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		<title>The Lucky One</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/11/the-lucky-one/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/11/the-lucky-one/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Becca Frasier</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[connected company]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[generation y]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social business careers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social networks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=89449</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today, I know I am lucky to be surrounded by a group of brilliant colleagues who understand—and innovate on—every facet of the social business. I am also lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Just as my parents eventually realized I wasn’t wasting time on my first social network, companies are overcoming their fear of social and are ready to take their relationships with customers to a new level. This shift can’t be attributed to luck. Luck is too dismissive. This is the natural progression of the business world, and we knew it would come sometime.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I’ve never considered myself to be an especially lucky person. I’m not unlucky, either; I simply get by with doing what feels right in the moment. This is precisely why I didn’t think twice about my actions when I sat down at my rickety dorm room desk and joined my first social network in the fall of 2000.</p>
<p>This decision seemed completely obvious. I was new to town and interested in independent music, so I naturally gravitated toward a site that existed to unite people within that particular subculture. I began meeting awesome people with whom I’m still great friends today, and the site played a substantial role in my everyday life. I was stoked to find my niche. My parents, and some peers, did not share my enthusiasm.</p>
<p>You see, social networking in the year 2000 was not looked upon like it is today. The closest thing to social networking prior to that time was online dating, and that carried a definite stigma. Most people thought I was crazy for putting my photo and personal information on display for the world to see. “You’re going to get a stalker,” they warned. A cynical few chided, “You’ll never have a legitimate connection with the friends you make.” I laughed because I knew they didn’t get it.</p>
<p>Two years later, a little site called Friendster started causing some buzz in the internet world. The next year, people abandoned Friendster for a more innovative and user-friendly site known as MySpace. Before I knew it, the connotation of social networking had totally changed. Facebook’s rise to prominence after 2006 sealed the deal. By 2010, everyone and their mom (seriously) was using a social network.</p>
<p>During the positive shift in the social landscape, I found my way to a career in this space. Just as I had to defend my decision to join my first social network back in 2000, I had to convince businesses that they had a lot to gain by establishing a presence on contemporary social networking sites. After years of being met with cynicism, something finally clicked. Businesses finally saw the value of social.</p>
<p>Today, I know I am lucky to be surrounded by a group of brilliant colleagues who understand—and innovate on—every facet of the social business. I am also lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Just as my parents eventually realized I wasn’t wasting time on my first social network, companies are overcoming their fear of social and are ready to take their relationships with customers to a new level. This shift can’t be attributed to luck. Luck is too dismissive. This is the natural progression of the business world, and we knew it would come sometime.</p>
<p>Now is our time. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to be a part of this. My roots run deep in social; my online activities have defined nearly all of my adult life. Every day, I get excited about going to work and making an impact on this space that I know so well.</p>
<p>My mother used to always tell me, “Chase what you love and everything will fall into place.” People participate in social media driven by personal interests; this characteristic is implicit to the success of social in recent years. All too often, people wind up in careers that have no alignment with their personal interests. But every once in a while, passions and professions perfectly align, and that is what I get to walk in to every morning. It’s enough to make me think I am a lucky person after all.</p>
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		<title>I, For One, Welcome our New Social Data Overlords</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/09/i-for-one-welcome-our-new-social-data-overlords/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/09/i-for-one-welcome-our-new-social-data-overlords/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:02:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Scrupski</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SBI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Business Index]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social data]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=84991</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The pressure to deliver results from media spend is probably more fierce than ever considering the fracturing of a traditional media landscape that was fairly easy to manipulate in the old days before the Internet and mobile technology. So fast forward to 2011 and a step towards answers in big data.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1507" style="margin: 5px;" title="spock" src="http://itsinsider.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/spock.png" alt="" width="200" height="240" />Historically, the trouble I&#8217;ve always had with social media was the precision deficit surrounding the interpretation of its influence.  It always seemed to me that if you could get, say, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Brogan">Chris Brogan</a> to talk about anything, you were successful with social media.  Okay, maybe that&#8217;s an exaggeration, and social media has really never been my area of expertise in the spectrum of all social business.  Readers of this blog know I focus more on the internal enterprise side of social business.  Because, well, it is more rational maybe?  See my coverage of my first <a href="http://itsinsider.com/2009/03/25/sxsw-through-the-enterprise-prism/">SXSW Interactive</a>.</p>
<p>BUT&#8230;</p>
