Embracing The Winds of Beta

It is that time again- the winds of change. It is envitable. First I would like to extend a heart-felt thanks to Jim Kukral who is leaving Revenews as its steward.

Thank You Jim

It is a tough role, as I am sure Jim knows, and I do appreciate the immense amount of work and effort he has put behind it. Revenews has experienced growth, new voices, new opinions and new readership. I realize he has changes in his career and he must pursue them. This is a community so I know Jim will be close and today proximity is relative. Jim I do thank you for the hard work, long hours and for bringing us to a new era.

Droughts and The Next Stage

However, Jim and I both realize, and have discussed at length, that as a community we are in a period of “drought”. This is not unusual if you look at history. Revenews has experienced droughts before. As a brand that was started almost a decade ago publishing articles and later message boards. It went through a period of drought far more severe. Then a few years ago we adopted “blogging” as the primary format. At that time we dubbed the period “coming out of the grey”. I recall at that stage we were trying to find enough decent blogs on revenue sharing to even put together an “affiliate marketing” category. We could not do it because they didn’t exist- now we see them everywhere. That is good news.

Staying with Beta

On a podcast not long ago I described Revenews as being in “Beta”. I meant want I said.

Let us revisit the “software release life cycle”.

The software release life cycle is composed of different stages that describe the stability of a piece of software and the amount of development it requires before final release. Each major version of a product usually goes through a stage when new features are added, or the alpha stage; a stage when it is being actively debugged, or the beta stage; and finally a stage when all important bugs have been removed, or the stable stage.

Beta is where I think a community should be. It is never “stable”, never final or finished. It is a process and flux is a key ingredient.

The World Today

We have to have tools to communicate, the alpha stage, and if you look at the progression of Revenews you can see the very nature of Beta. From Javascript syndication and collaboration to the adoption of blogs. Yet the times have changed… Podcasts, Video, YouTube, Tagging, RSS remixing, Tumblr, syndication, mobile, virtual worlds, SMS, VoIP and yes- “twittering”.

I know people in general are resistant to new ideas, but it is research & development and exploration that are important and vital to keep an edge. We must keep our thoughts in beta- it is never finished, never done, never final.

With that in mind we are moving on to the next phase of communication and spreading new branches. This is what early adopters do- embrace the winds and risks of change. One should think micro-chunking and micro-blogging. It’s a brave new world, but one that we feel confident we can become trendsetters within.

In order to do this we must start with a fresh mindset and some new collaborators. A new steward will be contacting core community members, bloggers, and others with the start of this operation- it is one in which I will assist, yes I will be here, but I cannot lead. So hang on and prepare for change- don’t brace for it- run with it.

The operation has now begun. Keep your thoughts in “Beta”- click here to learn about: operation code name-.

About Wayne Porter

Wayne Porter is one of the original founders of ReveNews.com, and served as the CEO and founder of XBlock Systems a specialized research firm on greynets and malware research before being acquired by unified communications security leader, Factime Security Labs. His work includes serving as a panlist at the Federal Trade Commission to shape legislation on software and the creation of two patent-pending technologies for corporate networks. Wayne is a frequent speaker at e-commerce & business events including CJU, ASW and RSA and frequently cited in the press. He has been designated a Microsoft Security MVP three times and is recognized on Google’s Responsible Security Disclosure page- in addition to receiving the first Summit Legend Award. Wayne currently works as a Security Consultant on Social Media and operates a consultancy on digital worlds. His hobbies include reading science fiction, playing chess, fishing, writing, collecting shiny digital gadgets, playing racquetball and studying memetic engineering. He maintains a personal weblog at WaynePorter.com detailing his explorations in security, web 2.0, and virtual worlds.
You can follow Wayne on Twitter: @wporter.

Website: http://www.wayneporter.com