DOUBLE BIG WEEK FOR DOUBLEDUTCH

Conferences aren't just conferences when it comes to the enterprise collaboration and innovation space. These conferences can be opportunities to live with some of the tools and behaviors being demoed. For example, E2Innovate is kicking off this week and one of the things I'm looking forward to is using DoubleDutch's Flock app to help me manage my sessions. This is a double big week for DoubleDutch as, besides providing a social infrastructure for E2Innovate, they announced a $4 Million Series B round led by Floodgate Fund with Floodgate managing partner, Mike Maples Jr., joining the DoubleDutch board.

IPhone App Screenshot

Lawrence Coburn, DoubleDutch's founder and CEO, told me that they are making a big bet on the customer relationship management cycle. Their strategy has been app first from the beginning. This approach takes the "gesture" that has become prevalent with the spread of smartphones and social apps and turns it into a key sales tool.

Two examples:

First, I'll be using the custom E2Innovate mobile application powered by DoubleDutch Flock (see accompanying image). As I mark my sessions and provide feedback, I am giving the conference organizers and their partners a better picture of my interests. Downstream, the sales professionals will be able to provide me with offerings more likely to match my needs. (I'm still fielding random sales calls about IT infrastructure due to giving a talk at InterOp. I don't even play a systems architect on TV, let alone provide those services inside my organization.)

Second, tighter integration with the mobile device itself. Imagine a busy salesperson who makes a call to a prospect. DoubleDutch Hyve notes the call and can preconfigure an update to the CRM system, making it much more likely that salesperson logs the call in something close to realtime.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the DoubleDutch roadmap and talking with users around their Pride tool. Pride ties business teams into the projects that the sale force kicks-off. Stay tuned.

Article originally posted as Conference Management Tool Flock Supports E2Innovate on Technorati.