Good morning again, everyone. We're back for the second category of The 2006 Greenies, the Hot Souls awards to actual people in the CRM industry. Just a reminder for those of you who were in the restroom when we gave out the first category for vendors and integrators - the Corporate Winners, there are criteria for these awards. First, I have to know them in some way - either have some sort of relationship with them or know of them. Second there have to have been two sources of unsolicited "they're great" comments to me about them. Key there is UNSOLICITED. Meaning it was volunteered to me without my prompting or a discussion particularly about the person other than in passing. Without those two comments, eligibility is not going to be there. Second, These people have to be human - they can't be implementations, software, companies or services. They have to be live persons. Actual sentient beings who live and breathe. Zombies, of whom I've met a few, are NOT eligible for this. I find it incredibly and somewhat deliciously ironic that other than the CRM Magazine "Influencers" Awards, which I have grave issues with as to how they choose, though they make some good choices every now and then, there are no awards in CRM given to humans. Even the CRM Magazine Awards are given to what they call "industry influences" and often they go to people who no one has ever heard of as a general rule (those of us within the industry that is) or people who are seriously disliked. Well, the Greenies, being what they are, are for those who are beloved for their goodness as people. Last weeks awards went to Senior Executives who were and are high up the corporate chain and somehow remain utterly beloved. This week is for the independents - which means the non-vendor/integrator community in CRM that has people who are on their own or work for small companies that are seriously employee-limited.
This can include such folks as:
- analysts
- journalists
- small company owners - in this case, it can be someone who is preeminent in a small (1-10 or so persons) company
- partners - this is part of the category that will include a pair of folks that are so joined at the hip that they are seen as a team - they can be a married couple, or just two business partners - but their presence is as an independent force
- Anyone else I damn well want to put in this.
Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Envelope Is Being Lasered Open....
Okay, folks, this is the big moment and I'm going to preface it - being a blabby New Yorker so consider this just my style. There are going to be two subcategories here. Individuals and Teams/Couples. There are three winners in the Dynamic Duos category (only 2 mentioned) and 3 winners in the Individual. Remember...I need to know or know of them and there has to be two unsolicited endorsements of them in the last two years or so - since that's about as far back as my memory works.
The Dynamic Duos Greenies Go To...
Brent Leary and Michael Thomas - My my. The accolades just keep piling up for these two and deservedly so. They are the co-owners of CRM Essentials and have been exceptionally active in the CRM community. They are not just exceptionally active, but they are exceptional people. Their business focuses around CRM for minorities and small business - not just because they see it as a revenue generating opportunity but because they also have a strong sense of social justice - and they are the ONLY ones in that niche and the ONLY ones who have done something about it. They are both great guys and significant presences in CRM. Michael also plays the role of the President of the CRM Association and Brent is on the Board of Directors of the same. They are the two driving the activity as volunteers - neither get money - for the CRM Association simply because they believe in its importance. You need a helping hand, you call Michael or Brent and you get that helping hand. They are great human beings with good senses of humor and a sense of social justice - a lot of cool senses there. That's why they are one of the recipients of the CRM Independent Team/Couple Award category Greenies. Sense of social justice + sense of humor + sense of decency = The Greenie. Oh, yeah, and Brent runs a well-regarded blog that I highly recommend you read that has a cleverly disguised name: Brent's Blog
Velimir and Ana Srica - Did you read my blog entries on Croatia last year? If not go here and here and you will be enlightened. You might notice I mentioned Velimir and Ana Srica in those entries. These two were my hosts and the creators of the first conference on CRM ever done - in conjunction with the publication of the first native language Crotian CRM book "Upravaljanje Odnosom's Klijentima" (CRM in Croatian), written by Velimir Srica. He and Ana are the principals in a Croatian consulting company that specializes in business management strategic services. Velimir's biography is one of the most distinguished I've ever run across. Take a look at just some of it.
BBA, MS, MBA, PhD is professor of management, University of Zagreb and visiting associate professor at UCLA, Los Angeles. CEO of the Croatian Institute for Informatics, Minister of Science and member of Government of Croatia (1986-1990). Also he vas elected President of Zagreb City Assembly (2001). He was a visiting professor in China, Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Austria. He is author of 36 books (some translated to several languages) and over 300 articles. His international awards include Fullbright and Eisenhower fellowship, Golden Pen from the Croatian Journalist Society as well as Strossmayer Award for Science. He is Program Director of DELFIN, a leading management development firm in Central-Eastern Europe. As a consultant he has worked with numerous multinational and regional companies (Coca Cola, Ericsson Tesla, Banca Intesa, Crosco, INA, Krka, KD Group, Gorenje, SRC.SI, LURA, PBZ, FINA, Kraš, Nexe Group, Uljanik and Nova Ljubljanska Banka). Other publications include a collection of poetry entitled Various games and a novel Private investigations.
