Summary: “CxO Buzz” is what happens when C-Suite leaders consistently source, procure and manage innovation to their firm’s competitive advantage. Telecom Association or “TA” publishes CxO Buzz, the Innovation Management Journal which is exclusively distributed member-to-member. Beat your competitors to every new 2023 innovation opportunity by joining TA today so you can be reading CxO Buzz tomorrow and distribute CxO Buzz to your associates, clients and prospects. The only way to receive or distribute CxO Buzz is to join TA and the only way to join TA is to accept the invitation of a current TA member.
No Seriously, What’s CxO Buzz? CxO Buzz is the single unified business brand that TA members collectively own and promote in order to elevate themselves individually as well as to elevate their community as a whole. By focusing on promoting the single “Got Milk?” like brand, TA members, like the dairy farmers that pooled their marketing funds to promote “Got Milk?”, avoid the wasted marketing spend that occurs when businesses all market a similar solution but under different, competing brands.
CxObuzz.org is the educational branch of TA that is dedicated to teaching members how to enter and succeed in the innovation management industry. When you see a person using a CxObuzz.org email address they are likely a TA student learning the innovation management business.
CxObuzz.com is the marketplace branch that members use to conduct business with other members in a transparent, educated and accountable environment where all can meet as equals. When you see someone using a CxObuzz.com email address they are conducting for-profit innovation management business.
The CxObuzz brand is owned by Telecom Association, a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit on behalf of TA members. Revenue generated by the CxO Buzz brand supports TA’s educational nonprofit activities which include teaching anyone how to prepare for and succeed in the innovation management industry.
What’s the Innovation Management Business? “Innovation” is defined as a new idea or a change made to an existing product, idea, or field. The moving assembly line was an innovation Henry Ford introduced in the car making industry. The constant search for new business profits that result from innovation is the whole reason businesses have a C-Suite. While the managers of a business spend their days making sure the planned number of widgets are produced every day – on time and on budget – the primary job of the CxO is to constantly search for innovations that can be applied to existing business processes to increase profits and stay ahead of competitors.
Successful CxOs however know that innovation must be carefully managed and measured because there are a million cash burn barrels to choose from and all have the word “innovation” on them. The business of innovation management is the business of measuring and managing the resources allocated to one innovation or another to maximize marginal return on innovation investment. Innovation management answers the question, “Is the juice worth the squeeze?” Correctly answering the question helps avoid innovation failures like these 35 examples (who remembers Microsoft Zune, Betamax, Apple Newton, Blackberry Storm, Theranos, etc.?)
Enter “CxO Buzz – The Inovation Management Journal” (and buzzword decoder!) So how do TA’s members help each other “manage innovation”? Create a “How-to-Buy” catalogue and a “Who-to-Buy” member-to-member store.
Step One – Put all the innovation management best practice information in a place that’s easy to find and access – CxObuzz.org. Just as Costco publishes Costco Connection to educate members how to utilize their Costco membership, TA’s CxObuzz.org will educate TA members how to source, procure and manage innovation as a buyer, distributor or seller. CxObuzz.org readers will learn how fellow members are managing different categories of innovation and get educated about the meaning of constantly evolving innovation buzzwords so they don’t lose tomorrow’s round of “buzzword bingo” by prematurely buying or selling “the next big (untested) thing”.
Step Two – Create a member-owned, member-operated marketplace that displays and incorporates innovation management best practices and enables marketplace efficiencies through direct member-to-member commerce – CxObuzz.com. While Consumer Reports Magazine is a great educational publication, it would be greater still if there was a Consumer Reports store that offered CR members the opportunity to purchase the top rated gear at special CR member rates. Just as Costco Magazine members can purchase what they learn about at a Costco Warehouse, TA members will be able to buy, distribute or sell at CxObuzz.com what is taught and discussed at CxObuzz.org.
So CxObuzz.org is the Innovation Management Journal where members teach each other how to source, procure and manage innovation services and CxObuzz.com is the marketplace where members meet to transact business at special member-to-member terms.
Who Edits the CxO Buzz Educational Content & Stocks the CxO Buzz Store Shelves? TA members of course! The educational content already exists. It’s the unsorted, unfiltered hot mess of technology innovation webinars, whitepapers and special offers that overflow your email inbox and social media feeds 24/7/365. To turn innovation chaos into innovation management order, just as Costco warehouses only carry about 4,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) compared to the 30,000 found at most supermarkets, TA staff members and subject matter experts (SMEs) will sort through the innovation information avalanche on a daily, weekly and monthly basis in order to provide the vendor neutral sorting and filtering that is currently missing from the mountain of information that no TA member can ever sift through.
And then, just like at Costco, after TA’s SMEs sort through all the wild claims between competing and complementary innovation distributors and providers in order to separate fact from fiction, TA will “stock the shelf” with the innovation management services showcased in the CxObuzz.org educational buyers guides as well as refer TA members to other TA members who A) have experience distributing the innovation management services showcased, and B) offer TA members special member-to-member terms for procuring the innovation management service through a fellow member.
How Does TA Finance the Educational Content Editors & Store Stockers? TA is financed by monthly prepaid pledges from individual buyer and seller members and market development funds (MDF) from innovation distributors and providers. As TA’s membership grows and vendors see their return on MDF, TA will increase the number of SME educational content editors on staff as well as the “shelf stockers” who negotiate special innovation management services deals for members.
How Do Individual TA Members “Own” CxO Buzz? All TA members accrue “points” whenever they pledge and pay actual dollars as well as when they volunteer time and resources. TA members use their points to buy TA services like buyers guide listings as appropriate. Just as Costo offers annual rewards to members based on their shopping volume and USAA offers members a similarly based annual distribution, if and when TA elects to sell any TA asset, the proceeds of the asset sold would be distributed to TA members equitably based on their member points as determined by TA and announced in advance.
When Does the First “CxO Buzz – Innovation Management Journal” Publish? The “beta” version publishes at Noon PT, Wednesday, December 7th. The first official version publishes at Noon PT, Wednesday, January 4th 2023 and then will be updated every Wednesday at Noon PT.
How Does One Join TA? TA opens for new members at one minute past midnight Eastern Time, Friday, November 25th, the day after Thanksgiving. The only way to join TA is to accept the invitation of an existing TA member. TA is currently registering innovation management industry influencers as TA’s first members. Once registered, the influencers will distribute invitations which you will be able to accept starting Friday, November 25th. If you don’t receive an invitation by 11/25 you can visit CxObuzz.org/Join on 11/25 to be referred to a list of TA member influencers to request a membership invitation.
Innovation Management Influencer Registration Instructions If you are an innovation management services influencer and you desire to A) join TA for the purpose of inviting your audience to join TA themselves, or B) make an appointment with Dan Baldwin to receive a personal influencers briefing about TA’s CxO Buzz education and marketplace program, please click here and make a TA pledge of $1 or more. Upon receipt of your pledge, Dan Baldwin will contact you with the next steps. If you are not contacted within 24 hours of making your pledge, please text Dan at 951-251-5155.
