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An incubator for the wireless world

Jun 5, 2006 12:00 AM, By Jason Meyers

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High-ranking players in the wireless sector have a new place to interact with their peers confidentially — INmobile.org, a private, invitation-only online community designed specifically for leaders from wireless service providers, content developers, venture capitalists, device manufacturers, consulting firms and other mobile-focused organizations.

The forum is the brainchild of Matthew Corbett, founder and managing director of executive search firm IdealWave Solutions, and Adam Zawel, former director of U.S. wireless research for the Yankee Group. They identified a need for an online environment where industry executives could meet, exchange knowledge and otherwise intermingle in private.

“We saw a great deal of very senior individuals working on very similar problems — all in isolation,” Corbett said. One of the purposes of INmobile.org is to facilitate “networking in the demilitarized zone,” he said.

Members pay an annual subscription fee of $550 — “About the price of an annual subscription to the Harvard Business Review,” Corbett said. Discussion forums, in which members can ask and answer questions, and an editorial area, in which Zawel writes commentary and conducts interviews with industry leaders, complement the networking opportunity. The forum also highlights one topic per month; in May, it was mobile advertising and in June, mobile virtual network operators.

“This allows members who aren't wireless specialists to tap into people who are,” Corbett said. “The diversity of members will naturally and organically make the content more diverse.”

Zawel, INmobile.org's chief collaboration officer, also moderates member discussion threads. He said the participation of senior industry executives is unique in a forum like this and helps prepare them for a new form of communication. “It's beyond PR, beyond executive presentations,” Zawel said. “It's a way for these executives to get used to a new way of thinking.”

One member said Zawel's expertise on wireless issues and proficiency as an intermediary helps keep discussions on track.

“Without a really good moderator, it could spiral out of control,” said Alex Pigeon, director of international business development for Major League Baseball. “Adam hops in and adds perspective and context to get things back on track and make you think.”

Pigeon's membership in the forum is an example of interest from people involved in the content side of mobile. He called INmobile.org “an incubator for thought” and said the involvement of the VC community is especially useful in helping ground discussions in reality. “If you're a brick-and-mortar company with a big brand and you're trying to figure out your mobile strategy, it's a great place to lob a question out and get some feedback,” Pigeon said. “The VCs can say, ‘That's good, but here's what the market's saying.’”

The confidentiality aspect of INmobile.org is a large part of what makes the community appealing to all involved, said Vanessa DiMauro, principal of consulting firm Leader Networks and a longtime developer of executive online communities, who provided consulting services to INmobile.org.

“Privacy is absolutely critical to the success,” she said. “The INmobile guys are deeply committed to maintaining privacy for the caliber of members and the level of the discussion.”

The proprietary nature of the community and a mutual appreciation of the purpose of the interaction is what attracted Scott Bergs, chief operating officer of Midwest Wireless, to join. “It has already allowed me to interact with people — vendors, for example — in an environment where they're not selling anything,” he said. “It's that virtual table for us to just sit down and brainstorm.”

DiMauro said she is similarly impressed with the level of information being exchanged in the early stage of the existence of INmobile.org. “Forums like this don't usually reach a level of intellectual maturity so quickly,” she said.