I don’t know if the World is Flatter but it is definitely getting more interconnected

After the initial euphoria of getting into the program there was radio silence for a week - at least from the people in charge. Those of us who were accepted did not wait around to get connected. Someone immediately started a Beehive which is an internal social networking site developed by IBM Research and we started pulling people in. And the conversations began - congratulations, sharing of aspirations, people learning about each others backgrounds and locations. It's all pretty amazing - the power of social networking in the hands of everyday users allowed us to instantly connect with each other. Love that technology!

Eventually we did get some more information through official channels. Those selected represent 44 different countries. Our assignments will as early as September / October 2009 through the following year and the details are still being finalized on the projects. We also learned that this will definitely be a true local experience. No fancy business travel - our lodgings were described as "...meets a baseline standard of safety with running water, private bathroom, electricity and mosquito netting where necessary". I'm sure it's not going to be like being on Survivor but I'm glad that they are not turning this into some celebrity cruise.

Finally, thank you to everyone who responded to me personally with kind words. As you can tell, I am very excited about the opportunity and eager to get underway. Some of you asked about the title of the blog. I guess it sums up the times in my life that I have enjoyed the most both personally and professionally. I like working and playing at the edges and pushing on boundaries. IBM's probably been the most mainstream place I've ever worked and even here I've managed to find something that pushes the boundaries. On a personal level, pushing boundaries and playing along the edges means doing really goofy stuff like this once upon a time:

Walking In The Clouds

First posting on a new blog – where to begin? Let’s start with the reason I’m starting the blog. I received notice today that I’ve been accepted into a pretty elite program in my company called the “Corporate Services Corps”. Yes, I’m an IBMer. The CSC takes IBMers from all over the world and dispatches them in teams to developing countries to volunteer their time helping local enterprises – it’s like a corporate version of the Peace Corps. This is a neat video that a person from IBM Japan did to document her experience in Tanzania.

When I got the notification, I really felt like I had won the lottery. The competition to get one of these slots is fierce and I feel privileged to have been selected. There were close to 10,000 applications from over 60 countries, and only 400 slots. This is a chance to make a real difference in the world and a chance to take all those things that I’ve learned from toiling in corporate America and apply them to something meaningful. As of yet, no word on timing, location, or project but I plan to record the whole thing here so stay tuned over the next few months. Last year the teams went to Ghana, Romania, The Phillipines, Turkey, Tanzania, and Vietnam. I’m hoping for somewhere in Asia so I can learn some new culinary tricks at the same time but I’d be happy going anywhere.

There are still lots of details to figure out - like being away from my family for an entire month (YIKES!) but it's all very exciting. More to follow, right now, I’m still walking on the clouds.