<p>Before I got back into the technology sector in the 90s, I spent a solid few years in the Advertising business.  And not digital or online advertising (it didn&#8217;t exist yet). In the real Advertising (TV/Broadcast/Print) world. (With a capital A.)  Think of it as Mad Men for yuppies (late 80s).  I entered the ad world as an Account Executive on the IBM account. The agency I joined, <a href="http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/lord-geller-federico-einstein/98752/">LGFE</a>, was a boutique outfit, a part of <a href="http://www.jwt.com/content/3/jwt-new-york">JWT</a>.  We had 100% of the IBM business.  In 1980 dollars, we had a $160M annual media budget for IBM and it comprised the lion&#8217;s share of the agency’s billings.  The agency was best known for two things: 1. its <a href="http://adage.com/article/news/top-100-advertising-campaigns/62939/">launch of the IBM PC</a> and 2. its famous <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/19/business/6-top-ad-agency-officers-secede.html?scp=5&amp;sq=L.G.F.E.&amp;st=cse" target="_blank">Executive &#8220;breakaway&#8221;</a> which literally made Advertising history.  But those are great stories for another day.  Like most LGFE employees after the breakaway, I skedaddled my way down Madison Avenue to a new position with <a href="http://www.ogilvy.com/">Ogilvy &amp; Mather</a> where I helped teach our Creatives about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_wars">Unix operating system</a>.  Again, great stories for another day, another blog.  I just wanted to establish a little Mad Street Cred before I get to the heart of this post.</p>
<p>When I think about the burgeoning world of social media, I compare its trends and &#8220;findings&#8221; with what we were doing 30 years ago in Advertising. Even back then, for all the hoopla, big expense accounts, private limos, and 5-star hotels, Advertising was pretty serious stuff.  It was all about the numbers. (We all thanked the technology gods for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_1-2-3">Lotus 1-2-3</a>.)  Campaigns that strove to cultivate an emotional connection to a brand were paid for by executives who wanted to see stone cold returns on their investment.  And, I&#8217;m going way out on a limb here, after 30 years I&#8217;m pretty sure that hasn&#8217;t changed.  In fact, the pressure to deliver results from media spend is probably more fierce than ever considering the fracturing of a traditional media landscape that was fairly easy to manipulate in the old days before the Internet and mobile technology.</p>
<p>So fast forward to 2011. No, 2010.  <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/news/dachis-group-names-erik-huddleston-chief-technology-officer/">Erik Huddleston</a> joined Dachis Group as CTO. When Erik first arrived, I wasn&#8217;t sure what he was going to do. Get our wifi working in the office or something.  But, the next thing I knew, Erik was presenting at <a href="http://www.defragcon.com/2010/">Defrag</a>, whaaa? and young men in black tee shirts that said, &#8220;<a href="http://hadoop.apache.org/">Hadoop</a>&#8221; started skulking around the office.   I finally got briefed on what this little dream team was working on buried away in remote locations around the world, and I was kinda blown away.</p>
<p>A beginning step in that effort is <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/news/dachis-group-announces-public-launch-of-the-social-business-index/">announced today</a> for public consumption.  Erik&#8217;s team has built a platform that crunches hundreds of millions of data points in near real time to deliver a view on how social a given company is –  how they compare to their industry, their competitors – broken down as best in class by company, subsidiary, geography, department and brand. Culling from APIs, data buys, data partnerships, page scrapes, crowd-sourced data, company contributions, and our own internal data team, we now offer the Social Business Index (SBI) to anyone who wants to get a view into how your company&#8217;s brand is performing on the social web.  Over 100 leading companies participated in the early access program to get the data refined and help develop useful insights for its use.  The SBI offers insights for 26,000 brands from over 20,000 companies by analyzing over 100 million social accounts world wide, and hundreds of millions of other sources.</p>
<p>Again, the SBI is simply a lightweight lens on a massive platform that is compiling ground-breaking social data analytics and analysis.  The SBI is free for the companies covered and anyone can sign up to see how your brand is doing at <a href="http://socialbusinessindex.com/" target="_blank">www.socialbusinessindex.com</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://itsinsider.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Social-Business-Index.png"><img class="size-large wp-image-1512 alignleft" style="margin: 5px;" title="Social Business Index" src="http://itsinsider.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Social-Business-Index-828x1024.png" alt="" width="397" height="491" /></a><br />
This first effort is just a taste of what is coming.  Big data will yield something that has been inconveniently missing in marketing on a <em>large scale</em>: evidence-based marketing with business outcomes correlated to measurable metrics. Internet marketers have done a great job with what&#8217;s known as performance marketing, but with the advent of big data, marketing spend can be targeted with much greater precision and brands can engage meaningfully in near real time. In fact, interactive advertising has finally matched broadcast TV spend.  <a href="http://blogs.forrester.com/shar_vanboskirk/11-08-24-interactive_marketing_spend_will_near_77_billion_by_2016">Forrester recently reported</a> that, &#8220;By 2016, advertisers will spend $77 billion on interactive marketing – as much as they do on television today.&#8221;</p>
<div>
<p>This post is a departure from what I typically cover regarding the Enterprise 2.0 sector, but I&#8217;m extremely excited about this work.  On the road map is deep analysis into workforce/partner/supplier engagement, so the relevance for the enterprise is huge.  Even having this type of brand intelligence will impact internal operations in many ways.  Agile companies who can react quickly, will be competitive winners in their categories.</p>
<p>If Dachis Group is known <strong>only</strong> for its BSD (Big Social Data), then I am totally cool with that.  Being first to market with real ROI on social is sweet, and will go far to relegate the buzzfest of <a href="http://www.briansolis.com/2011/08/the-end-of-social-media-1-0/" target="_blank">social media 1.0</a> to the history books.</p>
</div>
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		<title>I Am An Optimist</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/09/i-am-an-optimist/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/09/i-am-an-optimist/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:15:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Dachis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Dachis]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=83935</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I'm an optimist.

Almost 27 years ago, I moved to New York City, hungry to make my way in the city that never sleeps.  The energy, people, and opportunities New York City provided seemed endless at the time and I was determined to make that city <em>my city</em>.

I was young, dumb and lucky enough to think that the world was going to change right there, right in front of me and think that I could have an impact on that change.

