Feature Story

From Concept to Specification

In December 2004 the ZigBee Alliance announced the ratification of the first ZigBee Specification. With this announcement the ZigBee Alliance realized a major organizational milestone and became the first industry consortium to make the development and deployment of extremely power efficient, cost effective, low data rate monitoring, control and sensing networks a reality. This on-time delivery of the specification is the culmination of two years of worldwide development and interoperability testing by the more than 100 member companies within the ZigBee Alliance.

Since its inception in 2002 with 22 members, the Alliance has grown to more than 124 members spanning 22 countries across 4 continents. But how did ZigBee evolve from just a great concept to becoming a globally accepted technology standard in only two years?

The formation and operation of The ZigBee Alliance was undertaken with the aid of Global Inventures in 2002. The consortium needed operational management to handle legal matters, financials, membership databases, a website, and other administrative support. It also needed technical and marketing roadmaps, and -- most importantly -- a way to get members motivated and involved to make it all happen.

Global Inventures responded promptly during the initial incubation phase, setting up a flexible operations framework with a Virtual Office Services package for the day-to-day business functions of the consortium. Global Inventures also provided Executive Management Services via an Executive Director who guided business planning and provided strategic counsel on activities that would position ZigBee favorably in the market. Finally, leveraging its experience with over 20 alliances and collaborative communities, Global Inventures provided targeted consortia Marketing and Events Services.

It was quickly realized that a broad spectrum of members, including semiconductor manufacturers, IP providers, OEMs and others, were needed for the Alliance to succeed. A comprehensive recruitment strategy was required to pull new members from this wide range of industries and was key to gaining market position for ZigBee. Global Inventures developed a robust series of outreach programs utilizing Webinars, Open House events, member meetings and high profile analyst reports to drive new membership. The tremendous response validated the technological forecast that ZigBee’s founders had predicted.

To further aid in fostering open global standards, Global Inventures managed a series of Interoperability events for the Alliance. During the past 12 months, Global Inventures has facilitated 8 separate interoperability test events. By providing a forum for member companies to come together to test their ZigBee prototypes, ZigBee’s goal of multi-vendor, interoperable solutions became real and tangible.

As the buzz about ZigBee grew, Global Inventures secured speaker placements and exhibits at major industry events, providing ZigBee members access to the best possible venues for educating target audiences about the technical and business aspects of this new wireless technology.

Global Inventures was also instrumental in helping ZigBee retain a top PR agency to ensure continued momentum for the Alliance. This has resulted in increased media coverage and inclusion in numerous high-profile analyst reports which have validated ZigBee’s technical direction.

ZigBee member companies demonstrate their latest innovations during the ZigBee Open House Expo, Seoul Korea, Dec. 2004

The hard work of the ZigBee members is yielding results. ZigBee-enabled products have won numerous awards, including top honors at the Sensors EXPO & Conference. Today ZigBee spokespeople are regularly invited to present at industry tradeshows and events to discuss ZigBee’s impact. The organization is continually called upon for its thought leadership and strategic market contribution, and is now keynoting conferences and hosting un-plugfests and international Open Houses attended by hundreds of attendees interested in the technology.

Global Inventures continues to provide executive management leadership and operational support for the consortium, as well as managing the group’s strategic events and marketing initiatives. ZigBee’s continued success in the market is pervasive and Global Inventures is privileged to be a partner with ZigBee through its next phase of evolution: From specification to industry adoption and rapid deployment.

For more on the ZigBee Success Story, or to see how Global Inventures can drive similar results for your strategic collaboration initiatives, please contact Global Inventures at information@inventures.com.

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CES 2005:
Global Inventures Manages Strategic Client Initiatives

The CES event in Las Vegas is a critical industry rallying point for many of Global Inventures' clients. This year's event, held in January and attended by 140,000 people, was no exception. Global Inventures Marketing and Event staff managed strategic marketing initiatives at CES for three of our clients, WiMedia, HomePlug and UIC.

