Connections #039 – LinkedIn Unplugged
Patrick Crane is VP of Marketing & Advertising at LinkedIn – the world’s #1 Business Networking site, currently with over 26 Million members.
Prior to joining LinkedIn, Patrick worked at Yahoo! Mobile & Vodafone (including some time in Sydney, Australia).
In this frank and open discussion, Patrick talks about his role at LinkedIn – and answers many questions on subjects of interest to users, such as Site Performance & Scalability, Groups, e-Mail Addresses in Name Fields etc.
Patrick also gives us a glimpse of new features that LinkedIn users can look forward to over the coming year.
For anyone wanting to get a perspective of LinkedIn ‘behind the scenes’ – this is a great way to find out.
WEB LINKS:
Building a Company from Scratch using LinkedIn – a user’s success story
LinkedIn: La red profesional lÃder ahora en español – Linkedin now in Spanish (video)
LinkedIn Spanish Lessons – Blooper reel of above (video)
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Thank you
Stan Relihan
Expert Executive Search: www.expertsearch.com.au
September 8th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
An excellent interview as you don’t hear much from the top brass at Linkedin too often.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Thank you Stan for providing me with information that allows me to see already today in what ways LI will be a key instrument for me in both my scientific research and advisory work in global growth venturing.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Dear Stan, Thanks so much for your educated and dynamic interview with Patrick Crane. I make a living doing social networking for clients, and Linkedin is my main platform for this. Hearing Patrick’s answers to your great questions about the future of LI and where they stand on the global front. You have a great show Stan, and you illucidate as much with your questions as some of the answers do. Peace, and keep up the great work!
Mary Agnes Vetell Antonopoulos
http://www.RockawayWriter.com
September 8th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
A great interview. Thank you Stan and Patrick.
Valeriu
September 8th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Esta entrevista de Patrick Crane fue fantastica ..!
Felicitaciones por la initiativa de tener a LinkedIn en espanol.
Thanks Stan, I’ve decided to post a message in Spanish, thanking LinkedIn for the great initiative to launch a spanish version. Now I can invite all my colleagues from Latin America. I’ve created a GROUP http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/803707/ to help all those LATINOS to exchange ideas in either Spanish or English, and/or assist anyone wanting to do business with Latin America.
Muchas gracias, and well done for another great interview.
Regards
Richard Giuliano
http://www.4p.com.au
September 9th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Thanks Stan for an incredible interview! Wow!! I didn’t even have to pony up my credit card. Talk about your value add type of opportunities. You’re the best.
P.S. Your marketing works! I would have totally missed out if I had not received the promotional email this morning. Now I can spend the rest of the day implementing some of the best practices exposed on the interview.
Cheers!
Jonathan D. Nicholas
Virtual CEO
http://www.jonathannicholas.com
September 9th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Hi Stan and Patrick,
Patrick, thank you for taking the time to be on the #1 Podcast Show regarding LinkedIn. Your comments and insights are very much appreciated. LinkedIn has allowed me to connect to old friends and new friends. Really enjoy the new features on LinkedIn.
All the best. Louise M. Kidney
September 9th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Great interview Stan.
Patrick, I am delighted to hear you speak and bring us or reconfirm us the value of LinkedIn, which I can fully underwrite and appreciate. Whether we hear you talk about groups, professional networking, profiles, success stories, … they all fit in with what LinkedIn was supposed to be.
And I see LinkedIn delivering, while at the same time we experience huge hassle with the way LinkedIn is enforcing certain behaviour on top of its user community. The restrictions on the groups are still eating a lot of anger with many of us and is far from solved. The restrictions or limitations on invites and the way users are being incorrectly treated by LinkedIn protocols or procedures, is running up nervously in some of our blood vessels.
YES there are great things about LinkedIn, YES there are still great things about LinkedIn we don’t want to miss, YES we see LinkedIn moving forward in the right direction, … However, NO we don’t agree with some of the mentality applied, whether it is LinkedIn customer service, or some procedures which are being applied – many of those are incorrect and is making users drift away from the real LinkedIn.
Let me put it in another way:
if LinkedIn would consider in many of its strategies and implementations, what the affect is on their user community and certainly the serious and professional networkers, or perhaps consider the administrative burden being imposed on its users, a lot of members will happily accept certain restrictions, as long as they are based on sustainable and founded reasons, which most of us can understand – and if possible pre-advised with ample time of response, reaction, corrective action if necessary … much of the negative feedback in recent months would not have been there.
Still, today we see same approach applied in many ways. LinkedIn has to look a bit in its own shop and clean-up based on what has been said.
I sincerely hope LinkedIn will be there tomorrow and far in the future as it is a great tool and as you say Patrick, the most valuable part of LinkedIn is and will and should remain the TRUSTED platform.
I heard you guys talking about the email address and stuff in the name tag: how come LinkedIn doesn’t enforce its rules there – which would be so easy to do – while preaching about trusted environment and keeping connections reasonable – or better to reality. Why bother people with lots of admin stuff when it comes to group management and invitations. Review the procedures and come to the conclusion that there is much to be improved to make it less cumbersome.
Same for customer service. Many of us have proven that the restrictions imposed because of certain scenarios do not reflect reality, while users proof their professionalism in networking, they keep on hitting the same wall, without having any grip on it. Only one remedy to stop this madness: turn off the “don’t know” button cause it is causing more bad then good results for everyone.
There have been suggestions made enough to improve the protocol and to ensure that people don’t take advantage. We like to see corrective action being taken by LinkedIn. Thanks.
I rest (my) case here as it has been enough documented across platforms and with LinkedIn Customer Service. I am very fond of LinkedIn and it has allowed me to establish something which was otherwise not possible. Much of my network and network activity is for long time now based on using LinkedIn to build and keep that trusted network.
So let us build on that, not break it apart by rules which do not favour the real professional trusted and honest networkers.
Thanks for shifting some of the current situations WITHIN LinkedIn.
Best regards
Joris Claeys.
September 9th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Stan,
Really enjoyed the podcast featuring Patrick Crane. Excellent interview. Your questions were superb.
Patrick seems like such an easy-going, affable guy. Very approachable.
I’m happy that the Groups feature is going to be revamped. Looking forward to that.
Thanks again and have a great week.
Leslie
September 9th, 2008 at 4:08 am
Thanks for presenting a wonderful overview of Linkedin, from an inside source.
Randy
September 10th, 2008 at 12:03 am
I thoroughly enjoyed the podcast.
Looking forward to listening to podcasts 1-38,
I would like to educate myself further on the usefulness of LinkedIn.
Thanks,
Tim Lowery
September 11th, 2008 at 4:44 am
Thanks Stan!
As always – it was insightful, interesting and much appreciated!
I am working assisting with a new product launch with a start-up technology company and the ideas I gained here will certainly help!
All the best,
Jonathan
Jonathan W. Logan, Esq.
~ Founder | Social Entrepreneur
Better World Mortgageâ„¢
~ The Green, Sustainable & Socially Responsible Mortgage Referral Networkâ„¢
25 NW 23rd Place, #290
Portland, Oregon 97210
Tel. 503-936-9989
Fax 503-228-2630
September 11th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Great job like always
Thanks Stan
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:50 am
Just wanted to say great job with the blog, today is my first visit here and I’ve enjoyed reading your posts so far :)
Juan