Turned out, the world did change in front of me...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since 911 we&#8217;re still livin&#8217;<br />
And lovin&#8217; life we&#8217;ve been given<br />
Ain&#8217;t nothing gonna take that away from us<br />
Were lookin&#8217; pretty and gritty &#8217;cause in the city we trust</p>
<p>Dear New York, I know a lot has changed<br />
2 Towers down, but you&#8217;re still in the game<br />
Home to many, rejecting no one<br />
Accepting people of all places, wherever they&#8217;re from</p>
<p>Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten<br />
From the Battery to the top of Manhattan<br />
Asian, Middle-Eastern and Latin<br />
Black, White, New York you make it happen</p>
<p><em>An Open Letter to NYC &#8211; </em><strong>The Beastie Boys</strong></p>
<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-83943 alignleft" title="Jeff 5" src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Jeff-5-205x300.jpg" alt="" width="205" height="300" /><br />
I&#8217;m an optimist.</p>
<p>Almost 27 years ago, I moved to New York City, hungry to make my way in the city that never sleeps.  The energy, people, and opportunities New York City provided seemed endless at the time and I was determined to make that city <em>my city</em>.</p>
<p>I was young, dumb and lucky enough to think that the world was going to change right there, right in front of me and think that I could have an impact on that change.</p>
<p>Turned out, the world did change in front of me&#8230;</p>
<p>In the early/mid 1990&#8242;s, the technology landscape began to shift, the fragmented media and telecommunication market began to embrace digital and the internet, and the largest shift in the communication landscape in the history of mankind was underway.  That&#8217;s another story for another time.</p>
<p>With that shift, the turn of the millennium was so filled with the hope and desire that the future was going to bring wonderful, amazing things to the world.  I remember being so excited about the possibilities for life and the future.</p>
<p>Yet strangely, as the euphoria of the year 2000 barely began to fade, the excesses of the previous several years turned optimism and hope into betrayal and fear&#8230;  The dot.com crash left me with a strange sense that not everyone operated with a sense of integrity, and that there were wild forces that could have an effect on me that were completely and totally out of my control.</p>
<p>A few months later, the world would forever change in front of me again.</p>
<p><a href="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSCF0117.jpg"></a></p>
<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-83937 alignleft" style="border: 0px initial initial;" title="DSCF0117" src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSCF0117-300x240.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="240" />A bright, crisp, but sleepy morning&#8230; strangely morphs into the most surreal experience one could ever imagine.  Its one thing to view the images&#8230;. Another to experience it all live in real time from a few city blocks away. <a href="http://dach.is/oofMuq">http://dach.is/oofMuq</a></p>
<p>One minute they were there&#8230; a few minutes later they were not.</p>
<p>Over the course of several months and then in a single instance, extreme wonderment, joy, excitement, happiness, empowerment, self fulfillment, hope and optimism led to anger, betrayal, confusion, fear, helplessness, depression, loss of hope, and catastrophic loss of life.  At that moment, the world would cease to be how it was and become something entirely different.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-83939" title="DSCF0123" src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSCF0123-300x240.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="240" />Its hard to understand or even describe what being in the center of that experience, in that place, at that time was like&#8230;  downtown New York City in Manhattan, Silicon Alley, and Ground Zero all rolled into one at the turn of the millennium.</p>
<p>Retrospectively, it took several years for me to fully process everything that happened during those early years of the new millennium and I&#8217;m not certain I will ever truly process everything. I&#8217;m not really sure how anyone could.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSCF0131.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-83940 alignnone" style="padding: 5px;" title="DSCF0131" src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSCF0131-300x240.jpg" alt="" width="170" height="136" /></a><a href="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSCF0135.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-83941 alignnone" style="padding: 5px;" title="DSCF0135" src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSCF0135-300x240.jpg" alt="" width="170" height="136" /></a><a href="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSCF0141.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-83942" style="padding: 5px;" title="DSCF0141" src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSCF0141-300x240.jpg" alt="" width="170" height="136" /></a></p>
<p>Ten years later, we honor those we lost on September 11th, 2001 on that strange and fate filled day.  We also honor all the heroic early responders and countless rescuers, construction workers, and city and government personnel that put their lives on the line to try and truly make a difference as well as those now involved in the reconstruction.  The thousands of American military personnel that have since that day gone on to volunteer to serve, protect, defend and die for this country of ours deserve our unwavering gratitude and respect.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Ruby-and-Ground-Zero.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-83945 alignleft" style="float: left; border: 0px initial initial;" title="My daughter Ruby at Ground Zero as reconstruction begins" src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Ruby-and-Ground-Zero-1024x678.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="407" /></a> <em>My daughter Ruby at Ground Zero</em></p>
<p>I&#8217;m an optimist. I&#8217;ve always been one.  I am certain this trait comes from my perpetual energy machine of a mother who after 7 kids and at 87 still amazes me with her positivity and outlook on life.  Thanks mom (and dad).</p>
<p>The only way I know how to truly honor those who died in that horrific tragedy, those who supported the rescue efforts, and those that put their lives on the line is to to remain open to the sense of possibilities for the future, and remain hopeful in the tenacity and genuine goodness in the human spirit.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m humbled by what I see as our ability to focus on building, growing, questing, wondering, imagining, shaping, and driving our families, our lives, our country and our planet forward. This keeps me optimistic that we will overcome our differences and work together to prosper.</p>
<p>These events remind me of how grateful I am for my family (Jill, Ruby, and Julian as well as my amazing parents, siblings and their families), everyone&#8217;s health, and our friends, our amazing colleagues, the wonderful communities we get to contribute to, and all the opportunity ahead of us all that life has to offer.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m optimistic.  Its the one thing I can do to honor the experience of 9/11, and that is the only way I can live my life.</p>