WiMedia: The Ultra in WirelessTM
WiMedia chose to host a variety of activities at the CES show in an effort to increase visibility for the WiMedia brand. The venue afforded them an opportunity to promote their core message: that WiMedia is a wireless, ultrawideband-based technology, designed specifically for multimedia (high-data rate) devices operating within personal area networks and to clarify where WiMedia/UWB fits in the overall wireless landscape.
Activities kicked off on Tuesday afternoon with the "CES Unveiled" event, a press reception at which WiMedia and MBOA fielded hours of press and analyst questions.

To further promote their activities to key press in attendance at the show, WiMedia hosted a press conference, moderated by Virginia Williams of CEA (Organizers of CES), featuring a presentation by Yoram Solomon. A Q&A session followed and featured Glyn Roberts, James Snider, Dave Sroka and Stephen Wood representing WiMedia, 1394ta, W-USB and MBOA.

In addition to press activities, WiMedia hosted a booth on the show floor which attracted hundreds of show attendees interested in understanding more about the work of the alliance. The week was extremely successful and included a "celebrity" sighting as the FCC's Michael Powell walked by the MBOA-UWB techzone with his entourage to see the latest innovations in ultra-wideband technology.

WiMedia Alliance kiosk in UWB TechZone at CES 2005

HomePlug Powerline Alliance Takes CES by Storm
The HomePlug Powerline Alliance marked the occasion of the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) with a broad base of exciting news from a variety of HomePlug-member companies.

There were demonstrations throughout the exhibition halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center showcasing HomePlug technology in various HomePlug-member booths. The display of HomePlug technology amplified the alliance's efforts in creating robust, multi-vendor specifications through a rigorous specification process.

The HomePlug Alliance booth showed how all HomePlug standards (1.0, AV, and BPL) work together

The 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show will be recognized as the year that HomePlug-certified products began delivering on the dream of the service-driven digital home. HomePlug 1.0 and HomePlug AV specifications have demonstrated the ease-of use to bring innovative products to the marketplace, and continue to be entrenched in the marketplace. HomePlug BPL offers the interoperability to allow new types of digital services to be delivered from utility companies and service providers.

Members of the multi-company team working the HomePlug booth reported great interest from an overwhelming number of guests. Analysts and media visited the booth, and commenting on the droves of people who marvelled at the demonstration of HDTV and Home Theater streaming through simple, basic electrical sockets.

UPnPTM Implementers Corporation (UIC) featured at Showstoppers
More than 500 press and industry analyst attended the Showstoppers dinner event at CES. More than 70 sponsor companies participated and UPnP technology was prominently featured by the UPnP Implementers Corporation (UIC). Visitors heard about the latest in UPnP products and certifications including one of the first UPnP printers, being offered by Hewlett-Packard. A highlight of the event for the UIC was an announcement that several prominent industry groups are now endorsing the UPnP architecture, including CableLabs, DSLForum and DLNA.

Rob Ranck, UIC Executive Director discusses the benefits of UPnP technology with a member of the press.

A Taste of MoCA
The Backbone of the Broadband Network

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) showed off its stuff in the TechHome Zone at CES and wowed more than a few with the concept of achieving home networking and digital entertainment utilizing the existing coax in the home. A number of companies on the exhibit floor demonstrated products that are intended for MoCA certification. And dozens of CES visitors attended the conference session “A Taste of MoCA – The Backbone of the Broadband Network” where President Ladd Wardani highlighted the features of MoCA and provided an update on the exciting status of the alliance.

The traffic in the exhibit MoCA kept staffers busy with visitors excited about MoCA technology.

Thanks to everyone who helped put it together.

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Inventures Service Spotlight
Marketing and Events Services

Global Inventures provides Marketing and Events services to a majority of our clients. Global Inventures understands that marketing a consortia is unique and traditional marketing paradigms are not always relevant. Based on our Lifecycle of a Consortia methodology, our Marketing Program Managers partner with each client to develop a strategic marketing plan which defines target audiences, provides specific messaging strategies to each audience and architects a roadmap of planned marketing activities based on the client’s specific phase of the lifecycle.

Our strategic marketing methodologies have helped drive interest in over 20 consortia, 20 de-facto specifications, seven interoperability programs and over 200 events and meetings. Inventures’ marketing & event managers enable our clients to maximize the ROI for their limited marketing budgets. This solid foundation, allows Global Inventures to partner with the client and manage successful outreach activities that effectively position the community in the marketplace to meet its marketing objectives.

