It’s been too long….

So it’s been awhile since the last post. We’ve been busy refining the Genie technology, working on soon-to-be-live new features, and exploring potential new partner opportunities.

Knowledge Genie feature reminder: The publishing industry is in a huge state of flux from print to electronic media. And although the intent of Knowledge Genie is to move way beyond the book it is important to inform and remind, that you can allow your Genie to be downloaded as a PDF doc and thus available on a range of e-readers. Verry nice!

Knowledge Genie insiders scoop. In launching Knowledge Genie we were clear that we wanted to help people move beyond the book and create a new way to share and centralize what they know in a much more technology savvy manner. As such we had  / have minimum interest in collaborating with traditional old print publishers. Despite that, we recently had a meeting with a major publisher which only reinforced why we don’t think we want to partner with old-school media. I will spare the details but we are used to dealing with technology companies and we don’t pay for pilot programs…  We are also in the process of talking with some more forward thinking companies about partner opportunities- how refreshing.

All for now but we’ll be back soon.

The Latest…

It has been a busy month+. Over the last few weeks we have added a few subtle but important features including the ability to set the length of time a person can access your Genie. Over the next few weeks we will continue to hone the platform.

A huge thank you to the unsolicited bloggers and media who have been kind enough to take the time to explore Knowledge Genie and provide such great reviews.

Most of all, thank you to the rapidly growing list of people from around the world who are sharing their smarts using Knowledge Genie!

- Knowledge Genie

Quick Update

In building a new software program we were faced with a range of decisions; open source or closed, more features or less, sexy design that requires that the user have an updated browser and Flash or go brown-bag plain. We chose to go closed-source, provide an initial rich set of features, and go with an aesthetic that requires our Users to have updated browser and Flash installed and enabled.  So far we stand behind our decision and there has been a learning curve that has coincided.

In general it is exciting as people dig deeper into Knowledge Genie’s capabilities and we learn about various user patterns and experiences.  We have realized that certain browsers are more standardized than others. Explorer seems to be a bit fussier. Second, it is confirmed that people don’t read directions (I usually don’t either). Don’t forget to install Flash 8+. Third, is overarching learning curve of launching a new technology and making incremental improvements as we get feedback and usage grows.

All in all, exciting stuff.  Please keep your feedback coming. We are grateful to all of you have taken the time to explore and build your Genies.

Knowledge Genie Quick Tips

Knowledge Genie provides a simple and powerful structure to help you organize your ideas and package your smarts for publication. If you already have a blog, a documented how-to, website, or even a book you can do much more with a Genie than just cutting and pasting your existing information.

For example, your Genie is the interactive, online companion guide for your book. Your Genie succinctly brings to life the contents in your book by creating updated links and information. Your Genie directs your readers a chapter in your book for more details. As for your website, its your online brochure; but your website is not where you give away your precious knowledge. Your Genie is where your knowledge should be placed to create a more robust product and/or service offering. You don’t sell your website (i.e., brochure), but you can sell your Genie.

Perhaps even more importantly, if you are just starting with a topic and few good ideas, Knowledge Genie will help guide you to bring what you know to life. Imagine, transforming good ideas into interactive, share-able, and sale-able reality.

Here are some quick tips to get you started:

-  By the time your user has reached the end of your Genie, what do you want them to know or have accomplished? (i.e., grow tomatoes, master a total fitness routine, or know how to work a steel press)

-  What are the steps they’ll have to take to reach that goal? How many are there? These will become the overall structure of your Genie. (i.e., 1. Fertilizing Your Soil, 2. Planting Seeds, 3. Proper Watering and Care, 4. When to Harvest, and 5. Great Recipes)

-  Within each piece of your structure, what are the smaller action-steps that will take a user from the beginning of the step to the end? (i.e., in Chapter 2, Planting Seeds, you will cover: 2-1: Dig a three inch trough. 2-2: Ensure soil is properly moist. 2-3: Place seeds and cover with 3-4 inches of topsoil. 2-4: Pat lightly with trowel.)

