How was your summer?

As the newest member of Jive's executive team, I spent a good part of my summer Jiving with our incredible customers: a powerful, forward-thinking community that's leading the global shift toward a social business mandate. And I have to share an "ah-hah" moment I had from those conversations: our customers don't just work inside Jive, they love Jive! There's a passion for Jive unlike any other software solution I've been associated with.

And it's really showing up in the traction we're getting for our inaugural community conference: JiveWorld09. Registration is so strong, so early, that we'll most likely be ending registrations next week - a full month before the conference. I'm not complaining, mind you!  In the year of the "non-conference" I'm thrilled our customers are making an exception to tight travel budgets and taking time away from the office to join us in San Francisco.

I'm sure it helps that this not your run-of-the-mill conference around a run-of-the-mill product - and that this is the first opportunity you and your fellow Jivers have had a chance to come together. Just wait until you see who's going to be there: we have a jaw-dropping roster of Jive customers participating as speakers and panelists.

Working inside Jive takes a variety of forms, and we're holding a video contest to encourage our customers to share what it means personally to them and their organization to “Jive Together.” The results will be shown at JiveWorld09 as video mashups and, from what I've seen to date it's nothing short of amazing how innovative our customers are.

If you're still on the fence on attending - perhaps still sifting through a backlog of to do's from your summer - please do register sooner rather than later!

BTW, you may have seen the recent blog post that Jive's CEO - Dave Hersh - and his family are moving to the Bay Area. On behalf of the small (but energetic) group of Bay Area Jivers,we'd like to welcome Dave and his family to the Golden State. We look forward tohaving them - and their discretionary income - help us chip away at California's budget deficit.

As Jive's new CMO, I couldn't think of a better topic for my first blog post than to announce JiveWorld09, our inaugural community conference.

When I joined Jive, the team was assessing the potential of convening the Jive community for an in-person event. My initial reaction was excitement tinged with concern. After all, with travel budgets being slashed, 2009 appeared to be the year of the "non-conference".

But once I became a Jiver and delved more deeply into the company, I saw existing customers using Jive to push corporate performance to new limits, despite a brutal business climate. I also saw a jaw-dropping roster of new customers propelling our record growth and contributing valuable insights to the Social Business Software dialogue.

There's every reason to believe that Social Business Software is at a tipping point, which is why hosting this community conference this year makes absolute sense. It's our way of rewarding customers for their unwillingness to be complacent in the face of a precarious marketplace. The best way to thank you is to host a community conference designed to empower our customers to achieve even greater business outcomes.

That's why JiveWorld09 is anything but your run-of-the-mill conference. Sure, you'll hear from Jive, but only because we're focusing our presentations around arming you for success. But the main focus is on you and your fellow community members, who will share the stage with Jive equally if not moreso. Most important, JiveWorld09 is about creating and capitalizing on the energy that comes from being together with our customers. Learning, sharing, questioning, experimenting, discovering -- JiveWorld09 is where you'll do all of this and more -- together.

We recognize how much everyone is watching their budgets right now. We also recognize that you may need to "go the extra mile" for approval to attend. That's why we're pulling out all the stops to make participating not only worth it, but also affordable.

• We selected a city (San Francisco) that's home to many Jive customers. It also features an abundance of low-cost air options with new carriers serving both San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International airport.
  
• We selected an awesome property - the W Hotel San Francisco - and negotiated a great rate of only $195 a night.
  
• The second day of the conference wraps up just after lunch, so those of you flying from the central or east coasts can travel home without incurring an additional hotel night.
  
• We've also kept the conference fee low -- very low, we believe for the value you'll receive -- and are offering an unbelievable discount if you register by August 28.
• Plus, if you're selected as either a speaker or an award winner, we'll waive the conference fee (hint hint, apply for either -- or both!).

We're looking at every aspect of the conference agenda to ensure you leave armed with the information you need to inject Social Business Software at a more strategic level into your business. The timing is perfect, especially as many companies are moving into the planning cycle for 2010 and updating strategic plans to to not only survive, but to thrive, in the years ahead. And we're confident you'll Thrive on Jive. To register now or learn more, visit the JiveWorld09 site.

I'd love your ideas on how to make our inaugural JiveWorld a tremendous success, and look forward to seeing you in San Francisco.