More Post-MeeGo Musing: Community Echoes

Ever since Intel’s MeeGo-cedes-to-Tizen announcement, I’ve been in a slightly unfocused state.  It’s familiar territory– when Maemo was set aside by Nokia for MeeGo, there was the same quandary: what now?  Better yet, what next?

After a little over two years of scant free time, I’m finally working normal hours.  So that liberates me for more community engagement, aka the stuff I really love.  It also frees me up to think.  But looking back on the past 5 years of support for open source projects with great promise but ultimate abandonment, I’m left to wonder what to target. 

My Derailed Journey Back to Nokia

This is a highly personal post so for those whose eyes roll or minds reel at the thought, click past this one and I promise more juicy tech stuff next.

As regular readers know, I lost a great job with an awesome company in January of 2009.  As of this past Monday I started a challenging new role with what seems like another awesome company so far.  In between, I worked at something that didn’t work out while keeping an eye on Nokia opportunities the whole time.   

Why am I Excited about Nokia World 2011?

Today I was challenged to share my anticipation for the next instance of Nokia’s landmark celebration of mobile ingenuity.  So, what will it take to excite me in London on the 26th of October?

Something big.

As regular readers will recall, in May 2010 I asked if 2011 would be make or break for Nokia.  While hoping it wasn’t, I feared it just might be.  Pessimism wasn’t helped later when at least one analyst answered.

This has been an interesting year for the Finnish giant.  It started with a singularity, was punctuated by an Elopocalyptic big bang, and has since churned in an expanding universe of naysayers.  I’ve lately been concerned about Nokia’s universe contracting.  I can’t recall any companies cutting their way to success.

So I’m looking for a great big MAKE from Nokia World 2011!  I’m expecting rocking revelations.  Passion-fueling presentations.  News that assures us a fantastic rebound is closer than anyone dared hope.  Something that restores universal faith in a company I know still has what it takes to not just succeed but exceed.

I’m convinced that much of the recent quiet hints at just that big surprising something.  Bring it on, Nokia!

Maemo, MeeGo, Mango and Me

Ever since the February 11 2011 Nokia event cheekily tagged as #NoWin and known colloquially as The Elopocalypse, I’ve struggled to cover Nokia’s present and abandoned strategies here with equal care.  Don’t be misled by my attempts of objectivity over Linux and Microsoft activities, though– it hasn’t been easy.  I’ve been moderating an internal conflict between a growing invasion of open source love versus a legacy of Microsoft development experience combined with strong curiosity.  Neither side has a clear advantage over the other for me and therein lies a conundrum.

I could have very easily avoided the whole controversy at the start.  When I assumed responsibility for Maemo internet tablet quality in the North American market, I could have taken the easy route and stuck to the basics.  That meant developing test plans, training auditors and inspectors, hosting Finnish and Mexican product teams, and making sure CES 2007 was supplied on time with 200 pristine N800s.  Nothing more.

But no.  I’m a device nut.  An admitted hardware geek.  As I’ve shared many times, laying eyes on the Nokia 770 tablet changed everything for me.  It put what I saw then as the future in my hands, literally and figuratively.  I could not just treat this product line as I did the various and sundry cell phones I also touched.  I took tablets personally. 

What is the Future for Forum Nokia Champions?

Like many high-tech companies, Nokia’s success depends not only on its vast assembly of internal talent, but also on the numerous volunteer advocates and ambassadors of its solutions in the wild.  To that end, Nokia formalizes recognition of top volunteers with its Forum Nokia Champion program.  Since 2006, hundreds of hard-working community leaders have been awarded this 1-year designation… which brings with it free devices, training and occasional travel to events.

As I wrote recently, it was under these auspices that along with several others I recently enjoyed sponsored travel to Microsoft’s MIX11 conference.  This came as a virtue of Nokia and Microsoft’s new close partnership around Windows Phone 7.  It’s a given that Microsoft MVPs would be represented at a MIX event, but this was a first for Forum Nokia and travel arrangements were made almost at the last minute.  

LinkedIn: It’s not just for the unemployed

I joined the professional network LinkedIn early in its life, and immediately reached out to a handful of colleagues and former co-workers to get started.  And then essentially stopped.

Oddly enough I had been drawn to it as a tool for finding subject matter experts in our mammoth, matrixed company, but let it more or less idle afterward… until I needed to look for work again.  Fortunately during that period I found another opportunity at the same employer, and then again when more business changes occurred.  With no need to search, I linked out.

