Part of the fun of leading Rockfish includes coordinating office space and moving (sarcasm).  Next week we'll be adding a second location and moving for the fourth time.  It's not a long-term solution, but it will buy us time as we continue our search to build or buy the perfect long-term home for Rockfish.

The Bentonville Daily Record wrote a story about our expansion for those who are interested.

In the very early hours of the morning, we launched the new Walmartstores.com website.  The new Walmartstores.com website is a consolidation of three major websites (Walmartfacts.com, Walmartstores.com, and Walmartfoundation.org).  There's so much that can be said about this project and we will post a project case study on it very soon.  However, for now let me say:

1) There was a tremendous amount of partnership between Rockfish and Wal-Mart in launching this significant website.  Consolidating three very active websites into a new site is not an easy undertaking.  A lot of people from Wal-Mart and Rockfish worked very hard on this project!  This was definitely a team effort.

2) So much of what I'm most proud of on this website is what you can't see.  It's the engine behind the scenes that is powering this site that really gets me excited!

3) I actually have a small sense of sadness that the original Walmartfacts.com is going away.  That site is an important milestone in our company's short history.  It was the first significant website we launched for Wal-Mart almost two years ago, and one of the first websites we launched as a company.  However, knowing that it has rolled up into the new Walmartstores.com site is a much stronger sense of accomplishment and pride in how far our company has come in the past two years!

Today the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal published a story announcing the partnership between Rockfish Interactive and SVI in forming a new company, Geno.  I’m very excited about Geno and wanted to briefly share my perspective on this partnership.  The next posting is a more formal Q&A that Mike and I prepared together.

I ventured into the world of interactive development in 1995 through developing computer-based learning software for a large health care company in Texas.  Throughout the 90’s I had the opportunity to work on a number of computer-based learning projects for Fortune 500 companies and experienced first-hand the tremendous value and excitement that interactive learning brings to an organization and their employees.  At Rockfish we’ve recently had the privilege to partner with JB Hunt in successfully launching online learning for all of their drivers.
 
Mike and I met and immediately connected.  We share similar values and a vision for the tremendous opportunities that emerging technologies bring to online learning.  Prior to meeting, our companies were independently having the same conversation from the opposite perspective.  If Rockfish was going to seriously leverage our technology expertise in developing online learning for other companies, we were going to need to build our business development team and People Development expertise.  If SVI was going to continue to grow and meet the demands for online learning, they were going to need to build their technology team.  When we met it became quickly obvious to both of us that creating a joint venture between our two companies was the most efficient way for us to meet our objectives.

Both SVI and Rockfish will continue to operate independently.  We will staff Geno with people from both of our organizations that will be focused on this new opportunity.  Mike and I will lead the company in its early stages as an extension of our two organizations.  We’ve already got some great clients and anticipate a rapidly growing Geno team.

We’re already kicking off the rapid development of generation 2 of the genonow.com platform.  Stay tuned for a number of exciting updates and announcements that are coming from Geno very soon!

Following is a more formal Q&A that Mike and I prepared together concerning the Geno partnership.  For more details and a link to the online story, please refer to the posting above.

1) Why are we starting this company?

Geno is being created in order to maximize the growth potential of a product already in existence that has shown great promise over the past year. SVI launched genonow.com as an online, highly customizable open learning environment. An official partnership was developed between SVI and Rockfish Interactive because the capabilities, vision and values of both companies will result in developing the most comprehensive and integrated people development and online learning systems in existence.

2) What is your unique selling proposition? How are you different from your competition?

Geno's online learning environment is unique in that it provides a much more valuable alternative to expensive Learning Management Systems (LMS) for companies and corporations. LMS's are typically very complex, inflexible learning systems that are hard for users to grasp and not at all entertaining. Geno's user-friendly and entertaining online learning environment, however, operates organically, delivering "just in time" training from expert trainers from around the globe according to an organization’s specific competency model. Geno’s learning environment also integrates with an online performance review and individual development planning system (IDP) making it one of the most comprehensive online learning systems in existence.

3) Why the two of your together? What brought you together?

Kenny Tomlin and Mike Thompson met based on encouragement from several friends. After an introductory meeting, both Kenny and Mike knew that the relationship could be something very special with enormous opportunity. SVI and Rockfish Interactive share similar visions and hold similar values. Both organizations expect to be global leaders in their industries and believe that to be successful in the 21st century, they must operate with the highest integrity and be mission-minded toward social causes. SVI's and Rockfish Interactive's capabilities fit perfectly together. SVI is very vertically focused in the organizational development (OD) and human resources (HR) industry. Rockfish Interactive is horizontally focused on interactive solutions. It's no secret that the OD and HR industries are in great need of people systems that can be organically and economically deployed according to today’s needs - authentic experiences, constant change, and high customization.  We believe that our partnership will result in developing the most comprehensive and integrated people development and online learning systems in existence.

4) What unique attributes or strengths do both companies have that make this new company unique?

Both SVI and Rockfish Interactive share similar clients. In fact, some of their clients have brought them together on a couple of projects without the knowledge that Rockfish Interactive and SVI were in discussions around forming this new company. SVI is very knowledgeable in the OD industry. SVI creates and conducts talent assessments, designs and delivers leadership and organizational training, offers people development and performance review systems, develops people strategies and captures human capital payout. SVI is also known for its comprehensive leadership development programs such as Radical Sabbatical™ and its emphasis on diversity and inclusion through social network analysis.

Rockfish Interactive has had tremendous growth in bringing interactive solutions to a vast array of needs. Rockfish Interactive is one of the fastest growing interactive company in the Southwest and has brought some of the most innovative systems and world-class design and user experiences to leading companies throughout the country.
With Rockfish Interactive and SVI partnering to create the new company, Geno, they can bring their clients organizational development and human capital expertise along with the most comprehensive and integrated people development and learning systems in existence.

5) What are you selling?

The company GENO is created to deliver the most comprehensive and integrated people development and online learning systems in existence.

6) How does it benefit the customers?

Customers will benefit from this system through its cost-savings, open and customizable system platform, ease of use, integration with an organization’s unique review and development process, entertaining to the user, and potentially unlimited quality training content.

7) Do you have any customers?

Yes. Several. From mid-sized companies to Fortune 100 companies.

8) What stage is the business in?

The formal organization is just underway. However, the product GENO is offering has been deployed in several organizations for almost a year now.

9) What is the future timetable for product development and company growth?

New features such as training module testing and reporting, real-time training module creation, online community, feedback forums, additional search capabilities and administrative features will be added over the next six months. We intend to develop the most comprehensive and integrated people development and online learning systems in existence.

Click here to view the website.