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		<title>Social Business Intelligence: Powering the Future of Business</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/04/social-business-intelligence-powering-the-future-of-business/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/04/social-business-intelligence-powering-the-future-of-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Dachis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thought Capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[analytics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Business Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Business Intelligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=77321</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Mama Said Knock You Out&#8221; - LL Cool J While I founded the company several months earlier, this week marks 3 years since I announced the formation of Dachis Group. To put things in perspective: Over the last 17 years, I&#8217;ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with some of the world&#8217;s most]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>&#8220;Mama Said Knock You Out&#8221;</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>-<em> LL Cool J</em></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/1195423990759977006molumen_multicolor_power_buttons_5.svg_.med_.png"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-77479" title="1195423990759977006molumen_multicolor_power_buttons_5.svg.med" src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/1195423990759977006molumen_multicolor_power_buttons_5.svg_.med_.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a>While I founded the company several months earlier, this week marks 3 years since I <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20080428005267/en/Austin-Ventures-Announces-Partnership-Jeffrey-Dachis-Create">announced</a> the formation of Dachis Group.</p>
<p><strong>To put things in perspective:</strong></p>
<p>Over the last 17 years, I&#8217;ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with some of the world&#8217;s most talented professionals for some of the largest companies in the world helping to pioneer the nascent digital communications field we know today.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve been lucky enough to be able to play a small role in helping shape the way businesses navigate the most profound and exciting shift in the communications landscape in the history of mankind.</p>
<p>From digital change management, user experience design, information architecture, mobile application development, eCommerce, eBusiness, SEO, SEM, and digital advertising, to Web 2.0, E 2.0, Social Networks, Social Business and Social Business Design, not everyone has always understood the profound and fundamental impact the shifts we experienced and were trying to define for clients, were having on the future of business.</p>
<p>That’s OK.  Re-contextualizing things can be a jarring experience.  It&#8217;s not easy <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/02/15/60II/main160799.shtml">describing the future</a> to those that are wedded to the past or without a view beyond the present.</p>
<p>Throughout the span of that time period, I have been un-wavering in my belief that the most exciting times are ahead of us and that these dramatic shifts we have seen over the past decade and a half have only been the precursors to the even more profound set of changes we have yet to see.</p>
<p><strong>Social Business Opportunities Defined:</strong></p>
<p>John Hagel, who recently spoke at our <a href="http://www.socialbusinesssummit.com">Social Business Summit</a>, along with John Seely Brown <a href="http://edgeperspectives.typepad.com/edge_perspectives/2009/08/defining-the-big-shift.html">has written</a> about comparing the diminishing returns generated from an economic model based on &#8216;knowledge stocks&#8217; to the increasing returns generated from &#8216;knowledge flows&#8217; and moving from ‘stable environments’ to ‘dynamic environments’.</p>
<p>Dave Gray has spoken and written about the resilience of a <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/02/the-connected-company/">connected company</a> and how a more fluid, living breathing company that  listens, connects, communicates, participates, engages, and creates actions to exchange value with its constituents is one that will survive longer and thrive.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/social-business-design/">Social Business Design</a> is the intentional creation of socially calibrated organizations.  The purposeful creation of organizations that are designed and organized to listen, connect, communicate, participate, engage, and create action from its constituents.</p>
<p>Why Social Business Design?  1) Simply put, because it&#8217;s not going to happen all by itself, and 2)  Because a company that is set up and organized to be more engaged with its constituents will first create leveraged outcomes capturing dramatically greater market opportunities and dramatically more operational efficiencies by removing the friction in communications from the core functions of a business.  Second, it will create emergent outcomes created from the serendipitous connections and communications that might not have come otherwise, thus pulling the business in dynamic new directions.</p>
<p>Social Businesses by design, will survive longer, thrive, and generate increasing returns.</p>
<p>We believe that <em><strong>every</strong></em> business will become a social business.</p>
<p><strong>Thinking ahead:  Social Business Intelligence</strong></p>
<p>Moving forward.</p>
<p>Initially, we have seen businesses exploring how to organize for Social Business by designing and experimenting with new methods, process, tools, and by testing strategy and engagement programs to find out what works and what doesn&#8217;t.  Some businesses are just starting to experiment and others are further along a path.  In many instances efforts are tactical, and in others, efforts are applied with a laser focus on proper strategy and getting things right for the future.  We&#8217;ve seen some amazing successes and some fantastic failures across various business functions and industry verticals, but experimentation leads to figuring things out and we are seeing our clients get it right.</p>
<p>The real opportunities begin to realize value materialized from integrating and aggregating the strategies and tactics that worked well in the initial phases of the journey to operationalize them into the core functions of business.  This involves deeply integrating forms of listening, connecting, communication, participation, engagement, and constituent action throughout all business functions.  This will take the form of an integrated Social Business stack.  Many businesses may not be staffed, trained, or have resources dedicated to managing Social Business, but will realize that these integrated and aggregated forms of Social Business are increasingly <strong><em>the</em></strong> mission critical components to operating and succeeding in this networked economy and seek solutions to manage these efforts.</p>
<p>Going forward, it isn&#8217;t enough to just simply connect or communicate.  An ongoing never ending effort will be required to optimize Social Business operations by gaining insights and intelligence derived from the analysis of operationalized social signal data in the Social Business Graph and driving action on the part of the company.  Social Business Intelligence is the key to the intentional creation of socially calibrated organizations.</p>
<p>Without question, every single day we have been 100% focused on building a company to harness the power of Social Business Intelligence because we have always believed that Social Business Intelligence driven insights and action will be what powers the business of the future.</p>