That's just part of it. Ana is the organizational glue - a beautiful brilliant woman who has a heart a mile wide. That heart thing is perhaps what I see the most in Velimir and Ana - regardless of the other distinguished accolades. They are warm, kind humans who have helped countless people over the years who work together extraordinarily well as a team in doing that. Not only were they gracious - in fact, unimaginably wonderful - hosts for me in Croatia, but what I heard of them from others at the conference attended by about 160 people - all of whom ran companies or were important in Eastern European business circles - and all of whom had warm memories as one of Velimir's students (about 120 of them!! :-)) or of the kindness of Ana or of the level of hospitality provided. In fact, a brief story and you'll understand why they are a Greenie Winner lock.
I mentioned at some point in my speech that I love hugging and kissing people but that CRM is a business strategy. At the end of the speech, Velimir comes up to me in front of the whole audience gives me a huge hug and says, "well, you said that you loved hugs!!" with a big grin on his face. I, of course, hugged him right back and I count Ana and he among my favorite people and dear friends and because of the good they do for people and individuals - another Greenie Award winner.
Anonymous for Now - I actually have another couple/team that I want to give the award to but it will have to wait until next week because I need to ask their permission - due to the cultural differences that I have to be sensitive to. I'll let you know at the time if they are wiling or I won't say a thing.
The Sole Practitioner Greenies Go To....
Denis Pombriant - This one was a no brainer. Denis is not only one of the pre-eminent analysts in the CRM world, but a significant thought leader, and, most important to the Greenies - an all around good person who is liked overwhelmingly by all who come into contact with him. Take my word for this - this is HIGHLY unusual for an analyst. Most people don't like the analysts that much - though there are a few I would personally vouch for. The industry thinking is that the analysts are necessary evils that you have to deal with - but wouldn't if you didn't have to. So someone like Denis, who is not only a great thought leader - the man who identified salesforce.com as a "disruptive innovation" but he is is a good person with an eye to great small companies who have a future in CRM. For that, you should see his WizKids annual report where he chooses those companies. He's also seen as a great companiion, a bud, a real person who is not pretentious in any way and in fact is a lot of fun to be around. He likes people a lot more than companies or things. He is a voracious griller and has the grill going year round entertaining friends and colleagues. He throws his support to the people he likes because....because.....because....he LIKES them!! Not because he sees some big financial opportunity. Most of the WizKids companies are not Fortune 500,000, much less Fortune 500 but he always sees possibility in the little guy - be it the company or the person. That is worthy of a Greenie without a doubt.
Mei Lin Fung - Mei Lin Fung is an elite sweetheart and a well deserved award winner. She is an original member of the Oracle team that germinated CRM. She is one of the pioneers of the popularization of customer lifetime value in CRM. She is a member of a leading family in Singapore and truly loves the country. She has distinguished academic credentials and has a long history as a thinker and researcher. But, of course, that isn't Greenie winner criteria. Why she won a Greenie is because of her acute sense of justice, poltiical trust and faith in the institutions of good government, and her love of people and enthusiasm and willingness to put her time and money where her love is. Everytime I speak with her there are twenty or thirty students who have made a trek from Asia to Palo Alto and have done something with Mei Lin that is meaningful to their at-this-stage-of-their-lives fragile futures. When I was in Singapore in January, I was at her house with a number of people, among them, what else, students who she had already had an impact on - and these were some of Singapore's best and brightest. But there is more than just that. In the interest of love of her native country she has been working with the Singaporean government for years on her own time with her own dollars to make the institutions of government there work better for people in that country. In other words, she is a true lover of people and country - and those are good things for a Greenie Award.
Jeff Tanner - Dr. John Tanner is the Associate Dean of Research & Faculty Development at Baylor University. He is also the man with the thankless task of handling an underfunded but highly significant MBA program that provides a CRM specialty - unique in the U.S. to my knowledge. He is also an accomplished author who has written or co-authored 11 books - one which is the greatest selling textbook in the world on - selling and is titled - voo dan? (Yiddish for "What else?) - SELLING. He is a partner with me in BPT Partners (check out the third letter). (It stands for Training...Hah...Maybe...). He loves horses, owns thoroughbreds, knows everything there is to know about horses and the history of horse racing. He has an amazing family with a great spouse and great kids with brains and athletic talent. Best of all, he is a terrific person that has students who have been successful in CRM and still calll him Dr. Tanner 10 years later - as a sign of respect, (though, I, of course, see it as a sign of age). His student and peers in academia and business love this guy. He goes out of his way to make his students both comfortable in their own young skins and smartens 'em up in the bargain. A true thoroughbred on two legs (though don't bet on him in the Derby. He's too slow), Jeff wins the fifth and final independent Greenie.
That's It For Tonight (Da, Da, Dah, Dah, Dah, Dah, DAH, da)
Okay, everyone, one more category that will be next weeks Greenies. The Underappreciated. Same criteria apply. These will be those who are executive assistants, or lower rungs of management or just toiling in a relatively anonymous role, perhaps overshadowed, perhaps just wanting to do what they do without fanfare. Well, tough luck. I think there are some extraordinary great folks out there who just need to get that fanfare and next week they will.
Now to commercial break. We'll be right back.
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