Until the third time turned out not to be a charm, and I was back amongst the ranks of the unemployed, desperate for any edge to separate me from an unusually high swelling sea of job seekers. 

Timezoned

I’ve touched on the subject of working hours before but wanted to expand a bit.  And yes, it’s not the usual technical fare but it does relate so bear with me.

I’ve been a little antsy lately, feeling some stress and anxiety.  I realized today that I’m just really at odds with some of the time-based expectations in my life.

I’ve never been chronologically conventional.  While the rest of the world seems to be on this 7 AM to 5 PM sort of schedule, my body has always been locked into more of a 10 AM to 2 AM sort of thing.  That doesn’t work well with, well, work.  Not the typical American way of working anyway.  But it does suit pathologically creative types, I’ve noticed. 

Nokia looking for Director of On-line Care

Hot on the heels of my article soliciting Nokia Care experiences (over N900 microUSB failures), a new posting showed up on Nokia’s jobs page seeking “Director – On-line Care-BUS0000003V“.  The description is as follows:

Responsible for the delivery of On-line Care Services, through all Nokia on-line media (Nokia.com, Ovi.com, mobi.com etc.).

Experience in managing global operations, off-shoring and vendor management.

Proven success in improving customer satisfaction, NPS, retention and revenue through on-line support services.

A minimum of 15 years experience in the field of web based support for complex products, services and applications.

Additionally responsible for Software Delivery Operations; delivery of device software updates through on-line (Nokia Software Updater) and over the air (FOTA).

An integral member of the Care Operations management team and the Nokia Digital Channels steering group.

Nokia’s content expert in the field of web based customer service.

The applicant will have the following experience and skills:

Strategic Thinker – able to see the big picture and develop a compelling vision of Nokia Care’s on-line services. Must have ability to turn that vision into a strategy and into actions and results.

Experience in leading complex,geographically diverse teams.

A deep understanding of web development and operations.

Combined with the challenge to me to gather N900 owner experiences, this leads to a reasonable assumption that Nokia has recognized room for improvement in its customer Care processes and is starting to take the necessary steps.

The position is intended for either Espoo, Finland or the United Kingdom.  For those interested, the listing can be found here: http://nokia.taleo.net/careersection/10120/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=691706

Nokia seeks Senior Product Manager for MeeGo

I’m going to start echoing job listings for projects and companies I am tracking, and that of course includes Ovi, MeeGo and mobile computing in general.  The category, for those wishing to follow via RSS, will be Employing Opportunity.

In that spirit, here’s an attractive one: “Senior Product Manager, MeeGo Operation-PRO00000031“.  The description is as follows:

MeeGo Devices is where Nokia builds mobile computers on Linux. We build leading-edge devices by combining the most powerful hardware and the best open source software technologies. Our ambition is to deliver a superior user experience dedicated for mobile computers with large touch-screens that fit into your pocket. Using agile development methods and engaging with open source communities define our new way of working. Our latest product is the Nokia N900 – a high-performance mobile computer with powerful multitasking capabilities, fantastic web browser, and a rich media experience. Get to know everything about MeeGo at http://www.meego.com

Besides strong personal charisma and ability to influence, success in this role requires excellent leadership skills, strong strategic thinking skills and excellent negotiation and communication skills. With more than 6 years of experience in similar R&D or product management functions already under your belt, you have a proven your ability to execute in a turbulent environment. We also expect you to have experience from Linux-based open source projects. Take your career to a totally new level by applying today!

As a Senior Product Manager in Nokia’s MeeGo.com operation you will be responsible for driving Nokia’s product and software platform agenda in the MeeGo SW platform creation with Nokia, Intel and the community. You will ensure competitiveness of the MeeGo SW platform in a setup where decision-making is essentially based on your ability to sell your ideas and capability to convince others of the benefits for the whole community, rather than on a formal organizational position. You will need to form a consolidated view of MeeGo building blocks and roadmap with the Nokia MeeGo Product Planning team and to agree on that with Intel representatives or other community members. Also, you will execute a set of front-end product processes (e.g. roadmap process) for steering and managing the development of the MeeGo software platform from Nokia’s perspective. You will report to Head of MeeGo Product Planning Operations.

If I were able to relocate and had just a bit more directly-relevant experience this is the sort of position I would target myself.  I’m sure that Nokia will have no trouble finding candidates.

The position is intended for Helsinki, Finland.  For those interested, the listing can be found here: http://nokia.taleo.net/careersection/10120/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=623606