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		<title>Three years of social business design</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/04/three-years-of-social-business-design/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/04/three-years-of-social-business-design/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:28:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Kim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=77271</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Three years ago today, Austin Ventures announced that it would back Jeff Dachis in creating a new company, which became Dachis Group.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Three years ago today, Austin Ventures <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20080428005267/en/Austin-Ventures-Announces-Partnership-Jeffrey-Dachis-Create" target="_blank">announced that it would back</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/jeffdachis" target="_blank">Jeff Dachis</a> in creating a new company.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s what <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com" target="_blank">Dachis Group</a> believed in at inception:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">“I believe there is enormous opportunity in helping companies devise and implement a strategy to engage their constituents in a meaningful dialog throughout the enterprise. As companies begin to see the benefits of utilizing “social” technology to engage their customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, and communities in an active and transparent dialog, they will need a trusted partner to help them navigate the opportunities, and an integrated set of scalable, robust, and secure enterprise class tools to implement them. We are here to provide both expertise and implementation,” said Jeffrey Dachis.</p>
<p>These concepts are better known as <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/social-business-design/" target="_blank">social business design</a>. Dachis Group introduced the term &#8220;<a href="http://www.beingpeterkim.com/2009/01/social-business.html" target="_blank">social business</a>&#8221; into mainstream discussion in January 2009.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/locations/"><img style="margin: 10px 10px 10px 10px;" title="Dachis Group worldwide locations" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5030/5663494908_1f26bb9ac7.jpg" alt="View full size on Flickr" /></a></div>
<p>Today, Dachis Group is the world&#8217;s leading social business consultancy. We have over 200 professionals in ten cities across five countries, delivering business strategy, consumer and workforce engagement solutions, and analytics and data-based intelligence. Across the firm, we have completed hundreds of engagements, from corporate strategies to processes redesigned to over 300 Facebook applications launched.</p>
<p>Over the past three years, I&#8217;ve enjoyed working with forward-leaning strategists, marketers, and technologists to help make businesses more social. I look forward to collaborating as we continue to make our original vision a reality.</p>
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		<title>Dachis Group acquires Powered</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2010/12/dachis-group-acquires-powered/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2010/12/dachis-group-acquires-powered/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:01:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Kim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[acquisition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crayon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drillteam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[powered]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stepchange]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=65556</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dachis Group has acquired Powered, creating the largest social business consultancy in the world.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/news/dachis-group-acquires-powered/" target="_blank">Dachis Group has acquired Powered</a>.</p>
<p>In the past 2.5 years, Dachis Group introduced the concept of <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/social-business-design/" target="_blank">social business design</a> to the world and we&#8217;ve grown our business around it. As we look forward to 2011, Dachis Group is now the largest Social Business consultancy in the world.</p>
<p>Social business draws on many disciplines. We are composed of Enterprise 2.0 thought leaders including <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hinchcliffe" target="_blank">Dion Hinchcliffe</a>, engaging with practitioners from the <a href="http://www.20adoptioncouncil.com/" target="_blank">2.0 Adoption Council</a>, and bringing technology to life through <a href="http://www.headshift.com/" target="_blank">Headshift</a>. We draw upon the visual thinking capabilities of <a href="http://www.xplane.com/" target="_blank">XPLANE</a> and formulate business strategy through the business unit I&#8217;ve grown by hand since our beginning.</p>
<p>We are seeing the demand for strategy formulation transition as expected into a need for customer engagement. In response, we employ the largest group of Facebook Preferred Developer Consultants in the world. You should see the awesome work that <a href="http://archrival.com/" target="_blank">Archrival</a> and <a href="http://stuzo.com/" target="_blank">Stuzo</a> have been producing for years.</p>
<p>And now, we add the collective talent of Powered to our company. This includes the companies formerly known as <a href="http://crayonville.com/" target="_blank">crayon</a>, <a href="http://www.drillteammarketing.com/" target="_blank">Drillteam</a>, and <a href="http://www.stepchangegroup.com/" target="_blank">StepChange</a>. In total, we will have over 200 professionals located in ten cities around the world.</p>
<p>Looking forward to engaging with you &#8211; as a client, employee, partner, competitor, friend, fan, or otherwise &#8211; in 2011.</p>
<p>For more information, read the <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/news/dachis-group-acquires-powered/">press release</a>.</p>
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		<title>Internal Social Business &#8211; 2.0 Adoption: People in Progress</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2010/10/internal-social-business-2-0-adoption-people-in-progress/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2010/10/internal-social-business-2-0-adoption-people-in-progress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Susan Scrupski</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Case Study]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[case studies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Enterprise 2.0]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Enterprise Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Business Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 2.0 Adoption Council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Workforce Collaboration]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=60450</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The 2.0 Adoption Council has been researching what’s happening on the ground inside of large organizations in the process of internal social business transformation.  Along with IBM and MIT’s Center for Digital Business, we've created a series of short vignettes and company narratives on how large organizations are finding opportunities and challenges reinventing themselves.