Activities range across a variety of traditional marketing programmatic elements including PR/AR, Events, Messaging and Communications, Website and Collateral Development. Activities are designed to generate market demand for a specification or technology initiative, recruit members and increase awareness.

Global Inventures also provides end-to-end event management services for conferences, expos, member meetings, and outreach seminars. Our team has organized over 200 successful meetings around the world. Event management capabilities range from:

• High-level board meetings attended by 15-20 Senior Executives
• Full member meetings with multiple tracks attended by several hundred participants
• Open house events with tiered sponsorships and exhibits
• Complex interoperability testing sessions involving hundreds of companies testing extensive switched, mobile, and IP infrastructure
• Web seminars

Contact Raj Mata, VP for Marketing and Operations at information@inventures.com to see how Global Inventures can support your strategic marketing and event programs.

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Staff Spotlight
Global Inventures Team Continues to Grow

Brenda Kittredge - Senior Accounting Manager, In January, Brenda joined the Global Inventures Team as the Senior Accounting Manager of the Finance Department. She brings to the table over ten years of experience in client management, accounting, and human relations for highly profitable professional entities. She relocated from Southern California where her previous employment included Singer, Lewak, Greenbaum & Goldstein LLP, and Kellogg & Andelson Accountancy Corporation. She received an MBA from California State University, Northridge and a Bachelors degree from UCLA. Bestowed upon her is the responsibility to ensure that best practices are implemented for all accounting and finance functions for Global Inventures as well as its clients. Her professional experience coupled with her educational background makes her a great asset to Global Inventures.

Michael C. Connors – Membership Services Coordinator, Michael Connors joined the Membership Services team in mid January. Michael has been a Project Manager with C&R Builders, a construction company based out of Oakland. Before that he lived in Cairo for a couple of years and taught Egyptian history at Thebes American College, while working on UN sanctioned projects helping the relocation efforts of Sudanese and Ethiopian refugees. Michael received his Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Humboldt State University. He did some coursework at the American University of Cairo, and a one-year postgraduate studies program in Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology at the Catholic University of Leuven, in Belgium.

Jennifer Heying – Membership Services Coordinator, Jennifer joined Global Inventures in June, 2004 as an independent contractor helping us with the Telemarketing campaign for the OSGi Alliance 2004 World Congress. By July, she quickly became part of our Membership Services staff and our "Virtual Office" core team. She provides a wide range of membership support services including new memberships, renewals, working group list management, meeting and event database management and member help desk. Jennifer earned her Bachelors Degree in Communication and Minor in American Studies from the University of California, Davis. She has over 8+ years experience in customer service, property management and event support. She has also served a term with AmeriCorps, a corporation for national and community service.

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News From Our Communities

Global Inventures’ clients are in the news. Following is a sampling of recent announcements. Visit the Global Inventures Community News page to and read these and other recent releases from our clients.

January 7, 2005
HomePlug Powerline Alliance Selects Baseline Technology for HomePlug BPL Specification

January 6, 2005
HomePlug Powerline Alliance Announces New Members and Launches a New Utility Class Membership

January 5, 2005
HomePlug AV Standard Builds on Global Success of HomePlug 1.0 technology for Whole House Distribution of Digital Media

December 2004
The Parlay Group is featured in an article on www.redknee.com titled “Parlay shows accelerating adoption”

December 14, 2004
ZigBee Alliance Finalizes Specification

November 30, 2004
Enterprise Grid Alliance Marks Major Milestone with 25th Member

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Contacting Global Inventures
help@________.org

Occasionally, individuals who participate in groups we manage aren’t sure whom to contact for administrative and membership issues regarding their alliance. Although different account teams support various collaborative communities, the shortest and surest path to support is to send an email to help@[yourcommunity].org. All inquiries are logged in our HelpDesk application and routed to the appropriate person – Member Services, Web, Account Manager, Executive Director, etc. The sophisticated HelpDesk application enables our member services coordinators to view all messages and track the complete history of each message, to allow them to streamline and constantly improve contact. We’re here to support you, the members.

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