-  What information or background will a user need for each section? Separate this from the actions the user will be taking. (i.e., History of tomato planting, or Fertilizer vs. Compost)

-  Think about creating (optional) checklists for your users so that they can track their own progress. (i.e., Choose Plot, Measure Soil Moisture, Buy Seeds, Buy Trowel)

-  What terms do you use and take for granted? Create a glossary. (i.e., Heirloom Tomato – an open-pollinated cultivar of tomato, not used in industrial scale agriculture.)

-  Will your users need diagrams, visual aids, or instructional videos to help them reach their goals? (i.e., a video of how to dig a trough for a tomato seed)

-  What other resources around the web might your users need to help them complete their task? (i.e., links to garden tool stores, or local home-gardening groups)

These are a few ways to start thinking like a Genie, but there are limitless ways to use it to share what you know. So get started, and unleash your inner Genie!

Knowledge Genie: LMS Alternative

I recently spoke with e-learning expert Tony Karrer to provide an introduction to Knowledge Genie. This was one of those thirty second this is “who we are and what we do” dumps in the context of framing Knowledge Genie as an employee training tool / LMS. I don’t think Tony was too impressed. The blame falls on my shoulders for a couple of reasons: First, Knowledge Genie is not meant to be a LMS. Second, I obviously did not communicate what Knowledge Genie is effectively. I am still looking for a knife to fall on – mia culpa! I have to mention (yes, a tad defensively), that the technology and learning theory behind Knowledge Genie was called out in a ASTD national conference session last June as the “future of blended learning”.

So what is Knowledge Genie in the context of using it in organizations as a training tool  and alternative to a LMS? If you need to ensure your employees have the right information to do a job, an easy yet robust way to share information with customers, an easy way to capture and centralize employee knowledge than Knowledge Genie is an excellent solution. Although not a full-blown LMS, Knowledge Genie is great for:

⁃            Human Resources / Training

⁃            Business and team applications

⁃            Capturing expertise and employee best practices

H to-the R

Hello HR folks! First, Knowledge Genie is not meant to be a bells and whistles Learning Management System. Knowledge Genie is a fast, easy way to replicate knowledge to create high- impact, media-rich online and blended learning programs. You can even track how participants are using your Genie. Knowledge Genie is a great way to educate employees on any topic for low $$$ and lots of flexibility. I have to add, you can even create a free account and create a training program for an unlimited amount of Users.

Outside the HR World

For you folks outside of the HR / Training Realm, Knowledge Genie provides an easy solution to audience elucidation. There are times when you need to educate an audience, and you need the convenience and speed of doing it on your own. Knowledge Genie gives you the ability to quickly create programs that will educate, engage, connect users with all the resources they need including existing online tools, and give you the ability to manage and update your Genie program in minutes. Great for:

⁃            Sales training

⁃            Customer education

⁃            Employee / Team Development

⁃            New project or initiative rollout

Real Knowledge Management

Perhaps you have heard of knowledge management. Maybe you have even agreed that it is something that you and your company need more of. However, you are not exactly sure what steps you can take to bring this concept to company reality. Knowledge Genie can wipe clean that filmy residue that prevents Knowledge Management clarity and help you take tangible steps to capture the know-how of your employees into a duplicatable system.  Now you can easily capture Bob’s step-by-step technique for vat polishing before he takes early retirement and his knowledge out the door.

Conclusion

So, Knowledge Genie is not a LMS but a platform for educating employees, helping customers understand and use your products and services, and tool for Knowledge Management. We look forward to hearing your stories for how you use Knowledge Genie.

Knowledge Genie Update and Intro

Knowledge Genie has been live for a bit more than a month and what a great start it has been. Hundreds of sign-ups from around the world (thank you Mongolia!) and great feedback. Thank you early adopters! We continue to add new features and we are very excited about what this publishing platform can do.