These initiatives are often led by a small team, sometimes a single individual who is driven to help the company work a better way — a more connected, dynamic and socially calibrated way of interacting for business.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.20adoptioncouncil.com/">The 2.0 Adoption Council</a> has been researching what’s happening on the ground inside of large organizations in the process of internal social business transformation.  Along with <a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/products/connections/">IBM</a> and <a href="http://ebusiness.mit.edu/">MIT’s Center for Digital Business</a>, we&#8217;ve created a series of short vignettes and company narratives on how large organizations are finding opportunities and challenges reinventing themselves.</p>
<p>These initiatives are often led by a small team, sometimes a single individual who is driven to help the company work a better way — a more connected, dynamic and socially calibrated way of interacting for business.</p>
<p>The business of transforming a worldwide organization is difficult.  If it were easy, it wouldn’t be as rewarding and meaningful.  It requires a large amount of patience, perseverance, and oftentimes, courage. We are asking a lot of our fellow corporate colleagues and executive leadership when we ask them to embrace working socially.  We are asking them to veer far from their comfort zone and risk more communication, more connectedness, and more transparency in the service of empowering people to do more with less.</p>
<p>In spite of this difficulty, repeatedly we have heard, “This is the most important initiative I’ve ever worked on in my professional life.”  The prevailing operational mission at present is to succeed at catalyzing the “ideological reformation” at the root level of the organization that needs to take place before the real business value can be extracted, measured, and fine-tuned.</p>
<p>There’s something extremely inspiring about the people and companies who are leading the charge toward reinventing themselves to become social leaders within their organizations. As you read through these profiles, we hope you’ll come to appreciate that while all of these companies are still early in their process, they all are confident in the success of their long term goals.  Some are realizing early successes, while some are struggling.  All are passionate believers that there is a powerful evolution at hand driving change in their organizations, an evolution towards Social Business.</p>
<p>You can download the first set of profiles on People in Progress here:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/PDFs/Alcatel-Lucent.pdf" target="_blank">Alcatel-Lucent</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/PDFs/Alstom.pdf" target="_blank">Alstom</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/PDFs/Avery-Dennison.pdf" target="_blank">Avery Dennison</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/PDFs/MITRE.pdf" target="_blank">The MITRE Corp.</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/PDFs/Nokia.pdf" target="_blank">Nokia</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/PDFs/Swiss-Re.pdf" target="_blank">Swiss Re</a></li>
</ul>
<p>We will continue to track the progress of these adopters.</p>
<p>We&#8217;d love to hear your story in the comments, or better yet join the <a href="http://www.20adoptioncouncil.com/?page_id=24">The 2.0 Adoption Council</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Join The 2.0 Adoption Council</strong></p>
<p>If you are working to bring social transformation to your large organization, we invite you to join <a href="http://www.20adoptioncouncil.com/">The 2.0 Adoption Council</a>, an influential peer to peer knowledge sharing community made up of other large enterprise adopters who share your passion for opportunities and the difficulties and challenges associated with adopting Social Business inside large organizations. Membership is free provided you meet the eligibility criteria. More information is found on <a href="http://www.20adoptioncouncil.com/">The 2.0 Adoption Council</a> in the section on <a href="http://www.20adoptioncouncil.com/?page_id=24">how to join</a>.</p>
<p>We’d like to thank <a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/products/connections/">IBM</a> and <a href="http://ebusiness.mit.edu/">MIT’s Center for Digital Business</a> for lending support and sponsorship to this series of cases and profiles. Special thanks to the @20adoption member companies who participated in the series: Alcatel-Lucent, Alstom, Avery Dennison, Eli Lilly, IBM, MetLife, The MITRE Corporation, Nokia, and Swiss Re along with other <a href="http://www.20adoptioncouncil.com/">The 2.0 Adoption Council</a> members providing anecdotal information.</p>
<p><strong>IBM Social Collaboration Software</strong></p>
<p><em>Market leaders are using social software to get closer to customers and to transform how work gets done, to accelerate innovation and more easily locate expertise. Organizations that establish a social business environment across their internal and external relationships are outpacing their competitors. IBM Collaboration Software empowers individuals within organizations to stay connected, current, and creative any where, any time, so great thinking doesn’t stay locked behind closed doors. IBM offers the broadest, innovative set of secure Social Software and Unified Communications services for creating Web communities, locating subject matter expertise, project collaboration, content and idea sharing. Quickly locate the expertise you need, no matter where it exists inside or outside of your organization to get the job done faster. Smarter Software for a Smarter Planet.</em></p>
<p><strong>MIT Center for Digital Business</strong></p>
<p><em>Founded in 1999, the MIT Center for Digital Business (MIT CDB) is the world’s largest center for research focused on the digital economy. MIT CDB has worked with more than 50 corporate sponsors, funded more than 60 faculty and performed more than 75 research projects. The center’s faculty and sponsors represent the leaders in Digital Business research, analysis and practice worldwide. Together with its partners, MIT’s Center for Digital Business is inventing the future of Digital Business.</em></p>
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		<title>It’s Hot and I’m @*&amp;#! Thirsty!</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2010/08/it%e2%80%99s-hot-and-i%e2%80%99m-thirsty-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2010/08/it%e2%80%99s-hot-and-i%e2%80%99m-thirsty-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:26:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amanda Johnson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Austin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Business Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=52229</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do you want to work with a group of creative, progressive, and talented social business professionals in a fast-paced but relaxed office in downtown Austin? Do you have &#8220;Social DNA&#8221;? Dachis Group is growing and we are hiring for numerous positions and want to meet the brightest Austin has to offer! Come have a drink]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Dachis.Group_.Theme_.3.jpg" alt="" title="Dachis.Group.Theme.3" width="600" height="950" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-52684" /></p>
