultant is an idiot


• Don’t trust a consultant


• Waste a consultant’s time


• Manage Consultants without respect


• Make consultants listen to or read stupid things

I highly recommend you read the post in full, and I have never read that book, so I will be downloading it to my iPad for reading later.

I want to leave with Answering Mark's question, in that.: "Can your firm say the same thing about your consultants?"

His question was the fact that his current employer, I.B.I.S treats him with respect, and is not one of those firms that fits into the "bad" partner category.

Now let me answer Marks questions with a big, and bold YES! And that yes to to Sunrise Technologies, (www.sunriseconsult.com). Like Mark, I have worked for and with some bad Microsoft Partners. I will not name, names, however there are some out there. That have sales people who will flat out lie, and then place everything on the implementation team to "make true", in order to salvage a failed project, which failed before is even started. Also these same partners don't treat their company, which is made up of the people / consultants, correctly.

I have seen some of these "bad" partners goes away, and some still around somehow. The bottomline however, when I found Sunrise, I finally felt like I was a part of it. Sunrise is not just a company that employees me. It's My Company! Now granted John Pence is the actual owner, but I treat it as if I own it. And the people that make it up, our my work family.

There is always ups and down, but we strive to be honest, kind, and focused on our customers. I see this every day I work as a part of Sunrise, and I have to be honest, it's the first company I have ever been apart of. The rest, I was just employed.

Thanks again Mark for a great post, and look back here, as more post coming soon!

"Visit the Dynamics AX Community Page today!"