Over the next few weeks we will add a series of postings that present the different applications and possibilities for what you can do with Knowledge Genie. The first post will provide an introduction to Knowledge Genie…

What is Knowledge Genie?

Knowledge Genie is a platform that transforms what you know into a powerful online application called a Genie. Whether you are an expert in teaching relief workers how to set up triage stations, a marketing Guru looking to capture and sell your methodology, or a career development expert looking to share the secrets of employment success, Knowledge Genie makes teaching others easy and sharing what you know a breeze. Knowledge Genie guides you through our proprietary process to capture what you know into a linear methodology, centralize learning resources (supporting documents, podcasts, video), and connect your audience to your topics online world.

How is creating a Genie different?

• Knowledge Genie’s proprietary process helps you quickly and easily capture and centralize your knowledge, organize it in a linear fashion, add supporting resources, add links to important sites, and deliver your knowledge to your users so they can achieve results. People have often commented that they get drawn in and that it was surprisingly fun.
• Knowledge Genie’s customizable system allows you to control the changes and updates you want to make to the Genie you’ve created at anytime. Your smarts will always be fresh and reflect what you know today and tomorrow.
• Your knowledge is yours. How you create and share your Genie is up to you; whether it is to a private preselected audience, selling your Genie from your Genie’s Public Profile page, or making it available for free. In addition, all accounts are hosted in a secure SAS-70 II facility and have SSL encryption.

Who is it for?

Knowledge Genie is designed for any individual or organization that has smarts to share such as:

1. Experts, Consultants, and Authors looking for better way to package their smarts.
2. Individuals looking for an easy way to share knowledge.
3. Teachers looking to bring learning to life and facilitate the teaching process outside of the classroom.
4. Publishing and Media companies who want to create an additional revenue stream for their properties.
5. Organizations looking for easier and more cost effective solutions to educate employees and customers.

Sign Up For a Free Account and Get Started.

Visit MyKnowledgeGenie.com, create an account, and learn how easy it is to bring your smarts to life. All paid accounts are free for 30 days. Still not convinced? You can also sign up for a free Knowledge Genie account. Visit: www.MyKnowledeGenie.com.

It’s Alive! It’s Alive!

In the words of Dr. Frankenstein: “It’s Alive! It’s Alive!”

www.MyKnowledgeGenie.com

The last eight months have been overwhelmingly focused on bringing Knowledge Genie to market. It is fantastic to wake up and be greeted with press that captures the intent of a crazy hope and idea now brought to life.

http://industry.bnet.com/media/10003448/knowledge-genie-a-new-tool-to-monetize-your-content/

Now this the site and platform is live, there is a sense of relief and a very profound feeling that now the work really begins. Most importantly though, we are excited to see how the world uses Knowledge Genie.

Malcolm Gladwell reviews Free by Chris Anderson: newyorker.com

Malcolm Gladwell reviews Free by Chris Anderson: newyorker.com

Shared via AddThis

People Don’t Want to Create…WT!

Just a quick drop-in, commentary, and update.

Commentary, checked out TechCrunch today. Write up on the biz-model shift of Splashcast caught my attention. SplashCast was launched a couple of years ago with the intent of helping folks put together videos. On why the biz-model fell flat CEO had this to say “We were hoping to launch a publishing revolution. What we found, however, is that very few users are willing and able to make an ongoing commitment to publishing and distributing content. Lots of users test; few stick with it.” Hmmm. That’s why folks don’t write blogs, self-publishing is failing, and the Apple App. concept is also biting the dust. Folks just don’t want to create content and share it. Nope.

Update: KG Progressing really well. Interface is looking great. Launch on track for July!

Quick Project Update

Good News! We are on and even just maybe, ahead of schedule!
We have been busy exploring PR options and are looking closely at one firm in particular TBD.

More news and greater detailed posting in the near future…

Milo