<p>Do you want to work with a group of creative, progressive, and talented social business professionals in a fast-paced but relaxed office in downtown Austin?</p>
<p>Do you have &#8220;Social DNA&#8221;?</p>
<p>Dachis Group is growing and we are hiring for numerous positions and want to meet the brightest Austin has to offer! Come have a drink on us and check us out, and we&#8217;ll check you out, too. (So dress to impress)</p>
<p>Open bar for all candidates who follow the instructions below and get on the list.</p>
<p>To be on the list for the party, we ask you to do three things:</p>
<p>1) <strong>Tweet this:</strong></p>
<p>“It’s Hot and I’m @*&#! Thirsty! @dachisgroup <a href="http://dach.is/6j">http://dach.is/6j</a> &#8221;</p>
<p>2) <strong>Follow</strong> @dachisgroup on Twitter &#8211; <a href="http://dach.is/6I">http://dach.is/6I</a></p>
<p>3) <strong>“Like”</strong> Dachis Group on Facebook &#8211; <a href="http://dach.is/6H">http://dach.is/6H</a></p>
<p>See if you think you are a fit: <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/employment-opportunities/">http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/employment-opportunities/</a></p>
<p>See you at The Gibson at 6pm on August 23rd!</p>
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		<title>Inveniemus Viam Aut Faciemus</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2010/07/inveniemus-viam-aut-faciemus/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2010/07/inveniemus-viam-aut-faciemus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:26:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Kim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=49073</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Two years ago, I joined Dachis Group as employee #1. This week, I start my third year with the company and it's fun to glance back and see what we've accomplished. But it's even more energizing to look ahead and see where we're going...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><img style="border: 0px solid #000000;" title="We will find a way or make one" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3562/3458565721_ac7660dce7_m.jpg" alt="" /></div>
<p>Two years ago, I joined <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com">Dachis Group</a> as employee #1. This week, I start my third year with the company and it&#8217;s fun to glance back and see what we&#8217;ve accomplished. But it&#8217;s even more energizing to look ahead and see where we&#8217;re going.</p>
<p>Our strategy is hiding in plain sight. Companies have the world to gain by becoming social businesses and we help them get there. The hows and whys are summarized in the idea of <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/social-business-design/" target="_blank">social business design</a>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s clear to me that our continued success depends on several key factors, namely:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Clients who desire to lead the way</strong>. We are working with leaders from world-class brands who are breaking new ground with their initiatives, from new organization structures and governance frameworks to global education programs and collaboration approaches.</li>
<li><strong>Consultants who are never satisfied</strong>. Our people are relentless when it comes to delivering results for our clients and for ourselves. And then we push each other to do more.</li>
<li><strong>Management with a big picture focus</strong>. It&#8217;s easy to get caught up in the short-term. Four acquisitions, over 100 professionals, multiple seven-figure contracts &#8211; you&#8217;d think we&#8217;d be pretty proud of ourselves. Actually, we are still only at the beginning of what we set out to accomplish and all of our senior managers are committed to a long-term vision.</li>
</ul>
<p>It&#8217;s not easy to start a new company that espouses a new way of doing business. But as we&#8217;ve done so far, we will find a way or we will make one.</p>
<p>Interested in joining us? We&#8217;re looking for <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/locations/" target="_blank">global clients who want to make a difference</a> and <a href="http://www.dachisgroup.com/about/employment-opportunities/">professionals who want to help them</a>.</p>
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		<title>Growth and Opportunity &#8211; April Downing Joins us as CFO</title>
		<link>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2009/12/growth-and-opportunity-april-downing-joins-us-as-cfo/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dachisgroup.com/2009/12/growth-and-opportunity-april-downing-joins-us-as-cfo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:49:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeff Dachis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dachis Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mergers and Acquisitions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Business Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[venture capital]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dachisgroup.com/?p=20276</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today we are announcing the hiring of our new CFO April Downing.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-20353" title="opn3" src="http://dachisgroup.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/opn3-150x150.png" alt="opn3" width="150" height="150" />There are times in a company&#8217;s history when you release a product, or make a new hire, or open a new office, or accomplish certain goals that mark a shift in profile and perspective.</p>
<p>Today we are announcing the hiring of our new CFO April Downing.</p>
<p>April brings a wealth of experience to our table in both public and private company accounting and finance as well as deep experience in mergers and acquisitions accounting and integration in high growth companies.  She is an accomplished executive and operator that brings dedication, tenacity, and focus to our efforts and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-how-to-know-youve-hired-a-killer-team-2009-12" target="_blank">has what it takes</a> to be part of a killer team.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Dachis-Group-1089628.html" target="_blank">release announcing April is here</a> and the full text is included below.</p>
