Talk:Technology evangelist

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"The role of technology evangelists" section

The section § The role of technology evangelists contains odd phrasing and incorrect grammar. More importantly, I doubt its neutrality. I request the judgement of someone more knowledgeable on this topic. Matthyis (talk) 10:51, 22 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Adding references to Team OS/2 and my role as an early technology evangelist

My apologies for inserting myself into the article. As requested by AndytheGrump, here is the requested history and citations for your review and hopeful inclusion into this article somehow...

PC Week ran an article about it a few weeks after I was first appointed to the position of IBM's first evangelist, representing IBM on "the bulletin boards".^[1]

For additional background, see the Wikipedia Team OS/2 article, which already names me as the founder of what was one of the largest and earliest online groups created for the sole purpose of evangelizing a specific product.

In the book I was invited to write by academic publisher W.H.Freeman, I tell the story of how I created Team OS/2 in February of 1992, as well as my thoughts on how I planned for it to gain exposure.

What I believed would work effectively to market OS/2 was a word-of-mouth approach based on the principles of geometric acceleration: sell two people, who each sell two people, who each sell two people, and so on. Cyberspace communications facilitated the rapid spread of word-of-mouth communications, and also enabled new possibilities for principle-centered socialization and dynamic teamwork.^[2]

I recognize the above sounds trivial in hindsight, but at the time, the word "viral" had not even yet been used, to the best of my knowledge, to name the way of evangelizing things I described. Team OS/2 is one of the very earliest examples of "going viral" online, and thus attracted significant industry and trade press attention.

IBM featured Team OS/2 and its accomplishments in a widely-read article in IBM's Personal Systems Journal titled "Team OS/2--A Groundswell of Support for OS/2"^[3]

PC Week featured Team OS/2 as the phenomenon it was in a special February 1994 article.^[4]^: A10

Team OS/2 is also credited as foreshadowing the Open Source evangelism by ComputerWorld columnist, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols:

Looking back, I find it fascinating that one of open-source’s strongest points, it sense of community, was foreshadowed by OS/2’s community: Team OS/2. Esther Schindler, journalist and then known as the ‘OS/2 Goddess’ for her ceaseless OS/2 efforts, recalled, “OS/2 users adored the OS. Team OS/2 was an early ‘social network’ in which enthusiastic users went out of their way to show off how cool the software was. Those too young to remember Team OS/2 may not realize that ordinary folks volunteered to demo OS/2 at their local CompUSA, and IBM hosted all sorts of Team OS/2 events at Comdex under the brilliant direction of Vicci Conway and Janet Gobeille."^[5]

^ Freedman, Beth (February 17, 1992). "IBM Creates Post To Push OS/2 2.0 Into Mass Market". PC Week. p. 113.
^ Whittle, David B. (1997). Cyberspace: The Human Dimension. New York: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 9780716783145.
^ Whittle, Dave (January–February 1994). Hawkins, Betty; Engelberg, Mike (eds.). "Team OS/2—A Groundswell of Support for OS/2". Personal Systems. Roanoke, Texas: Betty Hawkins: 14–18. Retrieved May 20, 2025.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
^ Scheier, Robert L. (February 7, 1994). "True Believers". PC Week Inside: A Section for Computer Industry Innovators, Integrators, and Investors. pp. A1, A12 – A14.
^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (2010-04-19). "Could OS/2 come back from the grave?". Computerworld. Retrieved 2015-04-04.

[1] Freedman, Beth (February 17, 1992). "IBM Creates Post To Push OS/2 2.0 Into Mass Market". PC Week. p. 113.

[cyberspacehuman-2] Whittle, David B. (1997). Cyberspace: The Human Dimension. New York: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 9780716783145.

[groundswell-3] Whittle, Dave (January–February 1994). Hawkins, Betty; Engelberg, Mike (eds.). "Team OS/2—A Groundswell of Support for OS/2". Personal Systems. Roanoke, Texas: Betty Hawkins: 14–18. Retrieved May 20, 2025.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)

[truebelievers-4] Scheier, Robert L. (February 7, 1994). "True Believers". PC Week Inside: A Section for Computer Industry Innovators, Integrators, and Investors. pp. A1, A12 – A14.

[5] Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (2010-04-19). "Could OS/2 come back from the grave?". Computerworld. Retrieved 2015-04-04.

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