I'm excited to be attending an event called ProductCampNYC. Here is a summary:

Loosely based on the successful BarCamp and Open Space formats, ProductCamp is an intense ad hoc gathering of product folks to share, present, network, learn, laugh, and   discuss. The agenda is defined by and voted on by attendees the morning of the event, ensuring the participants get the most out of their experience.

ProductCamp has been successfully hosted in San Francisco (twice!), Austin, and Boston. And...Atlanta and Seattle are in the works. Here are a few reviews following these events.

          - "What a great experience to get together with a (large) group of passionate product managers and have lively discussions about how we can improve."

      - "There was a lot of collective talent assembled all striving for the same goal ... let's make product management the best career opportunity in the next few years."

If this free event sounds interesting to you, then sign up and join me at the event?

Here are the details:

ProductCamp NYC

Saturday, July 18, 2009 8am - 5pm

St. John's University - 101 Murray Street NYC

Registration & Additional Info: http://barcamp.org/ProductCampNYC

P.S. - We are also on Twitter: @ProductCampNYC, hashtag #pcampnyc

Junior Golf America, Leading Jr. Golf Tournament Co, Hires Wehringer and Co. To Lead Social Marketing Initiative

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY – July 10, 2009 (PitchEngine) –a leading marketing professional with a “breakthrough marketing” systematic approach today announced their new client, Junior Golf America, a leading junior golf tournament company in the NJ and NY area.  Handing competitive golf tournaments for children ages 8-19.

Chuck DiLeo, President, of Junior Golf America selected Wehringer & Company to handle their social marketing initiative. “Tracy from Wehringer & Company provided us with a social marketing strategic plan in order to help create a strong Internet presence within all the social media sites about our competitive program.”, stated Chuck DiLeo, President. Mr. DiLeo continues, “Throughout this process Wehringer & Company has shown that they are a leading consultant and have became my marketing arm so I can focus completely on running my business. Her expert knowledge with all social outlets will drive membership locally.”

The company's President and CEO, Tracy A. Wehringer, has over 20 years of successful strategic marketing, including, business development, product marketing, PR/media, SEO/SEM, social marketing and general management experience across several vertical lines. Her strategy has been to find business opportunities where success depends on rapidly turning ideas into action through effective market understanding, product/offer definition, and marketing/sales execution. Tracy has a strong ability to create a vision for the client and execute marketing strategy.  

Wehringer & Co. utilizes breakthrough-marketing techniques to assist prospective clients and current clients reach their highest potential markets. The firm helps clients build smaller, focused, sustained, and high value campaigns to assist them to reach their best prospects – avoiding the costs and inefficiencies of missed opportunities. 

For more information on Wehringer & Co, visit www.Wehringerandco.com, or contact Tracy A. Wehringer, Tracy@Wehringerandco.com

 About Junior Golf America

 Established in 2000 by Chuck and Ginna DiLeo, JGA is committed to providing a place for Junior Golfers ages 8-18 to compete in a series of tournaments throughout the State of New Jersey. The goal is to create a place for juniors to learn to play golf in a competitive, enjoyable atmosphere while interacting with their parents and peers. Dedicated to providing tournaments to junior golfers of all skill levels, and to provide a program that will teach them the game of golf and improve their skills at the same time.  http://www.jrgolfamerica.com  Email: jrgolfameria@aol.com  Twitter: http://twitter.com/JrGolfAmerica

Recently I have volunteered for the upcoming Product Camp in NYC and have been asked by the committee to reach out to a list and personally invite some senior product manager’s to the event.  Going through the usual phone system tree – many have the usual attributes and it is very easy to locate the person I’m looking for, but one company in particular in NY had a phone system the obviously was not tested from an end-user perspective.  I will not include their name as to remove the embarrassment but when you do not test your phone system what else are you not testing from an end-user view? 

Anyone reading this should run through their phone system to test the directory tree and make sure that the number selection terminate to the correct person.  What happens if you press zero for help? Randomly use the system to locate some specific employees by keying in their name.  Does it work?  So, going back to the company’s lack of testing that sparked this blog article, I was calling for the VP of Product Management and I had the specific name.  The phone system did not allow me to key in their name and when I pressed “3” to speak to their receptionist all the system did was ring and say “test 3” with no way to leave a message.   So, I probably did what anyone else has done using that poorly executed system – just dial random extensions.   How many potential sales were lost because the prospect could not get through?  What was the opportunity cost that was lost? 

Years ago I worked for a company that through mergers and acquisitions had to incorporate three companies into one and anyone reading this realizes the logistic pain that causes.  We actually had a team that met to work out the new phone tree to make sure that everything would be set up correctly.  We actually went through a test process where we asked a segment of our client base to call in and test to the system in order to gain knowledge directly from the folks that would be using it.