Meeting a Reader of My edX Book in Dubai

Delighted to have met Mohammed Alsiddiq, a founding partner of Eight Creative Technology, in Dubai on Thursday, July 28, 2016. This was the first time I have met a reader of my book, edX E-Learning Course Development, and by coincidence he also lives in the United Arab Emirates! Founded in 2015 and based in Twofour54 Abu Dhabi, Eight Creative Technology is Khalifa Fund‘s first initiative focused on digital innovation. Their services include ‪digital‬ ‪strategy‬, platform development,‪ social media‬, business ‪applications,‬ and ‪ecommerce‬. They collaborate with industry leaders to deliver a broad range of ‪training‬ programs and‪ workshops‬ in areas of digital ‪marketing‬, social…

Read More

Flaunting My “Freak Factor” with Dave Rendall

On Thursday, April 14, 2016 I experienced David Rendall‘s “Freak Factor” motivational speech at the American University in Dubai. This was just one of 21 presentations he will give in seven countries this month! I’ve virtually known David since 2012 when I was an Associate Content Manager for the Business Segment at Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning); this was my first chance to meet him in person. Anchored by the motto “what makes us weird also makes us wonderful; what makes us weak also makes us strong,” the nearly 90-minute presentation encouraged those in attendance to “think differently about being different.” His…

Read More

7 Career-Saving Social Media Strategies

Social media offers individuals an excellent environment to promote their personal brand to strengthen their professional platform. However, if engaged carelessly or irresponsibly, social media can sink you faster than the Titanic after it met the iceberg. Certainly nobody is perfect, but if you consider the 7 career-saving social media strategies below you will be more likely to swim than sink in social media. 1. Add Value to Conversations: If all you do with social media is re-tweet and share the ideas of others then it is apparent you won’t offer a potential employer original thoughts and you most likely lack motivation…

Read More

Raj Kotecha and the Business of Marketing

On Sunday, November 29, 2015 Raj Kotecha delivered a guest lecture — “Content is the New Oil” — at American University in the Emirates (AUE). Notably, I met Raj  the same night I met Robert Scoble here in Dubai. This was the first in a planned series of “Business of Marketing” guest lectures from the Department of Marketing, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management in the College of Business Administration (COBA). Raj is the founder of Creative Content Agency (CCA) where he has designed and implemented marketing campaigns from events to social media for industry leading brands such as The Fragrance Shop,…

Read More

Learning Lessons from a Major Malfunction

“Roger, go at throttle up.” — Commander Dick Scobee, STS-51-L. I showed the June 2014 The New York Times documentary “Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: Major Malfunction” in my MGT 205, Organizational Behavior class at the American University in the Emirates. The documentary is about the Space Shuttle Challenger and Space Shuttle Columbia disasters; it explores how poor decision-making resulted in the death of the astronauts in both ill-fated flights. Notably, the documentary is complimented by an article about the same subject matter from January 28, 2016 titled, “The Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster, 30 Years Later.” I shared this article with my students to…

Read More