Hi, I'm Michael Sampson - a Collaboration Strategist.
My passion is helping organizations to make collaboration work, when their employees have to work together effectively and efficiently while separated by distance and time.
I advise end-user organizations in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and the United States on making collaboration work.
A Brief History
Here's a brief history of my work:
- In the mid-90s, I wrote my Masters thesis on delivering consulting services across geographical distances. That was at the University of Canterbury.
- I worked at Telecom New Zealand as a strategist for 3 years.
- From 1998-2000, I ran my first company in New Zealand. It was an IBM Lotus Notes and Domino Business Partner firm, and we served clients around the world. We did great work.
- My introduction to being an Industry Analyst was through five years of research and writing with David Ferris at Ferris Research.
- I ran my own Industry Analyst firm from 2003-2006, with a focus on team collaboration. Take a look at Shared Spaces Research and Consulting.
- I worked for an American vendor of collaboration software for 9 months - from mid-2006 to early 2007.
- In 2007, I went back to being an Industry Analyst, and The Michael Sampson Company is the result.
- While research and writing has always been a big focus, I have written four books in the past four years, and plan on writing more. See Collaboration Roadmap (2011), User Adoption Strategies (2010), SharePoint Roadmap for Collaboration (2009), and Seamless Teamwork (2008).
- I have presented workshops or spoken at conferences in quite a number of countries -- Australia, Singapore, United States, London, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, and of course my home country of New Zealand. In 2012, I'll be heading to Netherlands, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and a few other locations.
- In addition to a lot of writing, I have the privilege of working with great clients.
Four Publishing Avenues for Collaboration Strategy
Which brings you up-to-date. And now? Beyond client engagements and workshops, I share my research on collaboration strategy through four primary channels:
- My blog on collaboration topics, with an emphasis on strategy, governance, and user adoption.
- Resource Centers on key aspects of collaboration strategy.
- Books on collaboration strategy, such as Collaboration Roadmap and User Adoption Strategies.
- Presentations at conferences around the world, both in-person and remotely.
Michael is a Contributing Author on Two Blogs
I am a contributing author on two other blogs:
- The BrainYard, at InformationWeek. My posts are often about trends in collaboration products and services.
- The Smarter Office, at Plantronics. My posts focus on the principles and practices of effective collaboration.
New Zealand, Katrina, and the Ten Kids
I live in and work out of New Zealand, and serve clients around the world through collaboration technology, or by traveling to work on-site.
I'm married to Katrina (she's fantastic!), and we have ten children. They're fantastic too.
For More, See LinkedIn and Twitter
Find out more about me:
- Review my LinkedIn Profile, and read what others say about my work.
- Follow me on Twitter - I'm collabguy.
