Is the Lotus gardener dead?
by Volker Weber
Recently I have been encouraged to try out Lotus' new offerings in the Greenhouse. I have requested an account many weeks ago, but have not heard back from IBM. I went through the proper channels asking for assistance, but still have not heard anything.
Has the gardener passed away?
Update: No, he hasn't:
From: "Lotus Greenhouse Team" <LGHTeam@us.ibm.com>
Date: 4. Juli 2007 02:02:18 MESZ
To: vowe@vowe.net
Subject: Welcome to the Lotus Greenhouse
Welcome to the Lotus Greenhouse.
On behalf of the Lotus Greenhouse team, I would like to invite you to join an exciting community whose focus is exploring the latest collaborative technologies from Lotus Software. ...
The Lotus Greenhouse team will be sending a follow-up email to provide you with a user ID along with instructions on how to access the site. Look for an email from LGHTeam@us.ibm.com. The Lotus development team and I look forward to interacting with you in the Lotus Greenhouse.
Michael D. Rhodin
Lotus
General Manager
IBM Software Group
Comments
Same here. I urgently need to demonstrate Quickr to internal customers, and have had nothing from IBM Greenhouse. They are going to have to do better than this if they want to keep customers.
I too applied for an account a few weeks ago and have heard nothing back.
Hadn't thought about it in a while so thanks for the reminder that I need to see if I can do something to chase it along :)
Hello Everyone -
The master gardener is alive and well!
I am very sorry that your request has not been processed. We have been a bit overwhelmed with the number of requests that have come in from our website.
The best way to get an invitation quickly is to have an internal IBMer nominate you. Could you please send an e-mail directly to LGHTeam@us.ibm.com and I will make sure we process your invitation.
Again, I am very sorry for the slow response.
Does anybody else place electronic signatures in their emails like IBM has been doing lately?
This is not an electronic signature. It's just a scan of a scribble.
As for real electronic signatures, I place them in my email, so everybody has my public key to send encrypted messages as necessary.
@Vowe,
You are correct as I didn't make my self clear. So to re-phrase it "is IBM the only company that still attaches eletronic scribbles to their emails?"
Mr. Rhodin is personally signing those mails from the Greenhouse Team. That is why it takes a while to process them. He is also busy with his blog.
Why do we need an internal IBM nomination to demonstrate IBM software to customers? this makes no sense.
Andy,
Knowing the secret handshake also helps. :-)
I applied for an ID, too. Needless to say, still waiting. And, yes, as Andy points out, it makes no sense whatsoever that we need to be nominated by an IBMer. Startup companies running betas on 486s get back to you sooner when you request an ID.
And IBM wonders how they get a reputation for being difficult to work with, non-responsive, and generally impenetrable? Hint: it's because they are.....
Of course, if one's non-blog has the traffic of a vowe.net, the non-responsive part doesn't last long. Heh...
Obligatory caveat - we all know Ed and Alan are exceptionally responsive, and there are other individuals within IBM who are also a treat to deal with. I am referring to the institution as a whole.
ahhh The dangers of having execs create blogs and never write in them. I mentioned this to various IBMers in an attempt to nudge Mike, but no updates have been posted in an age. I remember when folks were having a go at Ray Ozzie for never posting but Mike hasn't done much better ;-)
I remember going to sign up for a Lotus Greenhouse ID ages ago and the website said they weren't accepting new members. At that time I supposedly put myself on a list to be notified when they started accepting new members. That didn't happen, and I was honestly surprised when Ed blogged about Greenhouse and encouraged people to sign up.
For a company with one of the best collaboration products on the market, IBM's internal (and often external) communication really, really sucks.
They probably put this stuff into a Notes database, and then nobody knows which database on which server. I call this WOM. Write Only Memory. ;-)
I applied for Greenhouse membership and just got this:
"Hi Bruce -
I checked out your blog and you seem to be a fan of Lotus. Can I ask if you are associated with a company and have a business e-mail address?"
Oy....
Looks like the gardener never heard of OpenNTF. :-)
Just heard back from the Greenhouse and I am in. Once I let the Greenhouse keeper know that I was affiliated with OpenNTF they replied "oh I use that site a lot" approval was immediately granted.
Time to play with Quickr.
Perhaps some IBMer in here can assist me in gaining access to the Greenhouse? Offers on a postcard... thanks.
Hi Andy -
As I said above, please send an email to LGHTeam@us.ibm.com and we will grant you access.
Thanks!
Thanks Colleen. My second request, which I truly didn't remember submitting, has been approved.
Thanks to whoever expedited my request (Colleen perhaps?) I am now IN the greenhouse.
You are welcome for the id's. Thanks for joining the Lotus Greenhouse!
