re "If I thought for one second... Would it though? Really!"
The web is a big place, Jake. You've done a great job here on this site, and you've built a reputation and gathered a bunch of respect. This is a nice home you've built for yourself, and you've thrown open the door to lots of visitors, but IBM's got a much bigger house. They've got some open doors, too. You should pay them a visit.
I can name BPs whose ideas expressed in the Partner Forum have gotten them invitations to talk directly to the developers in Westford. I can name features that were first suggested in the Partner Forum -- by me -- that have made it into Domino Designer.
Am I telling you that joining PartnerWorld and the PartnerForum would guarantee that you get everything you want? Of course not. But I am telling you... promising you even to the extent that anyone outside of IBM can... that you _will_ know more about IBM's direction, and you _will_ have a greater chance of influencing it if you do so. Yeah, some of your ideas will still fall on the floor. In some cases IBM will say "yeah, that would be great, but it ain't gonna happen". But some of your ideas might just be accepted because they're good and right. Some others might be subjected to questions about customer interest, and accepted only if you can help IBM understand how it serves their financial interests... but it won't just be you answering the questions from IBM. Other BPs that IBM knows, other BPs with customers who could use your feature, might add their voices to yours for a particular feature request, and that can help build some momentum for your ideas.
Momentum is necessary. IBM gets loads of great ideas and requests from customers and partners and developers, and there are a few hundred bloggers out here contributing their own ideas, too. Momentum develops a lot better when people collaborate to build it, and that will happen a lot more readily -- and a lot more visibly to the people who matter -- if the collaboration happens in one place instead of being scattered around the web, here in your house, over in Steve's, in mine, and all the other houses/blogs that are out there.
So, believe it or don't. All I've got is my own experience to share with you, and all I'm doing is trying to help you find a way to have a stronger voice with IBM.
re "If I thought for one second... Would it though? Really!"
The web is a big place, Jake. You've done a great job here on this site, and you've built a reputation and gathered a bunch of respect. This is a nice home you've built for yourself, and you've thrown open the door to lots of visitors, but IBM's got a much bigger house. They've got some open doors, too. You should pay them a visit.
I can name BPs whose ideas expressed in the Partner Forum have gotten them invitations to talk directly to the developers in Westford. I can name features that were first suggested in the Partner Forum -- by me -- that have made it into Domino Designer.
Am I telling you that joining PartnerWorld and the PartnerForum would guarantee that you get everything you want? Of course not. But I am telling you... promising you even to the extent that anyone outside of IBM can... that you _will_ know more about IBM's direction, and you _will_ have a greater chance of influencing it if you do so. Yeah, some of your ideas will still fall on the floor. In some cases IBM will say "yeah, that would be great, but it ain't gonna happen". But some of your ideas might just be accepted because they're good and right. Some others might be subjected to questions about customer interest, and accepted only if you can help IBM understand how it serves their financial interests... but it won't just be you answering the questions from IBM. Other BPs that IBM knows, other BPs with customers who could use your feature, might add their voices to yours for a particular feature request, and that can help build some momentum for your ideas.
Momentum is necessary. IBM gets loads of great ideas and requests from customers and partners and developers, and there are a few hundred bloggers out here contributing their own ideas, too. Momentum develops a lot better when people collaborate to build it, and that will happen a lot more readily -- and a lot more visibly to the people who matter -- if the collaboration happens in one place instead of being scattered around the web, here in your house, over in Steve's, in mine, and all the other houses/blogs that are out there.
So, believe it or don't. All I've got is my own experience to share with you, and all I'm doing is trying to help you find a way to have a stronger voice with IBM.