Part of it has to do with the fact the amount of news coming out of Nortel has dropped considerably, which is understandable given there aren’t many assets left in the portfolio.

As well, my digital marketing and social media consulting business, ME Consulting, has been extremely busy, which hasn’t left a lot of time for AAN.

After 1,622 posts, AAN – like Nortel – is nearing the end of its active life. I’ll probably do blog posts when there is big or interesting news, and AAN will continue to stay alive to serve as an archive for anyone interested in the sad decline of Canada’s flagship technology company.

It has been an amazing and fascinating run – one that I never envisioned happened when I decided to see if I could blog about a single company. Along the way, hundreds of employees, analysts, investors and interested parties have been extremely helpful so I would like offer everyone a huge “Thank You!”.

If you’re interested in some of the other things I’m doing within the blogosphere, here are a few places to get a fix:

- Mark Evans Tech, which covers everything from Google and Web 2.0 to Skype and Facebook
- Twitterrati, a blog devoted to Twitter
- Sysomos, a blog for Sysomos Inc., a social media monitoring company where I’m director of communications.

If you’re ever in need of digital marketing and social media strategy and tactics, ME Consulting offers a variety of services.

According to Bo’s first post, Ciena has a few goals for the blog.

“We have a few goals for this blog. We’ll talk about Ciena press releases and news, but also provide you with some (hopefully) interesting tidbits of information and insights into Ciena activities that you won’t find anywhere else. We’ll give you a virtual look into our presence at industry trade shows and events, and give you some insight to some of our executives, technology experts and customers.

Most importantly, I hope this blog provides readers with a channel for questions, discussion and interaction about Ciena and the industry. The “target audience” for this blog is simple. This blog will discuss all things related to Ciena, so anyone interested in Ciena is my target audience – customers, media, analysts and even employees.”

–> –>

Written by Wilson Korol, Greenroots is “devoted to all things green with respect to our company and industry”. The fact Nortel launched a “green” blog is not surprising given how green has played a key role in Nortel’s marketing efforts.

“Greenroots is not going to be just about touting green excellence in those areas we are doing well” Korol wrote. “It is also going to provide as transparent a window as possible into our continually green journey. Obviously, this is a perpetual journey, as we are always looking to use resources more effectively, thereby reducing costs, consumption and waste while delivering ever improving customer service. If you have ideas about how Nortel could be a greener company, please let me know.”

Nortel now has four blogs, including Phil Edholm’s Enterprise Technology blog, which hasn’t been updated since Jan. 20, and the Voice Security Blog. Nortel may want to take down John Roese’s blog given he was dismissed last November, and Nortel no longer has a CTO.

Say what you will about Nortel’s management team, financial performance and strategic focus but its social media efforts, led by Bo Gowan, have been a silver lining in an otherwise bleak picture.

Technorati Tags: blogs, bo gowan

A group dedicated to the success and resurgence of a great Company. Together we can make a difference. Lets prove the naysayers wrong.

As someone who believes in the power of social media, it’s encouraging to see employees using Facebook to display their support for the company at a time when confidence among employees, suppliers, customers and investors is deteriorating.

The group, created by Nortel employee Darrin Levesque, already has 446 members, including Nortel’s social media guru, Bo Gowan.

Here’s a video from a rally that launched the “I Believe” campaign.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, facebook, Nortel

1. The metro Ethernet network business will be sold – probably to Huawei – for between $500-million to $750-million. Nortel will proclaim it’s a great deal that will help with its new focus on software, service and VoIP. Analysts and investors will not be as enthused.

2. Mike Zafirovski remains CEO even though there’s speculation he’ll be fired in 2009. The company’s in too much flux and uncertainty for the board to turf Mike Z. Meanwhile, few high-quality would be willing to take the job.

3. More cost-cutting and employee reductions. When Nortel announced 1,300 job cuts in November, it was seen as a minor move as opposed to what was really required. Expect Nortel to do another round or two of cuts to reduce operating costs.

4. After disappointing fourth-quarter results, the stock drops to below 15 cents. Nortel shares are delisted from the NYSE for not trading above $1.

5. As social media becomes more of a corporate communications, marketing and sales tool, Bo Gowan, who runs Nortel’s social media operations, is poached by a company looking to boost its social media activities.

Technorati Tags: bo gowan, mike zafirovski, Nortel

Whatever Nortel’s future holds, Bo Gowan is looking pretty good as he establishes himself as one of the leading corporate social media practitioners.

Technorati Tags: bo gowan, Nortel

Earlier today, Sacha Gera wrote a blog post on the National Post’s Executive Blog on why Ottawa (aka the federal government) should save Nortel. Now, Shane Parrish has a post arguing why Ottawa should not save Nortel.

In a poll on AAN, 58% of people who responded said Ottawa should save Nortel, 32% said “No” and 10% said “maybe”.

Technorati Tags: Nortel

The latest example is a “green” story in the Globe & Mail looking at how technology companies are starting to pay more attention to energy conservation. It cities a McKinsey & Co. report that suggests the tech industry accounts for 2% of the world’s total emissions.

Not surprisingly, Nortel is prominently featured in the story, including this quote taken right from a press release it issued last week.

“Over a five-year period, businesses have paid $6.1-billion more in energy costs to power and cool Cisco networks than they would have had they used a comparable Nortel configuration”.

The Wall St. Journal also has a story today based on the McKinsey report, although it doesn’t mention Nortel.

Technorati Tags: Nortel, mckinsey & co.