<p>We are looking forward to working with April as we push ahead into the coming year to help companies realize the potential of a more collaborative, connected, participatory and social mode of doing business in this networked economy.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span id="more-20276"></span>SOURCE: Dachis Group</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Dec 11, 2009 09:00 ET</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Dachis Group Names April Downing Chief Financial Officer</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Senior Executive Brings Public and Private Company Financial and Operational Leadership to Dachis Group</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">AUSTIN, TX&#8211;(Marketwire &#8211; December 11, 2009) &#8211; Dachis Group today announced that it has expanded its management team to include April Downing as the firm&#8217;s Chief Financial Officer. Downing brings more than 15 years of corporate finance, strategic planning and management experience to Dachis Group having served in high-growth public and private companies.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">&#8220;April has a proven track record of delivering strategic planning and operational excellence in a dynamic and high-growth environment,&#8221; said Jeff Dachis, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dachis Group. &#8220;Her experience with integrating acquisitions, raising financial capital, and managing growth in both public and private companies is well suited to the needs of our company. We are thrilled to have April join our team.&#8221;</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Prior to joining Dachis Group, Downing was providing executive-level financial consulting to several companies launched from Austin Ventures&#8217; Entrepreneur-in-Residence program. Before this, she was Chief Financial Officer for AlterPoint, Inc., a venture-backed network change and configuration management software company through the successful sale of the company to Versata, Inc., a global IT solutions provider.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Prior to AlterPoint, Downing was Chief Accounting Officer and acting Chief Financial Officer of Motive, Inc., a publicly traded provider of broadband management software with over $100 million in revenues. Over her six years at Motive, Downing served in several key financial roles at the company, including leading Investor Relations through the company&#8217;s IPO in 2004 which raised $50 million.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">&#8220;The expansion of the management team to include someone of April&#8217;s caliber further solidifies the ability of Dachis Group to aggressively grow both organically and through acquisitions,&#8221; said Chris Pacitti, a general partner with Austin Ventures. &#8220;Dachis Group is uniquely positioned to be the leader in enabling large global enterprises to capture the value inherent in social technologies that are already becoming prevalent throughout their organizations.&#8221;</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">About April Downing</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">April is a seasoned financial and operational executive with over 15 years of working with publicly and privately held companies. Most recently, April has been providing executive-level financial consulting to several companies launched from Austin Ventures&#8217; Entrepreneur-in-Residence program. Prior to that, she was the Chief Financial Officer for AlterPoint, Inc., a venture-backed network change and configuration management software company, through the successful sale of the company to Versata, Inc., a global IT solutions provider. Before AlterPoint, April was Chief Accounting Officer and acting CFO of Motive, Inc., a publicly traded provider of broadband management software with over $100 million in revenues. She began her career with Price Waterhouse&#8217;s Audit and Business Advisory Services, where she specialized in technology start-ups and early growth companies.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">April is an Advisory Board Member for Women&#8217;s Sake (an organization focused on Career and Lifestyle Resources for Women) and has been recognized by Austin Business Journal as a &#8216;Profiles in Power&#8217;. Located in Austin, Texas, she was also nominated for Austin&#8217;s 2008 Best CFO Award.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">April has a master&#8217;s degree in accounting from The University of Texas and is a certified public accountant.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">About Dachis Group</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Founded in 2008, by Jeffrey Dachis, Dachis Group is a professional services firm based in Austin, Texas, with offices in London and Sydney. Dachis Group (Dachis Corporation, Inc.) was created to unlock the value of social technologies for large corporate enterprises.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Dachis Group believes that the future of business lies in a socially calibrated, dynamic business culture that empowers all of its constituents to exchange value. Through a proprietary framework and methodology, and a network of technology alliance partners, Dachis Group helps businesses innovate to capture value through Social Business Design(SM).</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Dachis Group delivers services through three main practice areas: Customer Participation and Engagement, Workforce Collaboration, and Business Partner Optimization.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Dachis Group serves global companies including: AXA, BBC, BP, Philips Healthcare, Coca-Cola, Intuit, Southern Company and Yum! Brands in industry verticals including: consumer products, media and publishing, health care, financial services, information services, software, and semiconductors.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The company&#8217;s strategy is backed by a commitment from Austin Ventures to build and grow organically and through acquisitions.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">If you are interested in finding out how Dachis Group can help your business, contact: inquiries@dachisgroup.com or download our fact sheet and contact us.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">For more resources: Stay on top of the most current thinking on Social Business Design and subscribe to our Collaboratory feed.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">To learn more about Social Business Design, download our Social Business Design white paper free of charge.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Dachis Group is always looking for talented individuals and leaders, contact: opportunities@dachisgroup.com</p>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="overflow: hidden; position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 171px; width: 1px; height: 1px;">For more resources: Stay on top of the most current thinking on Social Business Design and subscribe to our Collaboratory feed.</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="overflow: hidden; position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 171px; width: 1px; height: 1px;">To learn more about Social Business Design, download our Social Business Design white paper free of charge.</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="overflow: hidden; position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 171px; width: 1px; height: 1px;">Dachis Group is always looking for talented individuals and leaders, contact: opportunities@dachisgroup.com</div>
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